Most marketing exists as a means to persuade people to buy the thing the business wants to sell. But this can be really hard, and can lead business owners to avoid marketing as it all feels a bit uncomfortable and, well, "icky".
This sort of marketing, however, is "upside-down" and the good news for you is that there is another way.
I call it "Upside-Up Marketing", and it starts with understanding the people you want to work with and creating offers they actually WANT to buy.
This makes marketing much easier, and definitely takes away that ick.
In this podcast I take my experience from my background in psychology and behavioural sciences and combined with my 20+ year career in market research, to help you create offers people actually want to buy, and share them in a way that feels good both to you AND to the people who might buy them.
Some words work for you in marketing. Others work against you - without you even realising it. If you’re getting polite likes, a few “love this!” comments, but no real leads, your messaging might be blending into the noise. And often, it’s down to the words you’re using.
In this episode of The Upside-Up Marketing Podcast, I’m revealing five words that could be costing you clients, and what to say instead to attract the right buyers and make your message stand out.
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MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO: 👉 Download my free resource “Three Techniques to Validate Your Offer Before You Launch” (aka “three ways to check if people will actually buy your thing”!) here: www.orangesheepresearch.co.uk/validate
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🧡 Enjoyed this episode? Why not share it to your social media and tag me @orangesheepkatie – here’s the link: https://youtu.be/0z68QdgNEk4
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When you’re ready, here are three ways I can help you get faster results: SUBSCRIBE to "The Upside-Up Marketing Podcast here on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts
DOWNLOAD your "Ideal Client Anti-Avatar" to help you focus on the things that DO matter, forget the things that don't - and how to tell which is which: www.orangesheepresearch.co.uk/anti
WORK WITH ME: Go deeper with me 1:1 to create "Perfect Fit" offers and content – if you're ready to say goodbye to having to work so hard for every sale, and let your content and sales pages do the heavy lifting for you so you have people in your DMs already pre-sold on the idea of working with you, work in depth with me as we craft your magnetic message and create an offer that (pretty much!) sells itself – connect with me on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/katie-spreadbury and send me a message for the details!
***Please bear with me as I migrate systems and update the tech in my business! There will be straight-up links to everything soon but for now don't be afraid to send me a message on socials, I promise I won't bombard you with DMs trying to convince you to buy, or "just checking in to see if you've had any more thoughts..." - that's not my style. At all. *****
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Connect with me on socials: ➡️LinkedIn (the best place to find me): https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-spreadbury ➡️Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/orangesheepresearch ➡️Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orangesheepkatie
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TIMESTAMPS ⏱️ 00:00 Introduction: Why Your Marketing Isn't Working: The Problem with Vague and Overused Words 02:16 Common Words That Weaken Your Message 04:48 Word 1: Overwhelmed 07:54 Word 2: Empowered 09:23 Word 3: Stuck 13:25 Word 4: Next Level 15:19 Word 5: Aligned 20:40 Bonus Word 22:12 Conclusion and Free Resource
You can download your complimentary guide to "Three Techniques to Validate Your Offer Before You Launch" here: https://www.orangesheepresearch.co.uk/validate
If your marketing feels like it should be working but instead you're getting polite likes the odd love this comment and barely any real leads, then this episode is for you. There are certain words that when I see them in people's marketing copy, they just make me feel a little bit sad. Sad at the missed opportunity. Bad words as such, just words that are either far too vague to connect or so overused they've lost any real meaning. Or both. I'm talking about words like overwhelmed, empowered, next level. Words that sound perfectly reasonable, but they're diluting your message. They're diluting the power of what you can do for people, every time you use them. When your message sounds vague and generic, it blends into the noise instead of standing out to the people that actually need and want your offer. And when that happens, you risk the people that you want to help not even noticing you, never mind buying from you. So in this episode I am sharing 5 words with you. That are weakening your marketing that are stopping you from standing out and I am sharing with you exactly what you can say instead To make sure you are attracting exactly the right people to your business and not blending into the sea of sameness That's already out there. So by the end of this episode you'll walk away with ways to make your messaging sharper More specific and way more compelling. Welcome to the upside up marketing podcast. Using marketing to persuade people to buy your thing is hard, icky and not an effective use of your time. It's an upside down way of doing things. Introducing Upside Up Marketing. Helping you create offers people want to buy and share them in a way that feels good. All over a nice cup of tea. Hello, hello and welcome to the Outside Up Marketing Podcast. My cup of tea has got cold. I've spent so long faffing