The Works
I’m exploring a few ways to help get rid of some of the roadblocks for Tacklebox members. Specifically, I’m looking for things that sit neatly in the middle of this Venn Diagram:
A perfect example is copywriting. It’s deceptively hard (very few members have experience distilling an idea into 7 words) and deceptively emotional (even if they have that experience they’ve never done it for their thing, which means the 7 words becomes 85 because they need to talk about every possible bit of value). It’ll also stop founders dead in their tracks. Weeks will pass as they avoid putting pen to paper on landing page copy or social ad copy because, again, it’s emotional and hard.
Lots of hard things shouldn’t be outsourced because it’s important for the founder to do them (customer interviews), but copy isn’t one of those things. If someone else can write your copy and get you moving, great. So, I’ve been looking for copywriters, designers, VAs, SEO, social ads, etc. The hope is to find some great ones and negotiate packages specific for the hurdles you all face at a solid discount. Then, if these people are really great, maybe we’ll pull them into a package for a higher membership tier.
Anyway, the point of today’s post comes from one of the websites for a copywriter I’m testing out. She had a few standard packages - website copy only, website + social + onboarding emails, LinkedIn message + 6 cold email flow. Then, she had a $20k option called “The Works.” The description went:
“This is what you really want but probably can’t afford. I’ll speak with your customers and tease out the real value you’re providing (or should be). Next, I’ll run tests for 4 weeks with social ads, newsletter/podcast ads, google ads, and a website with a bunch of variations on copy and calls to action. I'll create a compelling email flow that'll convert the right people. At the end of the 4 weeks I’ll hand you over a business that declares its value in a clear, concise way…with just enough personality to turn heads.”
Bang. I reached out immediately. My first question was, how many people choose The Works? She responded that they've had to switch it over to application only because she couldn’t handle the demand because “I can only handle one a month.”
But, The Works did more than get a few high paying customers. “The biggest change to the business has been how much credibility offering The Works has given us. People read the description and realize we understand exactly what they need. They also understand they probably can’t afford The Works, but at least they’re working with someone who shares the same north star. They trust us because we know what they really want, even if they can’t afford to pay for it. They constantly reference The Works, noting the parts of the process they want us to handle vs. which they'll try to tackle. It lets us know that some things we maybe didn't think were as valuable are things the customer highlights and says they want as part of a different package. And, it lets us know we're on the right track. Nearly every customer says some variation of “oh how I wish I could afford The Works.” And, a lot go out and raise some money and come back and use us for it."
This is a useful exercise, and a fun one for a Sunday. Pick out one of the best potential customers you’ve spoken with. Now, describe your version of The Works. Not superfluous stuff they don’t want, and not stuff they don’t know they want. Describe their North Star — the outcome they're pushing towards. Then, build the product offering that gets them there. The ten star experience. Let your mind run wild — if cost wasn't an issue, what is the best possible product for your customer? This ensures that you know their North Star. And, sometimes thinking about The Works pushes you to think about how they see the problem in a different way.