The Three Pillars All Entrepreneurs Need to Attract More Clients

Welcome to Episode #2 of Be the Sought-After Entrepreneur Podcast. I’m your host Kathryn Thompson, and I’m so excited you’re here today. And I hope you enjoyed the first episode and my candid response to why I originally became an entrepreneur.

As you know, this week is a big week because we’re dropping a bunch of episodes to kick off the launch! In today's episode, I’m sharing with you the three pillars for content marketing that I believe all entrepreneurs need to help them simplify their content creation process and effortlessly attract the most aligned clients without burning out.

In the meantime, stick around to the three pillars I believe are essential for all entrepreneurs to create consistent income without burning out.

I don’t think I can say that enough. So if you missed the first episode, it’s all good, I highly recommend you have a listen because I share with you WHY Be the Sought-After Entrepreneur came to life and why my purpose for being an entrepreneur has shifted and why I’m glad I waited to launch this podcast.

Let’s say the wait was worth it! Now it’s time to dive into the three pillars I believe all entrepreneurs need to master their content marketing and content creation. But beyond that, fulfillment, joy, and deep appreciation for the work they do and the people they serve. Money for me isn’t (and never has been) the driving force behind what I do. So, you’re going to learn pretty quickly that everything I share has a much deeper meaning than just more money and more clients. And I believe your marketing strategy and marketing plan should reflect that, or it won't feel very good! Even though that’s a universal thing, all entrepreneurs resonate with it because it’s what most entrepreneurs are chasing. 

But if you’re like most entrepreneurs I work with, money is just a byproduct of getting to do the work they love and the freedom it affords (or at least the perceived freedom they are chasing). The only issue is most struggling entrepreneurs are so focused on the money (or getting more clients) so their content marketing and content creation reflect the chasing energy.

And I get it. Money is needed to run the business, but I’m sure you’ve all heard the saying by Tony Robbins...where your energy flows, your attention goes. So when we focus our energy heavily on getting more clients, more sales, more money...what happens? 

We waste a lot of our energy creating the very thing we don’t want in our business...lack of money, clients, sales. 

So these three pillars that I’m going to share with you today are what I believe will change the landscape of content marketing, and how we show up to attract what’s aligned with our energy. 

And sometimes that’s not always what we want, but you’ll learn WHY it’s happening. So with everything that I teach, I want to offer you information to improve your content marketing, but more importantly, I want to provide you with ways to apply it and integrate it into your marketing plans and marketing strategy so that your content creation process is done with ease and flow.

There is enough information flying around the interwebs that, in theory, sounds great. Still, most people have no idea how to apply or integrate content marketing strategies into their business so that they actually experience change. And they end up on a content creation hamster wheel that leads to burnout. But even more important than that, I want to give you an idea of how to trust your inner knowing to pick and choose what marketing strategies resonate with you to, create a marketing plan for your business that is in alignment. Because not everything I say will resonate with you, and that’s perfectly okay. 

My truth isn’t the truth. But by teaching you what is true for me when it comes to content marketing and content creation and how I discovered what works for me, I hope you’ll start trusting in yourself to make decisions that work for you and your business. 

So the first pillar to creating a content marketing strategy is Embodying Your Truth. 

Entrepreneurship has picked up in popularity over the last 5+ years. Now more than ever, people are starting to think it sounds like a pretty great gig. And I have to agree with them. And because sales are the driving force behind businesses, that’s also the first place people focus their efforts–getting more sales, making more money, landing more customers. But without a marketing strategy and marketing plan, you'll have a hard time attracting clients.

But when we aren’t grounded in our truth and embodying it at its core, what happens is we lose sight of who we are in the process pretty quickly, and we start to adopt content marketing strategies that aren't in alignment with our purpose. And you and I can both agree that the entrepreneurial journey tests every ounce of your identity, right? 

It’s not like a corporate job where you go for 8 hours and come home and check out for the evening and weekends. Most entrepreneurs think about their business 24/7. And they take it very personally when things don’t work out the way they want or expect it. 

So if you enter into business without being grounded in your truth the road is often very rocky. And it makes content creation difficult because you're not really sure what you stand for at your core.