around with this episode but I really have enjoyed writing it so I really, really hope that you enjoy listening to it as well. I've been worried all week because my daughter's lost her voice, and I knew I had to record this today, and I've been thinking all week, oh no, I hope I don't get her cold and lose my voice and can't record the podcast. It's all good, it's fine, I still have a voice, um, so, we'll get through this. But yes, today we are talking about words that could actually be weakening your message. Diluting it, like mistaking regular squash for that double concentrate stuff and only putting a little splash in the bottom of a whole pint glass of water. Blech! Not good. Um, and the troubling thing about this is all these words are perfectly reasonable words to use. I'm not talking about Things that are obviously crazy to put on your sales pages. Like, this offer is terrible or this may or may not work. Um, take a gamble. You know, things like that. I was talking about things that feel perfectly logical and reasonable to have on your sales pages, but are actually, like I say, diluting the message that you are trying to get across and not really portraying your offers and the incredible things that you can do in the most powerful way you could. And that is going to lead to people. Not understanding instantly that you're the right one for them, and it's going to take a lot more Mental capacity for them to know whether the offers for them basically I'm talking about words like overwhelmed, empowered, take things to the next level Things that sound perfectly fine, so there's no judgment here if you've used them I know I have like they They sound like a perfectly reasonable way to talk and you see them everywhere in the online business world. So there'll be things that you've internalized and It's just like what flows out your fingers when you write, isn't it? So they're not wrong as such they are just not as powerful as they could be and that's what we're about here Isn't it? We're about taking things to the next level making sure they're relevant to The real people behind the avatar, the actual human being that's out there hearing the message and making sure that you are attracting the absolute best fit clients for your programs because they're the ones who are going to get the most out of it. So they're the ones whose money you want, not people who are going to come into the program and then not get the result. You don't want their money. You know, they'd be better off spending it somewhere else. Until they're ready to work with you. So, um, so yeah, we're talking about making, making your sales pages a lot more powerful by avoiding these five words and what you can say instead. By the way, if you've not met me, my name's Katie Spreadbree and I help businesses who are spending far too much time on sales calls tighten up their messaging So they can sell more straight from their sales pages, directly from their content, without having to have those long, protracted DM conversations or face to face sale call conversations, um, where you're trying to, it feels like you're trying to convince the other person You want people coming to you who are already sold on it and already know they're the right fit. So that's what we're doing. And a big part of that is the language you use. So we're going to start with this word and I think this word is possibly the most commonly used in the online business space to describe the, the before, the struggle, the pain point, the, you know, the problem that they're facing, and yet it could actually be reducing your chance of attracting the right people. And that is So why doesn't it work? Well, number one, it's everywhere. Everyone is helping people who are overwhelmed, it feels like sometimes. So why should overwhelmed people listen to you specifically? And number two, it's very broad. Everyone is overwhelmed at one point or another, but at what point do you need to pay for help with that? I mean, I felt pretty overwhelmed on Friday where I had a day of the working week left and I still hadn't done half the jobs on my to do list for the week and, you know, and I was like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, trying to get through them all. That felt pretty overwhelming. But by Monday, fresh start, new week, five days ahead of me, um, I was pretty fine, thank you very much. So if I'd seen that offer on Friday, I'd have been too buried in stuff to actually click on it, notice it, pay attention to it. By Monday, when I wasn't feeling overwhelmed, wouldn't have really connected with me, because I was feeling fine that day. So, um, it's a tricky one. It's a tricky one, because, yes, your ideal client probably is overwhelmed. Just telling them they're overwhelmed, that's not necessarily going to collect. We tend to flit in and out of overwhelm, depending on how much sleep we've had, what we've eaten, you know, whether we've managed to have lunch yet, whether we've had our morning coffee. So it's not the most powerful word to use. Instead, if you help people who are overwhelmed, you'll get far better connection by putting out exactly what overwhelmed looks like to them. So for example, Um, Are you drowning in client work, leaving no time to focus on the things that make your business run properly? Meaning that you're forgetting to pay yourself every month, or you just missed a deadline with HMRC, or you haven't actually managed to post on socials for two weeks because you're too busy doing your client work. You know, that's, tell them what overwhelmed looks like, um, and then you can go on to talk about the impact of those things not happening. Do you have more ideas than you have time to implement? That can feel pretty overwhelming if you've got new ideas pinging in your head all the time and you