Chasing Financial Freedom

How to Ditch the Pitch & Start Connecting with Your Clients with Laura Templeton

November 09, 2022 Season 4 Episode 34
Chasing Financial Freedom
How to Ditch the Pitch & Start Connecting with Your Clients with Laura Templeton
Show Notes Transcript

Are you an entrepreneur looking to build relationships and grow your business? Then you need to check out this episode!

Laura Templeton, Founder and CEO of 30 Second Success is a networking and branding specialist who understands the importance of building relationships. She created 30 Second Success to help entrepreneurs create a clear, concise, and confident message that connects with their ideal clients.

With over 15 years of sales training, personal development, coaching, and networking experience, Laura knows how to help you create a clear, concise, confident message that connects with your ideal clients. 30 Second Success is the perfect place for entrepreneurs who want to take their businesses to the next level.

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How to Ditch the Pitch & Start Connecting with Your Clients with Laura Templeton


[00:00:00] Ryan: Hey guys, Ryan DeMent from Chasing Financial Freedom Podcast. I hope you guys are having a wonderful day. Today on the podcast we have Laura Templeton. She's the founder and CEO of 32nd Success is it? She's also an entrepreneur, Connector, speaker. Hold on. There's more author, writer, wordsmith, creative, Soul Network and branding specialist coach, mentor, friend to many.

Wife, mother, and a woman of faith. We got a lot to talk about with Laura. Laura, welcome to the show. 

[00:00:35] Laura: Thank you so much for having me here. I love being showing up for podcast interviews and hanging out with great people, so 

[00:00:40] Ryan: thank you. Awesome. Before we get into your story, I know I briefly introduced you.

Tell the listeners a little bit about yourself and then we'll get right into some good. 

[00:00:51] Laura: Yeah actually 32nd Success is a company that I founded about seven and a half years ago. Absolutely love helping people find that message that's, that really needs to connect with the audience and attract the right clients to them.

I love speaking publicly. I, the bigger the stage, the happier I am. I'm a geek that way. But I, when it comes to networking, some, one of the biggest struggles that I have and allows me to connect with people on a deep, deeper level is the fact that I'm an introvert and sometimes introverts really have a hard time connecting.

And so I love helping people figure out how to be more authentic in their communications. That attracts people to want to know more about them and make deeper 

[00:01:30] Ryan: connect. Amen to all that because all joking aside, I'm working with a mentor that can help me. I don't think I have a challenge with pitching when I pitch I'm pitching to investors in my day job and so forth.

The thing that gets me is the no. And sometimes I take it personally and it's never about that. And the thing we're working on is making it about. Coming on the ride with us. And that whole concept has always alluded me and now it's just kicking in and it's oh my gosh, that totally makes sense now.

But I've never been afraid to ask. It's just the rejection piece and it's come on Ryan, get over it, type of thing. But you need somebody else to bring that thought process in for you. But I think this is gonna be a great conversation, cuz 32nd success. I mean it's all about, putting your brand out there and making sure you connect with the right audience and.

We struggle. We struggle as human beings with that. 

[00:02:27] Laura: Yes. Yes. And we all do. Everybody, even like the most confident person struggles with the same thing. Because at some point in time they met someone who was. They felt was intimidating or make them feel at, Ill ease, and sometimes it's just a matter of realizing that it's not that the person's intimidating, It's not that the person is in a different position than you are, it's just that they're way more comfortable in that environment.

They're way more uncomfortable in presenting themselves well, and they have more practice at it. So sometimes that's one of the hardest things for people to overcome, especially entrepreneurs and business owners, from the perspective of your 32nd message, right? When you're networking and you're connecting with people, it's really about number one, just giving them enough to get them to get them to wanna know more.

Because we all know those people who like to throw up on you verbal. And it's oh my gosh, that's two tmi, tmi. But it's getting, being very intriguing and very, being very intentional and asking great questions and exactly what you said, making it about them. Yes. So when you start to make it about them, it changes.

When you start asking really great questions, you take the spotlight off of you and you put it on them, and people really appreciate that about having those deep conversations with you. They feel authentically connected with you when you're listening well, and you're hearing what their struggles are. So by you sharing what you said about the rejection and the no being something that's very difficult to handle sometimes you're absolutely right and no is a hard thing to overcome.

One of the, my, one of my favorite books, and I don't know if you're familiar with this, is called Go For No. Yes. Is The Destination, No. Is how we get there by Andrea Tour I'm sorry, Andrea Waltz and Richard Fenton. 

[00:04:18] Ryan: No, I have not. 

