Mastering the Art of Soul-Deep Messaging: How to Move Hearts and Inspire Action

INTRO: After generating over a million dollars in sales and selling one of her businesses with a single email, your host, Kathryn Thompson, takes an unconventional approach to marketing and sales. So if you're ready to tap into a more powerful way to be seen, heard, and a sought after entrepreneur in your industry without having to spend endless hours marketing your business and chasing clients, you're in the right place. Be The Sought After Entrepreneur Podcast is here to help you ditch the cookie cutter, one size fits all approach to marketing and use your unique energy to effortlessly attract the most aligned clients. When you do this, you can spend less time marketing your business and more time doing your soul work and enjoying the richness of your life. Welcome to Be The Sought After Entrepreneur Podcast. And here's your host, Kathryn Thompson.

Kathryn Thompson: Hey, hey, super stoked that you're tuning in this week's episode. I cannot wait to dive in today's topic [00:01:00] because I want to give you a sneak peek behind the scenes on how I coach my clients through their messaging struggles, quote unquote, or where they feel like they have a hard time describing what they do because it is unseen.

It's not tangible. And the transformations that are being provided are very nuanced depending on the person. And if you listened to last week's episode. You already know how freaking gold that episode was. Honestly, I should be charging for that episode because if you really listen to it and you are receptive to what I'm saying in that, then likely there's things that have already unlocked within you on how to get and garner a deeper understanding of your people.

Now, if you're in my world, I already know that you go to the depths with your people. I already know that you don't live at the surface and I already know that you understand. really how these people are viewing the world and the lenses in which they're looking through the world [00:02:00] with. But I want to even further that conversation because one of the things I see in my world behind the scenes still is, I don't want to say surface level messaging.

I think that most of y'all know what you do, who you want to serve and how you want to serve them. But there's still some resistance between surface level messaging and sharing and showcasing that in a way that's being modeled. And I get this because I also know that what's being modeled out there is rarely goes to the depth of really speaking to the hearts and souls of people that has them moving to take action in some way, shape, or form.

And one of the things I often hear from people was the minute I heard you say X, Y, and Z, I knew I wanted to work with you. I knew you could help me. It wasn't the 15 follow up emails. It wasn't that I was posting three times a day on social [00:03:00] media. It was none of that. It was three simple words. Selling The Invisible.

And then often, they'll come to me and say, it was that, and then I heard you talk about human design, I heard you talk about not conforming to the homogenized ways of doing marketing, that you talk about being able to do it your way. And that's what really sort of intrigued me to kind of be in your world, but selling the invisible is something that I've talked about a lot, and it's something you've probably seen that speaks to the identity of the human.

That's me, I'm selling the invisible, but it's also something that speaks to the struggle. Right? Selling the invisible. That's me. I don't have to say, are you struggling with selling the invisible? I just have to say selling the invisible. And they'll say, that's me. And then they also go, damn, it's hard to sell the invisible.

It's hard to put into words what I do. And I want to go deeper with you because I want to walk you through how I coach my clients through it, because what I have seen [00:04:00] after working with hundreds and hundreds of people that are selling the invisible, but also having conversations with people that are having a hard time putting into words what they do because it's not tangible, is the fact that y'all know what you do, who you serve, why you serve them.

The problem is the specificity of your content and your copy. So your messaging is like the North star. Your messaging is the thing that's guiding everything else that you do. It's guiding what you write in emails. It's guiding what you write on social media, which is your content and your copy. I want to preface that because messaging is is the who, what, when, why, how, right?

How are you different? Who are you serving? How do you go about serving these people? Why is this important to you? What are your values? All of those sorts of things. That messaging then will inform your content and your copy, aka what you write and what you actually [00:05:00] say. Where most people are getting hung up is, they think they have a messaging problem, when in reality, They have a content and copy problem.

And the reason I say that is because your messaging is the high level. It's the thing that's saying, you know, I help women navigate the emotional turmoil of perimenopause, let's just say, and that is your overarching sort of messaging. It's specific, it speaks and showcases exactly sort of who you serve and why you serve them.

That. particular statement doesn't necessarily get to how you're different, but what's ended up happening is, is that you take that high level messaging and then you start to put it into your content. For example, taking that high level messaging and going, are you a woman who wants to navigate the emotional turmoil of perimenopause, right?

