How this messaging shift can change the game of your business.

Welcome to The Empowered Edupreneur Podcast. My name is Michelle Smit, and I am an ex-teacher turned online business coach for Edupreneurs, the owner of Digiteach and a six-figure entrepreneur. I am in love with empowering educators, just like you to create freedom filled online businesses and lives they love.

If you are looking to uplevel your skills, your finances, your mindset, and change the trajectory of your life as an educator in business. Then you are in the right place. Think of this podcast as your weekly dose of business and mindset development to help unlock the infinite potential within you to play bigger with your life and go after your dreams. 

We are going to have so much fun together. So thank you so much for pushing play today. Now let's dive in. 

Hello. Hello. It's so good to be talking to you today. I hope you're having a wonderful day. Yeah, I was wondering what to talk about today. And I thought, you know what this thing that I'm going to share with you is super subtle, but can make such a big difference in your business and in your sales and in the people you work with, it can be so transformational and it is so subtle.

It's so subtle that it's often hard to even see. I'm going to dive into that today with you and I really hope that this brings a certain awareness to you. And just helps you make the subtle shift in your marketing, your messaging to change, your sales, make things easier attract the right people into your offers, everything.

Before I dive into that, I want to share that I am hosting a live master class. This is my Quadruple Your Teaching Income Masterclass, and it is going to go down on the 30th of May. We only opened the doors for the masterclass for people to sign up yesterday, and we've already had a hundred people sign up. 

So that's exciting. I'm really, really happy about that. Unfortunately, we've got a limit to 500 people in the virtual room. But basically this is going to be a master class where I share my four-step launch success system that has helped me make hundreds of thousands of dollars in course sales and help my students make collectively over a hundred thousand dollars in course sales and, change their life. It's changed my life. 

It's something that I think is such a absolutely essential skill to learn. If you want to have a business online, like you just need to know how to launch. And it's something that I have a lot of experience in after doing it for five years and teaching people to do it for five years.

So I'm going to be sharing my system with you that I've perfected over the years in this masterclass. And at the end of it, I'll also be offering a really special offer into the Digiteachers Biz Academy as well. So I am excited. I feel like I'm going to offer something a little bit different as well, which is great.

And those who are there for that period of time, I think it's going to be a very short period of time, but they're going to be able to get the special offer. So yeah, you can click the link below this episode. If you want to sign up for that masterclass, just to feel into if my method resonates. 

So that's that you can find the link under the episode. You can go to my Instagram and you'll see it there as well. You can also message me if you can't find it, just message me. I'll send it to you. Okay, cool. Let's go back to the episode.

Today I'm going to talk to you about one single shift that can make all the difference in your business.

And listen to this question. Are you speaking and focusing in your messaging to empowered students or empowered people, or are you speaking in your messaging and in your offers and in your marketing to disempowered students and people? Okay. Empowered and disempowered. I want you to think about that.

Often people are focusing their messaging, their marketing, their offers, the way they talk about their offers. To the people who aren't ready to invest and may never likely invest or want change 

So there is this convincing energy that has to happen in their marketing and their messaging which is like a feeling of I'm going to convince you that this is what you need and I'm going to convince you that this is the solution, which is so difficult, actually. It's so difficult, takes a lot more energy to convince someone that this is the solution versus just going to someone who knows that's the solution and saying: here I've got the solution for you.

Takes a lot more energy and a lot more work in your marketing to do that kind of heavy lifting. Because ultimately you can't force someone to invest in a course or a group coaching program if they simply aren't the type of person to invest, grow, expand, learn, evolve, if they're not there yet, psychologically. If they're not at the point in their journey where they're like, yes, I'm actively seeking the solution.

I'm actively wanting to make change. I always say it's like having a vegan course and selling it to non vegans and like talking to non vegans about it. So if your marketing is explaining all the reasons why people should be vegan and why this is the right thing for people to do, then you're speaking to the wrong type of person because vegans who are actual vegans don't need to be convinced to be vegan.

They just are vegan. They've already made that leap in their head. They identify as a vegan, they share the same beliefs and values as a vegan. They don't need to be convinced that they should be vegan. So if you are then saying in your marketing, if you're talking to them about why they should be vegan and why they should do this thing and why they should learn this course or why they should apply this thing then you've already lost the battle. You're speaking to the wrong people, because real vegans are not going to resonate that with that.

