Why I'm done with Insta, FB, and Tik Tok (A $38K Lesson)
Mar 11, 2023Read time: 4.5 minutes
In January 2022, I was being onboarded into a new group program where everyone in attendance was making $10K or more a month in their coaching business.
The head coach drew an image of a pyramid like the one below and then asked us to fill in the bottom three rungs in our own version with:
- How many different types of clients we served
- How many different offers we had for these clients
- How many different channels we used to connect with these clients (this could be Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, paid FB ads, cold calls, or even referrals via joint ventures)
Once everyone was done filling in their pyramid, the coach asked us to share our answers. Some said they primarily worked with two different types of people, others shared that they had three different offers, and I answered that I was trying to connect with potential clients via five different channels.
The coach continued....
"You're all here to grow your coaching business, yes? We've helped hundreds of coaches go from where you are to the million dollar a year mark. The path there is one-one-one-one. You serve one specific client, that you're making one primary offer to, and connecting with them via one channel. That's how you get to one million a year.
And until you've reached one million, anything else is a distraction that's detracting you from getting there."
He updated his pyramid to this:
I was already really clear on who my Dream Clients were: Purpose-driven coaches and consultants doing meaningful work. They give a sh!t about others, have high empathy, and are creative (some don't realize it yet). They value freedom, determination, and hold some form of spiritual beliefs. They believe that you can be the intentional creator of your life, that businesses can be run in a genuine, aligned, and intentional way without the sleaze. And that the ride is more enjoyable when you're having fun and openly expressing yourself.
I had two main offers at the time: a 12 week group program and a 1:1 offer. I dropped the group program shortly after and doubled-down on deeply serving my 1:1 clients.
But, for whatever reason, the lesson about multiple platforms didn't get through. I continued dabbling in several places. Sure, I spent more time and attention on LinkedIn, but I still posted frequently on Insta and FB while occasionally publishing to YouTube and Tik Tok.
I somehow thought I was special.
My justification was that I mostly just repurposed content on these other platforms and was using a scheduling tool to publish outside of LinkedIn. It wasn't taking up THAT much energy. This continued until I started working with a new mentor last month.
As part of my onboarding with this new coach, they conducted a full assessment of my business.
What am I doing, where am I focused, and what they believe needs to change. Their number one recommendation? Ignore the other platforms and triple-down on LinkedIn.
"LinkedIn is clearly working for you, what do you think would happen if you focused there?"
F@*k.
I knew they were right. And this image I love from the book Essentialism by Greg McKeown instantly came to mind.
Here's how you can learn from my mistakes, without having to spend the $38K.
Become Immensely Significant to One Specific Person
You're dynamic, brilliant, and multi-talented.
You don't want to be boxed in. I get it. You could help all sorts of people.
But here's the question you have to ask yourself:
Do you want a business where you're forever compared to others and forced to compete on price or one where people seek you out, show up in your DMs, and happily pay you premium rates for the incredible work that you do?
The difference between the two is you becoming hyper significant to one person.
You get eager people knocking on your door by becoming THE choice for one type of individual instead of trying to please everyone. The goal is to intentionally create a moment for your Dream Clients where they feel so seen and understood by your message that they think "wow, this was made for me."
Consider it the reward for business monogamy.
It's the difference between committing yourself to one individual in a long-term relationship vs trying to date five different people at once. While the second scenario could bring some short term thrills, a thriving business that lasts long term is not built on chasing temporary pleasure. It comes from commitment.
Dial In One Core Offer
Once you're focused on being significant to one person, it's time to dial in your core offer.
When you're starting out, you might be doing custom work with different packages for each client and that's OK. Life costs money and you need to pay your mortgage. When you're in this phase, you're getting paid to learn.
That's awesome.
But the moment you start getting traction and begin seeing patterns, you want to zero in on what is working. To grow beyond this stage, without burning out, you'll want to simplify what you're offering so that you're creating one irresistible offer that you continually refine, improve, and tweak. I'm in the midst of overhauling my program to upgrade it with all the new tools, checklists, and frameworks I've created for clients in the last year.
You can use this guide to help you create a program that people absolutely need to have.
You can use this guide to help you create a program that people absolutely need to have.
Get Ridiculously Good at One Channel
Once you're clear on exactly who you're intentionally serving and what your core offer is for this person, the last piece is picking one channel to connect with them and getting ridiculously good at it.
I'm not into doing cold calls, I've just started experimenting with paid ads on Amazon again, and other than organic referrals (which I'm grateful to get loads of), I don't know much about joint ventures. But I'm really damn good at leveraging organic content channels.
And there's currently a huge opportunity for you to organically get your message in front of thousands of your Dream Clients.
Regardless of the channel you're sharing your message on, there's principles of messaging, psychology, and influence that never change. But every platform has its own unique nuances. And those change frequently.
Examples...
- Part of growing your audience on Tik Tok and Insta is knowing the current trending audios.
- While FB pages were an internet graveyard for years, there's now a massive opportunity with them again if you're sharing Reels via your FB page.
- If you're newer to LinkedIn, you might not know that there was a point in time 3 and 4 years ago where videos reigned supreme on the platform. That's no longer the case. Carousels are the hot medium of the minute on LinkedIn.
- How you make a carousel post on LinkedIn is much different than Insta. To make a carousel like this on LinkedIn, you have to export your file as a PDF and upload it as a "document" by clicking on the three dots in your post creation window. It's super quirky and definitely not obvious.
- Lastly, while the ideal format for a carousel post on Insta is to have your images as squares, to make the most of your carousel on LinkedIn, the optimal size for your images are 1080 x 1350 pixels.
If you're spreading yourself thin on multiple channels in the early stages of your business, you're stifling your chances of immense growth on any one channel. In part because your energy is being dispersed in several places but also because you're making it hard for you to really understand the unique nuances of any one channel.
Now go become immensely significant to one person, dial in one core offer, and become insanely good at one channel so you can help more people.
See you next week.
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Do you have a plan to grow your coaching business?
My 1:1 mentorship spots are currently full but I have one slot opening up in April. Inquire to work with me 1:1 here.
Do you have a plan to grow your coaching business?
My 1:1 mentorship spots are currently full but I have one slot opening up in April. Inquire to work with me 1:1 here.
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