184: Speaking as You Shift Your Business Model
Are you at a place where you’re starting to shift your business model? Friend, there are going to be some growing pains as you embark upon this journey. However, you can ease those pains when you add speaking to the mix. In this episode, I share what it looks like to shift your business model, prepare for the road ahead, and overcome the obstacles quickly.
If you loved this episode and it motivated you to work on more polished presentations, I’d love for you to leave a review on iTunes and tell me about your biggest takeaway. Take a screenshot of you listening on your device, post it to your Instagram Stories, and tag me @jessicarasdall.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Workbook inside the Speak to Scale Vault Use code: Podcast
SHIFTING FROM BEING A DONE-FOR-YOU SERVICE PROVIDER
First off, there is nothing wrong with being a done-for-you service provider, but sometimes people find that it isn’t going to be sustainable for them. With this shift, it often means going from being a solopreneur to adding team members to the mix. You may be looking to diversify your revenue stream, add digital products, coaching, or consulting. It can be uncomfortable when you are no longer in control of the outcome for your client and the result is no longer in your hands. Your primary goal should now be teaching your clients to get the result for themselves. Just remember, it’ll get harder before it gets easier.
WHEN I SHIFTED MY BUSINESS MODEL
Before I began teaching others to speak, I would write their talks for them. I loved to do this and I still do! I began to realize that I am one person with two little kids and I have very limited time. If I was the only one writing talks, not many business owners were going to be able to share their messages. I had to decide if I wanted to hire others to write talks the same way that I write talks, or if I wanted to teach others to write the talks themselves.
WHAT IS GOING TO SERVE YOUR AUDIENCE THE BEST
Does an agency model fit you better or do you have an incredible skill set that your audience would benefit from learning? Friend, if you want to create digital products, resources, courses, templates, or any other product, you have to step out of your expert seat and step into the seat of your audience.
Most people don’t make the shift in one swoop, but it will be a transition over a period of time. When you’re making that shift, you will begin to start serving two different types of clients. The clients who want it done for them are going to be very different than the client who is willing to do it themselves. Understand these two different people in depth. What are their struggles? What motivates them? Ask yourself which group of clients is going to fit your stage? This will help you create a plan and a speaking strategy that will serve your audience.
USING SPEAKING AS A MARKETING STRATEGY DURING THE SHIFT
When it comes to speaking, you can target your ideal audience. First, figure out who your ideal client is and then reverse engineer your process. Determine what your secret sauce is and then prepare to share it with others.
Next, spend time looking for speaking opportunities where your new audience is hanging out. This will make the transition move a lot faster. Craft your talk for your new audience, which will help you focus on your audience and shine light on how you can help them achieve that result on their own without you doing it for them. This is when you need to begin to put on your hat as the teacher, not as the person who does it. Doing this will fast-track your know, like, and trust and make the transition in your business easier.
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Transcript for Episode 184:
If you're at a place where you're starting to shift your business model away from being solely a done for you service provider to more of a DIY education based or digital product company, there's going to be some growing pains. So let's talk about how to ease those pains, especially when you add speaking to the mix.
Welcome back to another episode of The speak to scale podcast, where we're helping business owners just like you use speaking to scale their business by speaking on stages, podcasts, webinars, and more. I'm your host, Jessica Rasdall. And trust me after over 16 years speaking, and about seven, eight, I don't know time no longer exists, years helping small business owners do the same. I know it's not easy. And when we're in those seasons of change in our business, especially seasons of growth, things get really, really uncomfortable.
So I want to have a candid conversation with you. But you know, I'm going to give you some practical tips, and steps and application things to apply here. But I really want to talk to you about what it looks like to shift your business model in your business. Because I think so often we can see all these people on the internet, these courses, these coaches, these resources, these Facebook ads that promise, if we just follow somebody else's model, if we do what they did, that things will magically work for us in our business. But what they don't tell you is in making that shift to a new model, a new approach, a new tactic, that there are going to be some sticking points, there's going to be some tough spots.
So let's talk about that now. So you can prepare for the road ahead, you can overcome them quickly. And you can know exactly what to do to ease those growing pains and really step in to the growth that you have been working so hard for. So what I really want to chat about where I feel like so many of you are is shifting from being a done for you service provider. Now first off, let me make this crystal clear. There is nothing wrong with being a done for you service provider. Nothing. They're incredible. They're experts at their craft. They've honed their stuff in they've dialed it in, like, I love me some done for you service providers. But I also know that sometimes people get into running a done for you type of business model and they quickly find out that's not going to be sustainable for the long haul for them. Maybe some kids get added to the mix or life changes, goals change plans change, and you start to see your business evolve, that's okay. But I know that a lot of you are at that place where you're going from being the solopreneur, to maybe adding in some team members to the mix, maybe you're going to go down the agency route. Although most of you are probably at a place where you're looking to diversify your revenue streams, maybe you're looking into add some passive income, some digital products, you're adding in some coaching or consulting, you're getting to a place where you are no longer the one in control of the outcome for your client, you're no longer the one getting the thing done, start to finish. And the result is not in your hands anymore.