[00:04:20] Laura: Great book. Great book, Easy Read, and it's one of those books that really helped me overcome that fear of 

[00:04:25] Ryan: rejection.

I will be picking that up for sure. And take a look at it. So I'm I've noticed on, not noticed I've experienced on this entrepreneur journey cause I'm a two time trier. As I say, I've had two failed businesses and I'm on my third. Is I have a different quest for knowledge and thirst and I love to read or, and if I can't read, I do audible or some books on demand or whatever.

So if I'm working out or doing things, I'm still listening and still learning. And I think that is just a big. Changing my aspect when it comes to entrepreneurship and moving around because corporate America never taught me to, I call it to be a fisherman, cuz that's my analogy. I was always fat and happy.

Got paid every two weeks, nice bonus annually, and really didn't have to worry about a lot of different things. And in entrepreneurship, I have to worry about everyth. Making sure I've got a roof over my head, my bills are paid, food comes in on the table and my family's taken care of.

It's just a total different world. And we're gonna, I'm circling right back. If you don't have your message right up front and it's dialed in, how do you expect to attract the right customers to your business and be successful? 

[00:05:37] Laura: Oh, absolutely. And a lot of it has to do with understanding who your I client.

Especially in the entrepreneurial word, if we are putting out communications and we're putting out messaging out there, we're putting out social media posts that have nothing to do with the problems that our ideal clients are struggling with. We're not connecting with the right audience.

That's the foundational piece. When I work with clients, when I work with audiences, we really dive into understanding who your ideal client is. A lot of entrepreneurs like to avoid creating a niche market. And yet that's what we, it's really the best way to connect with the people that need you the most, 

[00:06:17] Ryan: for sure.

I am all about nicheing down. I had those troubles, tribulations, whatever you wanna say. And when I started learning to make. I don't sell anymore. It's all about marketing and putting yourself out there, and the message again, is not about you, it's about your ideal audience. And if you can't dial that in on the front end, you're gonna struggle.

But the, one of the biggest things that I've learned in this journey of marketing is if I just put what I feel out there with some data. People relate to it very well if you're targeting your right audience. I get that. But the challenge we see today is the instant gratification of social media with the internet.

Not saying it's bad, but unfortunately, When people comment on my episodes and my other podcast, they're like, We wanna be like you. And I'm like, You want to be an eight year overnight success. It, it's taken eight years to get here in eight years of dialing it in. And I still have struggles and I still have problems.

It doesn't go away, but I'm not gonna put one TikTok out or whatever video you want to talk about. And it doesn't change my life. I just keep on going. It's not gonna make me a sensation and I'm not gonna be a millionaire one night. 

[00:07:27] Laura: And that's the biggest thing is a lot of people realize that, being an entrepreneur takes effort.

I'll never forget that somebody, one time I was at the fifth year mark in my business and somebody was like, Wow, five years. That's impressive that I'm like, Five years. Why is that so impressive? And he says most businesses fail within their first five years. I'm like, Probably if somebody had told me that in my first five years, I might not be here right now.

So it's probably a good thing. I didn't know that. It does take time. It takes time to build your business. It takes time to be found in the marketplace. It takes time to build your brand and become known for what you. Within the, the market and within your network and as you expand and grow and people hear about you, that's what starts to create a trend that people are looking to learn more about you.

And yet, in the midst of all of this, in your eight years and my eight years, we had a two year life change that affected everyone. And we all had to basically go back, dial it back to, year one and figure out how to make this thing work in a whole different. . So it's like rebuilding your business, after five years is not uncommon in the entrepreneurial world.

Or rebranding. 

[00:08:39] Ryan: Rebranding. The other thing that I noticed during, you know, this life event pandemic, whatever you wanna call it, is I, we had a ton of eyeballs on social media and everybody and their brother was trying to become a YouTuber, a TikTok sensation. . And the one thing that I was very consistent about is posting videos never changed.

I post three to four times a day. Off of the podcast, I get anywhere between 30 to 60 short clips. So we have that, and then it's just, I'm back to the same. I'm back to this again. Consistency and persistent is gonna win the game out. And like you said, it's gonna take time for people to find you.

It's gonna take time people to relate to your actual message. And let's get into that cuz that's what you're doing. And we're talking to entrepreneurs, we're talking to small business owners and we have some listeners that are in corporate America still that have a side hustle and they want to climb that corporate cubicle and get out.

Tell us about, what we can do and start, providing some tips and then what you think the market's looking like going forward as we unfortunately people say we're in a recession, we're not in a recession. We've got inflation, so we've got problems. So how do we work with that within our businesses too?

