Don't listen to the bozos

Course creators don't know what they're selling.

It’s a hot day in July and I have just completed a discovery call with a lead.

He’s come through a referral and seems hesitant after hearing my price - even though it’s visible on my website. I encourage him to look into other copywriters and explore his options.

The call ends, I don’t feel that great and question if I should just get a job. It was the end of the month and I wasn’t feeling great about the rejection haha. It’s also close to the end of my work day so I make dinner and as it’s cooking on the stove, I open LinkedIn.

I hadn’t posted that day but I was surprised to see more notifications than usual. A lot of these notifications have tagged me in this one post.

It’s a post by the same lead I’d spoken to an hour prior - looking for a website copywriter with a brand strategy focus - and I’ve been tagged multiple times on it.

You know what the crazy part is? Only one of these people was a former client!

Another was someone I’d only interacted twice with in the dms (and who ended up sending another referral my way). The third was someone who had never even left a comment on one of my posts.

This is why I named my newsletter ‘Room for Marketing’. Because everyone should be able to know what you sell and be able to easily refer you, even when you haven’t exchanged a word.

A lot of course creators don’t know what they’re talking about.

While this doesn’t apply to some, most I see online find this one thing.

This one thing that worked for them after testing a billion probabilities and chose to capitalize on selling that one thing.

I especially see this common among the LinkedIn people. Look at their resume. Most of them had no professional experience or were unemployed until they found LinkedIn and started posting content. And spent most of their time just writing posts, instead of working on the business like most of us are.

And now they're going to teach you how to do it for your business?

I'm sorry but I don't think I want to learn from someone who tells me to dedicate most of my week to sending a dm that starts with, "So, how did you find me?"

[I've been getting a ton of these in the past week and I know exactly which webinar they watched].

The goal with this method? To get the person to respond and make them go through this very awkward and annoying back-and-forth before you ultimately try to get them on a call.

I tried this method exactly once in the past and absolutely hated it. It makes me feel awkward, the other person doesn't even remember how they found you and you exit the dms feeling weird and salesy.

Do you know why this course creator’s 'one method' doesn't work for you?

It's because they have a bunch of followers who crowd in their comments, raising their visibility and who will obviously respond to that question. They sell this idea of their method being the surefire way to get more leads and more money without actually disclosing that it will likely not work for you.

The marketing and lead generation method that clicks for you?

You'll only discover it once you test out different marketing platforms and find one that clicks.

I'm sorry - this is the hard truth. One that will take time and effort.

Because you might realize you don’t like doing that thing everyone else is doing.

I’m calling out a few people.

1. If you’ve never enjoyed going on LinkedIn, why do you want to put a focus on LinkedIn in your content strategy?

2. You literally never listen to podcasts. Do you really want to go through the process of setting and creating one?

3. When was the last time you wrote something? Are you sure you want to commit to a Newsletter?

Every marketing platform requires a huge level of commitment and resources on your part. Sure, you could outsource it an expert, but is it feasible?

It’s why learning marketing strategy as a whole is so important. In order to create a marketing ecosystem that works for you, you need to test out different platforms and different mediums - who knows, maybe you are a visual person after all.

I’m not saying invest all your time and money in all platforms. But test it out for 12 weeks, see what’s working and decide if you want to continue.

And a method that worked once might not work again.

For example - last year, cold pitching worked really well when I was trying to get more copywriting clients. This year - a focus on organic marketing has worked out incredibly for my inbound leads. A few years ago, it used to be Twitter (but we know how that went).

This isn’t one of those emails that end with me saying, “here’s the actual course that will teach you how to rework it.” Sorry, I’m a website copywriter so I don’t benefit by saying this stuff and perhaps you won’t either.

But I’ll give you a few steps on what you should do instead for your marketing:

1. Create a great service - test it out a few times and get a few testimonials.

2. Have one place you can send them to - in order to get more information. This could be a website, landing page, pdf - anything, really.

3. Decide which platform you will enjoy creating for the most. Like I already mentioned, don’t do Instagram if you hate the editing process. Yes, your target audience will crowd on one platform, but they certainly exist on other platforms.

4. Test it out for 12 weeks. By the end, see if this is something you want to commit to for the next two years.
   Questions to ask would be - did people in my target audience interact with me or show interest in my service? Do I enjoy the creation process? Do I want to continue?
   (Notice how I don’t mention leads).

5. Don’t expect amazing results in the first six months. Marketing is a long-term game that works pretty much like farming. You have to plant the seeds but also keep watering it.

Read more on the months it takes for a billion-dollar company like Shopify for their marketing efforts.

You are not a billion-dollar business.

5. You will probably figure out the platform only a few months in.
   I’ve been posting regularly on LinkedIn since February of 2024, and it’s only in September that I feel like things have clicked. It only worked because I put in the hours to learn my writing style and the kind of posts my target audience resonates with.

6. Go all in. Give it your best. Something will work out.

But first, you need to put the work in.

So many people don’t. They put up a few posts, decide that leads aren’t coming in and then give up.

But you gave up just as your target audience was getting interested in you. Just as they were getting to know who you are.

End Notes

Chances are you’re a service provider selling a high-ticket offer. This isn’t the grocery store where people are picking up an item because it’s on sale or because it’s cheap.

Think of the last time you bought something expensive. I’m not even talking about a house or a car. But a plane ticket, a tech product or anything over $500.

If you’re anything like me, you took your time - to decide if it’s something you really wanted. You were probably looking for an excuse to not buy.

Is your offer something people need? No. But is it something that will benefit some part of their lives? Hopefully, yes.

It’s why they need the time to decide. Only when you keep showing up for your business, will you be able to remain at top of mind.

Because if they don’t buy, they will certainly know someone who is looking for you.

Turning that relationship from non-existent to ‘interest’ will happen only if:
a) you show up authentically,
b) without trying to sell something in every other post or dm
c) and show off why you’re an expert.

That’s something no bozo course creator will teach. Why? Because committing to posting and marketing isn’t instant or sexy.

How else will they scam you out of your money otherwise?

Happy marketing,
Maria

Ps: If you don’t remember, hi - I’m a website copywriter who positions creatives as go-to experts.

You’ve subscribed to my Friday newsletter, ‘Room for Marketing’ where I help creative entrepreneurs learn how to make room for marketing in their business by making the idea of it less overwhelming.

These usually run for 1k words+ (this one’s 1.4k words and most of it was written in the airport lounge), so please excuse the grammatical errors.

If you’d like to connect, here’s my Website & LinkedIn.