want to bring them all to fruition, but you can't. Um, that wouldn't necessarily, uh, identify with overwhelmed, but that is overwhelmed, that's another way it could look. Um, do you find, do you find, oh this is a good one, do you find you start every week saying, this is the week I'll get it all done, but by Friday you're floundering under the task you've not yet completed? That relates to the example I just told you about what my week was like last week. What does being overwhelmed actually look like to your ideal clients? Because if you can get them to see themselves instantly, not having to think, well, sometimes I feel overwhelmed. Do I feel overwhelmed enough for this? If you can pinpoint something that's actually happened for them, that's where the power lies. And that is what is going to get them noticing you, going, yes, yes, that is me, and reading on. Okay, so that was overwhelmed. The next word I want to talk about, this word that you might put in your copy because it sounds like it's really good, this one actually sounds powerful, but it could be weakening your message, is empowered. See, it sounds powerful, it sounds like powerful. Empowered. Why doesn't that work? It's aspirational, yes, I'll give you that, it does sound quite, well, yes, empowered, I feel empowered. But then, once you start to think about it a bit harder It's vague. It's hard to see exactly how being empowered will change their lives. Beyond a general optimistic feeling, what's actually going to happen for them? What are the tangible benefits? What does being empowered actually look like and what does it help them achieve? So instead you might want to say Feel confident in your pricing so your ideal clients don't get the jitters when they see you hesitate over mentioning it on the sales call. Confidently speak up, knowing that what you have to say is valuable and worthwhile so you can get that promotion hold your boundaries with confidence so that people respect that when you say no, you mean it and don't push back. You know, all of this is what you can achieve if you're empowered. And you could probably go even deeper than that on each of those, but they just all demonstrate more clearly what it looks like to feel empowered, what it means they'll be able to do in their lives. Do you see how much more? Well, power that holds. How much more empowered would you be if you didn't use this language? But I mean, can you see that? Can you see that coming through? Okay, the third word I want to pull out, which I think is actually weakening your messaging rather than adding to it, because it could be pulling in just the wrong type of clients for you. And that is stuck. A lot of people say they help people that are stuck. But my concern with this is this. If someone is stuck, it sort of, it implies they're not looking for a solution. It, it, stuck is quite an inert word. It implies inertia. It implies they're, they're stuck. They're, That means that someone's broken into your house and they're going to be like, you know, bashing your head against the wall and they're not getting anywhere. They're, you know, stuck in a rut, that kind of thing. It's not an action word, but you want client clients who are action people. You want clients who are gonna work with what you give them, who are going to take action on it, and who are going to get the results. And, stuck doesn't really imply that to me. Um, it implies someone who needs rescuing. And people who need rescuing are rarely the best clients for you. People who need rescuing are rarely those that are going to move forward quickly and I'm going to take what you give them and fly, and get the results that you want to get for your ideal clients. Stuck implies helpless, and that's not who you want in your programs. You want people who feel temporarily held up, like they are searching for the solution, but they haven't found it yet. If I'm actually looking to achieve a result, I would never say I was stuck because I'd be actively trying to achieve that result. I'd be out there learning things. I'd be out there looking for people who could do it for me. I'd be looking, you know, I'd be out there doing stuff to move myself forward. And when you're doing stuff, it's very hard to say, Oh yeah, I'm stuck. Because stuck is like I've reached the end and there's nothing else that I can do. So instead, try describing what the struggle looks like for your ideal client. So not for the person who. Isn't even looking for a solution because they're like, oh my god, I'm just stuck Um, so if you help people who are stuck with what to post on social media change that to you've watched every YouTube video And how to plan your content, but every time you sit down that blinking cursor on that white page is mocking you Instead of stuck at 5k months you could say your revenue has plateaued at this certain level, and you're ready to take the next big leap. Um, offer a career coach, instead of stuck in a job you hate, say you hate your job and you can't bear the thought of being stuck here, but you need confidence your next move will be the right one. Do you see how much more forward focus and actionable those ways of describing it are? And just have a think about The different type of people, the different attitudes that people will have that will be attracted by those messages. Um, Messaging to the struggle is really, really easy to do but it really can attract the wrong type of clients. The ones who are stuck in the struggle, the ones who feel like they need rescuing, Rather than those who are ready to move forward. This is a massive area So actually i've got a whole dedicated episode On messaging to the struggle the impact of that and what to do instead coming up very shortly I've even invited I don't normally have guests on this podcast But i'm