They're like cool. I already know this information I don't need to be told this again You're not actually solving the problems of the vegans. You're just speaking to why you should be vegan. And that is something that I see happening all the time. And ultimately, if you're speaking to the wrong people, you're just fighting a losing battle.

In that case, you want to be speaking to the vegan people who already share those values, share that sense of belief, and then show them how your offer can help them improve their experience or reduce their pain and get them to what they want. So that's a little subtle thing.

I see people wanting to help people with X and then focusing on people who don't want help with X, it's bizarre. They speak to the wrong people. And so often people are subtly speaking to the wrong avatar. And they're often speaking to the disempowered person who is A, not solution and aware at all and B, is not actually ready to make a change. Not at a point where they're like, cool, I'm actively seeking a solution and I want to actively make a change. 

They just aren't there yet. And I am guilty of this too, because back in the day for many years, I spoke to much more disempowered people in my messaging and in my marketing.

And I was not speaking to my ideal avatar. Although I thought I was speaking to my ideal avatar. I realized that my messaging actually wasn't, it wasn't at all. Because my ideal avatar was someone who was driven, hungry for change, willing to work to make a change in their life, ready to expand, ready to grow, entrepreneurial in their spirit ready to stop doing the things the way they were doing as teachers. Charging hourly rates and teaching a million classes a day, like ready to really change the way they do it. 

And also my ideal avatars actually an educator and teaching business owner who already knows they want to create a course. I don't have to convince them, create a course or a group program and sell that.

I don't actually need to convince them that much. Those are actually my avatar and they know they want to do the thing and they're at a point where they're actively seeking a solution on, okay, how can I do this? How can I launch this thing? How can I make this happen? What I was guilty of back in the day is I would often speak to really struggling teachers who were really burnt out in my messaging. And really, is a very struggling teacher who is completely burnt out the right person for me to help? Not really actually because I can't solve burnout.

I don't have the expertise to heal your burnout or get you to a place where you aren't burnt out. It's not my niche. It's not my thing. It's not my job. And it's not the thing that I help people do. But can I help ambitious educators or teaching business owners sell a course and grow their income and impact online and sell a group program at scale and make a lot of money and regain back their time?

Then yes, that is my expertise. That's what I help people do. And those are the type of people who come into my world and they get results because they are driven, entrepreneurial, hungry for change, ready for change, and willing to invest in their growth and expansion. Those are my people. Anyone who's not, that really isn't my ideal student avatar. 

I know the people that I can help because I've worked with so many people and I've seen the characteristics, the values, the ways of being in people. Who they are as a person. I see how certain people are more likely to have success and execute and, are aligned with me and I don't have to carry them throughout the whole thing. They carry themselves. 

I just mentor them. And that's a difference, right? Those are the people that I want to help. Those are the people that I can help. And those are the people that get great results when we work together. And so when I shifted my messaging to those people and I started speaking to those people, it felt so much more aligned because my dreams clients really started to come in. People who resemble my values, my beliefs, my mindset, all of that, those people started to come in because my messaging was talking to them.

I wasn't talking to a disempowered person who was at a different phase in their life. I was burnt out and depressed and very broke at a time in my life. And that was a part of my life at a certain point. And then I changed that reality for myself. And now I'm much more empowered, I'm in a much better financial situation.

I've got a much more evolved mindset. I'm much more entrepreneurial. I want to speak to the version of me that is now, and I want to work with the version of me that is a bit more further along than, someone who's just in a classroom and struggling and has no solution, has no idea what to do with their life.

I can't really help them as much as I can help someone who is very clear that they want to grow a business online and they want to sell courses online and they just need help on how to do those things. That's the person I can help. So this is a very subtle change in my avatar and my messaging and it really changed the game for me and my business.

And so I want you to ask yourself, are you really speaking to your ideal avatar? Who you want to work with. Your dreamy person, the person who you really enjoy working with, who actually will apply themselves and get results. Who is ready to take action and execute, who's ready to make a change in their life.

Are you speaking to those people or are you speaking to a slightly disempowered person who is not ready yet? They might become ready later. I'm not saying they won't. But they're actually not ready right now. And They're either don't know the solution. They just stuck in their pain and they're not ready to make a shift.

