LY Podcast: Ep. 46: Getting Started with Your Transformation Statement for Your Course

Melissa Anzman (00:00): This is the Launch Yourself podcast, episode 46, all about how to create your transformation statement for your product. For more information and show notes, go to LaunchYourself.co/46.

Melissa Anzman (00:16): Welcome to the Launch Yourself podcast. My name is Melissa Anzman. I'm a best-selling author and the CEO of two businesses, an employee experience company, and launch yourself where I help entrepreneurs diversify and scale their business by launching digital products each week, you'll hear mind blowing interviews, where we peek behind the curtain of other people's launches, as well as actual tips and strategies that you can implement in your daily work life to create launches that actually make you money. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let's get started.

Melissa Anzman (00:52): So many people come to me because they have this amazing digital course that they've created, or maybe it's a membership site, or maybe an ebook. What have you. And they aren't able to get it to sell. They've done all the things that those courses and gurus out there have taught them to do, which is do this type of funnel or Southwest type of way, but they haven't gotten clear on their offer and more importantly, their transformation and the transformation is one of those things that you spend a lot of time hammering out, figuring out, nailing down, doing the tweaks, testing it and so on. But once you're there, you really have to narrow it down even further. And that's what I want to talk about today is how to narrow down your transformation and clarify that statement or outcome because in order to successfully sell any type of digital product, including your online course, your product needs to provide one specific transformation or outcome for the buyer.

Melissa Anzman (02:00): And being very clear about that. One thing that your course or product is going to solve is critical because without that specific outcome, your buyer, the person who is ready to hand over their cash for your thing is going to get lost in what it is you're selling and move on to something that is more specific. Now this is a lot more involved than just niching down. It's about solving one specific problem that your clients already have and are in pain about right now. And we tend to create products that do too much, or we want to throw in all the things and knowledge and steps and everything we've ever learned on how to create something or accomplish something to create that best absolute transformation we can because we think, Hey, people are given us money. We got to deliver, right, but in the online course world and truly offline too, I've done so many trainings through my HR career as well.

Melissa Anzman (03:10): It is overwhelming to the other end to the buyer. If you're trying to throw everything and the kitchen sink at them with one course, and instead of saying, Hey, this thing solves my one specific thing. It's like, Hmm, I'm not really sure what it solves or that looks like it's going to take me a lot of time to get through. And I don't really know what the outcome is. So I like to think of a lot of what I do between the difference of a being a specialist and being a generalist. So when you are a generalist, you wear many hats. You may be slightly good at a lot of things, but your knowledge is a mile wide and an inch deep. And so it's good for those quick tactical hits and so on. But when you are a specialist, you are very narrow in your knowledge area, but you go way, way deep.

Melissa Anzman (04:08): And so when you are looking for someone to solve a specific issue that you have, you don't want this generalist. You don't want someone who knows just a little and then moves on, or you're not quite solved, or what have you. You want a specialist and you're, you're still not following. I want you to think about doctors. So there's obviously a ton of people who are doctors, and then there are a ton of different specialties. So you are going to go to a specialist. If you have a very specific problem, you start with your generalist. You go to maybe your primary care or family doctor, or what have you. But then when you know, there's an issue, you go to someone who sees those things day in and day out. And this same is true when it comes to us creating and selling more importantly, our online courses and other digital products.

Melissa Anzman (05:07): Because if you include too many things, if you are too much of a generalist and what you're trying to solve, or how you're speaking about what you're trying to solve, when it comes to talking about your course, your buyer, isn't going to see themselves in it. Instead, they're going to find a narrow solution that gets them out of that pain, or they may be overwhelmed or feel stuck or buy your thing and never finish or get the results. Because from their perspective, they have an urgent need or pain point and want a solution right now to solve it. They need to be confident that they can actually do what it is that you're asking of them. And we want our transformation to be so narrowly focused that our buyers aren't going to be overwhelmed and can immediately see themselves in your transformation statement, which is part of your offer.

Melissa Anzman (06:10): And so I want to give you some ideas of where to start and how to narrow in, on that pain. But before I do, I want to think about maybe who you are. If your clients are six figure business owners, um, they may have very different needs than someone who is just starting out. So if you are trying to sell your course and it's, Hey, learn how to start a business, you are going to absolutely miss those six figure clients, because they're not thinking about that. That's not the transformation that they want. That's not the pain they're in their pain may be, Hey, I want to get to my next six figures, or I don't know how to build a team, or I'm not sure how to scale my business beyond me doing all the things. So we want to really understand our audience for this, and then be sure we're very specific in what we offer because for your client, I want you to consider what is that one thing, the one step, the one aha moment that you can provide.

