Most clients lie to me when I ask what their goal is.
But they don’t realize they’re doing it.
Because they make the mistake of focusing on a tactic instead of a result.
In the course of helping thousands of clients use content to accomplish their goals, I’ve noticed they tend to define their goal in the wrong way when we first chat.
They say things like they want to “grow their newsletter,” “build their personal brand,” or “get more engagement on LinkedIn.”
That’s understandable, but it’s not really their main goal – it’s the step before the thing they actually want to accomplish and they’re making an assumption (often false) that it will help them achieve their actual goal.
Here’s an example of a typical conversation I have with a client and how I help them better understand their goal:
CLIENT: “I need to grow my email list to 1,000 subscribers.”
ME: “If you get 1,000 subscribers, what will that do for you?”
CLIENT: “It will get me more clients.”
ME: “So your actual goal isn’t newsletter subscribers, it’s more clients.”
CLIENT: “Yeah, I guess that’s true.”
ME: “Ok, let’s figure out how to use your newsletter to get you clients – not just how to get more subscribers. Because I assume you’d rather have more clients and fewer subscribers as opposed to more subscribers and no more clients, right?”
CLIENT: “Yup.”
And then we can go about optimizing for the client’s TRUE goal and making it happen.
This issue applies to way more than just people who are too focused on audience growth.
There’s a good chance no matter what you offer, many of your potential buyers are focused on a tactic instead of the result they actually need.
And who knows, you may be with your own goals too.
When you clarify the real goal and optimize for it, you’re WAY more likely to accomplish it.
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