You heard me share the story of why I became an entrepreneur...it was to escape corporate. Most people live their lives trying to escape things. But, unfortunately, most people aren’t living in their truth. So they start businesses hoping it will bring them happiness, fulfillment, and freedom. But they aren’t prepared for the effort and work it will take to get their business off the ground.  Let alone having to do all the things like content creation, learning the ins and outs of content marketing, administration, bookkeeping, tech support….and the list goes on. Am I right?

So what does embodying your truth mean? It starts with having the unwavering trust in what you want, what best suits you, and following the path that isn’t necessarily the one that makes the most sense, but knowing this and understanding is only half the battle. Then, again, most people feel that urge that they are meant for more. That they have a deeper purpose that isn’t being lived. And they spend months, years, trying to figure it out. Stuck in that old head of theirs, going around and around and around hoping they will get some certainty. 

But our brains….are not in the driver's seats. Our brains are not meant to guide us….our bodies are. Yet the majority of content marketing teachings are grounded in brain-based approaches. However, we are actually told to make the majority of our decisions below our shoulders. And yet, we spend so much time up in that old noggin of ours. It's no wonder we hate content creation. We overthink it.

And this looks like….wanting to start a business, wanting more clients, wanting more money, and overthinking how to get them. So you think your way to a solution, even though you’re disconnected from WHY you actually want these things. 

An example is the wildly popular ‘I help statement’ that most business mentors say you need to do before you start creating a marketing strategy or marketing plan so that your audience knows exactly what you do. The only problem is we spend so much time trying to figure out in our brains what that is and how to write it. And as result, most people are not connected to it at their soul level–meaning they wrote it from their brain with the hope of getting it right. It's why most people struggle with content creation. It's the belief that we have to get our content marketing right, or that there is a right way to do content marketing.

And we see this so much in the business mentorship world. It’s designed precisely with that teacher/student relationship, where the teacher assigns work for the student to complete and submit for feedback. And most people have gone through traditional education where they were graded based on their work–is it right or wrong? Or how well did I do it?

It's the same with teaching people how to develop a marketing strategy or plan. There are so many different marketing tactics so it's impossible to say one content marketing strategy is better than the other. It really all depends on the business.

It’s why most struggling entrepreneurs stay stuck in the niching phase forever. Because they are trying to develop an idea in their brain on how to pick the perfect niche so they spin for months, even years, thinking….will this work, how do I know if I've picked the right niche.

Instead of tuning into what’s happening below the neck. What’s happening in the body. And allowing your intuition and deep inner knowing to guide you in creating a content marketing strategy that resonates with you, and your audience.

So standing in our truth and living it comes when you actually embody it–meaning your desires and dreams are in alignment with the way you show up in the world. And integrity lies at the heart of embodiment. Are you true to yourself? Are you selling something you stand behind? Do you believe in what you do? Are you connected to your brand message?

OR…

Are you emulating other people's content marketing strategies or following their content creation processes because it looks like it’s working for them? Are you selling something you know you can sell, but it’s not actually something you love selling? Are you jumping from course to course, mentor to mentor, coach to coach, hoping they have the solution to your content creation and content marketing struggles like what to say and how to say? Are you spending way more time-consuming content on how to create a marketing strategy and marketing plan that works? Are you saying all the affirmations, journaling, meditating, and doing all the personal development stuff, but nothing works. 

So you feel like you’re doing something wrong. But if you’re not connected in your body with WHY you’re doing it, it’s disconnected from your Being. So what we create from is our Being. Not from the brain-based approaches first. 

You can probably see why this is so important. And how when we don’t embody our truth and stand it in an unwavering way how things become a little murky. It’s also what cultivates your emotional intelligence, something I know is missing in the leadership coaching space. It's about developing resilience, so when we don’t hit our content marketing goals or get a negative review or comment, we handle it with grace instead of panic, frantic energy. 

The second pillar is magnetic messaging. It's all about using content marketing to attract the correct type of clients into your business. We are in the business of words, whether that is written emails, social media posts, speaking at an event, everything we do revolves around our ability to express what we do and why people should care. So we have to master the content creation game whether we like it or not!

But here’s the thing….93% of communication is non-verbal. And yet, the majority of the marketing and business world teach brain-based content marketing, and content creation approaches. They focus on giving you templates and scripts to make the content creation process easier, plug-in-play marketing strategy, and marketing plan templates, easy 1,2,3 steps for writing better copy….BUT and it’s a BIG but....if 93% of communication is non-verbal, it’s no wonder the content creation templates and scripts,  plug-in-play marketing strategy, and marketing plan templates, easy 1,2,3 steps for easier content marketing strategies don't work all that well, or it works, but you get clients that aren’t aligned you. 

