When the same topic keeps coming up, you know you gotta write about it.
A few members in the Growth Community as well as two DM conversations have specifically expressed their desire to create more content without feeling like they have to sale.
Speaking of selling…lol… I am opening the doors to the Growth Community for the first time to the public in 8 months. Stay tuned for February 24th 👀 I got some big things to share and you can be the first to know by jumping on the waitlist… but for now let me share with you how my NONE SALES content have lead to more sales conversations.
I can imagine you feel a lot of pressure to have a CTA in all your videos and to be promoting your freebie so you can capture emails none-fucking-stop.
I feel this way.
And I still have to practice tuning in with myself on when it’s the right time to have a CTA, when to talk about my offers and when to just leave it be.
By leave it be, I mean you make a piece of content for the sake of sharing something valuable with your audience without asking for anything.
Imagine that?
Like a friend who’s happy to help you move without needing anything in return. They’re simply happy to support you because that’s what friends do.
Why is it pretty damn clear how to build a loving relationship in person, but then we get online and we turn into the fucking cookie monster needing to devour up every like, comment, and follow and shit them out into dollar bills?
We know what would drive a friend away if we kept doing it… but we do the opposite online.
Imagine hanging with a friend and they ONLY ever talked about their work.
“Hey Steph!!”
“Hey Matt, did you know these are the 4 best mobility hacks to keep you injury free for your runs?!”
“Uhhh Steph, are you a mindless fucking robot? I thought maybe we could talk about Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance, or did you not watch the Super Bowl because the only thing you do with your life is read the re-read the Supple Leopard for the ninth time?”
If your laughing right now it’s because you know how real this is.
Yet, it’s still hard to show up on social media this way.
It feels scary to make a reel about your thoughts on the Super Bowl because you’re not “the pop culture gal,” but you have some really interesting thoughts on Kendrick’s performance that nobody has mentioned. Instead of sharing the truth of your soul, like you would with your best friend, you bury it deep because god forbid you drown yourself out in the sea of other mobility coaches.
Isn’t it more likely by not talking about the super bowl that you are blending in with every other mobility coach who’s read the Supple Leopard and gives the same mobility tips as you?
And if you’re being really honest… you just really want to share more of you, but you’re not sure how and you don’t really feel safe to do it (that’s where a community of people who are focused on showing up on social media differently comes in handy, wink wink, join the waitlist here)
I’m not saying you need to talk about the Super Bowl. I’m offering you an opportunity to share whats on your heart.
Maybe a bit of what you’ve seen me do.
Talk about your offer in your IG Stories
Yes, you still need to talk about your offers, but it could just be casual.
Like, I have this sick fucking thing you might want to know about.
Or just make something up like I did and throw it on your IG story.
My friend bought it right away.
That’s right. My friend.
He sent me $997 no questions asked.
I didn’t spend any time writing perfect copy or stressing over this.
I just had some 1:1 clients finish up so I had space in my calendar and was really curious about what a 1 month container would look like with someone who’s ready to send it with their content.
It’s a new idea, so I made it half the price of my normal 1:1 coaching and because THERE ARE NO FUCKING RULES!!!! So I threw this out there.
But hold on… this isn’t even the best part. I just wanted to share this IG story for context for the rest of this story.
Chill the fuck out
I don’t think every business coach is telling you to sell all the time, but it feels that way because we see at least one business coaching selling or talking about selling, CTAs, freebies, and offers on our social every day.
It’s in our faces constantly from one person or another, but in reality you should know, you can chill the fuck out and make fun videos too.
Make a day in the life videos that has nothing to do with your work. You could even share a story about how you REALLY feel right now. (Just make sure your work is empowering and not self serving and hunting for empathy. People are looking for leaders and we like to attract people who are forward thinking, not people who are looking to wallow in the muck.)
You could even make a hilarious dad joke like Allan Peters did here.
He even let us know on Threads… the people loved it!
Ahhhhh. Refreshing right? That is some friend shit right there.
(is it me or am I swearing a lot today… oh well)
This is me chilling the fuck out
Okay, so in December I get this DM
Apparently, she said it’s been years.
She said some nice things about my work and went on to share her journey with storytelling and being a marketing coach herself.
And so we bullshitted for some time sharing voice notes back and forth.
No forcing a sale.