So we've got to figure out a way to not only get the clients that you need, but to teach them help them equip them with the tools and the resources that they need to get that result for themself. And as done for you service providers as the expert that you are, that's hard, okay. Because you're so close to the work that you've been doing. You're gifted, you're talented. You've you could do this stuff in your sleep, right? You don't, you don't need steps, you don't need a checklist, you know how to do what you need to do to get the job done. But you're so close to it, that trying to explain it to somebody else. It's like speaking a foreign language. So I'm going to give you a permission slip right now, I want you to know that it is going to be very uncomfortable to shift your services to a new model to change your business. It's okay. If you're looking for new ways to share your expertise, just except for right now, while we're having this conversation, that it's going to get harder before it gets easier. That's okay. That's to be expected. And it's going to be incredibly temporary. It's the struggle that we all go through as shifting from done for you to DIY and if nobody's told you that they're just lying, okay? They're just not they're keeping that to themselves.
We've all experienced this, you're too close to your work, what comes easy to you is difficult for your audience. So we as that previously done for you service provider, we've got to step back, put ourselves in our audience's shoes, and help them understand a concept that's completely new to them. That part is, is wild. So I can tell you that when I first started, in my business, I wasn't teaching anybody how to speak. I was writing talks, right, I was writing the talk for somebody, I wasn't teaching them how to write the talk for themselves. And I love it. I still do that with I love writing talks. I love it so much. But I realized very quickly that me writing talks for people, I'm one person, I'm one person with two little kids who works very, very limited hours of my office, if I'm the only person writing talks, not very many talks are going to get written, which in turn means not very many business owners are going to be able to share their message, which in turn means not very many business owners in the audience are going to get that transformation that they've been hoping for. And because I could not increase my output, I can't increase the output for my clients, I can't increase the transformation for the audience members. So really sitting down and starting to think like, well, what would that difference look like? Do I want to bring in more people to write talks, like I write talks, that could be great. But writing talks is one of those things that once you know how to do that, like once you have figured that out, you are so equipped to show up in your business and create incredible content that you can rinse and repeat and use again and again and again. And it's not something that we should always be outsourcing, that's a skill we should work to achieve.
So I felt for my business, it would make a whole lot more sense for me to teach people how to write their own talk so that they could do that, not just for one talk. But for every talk they would write for years to come. And I want you to kind of think about that for yourself. What's going to serve your audience the best? Is your service, something that needs to be done that they're that your clients are going to want to outsource? Does an agency model fit you better? Or do you have an incredible skill set that your audience would benefit from learning? Is that something you can teach them? Is it something you can help them with maybe done with you? There's so many different ways we can go about this. But if we want to create digital products, resources, courses, templates, you name the thing, we've got to step out of our experts seat and step into the seat of our audience. Imagine as if you didn't know how to do what you do. You hadn't experienced any of that. There will be so many holes, so many gaps, so many questions. And I want you to put yourself in that seat. See, when you start to make that shift from done for you to DIY.
Most of us aren't just going to completely do it in one swoop Right? Like just close down all of our offers, say, You know what, I'm not taking clients anymore. We're only offering this digital product. It's not what it's going to look like for most of us, it's going to be a transition, where we maybe start stopped taking on as many clients and focus on offering up more DIY more passive income more supplemental products and resources in our business in in making that shift. Again, this is the part nobody warns us about. When we're making that shift, we start serving two different types of clients. So let's say for example, you're a copywriter. I don't know why I always use copywriters, and social media managers as the examples here. But they're always top of mind for me.
So let's say you're a copywriter, right? You have built an incredible business writing words for your clients. Maybe you specialize in website copy. And now you're getting to a place where you're fully booked out, you've got a waitlist, and you want to do speaking, right you want to speak on stages you want to get on podcast, you want to extend your reach, share your knowledge reach more people, but you can't take on any clients. So you decide, You know what, Jess, I'm going to teach my audience how to write their own website words. That way after I deliver a presentation, they can easily go purchase this course learn to do it themselves. And they can get that result for their business. They can start getting more clients. They can feel confident with their website and they don't have to wait around until a spot opens up that I can do it. for them in credible cheering you on big time if that to you. But now we're understanding that we probably have two different types of clients. Because the clients who want it done for them, no questions asked, are probably at a different place in their business or in their life than the client who was willing to roll up their sleeves, learn the new skill set and do it themselves. So it's important for us to understand who these two different people are, in depth, dive deep, have conversations, do your research, understand where they are, what they're struggling with, what's motivating them, and why they are going to choose either that A or B option from you. Because every single time you start to think about speaking opportunities, you need to first pause it, ask yourself, which one of my clients is going to be served from the stage?