They're not ready to invest. Are you speaking to those people who need to be convinced? These are very subtle things you can realize if you go back and read your content. Look at who you're speaking to, because these are two very different people. And the one is much more empowered to make buying decisions and is like, yes, let me do this thing versus the other who you need to convince, convince, convince, convince. And then maybe five years down the line, they do it which one's going to be better for you and your business.

Which one are you going to enjoy working with more? So on this topic, disempowered versus empowered buyers are at different awareness levels, and I'm going to share with you these awareness levels. Ultimately you need to know the awareness level of your ideal client or ideal student, and then you want to speak to them.

And meet them at their awareness levels. So you want to meet them where they're at in your messaging and your marketing. And that's going to make a big difference because then it's going to resonate with the right people. It's going to repel the wrong people. And then you're going to pull in the right people into your offers.

Okay. So here are the different awareness levels that you can speak to in your marketing. I'm going to share five. The first one is completely unaware. So this is when your avatar has no knowledge of anything except his or her own identity or opinion. They're completely unaware. You don't actually ever want to speak to the completely unaware people because they're completely unaware.

They don't know their pain. They don't know the solution to their pain. They just know who they are as a person. So that we know we're not speaking to. Then the next level is problem aware. Now, this is when your avatar senses that they have a problem, but they don't know there's a solution. Now, most people are often in that problem aware space.

For example, a lot of educators are very aware that they are not in a sustainable teaching system. They are burning out. They are feeling limited. They are feeling tired. They're feeling exhausted. They're seeing that it's not financially rewarding that they're overextending themselves.

Most of them are at this problem aware space, but they don't yet know what other thing they can do to solve this problem. They have no idea of a solution. They just know that they have their pains and they're in their pain. So that's the problem aware avatar. The next level is solution aware.

Now, this is when your avatar knows they have the problem, but they also know the result and what they want. They know what their solution is to their problem, but not yet that your product is the solution. So they know they have the problem. They know the solution to their problem, but they don't yet know your product provides that solution.

So example of that is teaching business owners who are very aware that the current model that they're teaching in a one on one model is not sustainable, and they are maxed out on time, they are maxed out in their earning potential, they've got the ceiling to their earning potential and they're feeling limited.

So they know that, but they also know that offering a group program or a course or some sort of digital product is going to solve that problem. It's going to help them make money without having to keep teaching. So they know that that is the solution, but they don't yet know how to do it and which program to do to help them make that happen.

That DBA for example, is the offer that would help them launch their course or group program and make that money and get back that time. It's typically better to focus on solution aware people. So you want to focus on the people who know they have the pain.

They understand their pain. They also understand the solution to their pain, but they don't yet know what product is going to provide that solution. So they haven't yet got the product solution, right? Example of this is like say mothers, who have like a newborn baby. They know that they're sleep deprived and in pain and their child's not sleeping.

They know, that the solution to this problem is to sleep train their child. Now, I don't know if this is a ethically correct thing to do anymore. I don't know, but I'm just giving an example of my head. They know that the solution is to sleep train their child. So they know that. They're actively aware of that solution.

They're now going to go look for, okay, I'm going to sleep train my child. I need to sleep train my child. So now they're aware of it. So they're looking for that solution already. They just don't yet know that your course is going to help them sleep train their child. And that's the only thing you need to really show them.

You don't then need to convince them that they should sleep train their child. You don't have to do that. Because that would be more problem aware people is when the mother is sleep deprived and their child's not sleeping and they have no idea what the solution is. You don't have to then convince them that sleep training is the right thing.

All you need to do is focus on the solution aware moms who already know that sleep training is the solution. They just need to be shown that your offer is going to help them do that thing and get them what they want. That's the difference in problem aware and solution aware. And most people focus a lot of their messaging and their marketing on the problem aware people.

So the people who know they have a problem, but they don't yet know the solution. And then you end up having to like convince, convince, convince that this is the solution versus just going straight to the solution aware people who already believe that that is the solution. And then all you need to show them is that you can help them reach that solution with your offer.

 So you see how those are very subtle, but very big differences, right? Then after solution where you've got product to where people, so that's when your avatar knows what you sell, but they just aren't sure if it's right for them. So then all you need to do is show them how it's right for them. 