[00:09:52] Laura: Yeah. The one thing that you mentioned the consistency. The consistency of what you're putting out there on a regular basis. The information that you're putting out there, taking advantage of that communications piece that we all have available to us. Whether, and knowing where your clients are showing up is the number one.

Thing that you need to understand. If your clients are showing up on LinkedIn, but you're spending time having fun on Instagram, your clients are gonna have a hard time finding you. So showing up with consistency where your clients are showing up is the one of the best things that you can do for your business.

I have found, and it's really interesting. I had joined a challenge for LinkedIn that I was posting something every. So I was literally posting something every day and I saw a jump in no profits in my business because of it. I had gotten invited to speak to a couple different organizations.

I had gotten invited to speak to a couple of networking group or networking groups, as well as doing a couple workshops for mastermind organiza mastermind groups. . So it was a great opportunity for me to put more content out there and share what I was talking about on a regular basis. And it wasn't all about, the other thing that a lot of people don't understand, it's, there's also that side of storytelling that takes a. Deep rooted effect on your listeners. You need to understand how people are hearing you when you're telling a great story or you're sharing an experience or the it's a process in how you are putting the content out there.

I, it's funny because I like to look at some of my content to determine what's getting the most action. And some of the most silly stuff that I'm putting out there that's lighthearted and like I'm laughing at myself, like something really silly just happens and I put it on social media. That seems to get the most engagement, which is really intriguing to me.

So I try to take a look at what's getting the most engagement so I can put more content similar to that out there, but I'm not posting the same kind of content every single. No, there's definitely a process and I'm not a social media marketer and I, but I know a lot of social media marketers who have very specific methods into creating that engagement.

And engagement is huge. 

[00:12:12] Ryan: Engagement is huge. There's one thing that I've learned in, in, in this other part of my journey of marketing Gary V. Someone I follow, and I know you've probably heard of him. One of the things that I try not to hear is the noise on either side bad or good. I try not to, I do look for engagement.

I do look for, what's resonating with my followers, but at the same time, I don't get too high and I don't get too low with that. And that's really helped me also because it keeps my message consistent because in my message it, it's whether. Promoting the podcast or I'm promoting my businesses.

When I say promote messaging it's very consistent. It's, here's what we're doing. We're telling a story over here in the real estate space, and here's what we're doing with the podcast in these great guests that were coming on and their stories. It's never about me. It's the lesson that we can learn from your story or from other guest story stories, excuse.

That really helps send a different message out to, It's not about me, it's about you. And we miss that a lot in pitches, in social media and in interacting with people. It's all immediately just go after it and it doesn't work that way. 

[00:13:23] Laura: And that's the thing when we make it, when we make it about ourselves, it's very difficult for people to relate to it.

So when you make it about other people and when you make it about your clients, your audience, it becomes relatable to the people that you want to connect with, right? And that's a big piece of it. It's being very consistent in your message. , even when you're networking your 32nd message, like when I teach the formula that I use, that I've learned years ago, you had mentioned before about reading and personal development and all of that, and I learned a very simple formula years ago from Brian Tracy that worked for me.

I figured out how to make it work for me, and then I started teaching other people how to use it. and it's being consistent in that message. It's being consistent in your branding, being consistent in what you're putting out there and how you serve other people. I can't tell you how many times I've shown up at networking events and like on a regular basis, and I've met the sa watch the same person deliver five different messages that are very different from one another because they're trying to figure out what's gonna.

The biggest thing to remember when you're doing your 32nd message is, number one, be consistent. Show up, say the same or similar message, and make sure that you're speaking to the right audience. Who is it that you're trying to attract to your business? Who do you love to work with? Who is it that your message is for?

It may not be for everyone in the room, but nine times outta 10, everyone in that room is going to know someone who needs you when you are sharing the right message. 

[00:14:57] Ryan: Amen to that. I. Throwing spaghetti on the wall doesn't work. And I've done it for way too long, and I can admit that cause I did it way too much.

Once you get that message down and can we, and I don't, I'm not trying to share, your secrets or whatever, but if I'm an entrepreneur or a small business owner and I'm struggling with my message, what could be some steps that I can work towards to get that message refined? And I'm gonna say it niche down because I know nicheing down to that right audience is work it.

It's gonna work 

[00:15:29] Laura: well. And it's the same thing I share from stage from in my book 32nd Success Stitch to Pitch and start connecting what I teach in workshops. It's all the same message and it's a very simple formula that I teach. But the first thing is understanding who your idol client is. Really create that client avatar and that paints a picture of who it is that you absolutely love to work with.