Melissa Anzman (07:22): And then what you think about as you build and scale and move on is what's the next step in a different product. So that's how you scale these things. And this is why Ascension models work very well because the entire psychology behind the tripwire funnel, which I just dated myself with that language. That whole thing is when you join a list, you buy something at like $7 really quickly to trip wire them into a purchase. And then you nurture them into selling that $497 thing, because this works because you got them a really quick win with your lead magnet or a trip wire or challenge, or what have you. And then you can bring them into the next thing. Now, if you're stuck, figuring out what your client's transformations are, the best performing transformations are your clients before and after stories. Now, this one is huge because before and after stories are one of the most compelling transformation stories people want to buy.

Melissa Anzman (08:29): If you're like me, you always stop your Instagram scroll. When you see the side by side weight loss or muscle gain stories like that is so visually a before and after it's the ultimate before and after. So if you work in weight loss or wellness, you have a slight advantage to other businesses in at least visually in most cases, the before after, because those types of transformations tend to play quite well. So for your business, I want you to find what those before and after stories are. And if you're not sure, start by thinking about where your clients that are already coming to you, where are they starting from then ask, what is the very first step? And I want you to take that and take another step backwards because they are usually starting in a place that is well before where you think you're starting because you are the expert.

Melissa Anzman (09:31): And so using this weight loss example, um, your client, you may think your client is saying, Hey, I want to lose 10 pounds. How do I do that? Well, they probably have a before step. They may have seen themselves in a photo that didn't resonate, or perhaps they're saying, Hey, I'm not feeling great. How do I move forward? So he wants you to take the before and take a little bit of a step back, or even a better example in that same space. He may say, Oh, well, I just need to teach them how to eat better. And they may not know that there's a way to eat better. Right? Like, you know that cause you're the expert, but they may not know that yet. So take your starting point and take a step backward for the before. And so that is a way that you can do that.

Melissa Anzman (10:20): What is that first step? And then where are they coming to you to accomplish? Now, here's some more examples if you're just starting your coaching business. And you're just trying to think, you know, what are some before and after stories, you may have people that come to you that say, Hey, um, I just graduated with a coaching certificate. That's there before, or I'm considering being a coach, or I have a website only, but I don't have clients yet. Or maybe they've had a few beta clients, but they still feel like they're faking it. Or they have an email list of a thousand people and are unsure what to do. Next. The point here is, are these are your clients who have come to you and they're all starting in different places. So it's up to you to detail out where each of them said they started when they came into your ecosystem and where your first step was in serving them.

Melissa Anzman (11:20): This is the before. And the transformations that you have already delivered. Now you may have five, or you may have 50 clients to share, but detail each of them out, because this is going to also help you see not only trends, but also using the right language when you get to your sales page. Now, when you consider the after part. So we have our before of the model, when we consider the, after this is the achievement, your client experiences, and it's the satisfaction moment. So here's a big mistake that you can make when identifying the, after, which is we think it has to be this big transformation to us. So those fitness posts losing 50 pounds obviously looks visually like a bigger transformation than losing those 10 pounds. But to each person who's experiencing that transformation, they are both feeling like big transformations. And so for those same clients that you've created those befores using those examples, I just shared, I want to map out what their after looked like now, I'm not going to walk you through like those big ones, like that'll fit, losing 50 pounds, because those are very easy for you to identify.

Melissa Anzman (12:40): Like if somebody made $10,000 after working with you, that's a really big transformation that you can easily identify, but I want to help you uncover some of the smaller transformations in quantifiable numbers and help you see how you can uncover them for yourself. So using those same examples from before, if someone came to you and their before was they just graduated with a coaching certificate. Well, they're after could be, they have a business plan and their first playing, paying client and 20 people on their email list. That's a good after for them. Or maybe they've been considering being a coach while they're after, as they created a side hustle plan to start taking on coaching clients while still working full time, or maybe they're before is they have a website only, but no paying clients the after could be. They started an email list. They have an organic referral engine in place with specific actions to take each day or perhaps their before is they've had a few beta clients, but they feel like they're just faking it.

Melissa Anzman (13:48): They're after could be, they are clear and confident in their expertise and ready to serve their clients or perhaps for the last one they there before is they have a thousand people on their email list and they're unsure what to do next while they're after it could be, they've set up a weekly newsletter with an ask to buy in their template for each email that goes out now to you and me, if this is your client, they may seem like small wins. They may seem like smaller transformations, but for each one of these clients, these are huge before and after is they went from stuck to action in their experience with working for you. Now, if you're sitting here saying, you know what, Melissa, that's awesome, but I don't really have a before. And after first, I'm going to say, yes, you do get really clear and dig into it.