That doesn't actually connect to the hearts and souls of people. Sure. The person will say, yeah, that's me and I'm struggling with [00:06:00] this, but we need to get more nuanced with that. And what I mean by nuanced is really understanding the nuance of the human that you want to connect with. I've talked about the consciousness scale a few times.

It's in my Selling the Invisible training. That really helps you identify where your person is on that conscious consciousness level. But we want to get more nuanced than that. We want to drill down even further. So if you're somebody who goes below the surface, you likely already have this at your fingertips.

You're just not putting it into content and copy. And by that, I mean, if you understand the beliefs that people have around the industry, the thing that you're providing and sharing, if you understand what they believe to be true and you understand the experiences that they've gone through. You can put those into words.

But what, again, a lot of people do is they look at the high level messaging and they understand the experiences and beliefs, but [00:07:00] it's like bridging the gap. It's like, how do I actually bridge the gap? Because we've been told for so long that we've got to be succinct and concise and we've got to get to the point.

And this is another big hang up that a lot of people have because there is a belief that nobody wants to read long form content or sales pages, nobody wants to read long form emails, nobody wants to listen to long form podcast episodes, nobody has time, nobody has the attention. Those are all beliefs.

Those are all beliefs in which we carry when it comes to marketing. I don't want to use a tangible result because I can't guarantee and promise that. Great. That's your belief. That's your stance and probably aligns with your values. But is that true for everybody? Is that true for everything? Because I talk to a lot of people and I have a lot of people tell me that they [00:08:00] love depth.

They love to get to the depth of things and they don't want to live at the surface and therefore they'll tell me they love reading my emails. And my emails are long, and that's because I have a lot to say. But I'm not going to dilute my voice or try to fit myself into a box because of a projected belief that other people have.

I'm not here to serve everybody. I'm not here to relate and resonate with everybody. And nor are you. And so, You've got to get clear on what you stand for. You've got to get clear on how you want to deliver it. You've got to get clear on what your expression is and how do you want to express yourself. Is it long form?

Is it short form? Is it skits? Is it improv? Is it on stage? Is it off stage? You've got to decide that. There's no messaging expert in the world, including myself, who's going to tell you [00:09:00] where you need to be and how you need to express yourself. That has to come from you first and foremost. And when you get solid on that, then a lot of the things that we do to dilute our expression fall away.

Like trying to be super succinct and summarize everything in one sentence. Who says that 10 paragraphs is less potent than one sentence? Is there any research backing that? Because I write really long form and I also record really long podcast episodes. And I have a beautiful community of people that resonate with what I'm saying and tune in to this show every single week and open my emails every week and invest to work with me.

And the reason they do is because I'm [00:10:00] speaking from the heart, which sounds very cliche. Just speak from the heart and everything will pan out. But speaking from the heart is connecting to your unique message and then putting it into words in a way that will resonate with your people. And that is below the surface.

So for example, I'm somebody who is like a non conformist. I don't follow the rules. I want to carve my own path. I also am extremely intuitive. And so I use a lot of my intuition to create content. I don't have a content plan. I don't follow content pillars. I don't have any sort of structure there when it comes to creating content, including recording this podcast.

I'm leaving for a beautiful holiday and I'm recording. A few episodes today so that I can get ahead of myself, but I typically don't get ahead of myself by more than a week. [00:11:00] And it's because I'm in constant relation with my people and I'm constantly listening to what they're saying to me. And your people are giving you clues every single day on what they want to hear, but also where they stand in terms of their values, their beliefs, and all of those sorts of things are being mirrored to you.

And on the next episode, I'm going to share with you some of those things that have been coming through for me that I'm seeing so clearly from the universe, the same way that I received Selling the Invisible. I heard that multiple times from clients. It was something I kept hearing. And I was like, I see you universe.

I hear you. I see you, right? Because your clients and the people that you're talking to are mirroring that and they're telling you in their own words where they stand and what their beliefs are and maybe what their struggles are and the experiences that they've gone through. I can't count how many [00:12:00] times people have told me, I'm in this other program and I'm being told I have to DM 50 people a day or I have to post three times a day.

And they're maybe not questioning it in that moment. Some people are like, I just can't sustain that. And I know this, but I also am just trying it because I want to see what works. I'm sharing that with you because I hear that a lot, right? I hear that a lot from people. These are the things that people have tried that don't work for them.

These are also things I've tried that don't work for me either. So if you listen to last week's episode, you already know that this is a huge part of the content and copy. Um, This isn't about manipulating. This isn't about like, you know, psychologically trying to get someone to do something because we're not just listening and taking people's words and then feeding it back to them.

