Have you ever read a book so good it completely shifted your perspective on something?
This happened to me recently when I read "100M Offers" by Alex Hormozi.
As the title suggests, the book focuses on creating offers so good that people feel stupid saying no to them.
The book breaks down this process into 6 stages and in this week’s newsletter, I’m going to go over each of them and explain how you can implement them into your design business.
Stage 1 - Finding the Right Market
First things first, are you attracting a hungry audience?
What does it mean to have a hungry audience? Let me give you an example:
Imagine you buy a bottle of water from a grocery store...
You would expect to pay less than if you were at a concert...
And significantly less than if you were at the airport.
So, if you were selling the bottle of water, where would you prefer to sell it?
The airport, of course! That's where you would earn the most.
But it goes beyond that...
Why?
Because the thirsty travellers buying the water would value it more than someone on their routine grocery store trip.
Therefore, they would be willing to pay more.
The same concept applies to the world of brand design.
Choosing the right market (which is often overlooked by designers, including myself) is crucial not only for creating an irresistible offer but also for getting paid what you deserve as a designer.
To avoid becoming a starving artist, invest time in researching the market you are targeting. Ensure they have the financial means to invest; otherwise, you will constantly face the objection of "I can't afford your services."
Stage 2 - Understanding Your Clients' Pain Points
If I were to ask you why people inquire about your design services, would you know? If your immediate answer is "Because they need a new logo," then you may not be thinking deeply enough.
You see, actions are often driven by pain, and in order to position your services as a solution, you need to understand your clients' desires, needs, and frustrations.
To identify your customers' pain points, you need to:
Determine their ideal outcome (what they experience when they reach their destination). For your clients, this could include an increase in sales, brand recognition, and more.
Once you understand this, make a note of any obstacles preventing them from achieving this outcome. This might include poor customer loyalty, an unprofessional image, and more.
Finally, list the solutions to these obstacles. Identifying these will enable you to create offers that address your target audience's pain points and position your service as a solution. In brand design, this could involve providing brand strategy services to ensure they are targeting the right audience or a professional visual identity to help them stand out against competitors.
Stage 3 - Your Unique Value Proposition
Have you ever wondered why someone would choose your design services over those of your competitors?
If your answer is something like this ⬆️, then my friend, you need to work on identifying your Unique Value Proposition.
As a designer, this could be your design style, industry experience, client track record (did you know I once designed for KFC 👀), or your ability to apply strategy to a brand.
Once you have identified this, you can incorporate it into your marketing materials.
Stage 4 - Urgency and Scarcity
Now that you have attracted the right market, understood their pain points, and developed a unique value proposition, it's time to shape your services/offer around this audience.
In this stage, it’s important to add some urgency to encourage potential clients to take action.
For us designers, this might look like:
Stage 5 - Social Proof
Now, here's a stage that I have often misunderstood in the past. You see, I used to boast about what I could offer businesses, such as a new logo or visual identity.
However, what businesses really wanted to see were the results I could deliver. They wanted to know how my services had a positive impact on the businesses I have worked with.
To gather results like this, I implemented a section into my client portal that asked for a testimonial upon delivery of a client's design files. Additionally, I now check in on clients a few months after project completion to collect any results.
By doing so, I can share these testimonials on my website, social media, etc., which helps build trust and persuade businesses to invest in my services.
It's important for you to do the same! ☝️
Stage 6 - Provide a Guarantee
The final step in creating an offer that people can't resist is to make them feel secure when investing in your services.
You can achieve this by offering a money-back guarantee or a satisfaction guarantee.
Make this guarantee so compelling that their investment carries no risk.
As a designer, your guarantee might sound like this:
Bonus stage - FREE goodwill
One thing I’ve been doing since I first started my business (unknowingly, at least at the start) is providing free goodwill.
Through my YouTube videos, social posts and free resources, I give out valuable content without expecting anything in return.
The result? I receive messages from people like this:
When you share something valuable with someone, you become associated with that value. This leads to long-term benefits such as securing more clients, attracting new leads, and having people spread the word about you.
So, start providing as much FREE goodwill as possible to your target audience. This can involve recording a loom video, auditing a business's website and social profiles, and providing them with tips and advice on how to make their current branding more consistent. For example, suggesting they stick to just three colours on their website.
Or another idea would be if you notice a business always use their logo in JPEG format (with a white box around it), you could take their logo, outline it, create a PNG file, and send it to them.
Stuff like this goes a long way, and it won’t be long before you have people raving about you.
I hope the points I've gone over in this email have been helpful. This book was a real eye-opener for me.
But now I have a question for you: What's one book you recommend every business owner/ designer needs to read? Hit REPLY and let me know!
See you next week!
Abi 😊
p.s. Check out this week's podcast here - where Jack and I discuss our most influential book reads!