12. The Curse of Knowledge

Have you ever looked at your website or social posts and thought, “This makes total sense”… but no one’s buying? 

It might not be your offer. It might not be your pricing.
 It might be how you’re explaining what you do. 

In this episode, Claire talks about the curse of knowledge. That point where you’ve been doing something for so long that you forget what it felt like to be new to it. 

You know your stuff. You’re good at what you do.
 But your marketing has slowly started sounding like you, not your customer. 

And that’s where things start to fall flat. 

Claire shares simple, real-life examples from everyday businesses like soap makers, photographers and therapists, and shows how using industry language can confuse the very people you’re trying to help. 

Inside this episode, you’ll see how to: 

•  Spot where jargon is creeping into your marketing 
•  Understand why people aren’t engaging, even when your work is brilliant 
•  Explain what you do in a way that actually makes people care 
•  Make small changes that lead to more “yes, that’s exactly what I need” moments 

If your marketing isn’t converting the way it should, this is well worth a listen.

Before we get into today's episode - my Big Girl Knickers Business Bootcamp is back and starting Monday 20th April. Four weeks of accountability, support and action to get your business properly back on track. The Facebook group is open now, payment plans are available, and if you're feeling flat - this is exactly what you need. Head to www.biggirlknickers.com to join us.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Welcome to the Girls Mean Business Podcast, where we share business and marketing tips, advice and trade secrets to help you raise your game and build your brilliant business. Gets more clarity, more customers, and more sales. Here to show you how. Your host, Claire Mitchell.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Hello, it's Claire from the Girls Meme Business. And today I want to talk to you about the curse of knowledge. Which is something that happens when you've been doing what you do for a while, and you forget what it was like not to know it. It feels like you've always known it. You forget what it felt like to be a beginner. So all of those questions that you once had, the things that used to confuse you, the stuff that seemed really obvious once somebody explained it to you, but just completely baffled you before they did. You've forgotten all of that. And it's affecting your marketing. Because I see things like this all the time. So there's an example from the other day. Somebody who makes beautiful handmade soap was writing about their products, and they were using things like um cold process method, super fat percentage, saponification. And I was like, mm-hmm. I don't understand. But then they wonder why people don't engage. Or I'll see a photographer offering a session and they'll talk about golden hour? What's golden hour? Raw editing, colour grading, and the person reading that, including me, has no idea what any of it means or why we should care. Or somebody describing their therapy session in terms that they learned in their training that mean absolutely nothing to somebody who just wants treatment for their stiff shoulder. The thing is, when I see people doing this, I know that they know their stuff. They're probably brilliant at what they do, but they're speaking a language that their customer doesn't understand. They're not trying to meet them where they are, they're just standing there going, but this and the customer's going, but I don't understand why that matters. And I used to do this too. When I first started out, I would talk about marketing in marketing language because that's what I knew, that's what I did. I'd say things like ICA, ideal customer avatar, or lead magnets, or conversion rates, and I'd get blank looks because I'd completely forgotten that those words don't mean anything to somebody who hasn't spent years in marketing. The average person that I speak to is a brilliant business owner who just wants more customers and more money and somebody to show them how. So instead, I started asking myself a question before I wrote anything. How would I explain this to Chloe? Who was four or five or six? And before you think, well, that's a bit patronizing, it's not. You know, a six-year-old doesn't need you to talk slowly or use small words, they just need you to cut out all the jargon and get to the point. What does this do? Why does it matter? What happens if you have this instead of this? Or what happens if you have this versus if you don't? Because that's all your customer needs to know. If you make soap, they don't need to know about saponification. They need to know that it's made without the stuff that dries their skin out, that it smells amazing, that it lasts twice as long as the supermarket stuff, and that their eczema might actually calm down. Or they can use it on their toddler and it'll be fine. If you're a photographer, they don't need to know about raw files, whatever they are. They just need to know that they'll have photos that they love that they can put on the wall and they'll get them within two weeks, and that you're good at helping nervous people relax in front of a camera because most people hate having their photo taken. That's what they care about. They want to spend their money on photos that will be kept on their wall for years and that look lovely, but they don't care about the process. And if you are that therapist, they just need to know that you can fix their shoulder that's been stopping them driving and that's been affecting the way that they do everything, and it really hurts when they sleep on it. That's all they care about. That's the stuff that makes somebody go, Yes, that's what I need. The technical detail can come later if they want it, if they ask, once they're already interested. But you have to earn their interest first, and you earn it by speaking their language, not your language. So this week have a look at your website and your social media and your signage, whatever you use to tell people what you do, and ask yourself if somebody who knew nothing about your industry read this, would they understand what you do and why they should care? And if the answer is, oh I'm not sure, or not really, then that's your job this week. Alright, lots of love. Bye for now.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

That's it from the Girls Mean Business Podcast. Join us for even more fab tips, advice, interviews, and trade secrets to help you get more confidence, more clarity, more customers, and more sales. Connect with us on Facebook at facebook.com forward slash the girls mean business and check out our website at www.thegirlsmeanbusiness.com. See you next time.