That's not what we're doing. And that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is, is that when you are in relation with people and you're having conversations and [00:13:00] you're truly, truly, truly listening for the pure fact of to listen, to understand, you already know that When people say stuff at surface level or face value, there's often a lot below the surface.

And that can sometimes come out in a single conversation, but sometimes it takes a few conversations for the person to really reflect back to you. Maybe why they resonate with you, why they want to work with you, why they are working with you. It's in this understanding that we can then translate that into content and copy.

But your high level messaging is not your content and copy. Be The Sought After Entrepreneur Podcast. Your high level messaging is what informs your communication and what you'll say and how you'll say it. For example, if you're supporting women navigate perimenopause, the emotional, the holistic, all of it, that's your high level messaging.

And you do this through a very unique [00:14:00] process, whatever that process is, that's your zone of genius, your gift to the world. Then your content will be very nuanced from that. We will drill down on that. And for example, you. If a woman is looking for a holistic approach to navigating perimenopause or menopause, then she might have a very unique lens or values that she's viewing the world through that might be different than somebody else.

So the I help statements, the absolutes, the tangible promises, all of those sorts of things, for one, are no longer really working in the online industry. They're really hard sells to say something like, I'll help you transform your life in 50 days or whatever it might be. That's a very broad, generalized statement, but it's also doesn't work anymore because there's so many people touting that there's so many people saying that, right?

I'll help you find your purpose. There's so many people saying [00:15:00] that, what do you mean find my purpose? And how, how are you doing it differently? But also, how do I know that you are the person I want to work with? Speak to that person on a nuanced level so that they understand you. If you want to help people find your purpose, that's your overall message.

But then how is your approach different? And then simultaneously, when you say you want to help people find their purpose, are you helping People who are, have been seeking for years, people that have relied on talk therapy, people that have experienced certain things in their life. Like, what is it and who are these humans?

It doesn't mean that you need to pick that specific niche. It just means that you need to communicate to people in a way that You naturally would. You know, if you were having a conversation with somebody at the grocery store, how would you have that conversation with them? Or if you were having a conversation with a really good friend of yours, how would you have a conversation with that person?

Because how [00:16:00] you have conversations with your friends and your family and those that know you really well, is the most natural and genuine way that you converse in a lot of ways. And then, and then we go turn what we do into marketing and it becomes performative or it becomes, you know, restricted or rigid, or it becomes very formulaic.

If you were to remove the terminology, marketing and sales, if it didn't become marketing and sales, if it wasn't even marketing and sales, if it was just you having conversations with people, how would you naturally talk to them? What questions would you ask them to garner really deep insight about the ways in which they view the world?

And what could you create, what content and copy could you create that would support them in their journey? Whether that is a resource, a guide, some form of clarity, [00:17:00] insight, perspective shifts, what is that? And again, we are all wired differently and very unique. So another big thing that I often get when I'm working with people through messaging, number one is I spot very clearly that they don't have a messaging problem actually, that they know very clearly who they want to serve and how they want to serve them.

And they have years of mastery and they know exactly what their process is. And they, they've mastered that process. In fact, they've innovated it. They're a bit of a trail blazer in what they do. It's just that it's translating what they do from that high level component into forms of communication, which is like a blog or a social media post.

And then when we don't do, we don't get the results, we go back to, well, I, Obviously, I'm not making sense at a messaging level, so therefore I've got to go back and revisit my message, or I've got to go tweak my offer, or I've got to change the [00:18:00] way that I do things, which is the natural tendency, but that also is, if I was to reverse engineer or dissect it.

What I talked about on last week's episode, the experiences that you'll have when it comes to creating success with your marketing and your sales and in your business, if you're not seeing the success and you're trying offers and you're trying posting and you're showing up consistently, you're sending the weekly emails and you're doing quote unquote all the things that you think you should be doing to see success and it doesn't work, you've likely started to form the belief that.

My messaging is off. It's not congruent. It's not resonating. I'm being friend zoned. I don't know how to describe what I do. It makes sense in my head, but it doesn't make sense to other people. And then all of the other things that might come up as a result of that, right? If you're somebody who is different, and maybe hasn't always fit in, then you might have this preconceived notion that you're [00:19:00] misunderstood, that people just don't get you, or they're just not seeing you for what it is.

And that then informs the beliefs that you carry. And then what ends up happening is we spend so much time at this messaging level that we spin there. And We don't get any further ahead and I want to support you in shifting through that because when people come to work with me, I can spot that within a second.

