Over the past few blog posts, I’ve been talking about positioning for your educational consulting business, which is how you go about differentiating your educational consulting business from everyone else in your field so you can capture a bigger share of the market (aka, get hired more often).
More specifically, I’ve been talking about the first key component of positioning: your Persuasive Persona.
And one key concept that I want to get across to you when it comes to how you present yourself to your audience is this…
Your Persuasive Persona isn’t you. It’s a version of you that you use in your personal branding campaign–because it’s a version of you that’s attractive to your Ideal Clients.
And today, I want to share a little trick that I learned from comedian Chris Rock that will help you create a Persuasive Persona that’s more attractive to your Ideal Clients and will help you build that coveted Know Like Trust factor.
You see, I heard Chris Rock say something a few years ago (I think it was on a late night show) that stuck with me because I think it’s such brilliant marketing advice.
I can’t remember all the details, but here’s how it went down…
Chris Rock was talking to the host and was acting very calm and, for lack of a better word, normal–which is waaaay different from his usual stand-up persona.
The host was so blown away by how different this relaxed, even reserved, version of Chris Rock was from what he was used to seeing, so he asked him about it.
And this is when Chris Rock shared this golden nugget (I’m paraphrasing here):
“People don’t want the real Chris Rock. They want the 3X version of me.”
In other words, when he gets on stage to do his stand-up act, he takes certain aspects of his personality and multiplies them 3X to create a specific character (loud, brash, etc.) that his audience finds funny. In other words, he creates a Persuasive Persona that’s attractive to his Ideal Clients.
In a previous post, I talked about sharing some aspects of your personal life with your audience. And that’s a great tactic.
But when I was talking about that, I was simply saying to include some personal details as they truly exist–in other words, the 1X version.
- Like, sharing that you like to go to the beach every chance you get
- Or that you’re a big fan of the Tedeschi Trucks Band (which I am)
- Or that you’re a neat freak
None of these things are mind-blowing to your audience. But they do help humanize you and help your audience relate to you.
But the 3X tactic is a little different. It’s about taking some aspect of your personality and leaning into it–hard.
For example, let’s say that you’re a music lover and that, not only do you use music throughout your teacher workshops, but you obsess over your musical selections and take nearly as long to plan your playlists as you do to plan the content of the workshop itself. (Full disclosure, this is once again me we’re talking about.)
Simply sharing that piece of information about yourself with your audience in your emails would be the 1X version of this–basic personalization.
But the 3X version would mean that you take every opportunity to talk about music that you can find. You might…
- Create a new section in your weekly newsletter about which new artists you’ve discovered recently or which bands you’ve seen live recently.
- Ask your list in an email what their favorite new songs are–and respond to their replies.
- Create an alter ego (think Jake Blues for John Belushi or Ziggy Stardust for David Bowie) that’s the music lover version of you and in whose voice you sometimes write.
- Even do videos in character (including costume) to talk about how obsessed you are about using music in your training.
- Etc….
I know it sounds crazy, but think about how someone out there who already likes your educational content and is also a music lover would be even more (dare I say 3X more?) attracted to you if you were to emphasize this aspect of your personality in such a way.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. You’re thinking…
“Am I being a fakey-fake faker if I 3X some aspects of my life and personality?”
To which I answer…
“No more than we’re ALL being fake every waking moment of our lives.”
And I don’t mean that in any negative sense at all. I’m just saying that we all emphasize and deemphasize different aspects of our personalities when we’re around different people.
Are you the same person when you’re with your parents as you are when you’re with your kids? Are you the same person when you’re with your spouse as you are when you’re with your friends (without your spouse)? Are you the same person when you’re working as you are when you’re at home?
And, in case you were actually thinking about it, the answer is no.
No, you are NOT the same person in these various scenarios. We all wear certain masks in order to be more the kind of person those we’re around expect or want us to be.
We tamp down certain aspects of our personality and we pump up (maybe even 3X) other aspects.
All I’m suggesting today is that you do the same thing in your business–intentionally.
Be more of the kind of person that your Ideal Clients will be attracted to.
So, here’s today’s action step, should you choose to accept it:
Think about different aspects of your personality, your habits, your hobbies, and your passions. Better yet, make a list of all of these things.
Next, identify 1-2 of these things that might be fun to over-emphasize (3X) as a way to create a Persuasive Persona that will resonate with your Ideal Clients.
Then, simply start adding more mentions of these specific aspects of your personality in your communications with your audience going forward.
Push the envelope with it. I think you’ll see a big uptick in the kind of engagement you get with your people.
And most importantly, have fun with it (if it’s not fun, you won’t stick with it)!
OK, that’s it for today. In my next post, I’ll talk about how HUMANS can still be the big winners in the Age of AI.
Talk soon.
Willy
P.S.–I’d love to hear your thoughts about this “3X” concept.
Are you already doing this to some extent? If so, how are you employing this tactic? How’s it working?
Or have you never thought about doing something like this before? Are you scared to try it? Intrigued?
Leave a Comment or hit me up at willy@edconsultantmarketing.com with your comments, critiques, and questions. I respond to every email.
Willy
