What too many business owners get wrong when it comes to creating their signature offer
Back when I lived in Austria, I had a lot of sporty friends.
For reference, Austria is not Australia, but rather a small, central European country where they speak German, take a legally mandated 5 weeks of holidays every year and consider any milk with less than 3.25% fat to be “fitness milk”.
…which is to say, they take living the good life seriously.
And that often involves extreme sports.
I tell you this because it was during the 12 years I lived in Austria that I was introduced to ski touring:
Having grown up in the Canadian Rockies, I’ve long been a fan of downhill skiing.
I basically came of age on the 100% natural snow of Sunshine Village.
So let me tell you, it BOGGLED my mind to learn that there were people out there who voluntarily ski UP the mountain.
Like, the whole point of this sport is to start from the top and then have an energizing ride down the mountain… letting gravity work for you as you swish swish side to side, ideally on a crisply cool blue sky day.
So starting at the bottom and lugging your butt UP the slippery snow, with gravity pulling you backwards every step of the way?
No thank you, not for me.
To recap, IMO:
Skiing down the mountain? —> Fun, exciting, exhilarating, 10/10 way to spend a beautiful winter day.
Skiing up the mountain? —> Hard work, slog, exhausting, seemingly unnecessary way to work up a very heavy sweat.
Now…
This might be the part of the story where you’d expect me to pivot to telling you I tried ski touring and loved it and the hard work made the descent so much more exhilarating, etc. etc.
But this isn’t that kind of story.
Here’s the real pivot:
You are the skier ⛷️
Your business model is the mountain 🗻
But even though you could be starting from the top and letting gravity do the work for you…
You keep thinking you have to start from the bottom to hustle your way to the top.
This is the mistake I see business owners making over and over again when it comes to their signature offers:
They aren’t sure where to place their focus so they launch an offer without dialing in their messaging…
Then they create content for an audience they haven’t validated as willing to buy
They build a following based on the free content they’ve been putting out…
And then they try to monetize that following by putting a paid offer in front of them.
They get stuck trying to climb UP the mountain. Start over - and over and over - each time a launch doesn’t work or they see a new need in their existing audience.
And as a result, coaches, consultants and experts - who should be able to focus on helping as many people as you can - end up working so much harder than they have to to gain momentum in their business and get known as the go-to person in their space.
The alternative?
Let it be an easy ride by starting at the summit.
Here, I can guide you down this run—
Start here:
What is your signature offer? (Or what would you like your signature offer to be?)
I typically recommend your signature offer be:
The place where you will help your clients undergo their deepest transformation
A scalable offer that allows you to support multiple (though not necessarily an infinite number of) clients at one time
A format that you LOVE and that you can see yourself delivering on for at least the next 5 years
Next, who’s the Solid Gold Client for that offer?
(That is, not just the person who’s right for it, but the person who’s best placed to invest with you and who stands to get the best possible results from working with you)
What can you add or subtract from what you deliver to position your signature offer as the most desirable way for your Solid Gold Clients to get what they want?
Next, spend some time identifying the most profitable messages you can use to market your signature offer.
Then make sure those messages are clear and compelling on your sales page—and it’s like you’re strapping on the high-performance skis that will carry you down the mountain at 100 mph.
At this point, you’re already in a strong position to sell your genius. You can launch your signature offer or sell it on evergreen.
Either way, by getting clear on your money-making messages and your offer’s optimal positioning, you’re set to have easier launches and see more consistent sales, simply by having connected to what makes you and your offer uniquely desirable to those in your audience who are both willing and able to pay.
Once you know what your offer is and who’s best placed to get amazing results from what you do, it’s time to ask yourself:
What can you offer them that will prepare them for your signature offer?
These might be smaller offers like a 1:1 Intensive or a DIY course. The idea is that these offers activate people in your audience who want to work with you, but are looking for a taste of what you do before investing in your signature offer.
By the time they’ve completed your Intro Offer, your clients should be well qualified for your Signature Offer, allowing you to make them an easy, no-brainer invitation to continue your work together.
As you continue your blissful glide down the mountain, the next thing to consider is:
What kind of content can you create to attract an audience looking for what you sell?
I’m talking about both free and paid content here, whether it’s a funnel or a Reel or an ad for a SLO.
Note that by starting at the top of the mountain, by the time you start to consider what content will help you attract an aligned audience, you’re already deeply familiar with the people who are paying you for your signature offer:
As a result, the process of creating your Instagram posts, your lead magnets, your follow up emails and ManyChat automations now feels like an easy, breezy green run because you know exactly:
which messages to lean on early in your marketing,
which dream desires your buyers are looking to fulfill, and
which mindset shifts and new perspectives your content must help them achieve
What comes next once you reach the end of your run?
Well, other than an epic European après-ski…
You’re ready to TAKE THE CHAIRLIFT back to the top (we’re still definitely not climbing up by ourselves).
And while you’re being effortlessly elevated back to the summit of this hill, I highly recommend you grab some Golden Opportunities by adding some strategic upsells, upgrade options and strategic add-ons to your offers.
Not only can these be automated so they really require very little lift on your end, they are also an excellent way to increase your total profit since you can easily put (hands-off) offers in front of existing customers to increase their lifetime value at no extra cost to you.
This is also the point at which you might explore the backside of the mountain AKA experiment with a new offer on the backend.
Last but not least, before you head down the mountain again, you might want to let a pro tighten up your bindings so you’re ready to try that Nose Butter 180 on your next trip down…
By consistently refining your offer and spaces based on your customer feedback, you can get your clients better and better results—making them more likely to refer you to their peers or to resign with you again.
By consistently refining your launch and sales strategies, you stand to get a bigger ROI from the work you’re already doing. And, I mean, who doesn’t like the sound of that?
We can all agree that putting in the same amount of effort to have easier launches and make more consistent sales of your signature offer sounds like a business owner’s dream.
Especially in 2024, when things feeling harder than usual has been “normal” for the past 4 years…
So if you’re with me on the idea that humans were only meant to ski down mountains it makes so much more sense to dial in the messaging of your signature offer first, and then let that inform the strategy you use everywhere else in your business, here’s how I can help:
The most logical place for you to learn how to do this for yourself is inside my signature program, Your Signature Promise, where you’ll elevate your signature offer with irresistible messaging and effective marketing assets that sell your offers while you sleep (or ski, or sip a margarita poolside 😎)—under the guidance of a conversion copywriter & sales funnel strategist with over 7 years of experience writing words that convert online.
On the other hand, if you’d rather skip the extreme sports altogether and hire me + my team to streamline and refine your marketing strategy for you…
You can inquire here about The Signature Offer Upgrade, a fully done-for-you service for established business owners who know it's time to uplevel the messaging, user experience and client acquisition strategy of their signature offers.
“I’ve netted 30 grand this month and the only thing I changed was the copy!
Before working with Katie, my site was bringing in 1-2 enrolment calls a week. After updating the site with Katie’s copy that number EXPLODED not only into a higher number of calls, but a higher number of qualified leads that were aligned with the messaging she created. I can’t recommend Katie’s work enough, and I can’t wait to see what next month brings!”
— Carrie Bowman, Professional Certified Life Coach & Trained Therapist, www.lifecoachingdenver.com