They send me their stuff, website, funnels, emails, freebies, you name it, social media. I'll look at it. And I know straight away that it's not a messaging issue. It's a content and copy issue. It's, It's lacking the ability to communicate on a nuanced level. It's, it's not bridging the gap. It's not taking the messaging and drilling it down into forms of content and copy that allow you to very specifically speak to somebody.

And [00:20:00] also simultaneously going from big picture to micro, right? So macro to micro, it's something that I do so innately when I'm looking at stuff. I'm looking at the big picture, but I can also see very clearly how this translates across. the micro, which is the steps that you need to take or the content and copy you need to create in order to move someone down that customer buying journey.

Like I can see it without even having to devise a plan, map a plan. It's just something I see when I audit and look at people's messaging in their content and copy, which is why I created Spellbound in the first place because I had seen this and witnessed this a lot. I was like, so many people stay stuck in that messaging loop of rejigging, rebranding, doing all of the things.

And then they still have the same problem and it's a blind spot, right? It actually isn't the messaging. It's the content and the copy. And it's focusing on getting really nuanced with that and how I coach my clients through that. One is [00:21:00] I point that out very clearly for them because anytime I'm talking to somebody I can see, I'm like you, you.

Well, you know what you're talking about and it's not that you don't know, it's that it's not landing with your people and the reason it's not landing with your people, the reason why you're in the friend zone or speaking to the void is because the messaging and the, or the content and the copy aren't specific enough.

They're not the thing that has someone go, that's me, and that's the exact problem that I have, or that's the exact thing that I desire. And I shared last week, people buy for one of two reasons. They buy to reinforce an identity that they have right now. Meaning, for, like, for example, if somebody is, let's just say, I don't know, they're a high end lawyer, and they have this, like, high end lifestyle.

They like high end stuff. Louis Vuitton, fast cars, expensive trips, nice clothes, whatever it might [00:22:00] be, they're going to naturally seek out brands that are going to reinforce that identity. So, for example, they might not book a budget trip, even though it's a beautiful place and a lovely place to go, they're not, they're not staying at the Holiday Inn Express.

They're booking the Ritz Carlton. Even if it's a one night stopover while they're flying somewhere, they're booking the Ritz and they're probably getting a car to pick them up. That's to reinforce the identity they hold about themselves. And then the other reason is, is the fear or the cost of staying exactly where they are.

So it's reinforcing an identity or Or it's wanting to avoid, or it's the fear of the cost of staying put where they are in the identity that they are currently holding. For example, if you're somebody that's very purpose driven and you have a purpose and a body of work and you want to get this [00:23:00] out into the world because you know the impact that it's going to have, you're not necessarily driven by the money, but you're driven by the impact.

You know, you're meant to do this work. There is a cost. of not getting your work in the hands of more people. And that cost is very deep. It's the regret of not living up to your potential. It's the feeling of your time might be running out. It's the, holy shit, I'm, I might have to go back to a nine to five, or I might have to get a job that I don't actually want to do.

So you're willing to invest to get the support to not sit there because the alternative is too much to bear. One of two things. Those are the two reasons why people invest. And if you know the nuance of your people and what's important to them and what drives them on an emotional level, [00:24:00] also logical level, then you can speak to them.

For example, lots of people that come into my world, and you might be one of these people that carries this belief or this value, that you are in it for the money, quote unquote. That you would rather get paid less. and do something you love, then make a shit ton of money and hate your job or the work that you're doing.

That's nuanced. Because there's a lot of people out there that are like, I just want to make the money and I don't actually really care. I don't actually really care about the work, I just want to make the money. Very two different people that motivate themselves in very different ways. But when you say something like, I want to make, I'm going to help you make 100k months in four days, You could be speaking to a plethora of people.

That messaging is likely going to repel the people that are like, but I don't really want to make a hundred K in, you know, 30 days or [00:25:00] 50 days or 90 days. Like I actually want to do work that's purpose driven. So when that messaging gets hit over the board, they might be drawn into that. Cause there's this part of them that's like, I'm kind of motivated.

I understand that this would like, help me get the freedom I want, quote unquote, but they're probably going to have a lot of constraints. And the reason they're going to have a lot of constraints are, is because they're going to get to a point of purchasing and go, Is this really for me though? I'm not really driven by the money.

