âDonât turn off the lights, I want people to see this at nightâ
My staff looked at me like I was nuts, but weâd rearranged the showroom to look like a magazine.
âBut who comes out here at night?â came the obvious question. See, we were in the commercial area of town, tucked up in the back. There was zero foot traffic.Â
HoweverâŚ
I knew things were changing.
Iâd been leaving the lights on at night for a while now.
A customerâs purchase a month or so earlier was curious to me. She selected a product Iâd recently promoted, nothing weird about that. But she also purchased the thing next to it, without hesitation, something my designer had placed beside it, something very, very expensive. âNo one buys thatâ went through my mind. How did she even see it? Inside the showroom it was hidden, you could only really see it from outside the store.
It dawned on me.Â
Sheâd been watching, in person, through the window at night. In a commercial area of town, with no one around. She would have had to drive to my store, park the car, lights on, and looked.
And dreamed.Â
People do this stuff when theyâre spending lots of money
Because itâs fun.
Ever visited a car lot at night, to get another glimpse?
Ever done a night-time drive-by of a house you want to buy?
Fascinating.
When they get it in their mind they want to buy, nothing can stop them. They will buy
That lady taught me something powerful about the connection between visibility (content) >> and money (sales).
Your business, my business â our businesses are only visible to the world because of our content.
We tell a story with our content. Sure, that story attracts some and repels others. But it can do so much more.
Thoughts matter
People are affected by your thoughts about content.
Consider that ^^ sentence again.Â
If you feel like content is a chore, they feel it
If you think content is just like ads, people respond in kind
If you do a bare minimum job of your content, people will give it bare minimum attention
But on the flip sideâŚ
If you see content as a direct line to communicate ideas with your audience, theyâll sense something useful is being delivered, and listen
If you treat your audience like you would your friend, people are more likely to resonate with your message, because more of your message will get through
If you work hard to deliver quality, theyâll stay to consume as much as they can
Whatâs this got to do with leadership then Pat?
If youâre a coach, consultant, or person with authority in your space, how you lead speaks louder than any individual thing you could write or say. Coming up with a killer article or viral content is a drop in the bucket compared to what they already know about you through your content.
People donât buy your thing because of a neat headline or a convincing sales page -- they come to you for guidance because theyâve been watching you lead for some time already, and theyâve run out of excuses â and now they feel compelled to get involved.
Youâre not selling trinkets, youâre selling genuine change.
And it likely costs thousands of dollars for people to work with you.
People are watching, waiting for a leader to show them the path forward. And through your content, you have an incredible opportunity to not only prove that you can do it -- but start doing it before they even reach out to buy.
The influence possibilities are astounding.
Itâs why I donât have a sales pitch anymore
Donât get me wrong, I still fill any gaps for people before people sign up, but thereâs no sales bullshit. Rather, itâs a convo to see if itâs gonna be a good fit.Â
When was the last time you spoke with a prospect and they said, unprompted âIâm pretty sure I want to work with you, Iâve been following you for a while, I just want to double-check a few thingsâŚâ?
Or âIt feels weird talking to you, I feel like I know you already. I wanna do thisâŚâ?
Without content, youâre invisible.Â
With content, you can lead people to buying decisions without even talking to them.
It starts with understanding this: your content gives them a preview of working with you, it is literally your leadership on display.
What could you do differently with your content through the lens of leadership? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, Iâd love to hear it.
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Iâm still in London, slowly making my way through all the pubs I can find. As a beer lover, this city is neverending. Ales, crafts, and never too far from a stout. Ok, Iâm off in search of another pint in another proper boozaah.
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Before we tie a bow in it, this calculator shows how many clients your current audience could generate, based on all the data I can gather.
See you next Saturday.
Cheers,
Pat Sgro
PS: Still want more? Gander over here to see what working with me looks like.
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Love your article đ
Such a great explanation of how content impacts sales.
Love this! And great photo.