Is this a group of people who are a better fit for my done for you service? Or is this a group of people who are better fit for my DIY service. And in doing that, that is really going to help you start to create a plan and a speaking strategy that works for your business and serves your audience, right? Just imagine for a second that you are speaking to a room full of people who are your DIY clients, right, they want to buy your course, they want to learn how to do this themselves. They're ready to take action right now. And they don't have a huge budget to hire you to do it for them. But you hit up on that stage. And you're so focused on closing another done for you client, that all you talk about is how you can write words for them, why you are an expert at these things the way that you do it, and you offer them up to join your waitlist for their words, to get the words on their paper to write their website copy. Your audience is going to feel so left behind. They're going to feel they're going to be left wanting more wondering, well, yeah, she sounds great. But I really wanted to learn how to write my website copy, right, you're not going to serve them where they need it. So I want you to take the time as your business is changing, to not run so quickly to creating the solution. But to make sure you're taking time to get crystal clear on who that solution is for why they need it and what they need from you.
I mentioned earlier that there's going you're going to be way too close to your content, right? You could talk about this stuff in your sleep, you could write those website words and no problem, no questions asked. But taking the time to teach that to somebody else can be a little complicated. So you've got to really pause, understand where they are, what they know what they don't know what their sticking points are. So that you can create a resource so that you can create products that are not just going to make a sale for your business, but are actually going to get results for your clients, for your new customers, especially if you're going to get up on stages and podcasts and get that product into so many hands. When you're making the shift in your business. And you're serving these two different types of clients. You can use speaking, as your marketing strategy during that shift, it can fast track your audience growth, because so often when we're making a shift when we're serving a new audience, it can take time, and maybe we have to wait for our new SEO to work. And for new ideal clients to find us, you know, we're feeling like we're starting from scratch all over again. But with speaking, you can target your ideal audience, your new audience, your DIY audience, whether that's at a speaking event, or on podcast. So that's why it is so important for you to first figure out if I'm going to shift to a more passive product, a digital offer whatever the case may be. If I'm shifting my business model, and I have a new client that I'm serving one, who are they? This is the first thing you have to do get crystal clear on who you're going to be speaking to. Because you probably have more than one audience right now, too.
I want you to reverse engineer your process. Inside of the speaking strategy Academy. We refer to this as your secret sauce. What are the steps that you do to get somebody results? What are the things that they need to do in order to get that result for themselves? What is it? What's your secret sauce? Then I want you to spend time looking for speaking opportunities that can be remember expand that word speaking opportunities. That can be podcasts that can be summits, that can be stages, that could be all the things like sky's the limit here. But find out where your new audience is hanging out. And those are the places that I want you to be speaking It's gonna make this transition move a lot faster, and build your new audience quickly without investing a lot of time, money or resources.
Once you've got that, it's really important to craft your talk. And I know that doesn't sound very sexy, we don't want to sit down and write a speech. But if you sit down and write a talk for your new audience, through the lens of getting helping them achieve the result for themselves, rather than you getting that result for your client, it's going to help you focus on your audience, it's going to help you identify where they are right now. And really kind of shine light on how you can help them achieve that result result on their own without you doing it for them. So I want you to sit down and work on that presentation. And in that moment, kind of put on your hat as the teacher, right, not the person who does it. But the person who teaches it, it's going to shift your mindset and allow you to speak to your audience on a level playing field rather than somebody who knows more than them. Being just a few steps ahead of them not up on a pedestal is going to create a bond with them, it's going to fast track your know like and trust, and you're not going to alienate them and make them feel like they're behind or they don't know enough. So do whatever you can to get on that level playing field. And if you need help with crafting your talk, we've got a workbook that walks you through the entire process, which is only four phases. Don't worry, it's inside of our speak to skill vault. So you can head on over to our show notes or go to speak to skill vault calm to unlock the workbook on how to write your speech, along with tons of other trainings and resources. But be sure to use the code podcast for a special discount. Okay, let me recap for you. Because I know this was a lot. Most important thing if you only take one thing away from today's episode, know that if you are in a season of transition, if your business model is changing, if you're moving from done for you to DIY, inside of your business, and things feel hard. No, you're not alone. Keep going. You're in the messy middle. And it's so much better on the other side, I promise. So here's what I want you to focus on as you're making that shift.
One, get crystal clear on who you need to speak to, who is the audience you're going to be serving. To reverse engineer your process, figure out your secret sauce. Understand how you can help your audience. Three, identify where your audience is hanging out? Where is this new audience? What podcasts are they listening to? What events are they attending, and then for craft your talk from a place of helping your audience get the result for themselves, not you getting it for them. I know it might sound like a lot and this shift feels uncomfortable. But you don't have to do this alone. We've got an entire community of business owners who are using speaking to scale their business and determined to get through this messy middle together.
So if you're looking for community to hang out in with other speakers, we'd love for you to join us inside of the speak to scale community. just head on over to our show notes page. Hit join and we will see you inside. Thanks friends for joining me for another week. It means a world to me that you keep showing up week after week. And I can't wait to come back next week with another episode to help you use speaking to scale your business. Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of The speak to scale podcast. It would mean the world to us if you would take a minute to hop on over to iTunes and leave us a review. Your support allows us to continue creating this content for you. And we appreciate it more than you know. If you want to dive in even further with speaking, make sure you head on over to the public speaking strategist.com for free downloads, hands on trainings and so much more. As always, I'll be over here cheering you on friend. See you next time.
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