I'm more purpose driven. Will this actually work for me? And then they'll ask you those questions. And again, I'm just using this as an example. Maybe you're saying something like, I'm going to help women transform their lives so that they can live in peace. That sounds nice. But I have a lot of questions about that.

What does that actually mean? And how are you gonna help me do that? And what does this actually sort of look like? And we can say, well, if you're a 4, you just know when you know. Yes, but 4s know [00:26:00] on this consciousness scale when you know you know. They're the ones that are drawn in by the specificity.

When you can speak directly to them and you embody the message, that's the combination of a four that they go, I know I want to work with you. And the reason for that is because you're embodying the message and the message is speaking directly to their hearts. It's bypassed sort of the logic. The logic then starts to say something like, what's the return on investment?

What are the details? What do I get? Which is all great. You, you should ask for what you're paying for. You have every right to ask for details on what you're going to invest in or contemplating, but it's rarely a messaging problem. It's usually a content and copy problem. It's being able to take that big picture messaging and putting it into micro bits of content and copy that truly do speak to your people.

And you can do that in [00:27:00] any form that you want to. So if your mind's already going, well, I don't really fit with Instagram because it's short form and I like long form, then pick a platform and pick a vehicle that allows you to do that. Express yourself in a way that is in alignment with who you are.

Again, we're holding onto the excuse or fighting for the limitation. You're fighting for a limitation when you say, I don't want to do this or this doesn't work for me. Then what does work for you? Let's focus on what works for you rather than this isn't going to work for me or I can't do this or yada yada.

You're fighting for your limitation and that. So what and how can you get below the surface to really understand and then turn into words what your people want and what's going to really connect with them? You've got to ask people and you have to be in conversation and you have to listen. And when you start to see patterns of [00:28:00] what people are saying that are in alignment with your own values, That is a pathway to really be able to connect because you're embodying it.

If you're in alignment with your values, you're embodying those values. I'm not somebody who's driven by building this massive empire, seven figures, yada, yada. I never bought into that messaging. I don't resonate with it. It all felt sort of surface level to me. And so if I'm seeing that messaging, I it's in one, you're out the other.

But if somebody says something like helping me, you know, elevate maybe my messaging to position myself in a different way, or if you've got an innovative idea or you're here to innovate your space, those, resonates with me. So it's you understanding what your values are, but then also listening through that lens.

If those values are being reflected back to you and what are people actually saying, [00:29:00] that's how you want to communicate. And, and the vehicle is Instagram. The vehicle is YouTube. The vehicle is your emails. That's here, no there in my opinion. And again, I think that's where we focus so much of our energy on the vehicle and, and the messaging.

We've got the messaging and now we've got the vehicle. And then we're going to put the messaging over top of this vehicle. When in reality, what does the inside of the vehicle look like? Is it leather? Is it, I don't know, lush fur? Right? Like what is, what's the texture inside of the vehicle? That is what.

moves people's minds and hearts. It's the texture. It's the nuance. It's the, the fine detail. And again, this isn't about niching. This is just about talking to people. on a, yeah, nuanced level. If you're selling them something that they don't want or they don't align with, or you're [00:30:00] keeping things very general and high level, like transform your life or find inner peace.

Like, what does that actually mean? And why is this important? Why is inner peace important? Why is transforming someone's life? Why is finding someone's purpose important to them? If inner peace is important to them because they are motivated by their children and they want to be a better parent for their children, that is very nuanced.

Because that's not going to speak to the person that doesn't have children, right? They're going to be motivated by a different factor. That doesn't mean that you can't help people. A variety of people. It's just that when you send an email and you use the angle with the parenting piece of it, you gotta know that there's gonna be people in your world that may or may not resonate with that message.

Or, then you send another email the next week with a very different angle. This is where I'm talking about the macro and the micro. Right? You're looking at the macro and going, well, I help X, Y, and Z, and therefore I have to [00:31:00] communicate like this, when in the micro is where you get to add the texture. You get to paint your walls pink, green, purple, blue.

You get to have a plush seat or a leather seat. You get to do whatever you want. It's the texture. And that's where I'd love for you to sort of focus your energy because it's in that nuance. It's in that texture. It's in that specificity that is in alignment with your values, your identity. That's going to really move the hearts and minds of your people.

So I really hope that this episode is being supportive and helpful, and I cannot wait to hear from you. Cheers. Thanks for listening. We'll see you right back here next time. You can also find us on social media at creativelyowned and online at creativelyowned. com. Until next time, keep showing up as your authentic [00:32:00] self.