And then right at the top of the awareness is the most aware. So this is when your avatar knows your product. And only needs to know the deal. So what is the special offer, for example. Now most of the audience is typically in problem aware or solution aware. And there will be people who are product aware, who already know what you sell, but they are not sure if it's right for them.

So you want to speak to, in my opinion, more of the solution aware people and the product aware people. And of course you can speak to the problem aware people, but you don't want to focus all your energy on that. And I do find when it comes to empowering versus disempowering Ideal Student Avatars or clients or customers, I find that when you stay in the problem aware space.

Where the person doesn't yet know the solution, they're not yet ready to make that shift. They're not ready to make buying decisions. And that's a disempowering place. You don't really want to be there too much. So I want to give you an example of a messaging difference to a disempowered version of a avatar, and then messaging to a more empowered version of the same sort of avatar, but more empowered. So it's almost like the problem aware versus the solution aware.

So the disempowered messaging to a more disempowered person who's maybe just in the problem aware awareness or problem aware state. This is an example of it. 

Are you a burnt out teacher who is tired of working endless classes all day? All day to make ends meet feeling exhausted, feeling limited, not having enough money to go and do the things you love and being and having no time.

I just said that off the top of my head, it's not very clean, but basically that's what I'm speaking to. I'm speaking to a person who's burnt out, who's working 24/7 teaching endless classes, who almost has no money and almost has no time. Is that person very empowered at this moment? Probably not.

They're probably not in a good space. They firstly have no awareness of what solution there is. So they're not solution aware at all. They're just stuck in that problem aware state. They feel their pain. They're very much in their pain. And they're not really in a great space.

So that's example one. Now, if I take that and I shifted to more empowered messaging to a more empowered version of that avatar. Are you a driven teaching business owner who is ready to launch a course and group program online and grow your income and impact for years to come? Even when I say it, it feels better.

It feels more aligned because that's actually the person who I know I can help. They're a teaching business owner. So they have already made the shift into having a business. They're not fully in the classroom and things like that. Not like there's anything wrong with that. I've helped a lot of people who are fully in the classroom or fully online teachers do this.

Like I do believe that, you can still be fully in a classroom and fully online and still be a hundred percent empowered to build your online business. Most of us build it on the side of our job anyway, but this just felt like, okay, cool. They already have made that shift and they know they want a business.

I don't have to convince them. They are solution aware. So they are actively aware that they would like to launch a course or group program, because that is the solution to their teaching all day and every day. So that is really key. They already know that this model is the solution. And they are driven.

So I put in the word driven there because that's the kind of person that I like to work with. And those are the people that tend to get good results, is when they are hungry for change. It implies that they are ready for change now. When I speak to those people, the people who are those people resonate. I call them in. But then the other people, say, for example, the educator who is completely burnt out, really just In a bad way in their current working environment has no solution of what to do next.

They're not going to really resonate with my messaging, but the other people will. And so this is the whole thing of your messaging wanting to not necessarily repel people, but ultimately you don't want to be there for everyone. So you do want to repel, but also attract the right people. And it's such a subtle nuance shift in who you are speaking to.

And this can be applied to all businesses in all of your niches, whether you're a language teacher, because I know many of you are teaching languages or this or that. Are you speaking to the problem aware people? Or the solution aware people? The disempowered people who are not ready to make a change or the people who are actively seeking a solution and are ready to make a change.

If you start speaking to the people who are solution aware and actively seeking change, you're going to have a much easier time. So instead of focusing on the people who don't yet know that there is this solution to their problem. And they are not at the place in their lives to make an investment decision and a buying decision.

Don't focus on those people. Don't speak to completely broke people in your messaging. I see that also all the time. Are you completely broke and burned out. Is that really the person you're going to be able to help? Can you solve all of their problems and get them out of burnout and out of being broke?

Probably not. They're not in a good place to make that investing decision or to take your coaching program or to buy your course or whatever. Because they're in a state of survival. There is a massive market, right? And there are segments of the market and then you've got these big parts of the market, which are problem aware, they're in their pain.