And I say paint a picture for the person who you love to work with. because that's who you're meant to serve. So people want, they think that they can work with everyone, but yet there's certain people that, if they had them as a client, they'd probably be like, ready to throw in the towel.

Why not work with people that you love to work with that really get you excited? And if you're very early in your entrepreneurial journey, You can still refine it over time. Your ideal client avatar can be refined over time, but at least you have an idea of who you are trying to attract to your business as far as clients go.

So once you know who your ideal client is, your message becomes very. Intentional about how to connect with them. So the, there's, it's a four part formula that I teach everywhere. It's number one, understand what's their pain or problem. , right? What's the pain or problem that you solve for your ideal client?

Number two is, how do you solve it? Don't tell me that you solve it by all these different modalities and certifications that you've got. That's not how we solve the problem. It's how you come into alignment with that person and help them overcome whatever that pain or problem was. It's what was the result.

. And then what's your call to action? I can't tell you how many people leave out a call to action in, whether it's in their content that they're writing or their message that they're speaking. They forget to tell people what they want them to do. Once someone is interested in connecting with you, what do you want them to do?

And the simplest way for me is I tell people all the time, schedule a call with me. Or maybe you want them to visit your website or sign up for your program or buy your book. What is it that you want them to do? Make sure that you have a very strong call to action, and your call to action has to be very strong.

It doesn't, it shouldn't be like, Oh, let's schedule a coffee date, or Please, when you have time, schedule a call with me if you want. That's, it's very wishy-washy. It needs to be very intentional because when someone realizes, Oh my gosh, she can help me or she can help someone, I. Or care about, then I wanna know what I need to do in order to connect with her.

And then the last piece is your name and your company. I always say save your name and your company for last, cuz you need to catch people's attention from the first thing that comes out of your mouth. So if you're spending time saying your name and your company, or if you have a company that's very familiar Hey, I work, I'm Laura Templeton with Edward Jones.

Oh, she's a financial advisor. I don't need her help. But if I said to you if I said to you, I protect people from having to be buried in popper's field oh crap, what do you mean right now I've got your attention, , right? So save your name and your company. 

[00:18:22] Ryan: I like that. Cuz I'm going down a another path cuz we, I've identified another.

Potential client, type of client that we could work with on the real estate side. It's a client that we've worked with before just went away from it. So now I'm back to that start. And one of the biggest challenges was listing out all their pain points. I thought of six, so I'm like, you know what?

The best way to handle that. And I know not everybody has this access, but I have prior clients that are in this space that we've helped. I reached out. And asked them their top three pain points. Yep. 

[00:18:57] Laura: That's a great way to get that. I got 

[00:18:59] Ryan: two outta six. I was bad and close But if I didn't have those, I don't know.

I would have to play around with that. The pain point, and what I'm talking about is IRA investors, self-directed IRA investors, so individuals. Like to invest. They have their own funds. They get to direct it, but their challenge is whether we're the economy's good or bad on any given day, 40% of self-directed investors are on the sideline earning zero for their return.

They're sitting in cash, and that is it. That translates roughly to six and a half billion. That's a lot of money. It's a lot of money. Of money. And when I ask a question, my first question is, Do you have lazy assets that need to be put to work? They look at me and go, What the heck is a lazy asset?

And then my response is, Do you have a self-directed ira? And they say, Yes. And I said, Are you in cash or you have active investments? I'm in cash. Boom. Just, I walked right in the door at that point. But the lazy assets, just like you talked about, right outta that sh right outta the chute, it's something that throws them off.

But they can somewhat relate to it cuz they can understand lazy assets. I'm an investor. I do have some assets, but I don't know what lazy assets are. Can you tell me more? I love it. It's crazy but that's, this is the best part about marketing and putting your message out there is if you're passionate about something, why not find the, like you said, you're there to serve that specific client.

Why not go after, Don't be afraid to niche down because you are going to relate to those people or businesses or whatever you're trying to serve so much better if your message is targeted to those, that group that you're meant to be or meant to serve by. Oh, absolutely. 

[00:20:48] Laura: Yeah, absolutely. And that's the biggest piece of it.

A lot of people don't understand that when you have a niche market, You are able, your content becomes much more clear, your messaging becomes much clearer, Your website, everything that you start to develop when you have that brand message really defined, everything else can be measured against it. It makes it a lot easier for you to create social media posts, create content to have conversations.