And that varies depending on whom you are trying to attract. But it can look like clients who want you to get the results, clients who love you one day and hate you the next, clients who are terrified to take action. 

Because your energy is the most potent force in any room you walk into. It’s that energy your audience feels regardless of the words you say or write as part of your content marketing. So you can plug-n-play all you want, but if your energy is off or coming from a needy place, that will come through in your content. And your audience will feel it. 

WHY embodying your truth is so important because you start to express yourself authentically instead of emulating what others are doing when you do that. You begin to trust that the message you want to share as part of your content marketing is one that others need to hear instead of overthinking it. You will stop following the content creation scripts and templates, and in fact, you'll start to embrace the creative process. This is where the MAGIC happens. Think of it like paint by numbers. While people create beautiful and unique pieces, they all still look a bit similar, right? It’s coloring within the lines, which makes standing out hard because they aren’t different enough. You have to think of your content marketing the same way. Whereas if you give people a blank canvas and let them freely come up with their own work of art, the truth of what they want to create comes out. It's this freedom that makes the content creation process effortless instead of forced. It also is 100% unique and authentic. 

But it can’t happen when we live from a disconnected place from our core and don’t embody our truth!  

I’m always intrigued by the clients I attract. They are all amazing, strong, powerful, highly intelligent people. And every one of them has said to me, "Kathryn, I don't like following content marketing scripts and templates, it feels so unnatural. And my response is GOOD. 

It’s always greeted with a bit of shock. Because everyone is teaching plug-in-play content marketing frameworks, and content creation scripts and templates in the marketing and sales space. And in fairness, most entrepreneurs believe that is what they need to follow to create a killer content marketing strategy. But it’s not! Authentic self-expression, unwavering trust in your unique message, and sharing it in energy that aligns with you is the ticket to creating a marketing strategy and marketing plan that will effortlessly attract the most aligned clients.

And the final pillar is visibility and credibility. People need to see and hear from you and that requires you to have a content marketing strategy in place. But it doesn’t mean showing up on all the platforms, posting every day, and never getting off of the content creation hamster wheel. In fact, being visible and establishing credibility has nothing to do with the frequency that you're putting content out there in the world.

And I’ll discuss this in episode #5, so tune in to hear my thoughts on where you can get more eyes on your content. But the moral of the story is to have a content marketing strategy that allows you to be visible and showcase your credibility so that people see you as an authority in your industry. Most entrepreneurs I work with downplay both of these. They fear being judged or showing up online, and they want to get things perfect the first time. 

So, they hate tooting their own horn and downplay how freaking powerful and amazing they are as leaders in their industry. I know it’s something I struggled with within the online space because so much of what was being taught was creating a content marketing strategy based on sharing this rag to riches story. And I didn’t fit into that. I’m highly educated with an undergraduate in marketing and a master's in communication, where I graduated at the top of my class. My thesis work won awards, and I was accepted to showcase my photos as part of my thesis in a private gallery exhibit. I had a very successful career in corporate marketing and communications, and as an entrepreneur too. So I always felt like my story didn’t quite fit into the plug-in-play marketing strategy and marketing plan templates because it didn't carry the punch that the rag to riches stories did! But I’m super proud of my education and the success I’ve experienced, even without rock bottom. I have faced obstacles and roadblocks, so it’s not all smooth sailing over here. My point is your story; regardless of whether you think it fits the content marketing mold or not, it's worth sharing. It’s this that starts to get you seen and establishes credibility.

It might be an unpopular opinion, but I believe in education, being educated whether that’s a traditional way or educated through experience. I believe in selling something that you have education and experience in. But suppose we aren’t showing up in a way where we are visible and not just posting content for its sake, but creating from a place of embodied truth and authentic self-expression. In that case, it makes it really hard to BE visible and establish credibility. Because your audience FEELS when what you’re doing isn’t aligned with your energy and the energy of truth.

Each pillar hinges on creating compelling content marketing strategies so that you can lean back more in your business, stop the chasing, and BE seen, heard, and a sought-after entrepreneur in your industry.