going to start having guests because there's a few areas I want to talk about where Other people just have far more expertise and this is someone that i've worked with before um on this. So, um, I'm, I'm deliberately leaving it vague because we haven't actually done the interview yet. So I don't want to tease it and then find that, you know, for some reason, like maybe I lose my voice and the interview doesn't happen and I have to wait a bit longer. But there is an episode coming back up in the future about how to message to those people who are ready to move forward. Those people who are, um, going to be. The absolute best clients for you, not the ones that are stuck in the struggle and are going to stay in the struggle. Um, so if you're interested in putting in more of that sort of client, make sure you hit subscribe or follow on whatever podcast player or YouTube you're watching this on. Whatever YouTube you're watching this on, that combination of words didn't quite work, did it? But you know what I mean. Um, to make sure that you find out when that episode drops because it's going to be really, really powerful. So yes, that is stuck. Okay, the next one, um, I've, I've, I've definitely used this before, so no judgement at all. But, um, the next one I want to talk about, the next phrase that you might be using in your marketing copy that, instead of adding to the effectiveness, is actually diluting your message, is Next level. Let's take your business to the next level. Let's take your fitness to the next level. Yeah You've probably, and if you haven't used it, you've certainly seen it out there. It sounds great, doesn't it? Who doesn't want to get to the next level? Sounds powerful it sounds inspiring but There is a big risk here that you're going to attract people that are uh, completely the wrong stage for your support. Because next level means something different to everyone. One of the key things that your content and sales pages should be doing is filtering out the people who aren't a good fit for you. And because one person's next level could be scaling their successful offers, uh, to increase their annual revenue to six figures plus. For the next person, it could be making sales more than once in a blue moon. These two people are going to need different things, um, and they're likely to work in quite different ways. So it's unlikely both are going to be suitable for your offer. So, this is my challenge to you to be more specific. Don't be afraid to spell out what the next level is for you. Because if you don't know, the people reading your sales page certainly aren't going to know and they are going to think, well, I mean, my next level is I want to scale six figures, but. If they just mean, like, getting consistent sales as the next level, this isn't for me. And vice versa, you know, so you could be attracting completely the wrong people, or end up with such a variety of people that you can't deliver your offer in any consistent way, and it just becomes so much more work for you. So yes, my challenge is to get more specific and, and figure out what you want your ideal client's next level to actually be. What stage are you actually with working with people, and what does that next level look like? Okay, the fifth word I want to talk about that could be actually weakening your message, not making it stronger, is one I struggle with almost every single day because this is something that I help my ideal clients with and that is aligned It feels nice, doesn't it? But it doesn't create any strong visual or emotional pull. It doesn't really mean a lot. It's very hard to picture what aligned actually looks like. So I help people create offers that are aligned with their ideal client. But what does that mean? Well, actually, what it means is. You know, their ideal client sees them, immediately knows it's for them and wants to buy it. But, you don't get that from Aligned. It feels almost like, um, a very, it's a very flat word, isn't it? It doesn't feel that inspiring, it doesn't feel that emotional. Um, it's very hard to picture what Aligned actually looks like. And for the person who is, uh, your, you know, your ideal client, your potential purchaser who is on your sales page, what does Aligned mean for them? It's rarely the priority for them. Um, an aligned business or one that makes money? You know, what's gonna be the biggest pool there when you've got bills stacking up and you know a family to support? I know which one I would choose. So it on its own. It doesn't really mean much now You might say to me but a line business will make more money Well, tell them that tell them that tell them why it is something that they want so instead of saying we'll help you create an aligned business model say A business model that fits your life and your responsibilities so you can work the hours you have and feel no pressure to log back on after the kids have gone to bed, for example. Or, an aligned offer, as in an offer that's aligned with the person selling it, the provider, the business owner, would become after the initial euphoria of making the sale has worn off. You don't have that dreadful feeling in the pit of your stomach that, oh god, now I've actually got to go and deliver this. Do you see how much more impactful that is? Someone who is, making the sales but then hating the delivery because the offer they've got isn't aligned with what they want to be doing, that, they're going to relate to that straight away. Whereas if you just said we'll help you create an aligned offer, it doesn't mean anything. So do you see how much more powerful that is? And I've realised I've said that a lot throughout this episode, but Really, this is about putting more power into the way you're describing what you do. And doing that will make sure that your ideal