When you understand who that niche is and you start really figuring out that brand message that's very specific for that niche. It just, it makes everything else easier to communicate 

[00:21:26] Ryan: and it makes life so much easier and you can start planning out your social media, your marketing, or whatever you're trying to do.

It just makes life easier. But I gotta ask the question, number one obstacle. When you're working with clients or anything to that extent, what would you say that would be? 

[00:21:44] Laura: I think the biggest thing is people that are afraid to create that niche. The ideal client understanding when they really wanna niche down and really identifying who that is that they love to work with.

They're still struggling with the idea of creating a niche for themselves. 

[00:21:59] Ryan: Why do they struggle with that? What's the draw there or what keeps them away from nicheing down? It's 

[00:22:06] Laura: the fear of missing out, fear of missing out on someone who might need their help. They're afraid that if they niche create a niche for themselves, that other people that might need their help won't find them, won't come to them.

And it's actually the contrary. I find that when you create your niche and you really speak to your niche market and you're attracting the right clients to you, other people hear about you, hear about your work, and they'll come to you and ask you if you'll work with. and they actually are more attracted to you at that point in time.

And then you have a choice if your calendar's full with people that you love to work with, you can say yes or no. Yeah. And if you have someone else that they could work with, you could make a referral to someone else. I'd love to work with you right now. My calendar's full. Here's someone else that I know that can help you.

So make sure that you have collaborative partners in the wings that may serve that specific person a little bit more intentionally than you. 

[00:23:02] Ryan: So do you see that as a big turning point or, what, I guess I back it up. If they're struggling with that niche, what are you doing to work with them to get past that?

And do most people get past it or do they struggle with it to where they're like, I don't know if I can niche down. 

[00:23:21] Laura: Oh, most people. I think most people find that once they have that niche and we've really paired it down and we get to that experience, cuz I talk about the emotion. I talk about the emotion.

How does it feel when you're working with a client? When you have that client, how does, how do you feel when you are able to help them be more successful in their business? And really painting a picture for them and understanding that. Of the ideal client, nobody's ever told them, and maybe they haven't really understood that creating that ideal client doesn't necessarily mean that there's other people you won't work with.

It's, having that, being able to attract the people that you want to work with is way more valuable. People that see what you do and I would say, Majority of my clients have stuck in that niche and they're thriving with that. The few that, it's so funny because the few that didn't stick with their niche were ones that were weren't totally invested in working with me.

So the financial. When they worked with me, maybe it was a one off workshop or a free program that I did with them, or an opportunity that I was doing some explorative work with them and they of came into a beta test situation. Those are the ones that I find that that didn't seem to stick with it as well.

So ones that weren't financially invested. And really put their money into changing how they communicate or the ones that really didn't stick with it, which is really interesting. I find that a lot. I've had that conversation with a number of people 

[00:24:52] Ryan: that's quite interesting. So once you work on. Their 32nd pitch, what would be the next place to go?

What, how do you typically work with those clients? Is that the end or is that just the start? 

[00:25:05] Laura: Oh, that's just the start. Yeah. So most of the time with when I work with clients, my one-on-one clients is really about helping them understand what that messaging is, and then really, Diving deep into where are they networking, How are they finding clients?

What do you know making, How are they making connections? Looking at their LinkedIn profiles, their website profile to make sure that they're attracting the right people with the right message. So making sure that brand cohesion is there for them and that it really flows through helping them understand that those conversations even to the point of sometimes having, doing some sales conversations with.

So that they feel more comfortable around their messaging when they're a discovery call or a sales conversation 

[00:25:48] Ryan: with someone. Wow. So it, it goes in more depth than I thought. So could we go a little bit further into that and talk a little bit more about what you're doing? Cuz I know there's entrepreneurs that are listening that are probably struggling with a lot of these things that you're helping your clients.

Sure. 

[00:26:05] Laura: Yeah. Have to, I'm happy to help. So when we talk about the networking, understanding where you're networking a lot of times I find that people are networking once they under have a real deep understanding of who their I client is, they may be showing up at networking events that. Really are not tailored to the clients that they want to work with, right?

I have one client who is a financial advisor, and she works with young women, young career oriented women who are on a, they've got great income coming in, but they're not sure where their money is and if it's working for them, and she aligns with them. So she's looking to network more with profess.

So helping her understand what to look for in a networking group that would be, might be full of young professionals is one of those situations that we were looking for. Another woman that I work with is a is a health coach and, but she was very specific in what she was looking for.

She wanted to work in the corporate environ. In working with executives, corporate executives, so making sure that she was connecting with an organization that had a lot of executive women in that organization. Was, what we started looking for and helping her to understand what to look for and networking opportunities was a big piece of it.

