They described this as ‘hitting different pain points or nuggets of info that seemed totally unconnected, but always magically ended up at the promo.’

And the key to this is simple. All you need to do is understand exactly what your audience needs to know in order for them to buy from you.

And then talk about it – in your blogs, on social media, in video, in email and in your sales page copy. Hit everything your audience could possibly need to know.

But Here’s The Tricky Part

You need to do this by asking yourself some important (but pretty uncomfortable) questions.

The more honest you are, the better. And then all you need to do is share your unbelievably honest answers with the world.

So in this blog post, I’m going to tell you exactly what awkward and uncomfortable questions you should ask yourself, and your answers will make great content.

What Are The Uncomfortable (But Essential) Questions You Need to Ask Yourself Before You Create Content?

Let’s get stuck into some pretty awkward questions, shall we?

1. Why wouldn’t someone buy your products or services?

Thought I’d start you with a gentle one to ease you in. Just kidding. I’m starting off mean.

I want to know why someone wouldn’t buy from you? What is it about the product or service that you sell that makes people nervous?

An Example of How We Would Answer This Question

I’m going to use an example of when we designed WordPress websites. There’s a whole bunch of stuff about WordPress that makes people nervous. Such as, is WordPress safe? I’ve heard WordPress isn’t as secure? Isn’t Squarespace or Wix much easier?

Or let’s say you’re hosting a virtual event. Some people might think that ‘virtual’ means less social. Less exciting. Less actionable. Of course, you know this isn’t true. But that doesn’t matter.

Turning Your Answer Into Sales

It’s your job to explore all the issues people may have with your product or services. Explain why people may be wrong or misinformed. Or explain why they might be right, but what they can do to combat the problem. Or what you do to help.

But most importantly, be honest. Don’t just say there isn’t an issue when there is one. Explain the issue and describe, as the expert you are, the best ways to deal with it.

2. And why wouldn’t someone buy from you?

And you thought the first question was mean.

Sorry. But it’s only going to get more and more awful.

By this question what I really mean is: what the hell is wrong with you personally?

What puts people off about you?

An Example of How We Would Answer This Question

Here’s something that put people off working with us when we did website design. (It’s a long list, bear with me).

We don’t sit at our desks 9-5. We don’t have a fancy office with bean bag chairs and whizzy coffee machines. We don’t do face-to-face meetings. We don’t have a massive team but we still charge just as much as bigger agencies. We don’t work weekends and we don’t wear suits.

Phew. That’s a big list, right?

But does it scare us? Did we try to hide these things? Or do we make ourselves miserable and not do these things just so we can make sales? Nope. We stuck with them and we were upfront about them. And I’ve explained why below.

Turning Your Answer Into Sales

In spite of all the perceived things that are wrong with you, I bet you still deliver an excellent product or service, right? I bet your customers bloody love you. We certainly still delivered great websites.

So, your job is to explain why the stuff that is ‘wrong’ with you doesn’t actually matter. In fact, it isn’t all that wrong at all. And why you still deliver a great product or service.

By speaking about this stuff you will start to build trust and loyalty amongst people on your wavelength. Amongst the people who love you for your negative points (not in spite of them).

It’s no surprise that more modern and flexible businesses came to us for a website, rather than more traditional or old-fashioned businesses.

The more modern businesses weren’t chained to their desks from 9-5 either. And they hated face-to-face meetings or wearing ties just as much as we did.

Basically, your weird will attract similar weird. And that makes for a really enjoyable working environment for you.

3. Who will not get a decent ROI from working with you?

Ahhhhhhhhh!

What are you talking about, Lyndsay! Everyone gets a good ROI with me.

Do they though? Would everyone in the entire world benefit from your products or services?

I’m going to guess the answer is no. They won’t.

I want you to start thinking about who really wouldn’t get a decent ROI from working with you.

An Example of How We Would Answer This Question

When we ran a web design agency, we wouldn’t work with new business owners.

