The Pre-Client Jitters 🫣
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Hello Reader, Last year my biggest single business expense line item (aside from mine and Josh's paychecks) was legal fees. No, I didn't find myself in hot water with the law, I finally sucked it up and dealt with a lot of long-standing legal tasks that needed to be handled: new contract, copyright filings, and the (slow, slow, slow) trademarking process for my Alignthority™ system. Why did it take me so long to get this important stuff tackled? I was afraid of being a bad client, or "getting it wrong." Maybe what I had wasn't worth protecting? (I can hear you laughing all the way from Oregon, Nequosha.) Put simply, I had no way of knowing if I was ready to work with an intellectual property attorney. That sounds fancy and sophisticated and isn't that for tech companies and ketchup manufacturers? For years, I Googled articles about how the process worked, what kind of lawyer I needed, how I needed to get ready, the list goes on. And, yes, I Googled all about the DIY path too. (That seemed terrifying!) Finally, I sucked it up and connected with the attorney at the top of my short list and it's been a wonderful collaboration. It was really a back against the wall situation, it needed to happen and the attorney I reached out to did such a great job of explaining in all of her content what the experience was going to be like, and how the process worked (including that aforementioned trademarking process that moved at the speed of the continental drift). Here's the thing: You can cater to those pre-client jitters and stand out in a noisy market—just like my attorney did (and I'm the toughest of tough sells). Creating delightful, discoverable, leverage-able, conversational—yes, all four of those qualities matter—how to content can help them: I shared this last week, but highly qualified, well-matched clients aren't necessarily (despite what many folks will claim) fast decision makers. Money doesn't always love speed. (Also, if money really loved speed, it'd all be blown on sports cars...) This is why I talk so much about the importance of creating and sharing your body of work. 👉 Are you frustrated when leads don't understand your process? These are pre-client jitters at play. And it's your job to address that challenge—not blame your leads for what they don't know. The answer lies in creating that body of work. Because you're an expert. Will this approach solve all your problems? Nope! But will it make loads of headway into resolving those pre-client jitters. Even better, it will create differentiation between you and your competition—because I promise most aren't doing anything of the sort. Ready to make a move in the right direction? I'd love to invite you to join our workshop next week all about using "how tos" in your body of work to help awesome clients feel confident in connecting with you. On Wednesday, April 24 at 11am Pacific I'm hosting my final workshop before Summer of SEO kicks off again, Flip the How To Script. We'll talk about all of this and more—and I hope to see you there. Here's what matters even more to me: Google loves this approach, but what what's even more exciting is the experience of the humans exploring your websites and having a feeling of, "Yes, I can trust this person." No more pre-client jitters—just like magic. Talk soon, Sarah P.S. Have questions? Just hit reply and you'll land in my inbox. |