March 2017 Best Posts
In this collection you'll find...
- Let's turn "marketing funnels" into "transformational pathways"
- Your services *are* good (and unique) enough
- Learning business/marketing happens in bite-sized pieces
- Which content should be Free versus Paid?
- Moving away from multi-stage launches toward a better alternative
- Turning "selling" into "service"
- Using a "slim list" instead of only a To-Do List
- George Kao's next workshop -- Authentic Content & Email Lists
"Marketing" and "sales" can instead be reframed as education & transformation. Not as euphemisms, but as a higher-intentioned way to treat our fellow human beings.
A popular business tactic is to use "marketing funnels" (or "sales pipelines") -- which is to have a structured way to gradually compel one's audience from first encountering you... to eventually buying.
It is quite a manipulative (and cynical) way to think about helping human beings...
Language is as important, maybe more so, than "strategy". Let's stop using predatory terminology that objectifies people primarily as "prospective buyers"!
Instead of "marketing funnels", let's build TRANSFORMATIONAL PATHWAYS that see our audience members as *souls who are full of potential*, who wish to grow, and are seeking transformation through our content & products/services. They are not mere "consumers".
A transformational pathway may be something like this:
Continue Reading
Your Services are Good (and Unique) Enough...
"Are my services good or unique enough? Why don't I just refer prospective clients to other providers that are more skilled or experienced?"
Here's my response:
You can't be *not* unique. Read that again :)
Even if you were going "by the book" of your training, the way you apply the knowledge is inevitably different from how others do it. Your wealth -- yes, wealth -- of life experiences, challenges overcome, and personality, all combine into a unique style of how you deliver your service. No one can truly emulate you... or can you ever perfectly emulate another.
As for whether your services are "good enough" remember this: nobody who is eager for personal growth ever feels like they are at the end of developing their skills.
Continue Reading
In my early years of business building I spent $30,000 with business-training programs... not counting my MBA which cost another $30,000+...
I wish I spent that money with 1-1 coaching or small groups / masterminds instead. It would have cost less, and I would've built a better business from the ground up.
But the problem is, those expensive training programs SOUND so amazing and life changing, don't they? They market themselves with far better persuasion than 1-1 coaches do.
Don't fall for it...
So here's (another) important reason why I no longer recommend buying expensive business-training programs ($997+) -- very often, it is not a good way to learn business.
Continue Reading
What content should be Free versus Paid?
3 years ago I said that "all content should be free" because it (1) would help humanity progress faster, (2) would help you attract your ideal audience, and (3) would make you more creative.
I've continued to evolve my stance since then. Here's what I believe now:
Free content should be easy to consume, nothing complicated or that takes thoughtful implementation.
The more in-depth stuff, I now believe should have some price associated with it, although as affordable as possible...
Continue Reading
Let's not do (nor support) multi-stage launches anymore... there's a better way.
You've done the following yourself... or you have had this done to you...
The Launch Strategy.
Here's how it works, see if you can recognize it...
STEP 1. "Free" Content
An expert will butter you up with strategic "free" content, such as a "FREE VIDEO SERIES" that reveals some "secrets" that you MUST know in order to solve your problems or reach your dreams, to finally be an "insider"...
Of course, you have to first give your email address to access it... that should be a red flag for you...
Continue Reading
How to overcome your shyness about selling your services...
When you're presented with someone's pain that you clearly have a solution for, you naturally have an emotional desire to help.
Go with that heart of service.
If you believe your solution is really going to help them, don't hold back. Tell them about it. Give them a chance to receive that help from you. They can take action to help themselves by buying (investing their money and time in) your product.
You've now turned "selling" into service. You've turned your message into a cause. But this only works when you are talking to the right people, in the right situations. When one of those doesn't match, it "feels" like selling. It doesn't feel right. This is why so many people resist "selling"... they've believed that their product is "for everyone" and therefore they feel the pressure to talk to "everyone" about it... and therefore get themselves into awkward scenarios when the person being talked to doesn't want your product (they're not the right person for you!) or it's the wrong time to be talking about it...
Continue Reading
For those of us who feel overwhelmed by our to-do lists...
A to-do list is visually overwhelming.
It can stop us in our tracks -- our brains are easily blocked by visual complexity. At the least, our decision-making capabilities are being slowed down when we look at a long list of yet-to-be done activities.
Instead, a "slim list" only has 3 items on it ... the rest of the paper or document is totally blank, so there is visual simplicity and therefore, greater focus.
How to create a "Slim List"...
Continue Reading
George Kao's Next Workshop:
Authentically Build Your Email List
With Great Content
(and How to Create it Consistently)
If you are someone who is eager to:
...then there is one set of skills you need to learn: how to create & distribute great content effectively and consistently.
In this workshop experience you will learn:
Besides learning valuable and helpful strategies, you will also experience a community chat as well as small breakout groups. It is a highly interactive workshop where you will receive feedback from kindred spirits about your content.
You'll learn to enjoy (more) the process of creating & distributing your authentic message -- in a way that reaches more of the people you are meant to serve!
Register for this workshop here.
**********
May you grow ever deeper into your true livelihood, and deliver greater positive impact!
~ George Kao
George Kao has taught and coached many people into growing their marketing authentically, and building their true livelihood.
A popular business tactic is to use "marketing funnels" (or "sales pipelines") -- which is to have a structured way to gradually compel one's audience from first encountering you... to eventually buying.