So understanding where you're networking. I love my networking. It's more something that I've done for years. It's basically how I started my business And networking can serve you well when you're networking with the right people. And sometimes it's sad to leave a group that you've been with for a really long time.

But if they're not the right ideal client for your business. You can visit and you can spend time with them and stay connected out in other ways, whether it's through LinkedIn or Facebook or something like that. But more importantly, you need to be a, be willing to commit to moving to networking where the right clients for you, or the people that know them can be found.

[00:28:03] Ryan: Amen to all that. And that's tough. I've struggled with that too, and I totally know that, that game off topic question that just came to my head. Are most of your clients, they're entrepreneurs, small business owners, or is it corporations or a mixture of both, or a mixture of all three, I should say?

[00:28:20] Laura: Yep. It's a mixture of all three. I do a lot of, I do some corporate workshops, so I'm talking about how professionals really need to have that internal message as well as the external message and talk. And also being part of the brand for the company, really that marketing arm of the company. I'm actually expanding on something called that.

Design called the Workforce Marketing Program, where with corporate helping them understand how to take advantage of the referral programs they have set in place if their employees are not really using them, how to educate their employees on how to be better at using them and become part of that marketing arm.

But my, most of the other clients that I work with are small business owners and entrepreneurs in, that are networking on a regular basis and really are looking to expand their. 

[00:29:06] Ryan: So I got another off topic question and it just came to my head cuz I, I had a conversation with somebody last week about it is he's a, I say a buddy and entrepreneur cause he's still in corporate America.

I'm helping him with some business startup stuff and some questions and he potentially could buy an existing business. But one of the things we talked about was having a podcast that kind of opens the door to what you. And discuss it, and it's just an informational aspect. What are your thoughts on podcasting for small business owners and entrepreneurs to be able to get that help, get that message?

[00:29:43] Laura: I think there's a lot of opportunity in the podcasting world, but there, there are a lot of podcasts, so being very specific as to who you're speaking to and marketing it well, makes a big difference. I personally I've been on the fence for a while now about podcasting for myself, for my own business.

People keep telling me I need to have a podcast but it's just, it's one more thing, right? Ha, figuring out where it's going to fit into my. And, it's on the horizon. It's just not here yet. But for a new, somebody new, a new entrepreneur coming into the marketplace, if they've got a really great message that's making an impact and addressing things in a very different and unique way I would say definitely go for it.

Just make sure that your message can be found well and marketed. , 

[00:30:29] Ryan: And that's the game, podcasting. So chasing financial freedom, which we're shooting today has been around four years and it's now after four years taking off. But that's learning messaging, learning, going away from sales and going into marketing.

And then I have a secondary podcast chasing excuse me, chasing happiness that's only been around since the beginning of the year, and it's already taken off leaps and bounds just because the messaging is right. Is there a lot of podcasts? Yes, there are tons out there and I get, inundated with so many people that actually want to come on a podcast, but at the end of the day, it has to be the right guest that has the right message.

So I can keep consistency out there, but I've found that the. Podcasting has helped open up doors to other I call it avenues because they're not typically our clients, but they're people reaching out and inquiring and I'm like, Oh, wait, that type of client potentially could work. But I'll be honest, I haven't explored them because I have a channel that works very well and I stick with what works because ultimately that's where you want to be.

Now, can we expand out? Of course we can. When you have something that works and it allows you to reach the people that you can connect with, it just changes the game. And it's made my life so much easier going forward. And it's like, why didn't I do that before? And I keep on always joking about that is why did I always try to sell?

Why not just market and just go out there and put your message out there? And we as entrepreneurs, small business owners, I'll say it a million times, we struggle with that a 

[00:32:00] Laura: lot. Absolutely. Absolutely. And that's the difference of putting yourself out there in a way that is loving and supportive of other people.

Building those connections with the people in your network, that's, to me, makes such an impact on the world around us. When you have other people sharing your message for you, introducing you to people that are struggling. It's a lot easier for you to onboard new clients when someone else is standing behind you going, You need to work with her.

You need to work with her. It just, I would say at least 80% of my clients have all come from referrals. That's amazing. And that's, when I go back and I, over eight years time and I measure where my clients come, I've tracked and traced every single one of my clients where they've come from, 80% of 'em are from.

The rest of them are from network. That's 

[00:32:54] Ryan: great. Simple as that. Yeah. That's awesome. Can you share a success story of one of your clients, just to level the playing field and put it out there for us to hear what's going on? I, we all like to hear success, so I'd love to hear one if you could. Yeah, 

[00:33:09] Laura: no, and I appreciate that.

