Creating Clarity Newsletter #015
Most businesses of one do not have a business model. As a result, they offer too many services, which eats their time and leads to burnout, and in the case of an agency, they create the need to add overhead to support your services.
There are two ways to avoid this; first, start saying NO to client requests beyond your service offering – you should do this anyway. Second, structure your offering so your business serves you and your client.
Here are the three offers you should consider for your business to maximize your time, become known in your area of expertise, and create a business you can scale over the long run.
1 The Prelim Offer
The Prelim Offer is a lower-cost introductory offer you make to people who are not quite ready for your Primary Offer. This offer can take on various forms, such as an email course, an online course, a book, or something small and reasonably priced. However, for most, The Prelim Offer should NOT be your main offer.
Pros:
The Prelim Offer brings people into your ecosystem and introduces them to your way of thinking, coaching, etc. A Prelim Offer solves a “starter” problem for your audience. Once solved, your customer is better prepared for your Primary Offer.
Cons:
For this to work, you will need an audience. Unfortunately, most people try to create this offer too soon. If you try to start here without an audience, selling will be difficult, and what you do sell will cost you more time, effort, and money than selling your Primary Offer.
2 Your Primary Offer
Your Primary Offer is THE offer you should focus on selling and what you can become known for in your industry. It’s a higher-ticket offer you sell between $3 -$5K. You can sell it for less, but only if you have an audience to make up the pricing difference in volume.
Your messaging, marketing, and promotional activities should revolve around this offer. Do this one right, and you will never need to worry about marketing content again. If you are a business of one, this is where you start.
Pros:
When done right, the Primary Offer is structured as a linear, step-by-step process. This method will standardize your internal processes and streamline external deliverables because it does not change from client to client. Most will need to deliver the Primary Offer 1:1. As you build your audience, you can consider delivering this offer as a Done With You product.
Cons:
The Primary Offer is challenging to create on your own; you’re just too close to what you do. It will take a few iterations before you nail it down.
3 Post Offer (Recurring)
Your Post Offer is an upsell and is a natural extension of the Primary Offer. If your Primary Offer is structured and delivered correctly, clients will ask you, what do we do next? The answer is your Post Offer.
The Post Offer typically requires a monthly investment to join. The Post Offer can be delivered as a step-by-step process or as a modular – choose your adventure – process. Both delivery models will include high-touch, 1:1 interactions but can consist of DIY and DWY components.
Pros:
The Post Offer is your monthly recurring revenue offer. This offer allows you to build deep connections with your clients by helping them solve multiple problems they experience in their business.
Cons:
The Post Offer requires you to anticipate client needs and have solutions ready for them. In addition, the knowledge you’ll need for the Post Offer is greater since you’ll help clients solve various problems.
SIDE NOTE: Starting with a Post Offer is how an agency is born. You never say no to client requests and end up offering lots of things. The Post Offer becomes an array of things you need to manage. This model will burn you out and does not scale well without adding overhead.
Implementation Order
While I’ve listed these offers in numerical order, if you are in the beginning stages of your business or have little to no audience, the implementation order should be 2, 3, then 1.
Starting with 2, your Primary Offer “forces” you to specialize in something, making it easier for you to become known in your area of expertise. In addition, starting here allows you to become intimately familiar with your client’s problems, which will hone your marketing and messaging and provide you with the needed information to launch a successful Post Offer.
As for offer one, the Prelim Offer, it should always be the last thing you consider. First, you need an audience to make it work, which takes time. Once you have an audience, creating your Prelim Offer can be as easy as converting your Primary Offer, or parts of it, into something more digestible.
Too many people try to start with offer one and fail; I know because I’m one of them.
That’s it for this week’s edition of Creating Clarity.
Until next week,
Cheers,
Ryan
Ps. Creating a Primary Offer is what we help our clients do. If you’d like to discuss how we can help you put together your Primary Offer, schedule a call and let’s talk.