They're not aware of their solution, and they're also not ready to make buying decisions. They're just not there yet, but then you will have a sliver off the market, a smaller percentage of the market that are solution away that are in a better financial situation potentially. That are even if they aren't in a better financial situation, they are hungry for change.

They are actively saying, I am ready to do this thing and I want to do this thing and I'm looking to do this thing. If you focus on those people, they are much more empowered to make that buying decision and you don't have to do so much heavy lifting and convincing. It's more like, let me just show you how I can be the person to help you reach the solution.

Let me show you how my offer is the right offer for you. That's what you need to do. Instead of saying, hey, let me convince you to do this thing. I'm just going to say, hey, let me show you that this thing is actually the right offer for you. So it's very subtle and I hope I've explained it well.

It's quite a difficult thing to explain. I feel like I needed a whiteboard marker and just to draw it out. But I do hope that I made you see that there's just a subtle shift in the way that you speak to people and who you speak to. And ask yourself, this is where you go back to your avatar work.

Who are your ideal students and customers and clients? What are their beliefs? What are their values? Are they solution aware? Do they already know that this is the solution? Are they problem aware? Do you need to convince them of that solution? Where are they at in that awareness level?

And are they hungry for change right now and ready to take action. Or are they, needing more time and this and that a million things to convince them to take action. So my dream client already knows that they want to grow an online business, a freedom business, launch courses and group programs and expand themselves in that space.

They are already actively looking at how they can do it. They maybe just don't yet know that I can help them do it, but they are really looking for that. And when I speak to those people, I know that when they come to me, I can help them the best. And it's going to be a much better fit than if I were to have someone who is just in their pain, completely burnt out and have, no real clue on what to do next. 

I can't help them as much because firstly, I'm a business coach. I'm not a therapist who can heal burnout. And there's other things that need to be addressed. And also starting a business when you are completely burnt out can be difficult. Although I must say when I was an online teacher.

I was pretty burnt out, but I wasn't burnt out from working so much. I was burnt out from working on stuff that didn't energize me. And my purpose wasn't being fulfilled. So when I started working on my business, I started to see my purpose was being fulfilled and I was being energized by my business.

So even though I started to work harder when I was in my business and I had to put more time into my business, then what I was as an online teacher. I was energized by it because it meant something to me as opposed to me just working for money. I was working for something bigger than myself. And that I believe is actually the root because of burnout is not you're working too much.

It's just, you're working too much on the wrong things that aren't important to you that don't feed your soul. So anyways, that was just a little side note. But yeah, I hope this was helpful to you. Check your messaging, check your marketing, check how you speaking to people. Meet people where they're at and meet your ideal clients where they're at in their awareness level.

And really make sure you're speaking to empowered person who is ready for change. You can convince people. But it takes a lot of energy and time to do it. So yeah, there's going to always be empowered people in your audience who are actively seeking the solution and are ready for change.

So speak to those people. All right. Just another reminder, I'm hosting my live Quadruple Your Teaching Income Masterclass on the 30th of May. It's at. 6 p. m. Central European time. It's live, so we'll be live together. I'm hosting a Q&A at the end. We're going to get lots of questions answered. There are just 500 spots in the virtual rooms.

There is limited space. So definitely grab a spot if you want to learn about launching. I'm going to share my four step launch success system, which has been really a game changer for me and my students. And simplifies launching your course or group program. And it's just one of those systems where you just rinse and repeat and scale up, and you can have really incredible results with it.

This is the magic of launching and I can't wait to share it with you. And I hope to see you there. You can just click the link below this episode or anywhere around. Message me if you can't find it, I'll send it to you. And yeah, it's totally free. So I hope to see you there and I hope you have an amazing rest of your week.

Bye.

 Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. I have some exciting news for those of you who are wanting to learn more about how you can launch a course or group program online and fill it with dreamy students. I'm hosting my free Quadruple Your Teaching Income Through Launching Courses masterclass soon. I'm going to share my four step launch success system that will help you launch any offer online and fill it immediately.

It is a life changing system that has helped me make hundreds of thousands of dollars online, as well as change the lives of many of my students. This masterclass is free. It's going to be live. There's just one session and there are limited spots in the virtual room. Click the link below to join us. 

I appreciate you so much and I can't wait to connect with you in the next episode. In the meantime, go create a business and life you love.