So one of my favorite stories to tell us of a woman who I worked with very early on in my business, and she's a Feng Shui consultant. Absolutely. I sat down with her several times, wrote 32nd messages for her, and, she loved them. They were great. She, they were awesome. And invariably, a couple days later, I'd get a phone call.

I'm not feeling it, It just doesn't feel right. And fi I finally, what I finally figured out is she's an amazing storyteller. And when I found a way in to she, she's I can't tell a story in 30 seconds. I'm like, Oh, yes you can, and we're gonna use the formula and here's the formula. When I sat with her and explained how to do it through using that formula, the, what was the problem, how do you solve it, what's your call to action and who you are, she was able to deliver it to the point that she came to one of our networking, women's networking events, and she stood up and did her 32nd message, and the women in the room started clapp.

Wow. I finally understood exactly what it was that she does, so it was amazing to watch the transformation and she just was on fire after that. She's just, she would tell stories about clients that she helped and what, how she helped them overcome their issues and she and her business just took off.

[00:34:25] Ryan: It. It is amazing how messaging can change a business in a very short period of time once you connect with the right audience. I guess not guess. I have another question. So there I'm just going off of my personal experience. I struggled with that messaging. I really fought the niche down and really looking for that ideal client.

How can we, Become better at nicheing down and being confident in that process to make sure our messaging is hitting that group of people we wanna truly serve 

[00:34:58] Laura: well, and I, the biggest, the easiest way to niche down and create that niche is to go back and look at your clients, right? Look at your client list.

If you don't have a client list, I understand. So give yourself some time to feel into it and explore. Who, just think about the personalities of the people that you want to work with. Are they're, are they engaging? Are they open to change? Are they, What are they seeking?

What kind of help are they seeking? Are they willing to give your recommendations to try? Know the personality of the person. It may not be a very specific company. If you don't have enough of a enough of experience behind you, but look at the clients that you have and go, Oh my gosh, if I could have 10 more of them, my, my life, my heart would be full.

That's what I look at. I look at how your clients make you feel. How do because at the end of the day, you have to be happy with the work that you're. And you're, the emotional connection that you have to your clients changes everything because they become part of your, I tease my clients all the time.

Once you're mine forever. You become part of my family. I call on you, I check in on you, see how you're doing. It's just, you become part of my family. It's just, I feel. You've given me a gift to allow me to help you and to be in your life. And I wanna remain there. I look at it that way and I, I encourage people when you're figuring out what that niche is, think about the emotional piece, right?

Who is it that, you have a gift that you were born to help people with and who is that? Think about the people that need your help the most. Okay? Just be careful that it's not the broke people. 

[00:36:43] Ryan: Ah, there you 

[00:36:45] Laura: people are broke for a reason, cuz most of the time they don't want to be 

[00:36:49] Ryan: fixed.

Yes. And we have a saying in our nonprofit, We'll be here when you're. Because you can't fix people that don't wanna do the work. So can we go back to the person that does not have a clientele yet? Sure. Are there any type of tools or any places that individual can start looking to create that persona or something you would suggest?

Yeah. 

[00:37:12] Laura: Yeah. If you look in, in my book, actually, I have a whole section called Finding Your Ideal Client, and it really outlines how to what are you looking for, what are you discovering, how are you finding them? Or, you're welcome to reach out to me. I'm happy to help people walk through that if they're trying to figure out who they're meant to serve.

[00:37:30] Ryan: Okay. We'll have to, we'll put your book in the show notes too so people can actually reach out for that. I think that's really cool. The thing, and this is back to me, is I struggled with putting a persona together, especially when I did not have a customer client base. When I first started this business.

The thing that I try to use was looking for those individuals that, that pretty much met what I was trying to do. I struggled because I got too far in the weeds. I wanted to find, a male that was 35 to 43 years old that was doing X, Y, and Z. And it became over complicated and really threw my whole process off.

How can we do better and make sure that we don't fall and go down that rabbit hole, as I say. 

[00:38:14] Laura: Yeah, it, and it can be, some people have found themselves that they were like, they wound up nicheing to, to refine. And it threw them off personally. Remember that it is, it is a, an overarching theme, but also remember and it's funny because I've had a couple clients who've been through a situation where they thought their ideal client was this person.