clients, they fall on your sales page, they see themselves instantly, they recognize this offer is for them, it helps them with the problems that they have, and it gets them to where they want to be. So this is all about really, really making sure that people get that when they come to your sales page. These kinds of swaps make messaging clearer. They make it more emotional and they make it more specific. So the right clients instantly recognize themselves in what you're saying. The real key is The real key to this, so I've given you examples there, but the real key to figuring this out for yourself is in using the words your ideal clients are actually using themselves. No one is out there saying, I'm overwhelmed and I need a more aligned offer to empower me to get unstuck and take my business to the next level. No one's saying that, they're just not. They're saying, I've got too much to do, this is all getting on top of me. I need to be making this money every month, not just every now and then. Real people. Real words. And of course the best place to find the real words that your ideal client is using is directly from their own mouths. And oh, I've just thought of a bonus one actually, um, I'll tell you about it when I finish telling you about this. Um, but yeah, another word where you're gonna like this one. I'll tell you about it in a moment. But yeah, sorry, um, the real words from their own mouths and So I've created this resource for you, which, uh, you can download for free today. Um, it's called The Three Ways to Validate Your Offer Before You Launch. You Launch, or in the spirit of today's, uh, episode. I think I should rename it to three ways to Check if anyone will actually buy Your Thing. I think I genuinely think I should change the name to that. What do you think? Let me know. Find me on social media and let me know if you think I should change the name to that. Um, it's three, it's three questions that you can ask your followers to make sure that um, A, they actually want your offer and B, that you can, by asking these questions and looking at the responses you get, you, you get the language they use to talk about the problem itself. The language they use to talk about the result you're going to achieve for them and the language they're using, the actual words they're using to talk, to talk about what's holding them back and why they haven't achieved it yet. So. So yeah, go and download that now. And you can use these questions, you can ask people face to face, you can put them on social media, they were initially designed for social media, but you can adapt them any way you want. You can ask them in your emails, wherever you are, wherever you have a following, wherever you have contact with your ideal clients, ask these questions to get the real words that they're using. You can download that at www. horseshoe. com Orange Sheep Research. Orange Sheep as in, um, Alan, my little orange sheep here. orangesheepresearch. co. uk forward slash validate. I will pop that in the snow, snow, I will pop that in the show notes because it was a very long link to remember. Um, but yes, grab your copy there and you can do that. And yes, that extra bonus word, the one I just thought of, um, you're gonna like this is everywhere. This is everywhere. Authentic. I'm laughing because, um, obviously I've used the trick that all podcasters use and pretended I've just thought of something I'm going to say at the end to keep you listening to the end and that is a very inauthentic thing to do. And the word I've thought of is authentic. So, this is making me laugh a lot. Um, But yes, how many times do you see that though these days? Authentic. And it makes sense. People are genuinely worried about sounding like AI. They're genuinely sick of all the fakery online. Your ideal clients aren't thinking, Oh, That content looks inauthentic. I want to sound authentic. Real people, real words. That's not what they're saying. They're thinking this is all a load of BS. I do not want to come across like this to my people. I want to have real conversations with real people. I want them to know that I'm a nice, normal person that they can get on with. Because that's what you are. A normal person talking to normal people. It doesn't need overthinking. It doesn't need dressing up in the sorts of language we've been talking about today. And if you're worried that you're veering into online marketing speak, the trick I always use is if this person was sitting in front of me, if I just met them at conference or something like that. Is this the words I've been using? Would I be talking like this? How would I be describing it? And if the way you describe it in real life is different, maybe have a look at the text you're writing and change it to be more like what you would say in real life, because that's the real talk, that's the real words. Now that feels like a lovely place to end, doesn't it? That feels like we come full circle. Um, if you've found this episode useful, I would hugely appreciate a like and subscribe. Um, and don't forget to grab a copy of the resource I mentioned, um, and let me know if you think I should rename it. What was it? I said I would change it for two, uh, three ways to check if anyone will actually buy your thing. Um. Don't forget to grab the link in the show notes and download that that will also add you to my email list by the way which means you'll not only get a ton more Content like this and helpful ways of connecting better with your ideal clients for your messaging But also you'll be first to know when I release new spots to work with me one to one on Finding out this stuff for you about your ideal clients so Do that and I will see you next time and in the meantime remember to question everything including your assumptions. See you next time