It is quite a manipulative (and cynical) way to think about helping human beings...
Language is as important, maybe more so, than "strategy". Let's stop using predatory terminology that objectifies people primarily as "prospective buyers"!
Instead of "marketing funnels", let's build TRANSFORMATIONAL PATHWAYS that see our audience members as *souls who are full of potential*, who wish to grow, and are seeking transformation through our content & products/services. They are not mere "consumers".
A transformational pathway may be something like this:
Continue Reading
Your Services are Good (and Unique) Enough...
"Are my services good or unique enough? Why don't I just refer prospective clients to other providers that are more skilled or experienced?"
Here's my response:
You can't be *not* unique. Read that again :)
Even if you were going "by the book" of your training, the way you apply the knowledge is inevitably different from how others do it. Your wealth -- yes, wealth -- of life experiences, challenges overcome, and personality, all combine into a unique style of how you deliver your service. No one can truly emulate you... or can you ever perfectly emulate another.
As for whether your services are "good enough" remember this: nobody who is eager for personal growth ever feels like they are at the end of developing their skills.
Continue Reading
In my early years of business building I spent $30,000 with business-training programs... not counting my MBA which cost another $30,000+...
I wish I spent that money with 1-1 coaching or small groups / masterminds instead. It would have cost less, and I would've built a better business from the ground up.
But the problem is, those expensive training programs SOUND so amazing and life changing, don't they? They market themselves with far better persuasion than 1-1 coaches do.
Don't fall for it...
So here's (another) important reason why I no longer recommend buying expensive business-training programs ($997+) -- very often, it is not a good way to learn business.
Continue Reading
What content should be Free versus Paid?
3 years ago I said that "all content should be free" because it (1) would help humanity progress faster, (2) would help you attract your ideal audience, and (3) would make you more creative.
I've continued to evolve my stance since then. Here's what I believe now:
Free content should be easy to consume, nothing complicated or that takes thoughtful implementation.
The more in-depth stuff, I now believe should have some price associated with it, although as affordable as possible...
Continue Reading
Let's not do (nor support) multi-stage launches anymore... there's a better way.
You've done the following yourself... or you have had this done to you...
The Launch Strategy.
Here's how it works, see if you can recognize it...
STEP 1. "Free" Content
An expert will butter you up with strategic "free" content, such as a "FREE VIDEO SERIES" that reveals some "secrets" that you MUST know in order to solve your problems or reach your dreams, to finally be an "insider"...
Of course, you have to first give your email address to access it... that should be a red flag for you...
Continue Reading
How to overcome your shyness about selling your services...
When you're presented with someone's pain that you clearly have a solution for, you naturally have an emotional desire to help.
Go with that heart of service.
If you believe your solution is really going to help them, don't hold back. Tell them about it. Give them a chance to receive that help from you. They can take action to help themselves by buying (investing their money and time in) your product.
You've now turned "selling" into service. You've turned your message into a cause. But this only works when you are talking to the right people, in the right situations. When one of those doesn't match, it "feels" like selling. It doesn't feel right. This is why so many people resist "selling"... they've believed that their product is "for everyone" and therefore they feel the pressure to talk to "everyone" about it... and therefore get themselves into awkward scenarios when the person being talked to doesn't want your product (they're not the right person for you!) or it's the wrong time to be talking about it...
Continue Reading
For those of us who feel overwhelmed by our to-do lists...
A to-do list is visually overwhelming.
It can stop us in our tracks -- our brains are easily blocked by visual complexity. At the least, our decision-making capabilities are being slowed down when we look at a long list of yet-to-be done activities.
Instead, a "slim list" only has 3 items on it ... the rest of the paper or document is totally blank, so there is visual simplicity and therefore, greater focus.
How to create a "Slim List"...
Continue Reading
George Kao's Next Workshop:
Authentically Build Your Email List
With Great Content
(and How to Create it Consistently)
If you are someone who is eager to:
- C larify the message you are most meant to share
- Discover your authentic voice via writing and/or video
- Increase your confidence in sharing your message
- Grow your creativity and effectiveness
- Be discovered consistently by new ideal clients
- Develop credibility in the mind & heart of potential clients
- Organize your body of knowledge to better help clients
- Build your business authentically & steadily
- Serve the world with greater positive impact
...then there is one set of skills you need to learn: how to create & distribute great content effectively and consistently.
In this workshop experience you will learn:
- The keys to creating great content
- How to build your email list authentically
- Different formats of effective email newsletters
- Your most natural ways to create video content (increasingly important online)
- Tips for creating effective videos for Youtube & Facebook
- How to generate relevant content ideas for your blogposts, videos, books, and social media
- Method for telling the story of your business in an engaging way that shows your passion to serve
- Rhythm of content creation that energizes you
- How to reach your ideal audience through content
- Method for writing your authentic marketing copy
Besides learning valuable and helpful strategies, you will also experience a community chat as well as small breakout groups. It is a highly interactive workshop where you will receive feedback from kindred spirits about your content.
You'll learn to enjoy (more) the process of creating & distributing your authentic message -- in a way that reaches more of the people you are meant to serve!
Register for this workshop here.
**********
May you grow ever deeper into your true livelihood, and deliver greater positive impact!
~ George Kao
George Kao has taught and coached many people into growing their marketing authentically, and building their true livelihood.