But then someone else kept bubbling to the surface, right? Somebody else kept bubbling to the surface and asking them for their help. Just like you mentioned before in this one, that one real estate leg of people that are starting to reach out to you. There's other people that, and that's when you take the opportunity like, Okay, wait, I thought this was my niche, but maybe I'm really meant to work with these people here.

Your niche can change. It can. It can change over time because number one, you are grow. You are growing, you are changing. You are attracting different people. You're going deeper in the work that you're doing. What you start out doing today is gonna be different 10 years from now. Of course my business is very different now than when I first started out.

Like I just, you asked me about how, people, helping people find their ideal client. I have a co an online course and I'm went, Oh wait, I forgot to mention my online course. My business originally was designed to be, writing books and online courses and doing workshops, and now really expanding my speaking.

That's where my heart is. I'm moving more towards the speaker stage, so my business has changed over time. So be willing to shift. As you feel into understanding the deeper client work that you're intended to do. 

[00:39:56] Ryan: And the funny thing is when you shift. Sometimes the clients that you thought were not your ideal clients come back into that lane and you actually have a different lane and you add it in there and it's amazing how everything just comes into play as you evolve as a business owner, entrepreneur.

However, your message evolves. Everything changes because on a daily basis, we're evolving as humans. And when you're putting that message out there, You potentially could be tracking somebody else to that message doesn't mean it's good, bad, or indifferent, but it just, you have to be open to it. And I love that you talk about that because a lot of entrepreneurs and small business owners really get, and I have this problem, I put my head down and that's where I stay and I don't look and have this broad horizon to where I see the whole.

And it's funny is because corporate America taught me to, Cause I was running call centers, 2000, 3000 people reporting me. I had to see the whole picture. But for some reason, when I became an entrepreneur and I was so narrow minded, that's part of one of my downfalls and I don't know why I did it, but I know now if someone starts coming into my fold and I.

Okay, let me research that. Let me take a look at it and see where it takes us. But you've gotta be open to those things and be able to make some changes on the fly because ultimately it could lead you to something even better. 

[00:41:18] Laura: Oh, absolutely. And that's the other thing. It's just being open to opportunity.

Sometimes we're so quick to say no and then it's wait, because I've been asked on several occasions, do you. And very early on in my business I was asked, Do you do content? Do you do marketing? What you know, do you do website? Does you know content? You know what? What are you doing?

And in the beginning I started saying yes to a lot of things, but over time I was like, Yeah, I like doing that, but it's not. I wanted to stay my lane of really helping people with the 32nd message, and it was taking me away from the work that I felt that I was intended to. So exploring the what ifs or the could yous is a great opportunity, but again, knowing what you are meant to do and what work that you, what work lights you up and gets you excited, helps you to make those decisions of, is this a good opportunity or is it something that I need to pass on to 

[00:42:17] Ryan: someone?

Oh, we can get in the whole psychology aspect of that because most of us don't chase what makes us happy. We listen to all the noise out there and everybody telling us that we have to live this this specific life or this type of life, and we don't really sit down and actually just take some time and figure out what makes us happy, what fulfills us, our passions.

Because, And I'd love to ask you this question. This is my. Most things can be monetized. If you come up with it, there's a way to monetize it. Certain things, probably not, but if you have a passion to do something, you could find a way to monetize it. It may not happen today or tomorrow, but it can happen over time.

But why do we go away from that? That's the biggest thing is if you're happy about something, go after 

[00:43:02] Laura: it. And that's one of the things that I always say is, If God gave me the idea, he also gave me the ability to make it happen. 

[00:43:12] Ryan: Yep. I totally agree with that. We're running up against a hard stop here.

So Laura, how can everybody get a hold of you? 

[00:43:20] Laura: Easiest way to find me is through at my website 32nd success.com. I am branded 32nd success on all my social media and, but I mostly play on LinkedIn, so if you wanna connect with me on LinkedIn, that's probably the best way to do 

[00:43:33] Ryan: cool. We will also put a link to your book in the show notes so people can find it there.

And then we will be exci. I wanna hear some more stories cuz we're running outta time. But this is something I'm very passionate about, if you can't tell, is I want entrepreneurs to be successful. But we get in our own ways. And having a coach like yourself to help us get there is huge.

So guys, listening, watching, If you guys think Laura's the right fit for you, please reach out to her. She'll definitely help you and get yourself into a better place. So pay attention, listen to her. She's got some good ideas. Laura, thank you for coming on the show. It's been an honor. It's been a great conversation and I hope you have a great.

[00:44:14] Laura: Thank you so much for having me, Ryan. I appreciate you inviting me on. 

[00:44:18] Ryan: You're more than welcome.