Melissa Anzman (14:43): But if you're still not sure where they're coming from, we have a few other strategies to include. The next strategy is the obstacle to start strategy. Now this one addresses the most common objections your clients have before working with you or when they're just starting out. And so, if you're thinking about this, I want you to consider why hasn't your client take an action or accomplished or completed or seen success or alleviated the pain before. Now, then what you're gonna I do is narrow down on that obstacle and solve it with a digital product. The transformation is a literally getting your clients started with success. That's what your transformation statement becomes. It could be a quick start up boot camp, a seven-day challenge or so on, but it gets them started. And this is the premise behind the book, Atomic Habits, by James Clear where habits start with small motions that build over time.

Melissa Anzman (15:48): And this same is true for success with and for your clients. Like, so how do you get this? You want to outline all of the obstacles your clients have before they start and create a lot of free content. Um, and you can even do paid content if you want to a dress this. So you can create those big products, like a course for this approach, but it may not fit as well. However, what you can do is you can use each module. If you're doing a course around getting started, you can use each module as a way for your client to keep overcoming the next module until they reach ultimate success. Now, this isn't just for beginners only because I know using the phrase, the obstacle to start, you may be thinking like I'm a six figure coach. I work with six figure coaches. Like, what is she talking about?

Melissa Anzman (16:46): So if you have a six figure coach who is in there in the program and your program is going to take them to seven figures, or maybe their next six figures using your specific client process, then using your strategy, you can address obstacles like a mindset shift from six to seven figures, or how to implement new client attraction to get to your next six figures. Or maybe they just don't have systems in place to grow. And you teach that. So it's not just for beginners, but it's when they're trying to start a new process or growth area. The next strategy is the just starting strategy. So this is where you identify the very first steps in the transformation for your client and take a step backwards. If you're a client is starting at zero, what is that first piece of guidance you would share with them as the expert?

Melissa Anzman (17:48): You need to really listen to your clients because we start well before they do at all times. So where are they now? And how do we help them learn specific information to get them started and get some really quick successes. Now, this is a more step-by-step approach to your teaching focus on one specific outcome. So for that same six to seven figure coach example, we can't possibly teach them how to make seven figures in one digital solution. There are just too many variables for that, and you're not going to be honest. Like you may not be on something true if that is what you're promising, but what we can teach them in this approach. The just starting approach is how to use maybe LinkedIn to drive consults with their ideal clients or how to use meditation as part of their coaching strategy. So we're going to teach specific outcomes to get your client success now and quickly.

Melissa Anzman (18:54): And the transformation that then helps them build to the ultimate transformation in this case, seven figure coaching business over time, the next approach, the final one is crossing the bridge strategy. So if they have already started down the path, what is the one next thing to bring them success? So I always look at this in my brain as like a bridge. We are on one side of the bridge, six sasses on the other side, and maybe they've taken a few steps on their bridge, but they're stuck. How do we help them get to the other side? Now this strategy is one of those things that is a, it's bigger than just a concept. Um, it's a strategy to narrow down for you. Like not only the best digital product, but you can also apply it to your business as a whole. When you think about what you do and how you help clients get to the other side.

Melissa Anzman (19:57): So here's the thing I can apply this to anything. It is a big piece in my HR book, because it's all about, again, getting people on board to the other side, seeing themselves as a win in the success column. So when you're evaluating your list of transformations that your clients have had, that you can provide that your service is help. And so on, there are going to be a bunch that say, Hey, this is a crossing the bridge strategy. So what transformation is really mind blowing for your end user and gives your clients those huge wins that are like in new life or life changing levels that they have crossed the bridge and have accomplished something huge. And these types of transformations, when you think about product or your course, these transformations are great for like a flagship, a high touch, really high priced items because the transformation, the success, the win is so big and life changing, that they are willing to pay a lot for this.

Melissa Anzman (21:06): So really consider these strategies the before and after is visually the easiest to get around. Then you want to think about the obstacles to start strategy. Then you want to consider any of the just starting strategy of like, I don't know how to get to where I need to go. I am just starting on this path. And then finally, how we can help our client cross the bridge for a huge success. And when, and if you use this strategy to outline the various transformation statements that your product has, you are going to be that much closer to winning over buyers for your course.

Melissa Anzman (21:49): To join the Launch Yourself workshop where you'll learn why your digital products aren't selling nearly as much as you planned for and how to diversify and scale your income by launching the right way, text: launchyourself, all one word, to: 44222.