That’s because new business owners hadn’t yet established their brand, target audience and outlined their services. And this meant that investing 10K in a website (that was likely to change 6 months later when their business changed) would not be a wise investment.

Or for our 90 Day Content Marketing Challenge, it’s those who don’t want to make time to create the content. Because if you’re not going to take the time for it then there’s no point joining the challenge, right?

Turning Your Answer Into Sales

Think about who won’t benefit from your products and services and create content out of this. Why? Because if you highlight who won’t benefit from your products and services, you strengthen the trust and loyalty with those who will see the benefit from your products and services.

They will consume your content and see that your product/service is exactly right for them, and they’ll definitely see an ROI. They’ll respect your honesty and transparency and feel confident in working with you.

4. Who are you not the right fit for?

Have you ever worked out who you’re not the right fit for and spoke about this publicly?

Now, I’ve seen people try to tackle this question with things like, ’If you don’t want to make 6-figures in less than a week, then I’m not for you!’

That’s not an answer. That’s just bullshit. Because of course, everyone would want to earn 6-figures in less than a week. So you’re not really stating who you’re not the right fit for. You’re just trying to use some weird reverse-psychology crap to make a sale.

An Example of How We Would Answer This Question

For us, in web design, it was people that wanted a ‘techie they could boss around’. People who had zero interest in our website strategy advice. There were also a bunch of other things too. You can actually read more on our blog post – reasons we’re not the right fit for you.

Turning Your Answer Into Sales

Doing this means you only attract those who are truly your ideal customers (no wasting time with the wrong-fits) And it builds trust and loyalty with your ideal customers too.

Your ideal customers understand that you’re not out to make a quick buck from anyone and everyone. You’re choosy, and you care who you work with.

5. Why do you charge what you do?

Most businesses’ pricing structure is unique. Even a tin of beans (I’m British, okay) varies in price between 25 pence and a pound. Why such a difference for the same product?

Your customers want to understand why you charge what you do. Okay, maybe not for a low-cost purchase like beans. But for most things people buy, they are interested in the cost.

You could cover things like…

• • Why you’re more expensive than other companies. Don’t cringe. Your customers are wondering this anyway, so just answer it!
  • Why are you so cheap? Yep, customers are also suspicious of stuff that’s cheap. So explain why you’re priced cheaper than others. Or why you’re product is so affordable.
  • Why do you quote different businesses at different prices
  • Why are your prices increasing?
  • Why do you not offer discounts?
  • How much money have you made? Yep, we’ve also answered this one too.

An Example of How We Would Answer This Question

We have answered many questions about our pricing structure. But a successful one was a blog post about why we charged larger companies more for web design.

We tackled a particular objection large companies may have had had, which was ‘they’re probably charging us more because they know we can afford it’. This wasn’t true, and we set out to explain why.

Turning Your Answer Into Sales

This works because it’s incredibly open and transparent. It takes a lot of trust for someone to invest in you. And if you break down why you charge what you do then you help build enough trust and understanding for someone to move forward and invest.

Why Does This All Work? Because Objection Handling Is Broken.

There you have it – five uncomfortable questions you should ask yourself that can turn into great content.

You’ll notice that all these questions are essentially about answering people’s objections about working with you.

And do you want to know my one problem with objection handling? It relies on the prospective customer voicing their objection. And this is a problem because prospects can be shy (they don’t want to offend you) or defensive (they don’t want to admit they can’t afford it).

This is why creating content around these objections works so well. Because you voice them. You say out loud what the customer is thinking in their heads.

And they, in turn, will be hugely impressed! They’ll feel understood and heard. And they will appreciate that you brought it up first so they didn’t have to.

What’s Next For You?

If you want to take your content to the next level, check out our Content Strategy Guide which will help you create a lead-generating content strategy in under 10 minutes!

Lyndsay Cambridge

Owner at Jammy Digital, Digital Marketing Specialist and Writer of Young-Adult Fiction.

jammydigital.com

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