Just chit-chating about content.
This is actually my way of operating now-a-days. I hardly ever think about talking sales in the DMs. The only exception is if someone is constantly looking for support and at some point you have to know that sporadic DM conversation isn’t serving them anymore. Then I will make an offer.
[I hope you know this isn’t privilege. I don’t make millions of dollars and would be super happy making more money, but not in the ways its been taught to me. I’m offering a new way to do things. A way that I think makes me less money, but makes me happier and less stressed every single day.]
So, on I go with life.
As February began I was making some updates to my sales page for my community that’s opening on February 24th (you know, the one you should be on the waitlist for 😜) and I was thinking… “god I hate this fucking process. Sales page copy feels so limiting and contrived. And honestly, the best feedback I get is that people love the conversations we have. They aren’t obsessed with my video modules or content hub. They love the calls. Could a sales page just be that? You get access to me?”
So I made a reel about that on February 3rd.
Honestly… I don’t think I got this message right. Because I’ve been working hard making the Growth Community not about me, but about the community. So much as to make sure I am no longer calling it a membership, but a community.
Also, my sales page won’t look like your typical sales page because, as much as I love writing, fuck sales page copy.
Anyway…
The reel didn’t perform that well.
And please don’t tell me it’s not about the likes. Trust me, I know the importance of being grateful for the likes and comments I do get, but I would also be lying to myself if I said, “Oh but I’m so grateful for the 35 souls who loved my post and the 5 comments.”
Sure, I am grateful AND I want my reels to pop the fuck offfffffff.
Every 👏 damn 👏 time 👏
If I shove that frustrated part of me down by lying to myself by trying to convince myself that I’m pleased with this reel then that frustrated part will never fully heal.
Having said all of that, one of the people who did love this reel was the same woman I have been DMing since December.
She left a comment and sent me a DM telling me so.
I appreciated her love for that reel and expressed my frustration. “Too bad it flopped. I wish more people saw it.”
And she said,
That person was her.
She’s ready to work together.
That is fucking sick.
And that is my point.
I wasn’t selling in this reel.
I didn’t have a call to action.
I just spoke my truth.
I wasn’t selling the DMs either and now we’re talking about working together.
She ended up asking about the IG story I put up a few weeks ago for “Unleash Your Offer” (the one my friend bought that I mentioned above). She didn’t remember the name or even what the offer was, but she wanted to know about the next steps. So I filled her in.
She hasn’t signed up and I don’t believe in counting our chickens before they hatch, but I’m not really attached to it. I’m mostly thrilled that this is what social media gets to look like.
Also, she’s probably reading this.
Hey, Mc 👋
Your content is an ecosystem
None of your reels exist in a silo.
They are all working together to build the greater picture that is YOU and your work..
Even if you made 1,000 perfect pieces of content your audience will never truly know all of you, but at least, one post at a time they get to learn more about you.
One piece of content doesn’t have to tell your full story, talk about your work AND have an effective call to action that gets people to take the next step.
Instead, post by post your audience will begin to understand the work you do, who you are, what you stand for, and what kind of human you are beyond the storytelling coach. Beyond the mobility coach. Beyond the entrepreneur.
They will begin to fall in love, just like your best friends fell in love with you.
There are times to sell.
There are times to make educational posts.
And there are times to just be YOU.
Just because someone didn’t DM you the magic word when you shared your offer doesn’t mean you need to be sent into a downward spiral and your business is doomed forever.
You don’t need to create MORE sales posts from scarcity and fear.
You don’t need to write one more email before the doors close.
You don’t need to cold DM 100 people tonight.
Truuuust me. I’ve done it so many times.
Those posts baked in scarcity NEVER work.
What you actually get to do is trust that it’s more of YOU people want. That YOU are enough.
Nobody wants your convincing energy.
I know my friends don’t want that from me.
It’s connection and closeness with YOU that they want.
Your perspectives.
Your enthusiasm.
Your heart.
If that’s how we build relationships in person, why should it be any different online?
I hope this find you well in the throes of winter.
Matt
PS – Anyone in Phoenix, AZ? I’ll have some free days on February 23 and 24. If you are around, reply to this email or send me a DM on IG. Let’s connect!! (or play tennis)
PPS – While I’m writing this, I just got this DM. You see, it gets to be fun and enriching. All of it.
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