How To Identify Your Unique Advantage
Nikki Groom
“When you know yourself better, you can position yourself powerfully. People will immediately understand the value you deliver.”
Have you been struggling to differentiate yourself? In this bonus episode of the podcast, I’m going to show you how to uncover your hidden value and communicate what you do with confidence, so you become known as one of the go-to experts in your field.
Maybe you've noticed that many of the people you follow seem to be immediately known for one thing, but you're still struggling to figure out what your “thing” is. There's no shame in that, and I’m here to help. Because when you can position yourself in an unforgettable way, you’ll have what it takes to start scaling your influence, income, and impact.
I’m excited to bring you this special episode so that you can strengthen your personal leadership brand, build an unforgettable thought leadership platform, and confidently make your mark.
Key takeaways:
When you know yourself better, you can position yourself powerfully. People can immediately understand the value you deliver
The three things you must be clear on when identifying your unique advantage
Questions and prompts that invoke thoughtful and inspired action, like, “What do you know is possible for people?” or “Who are the people you most want to serve?”
A step-by-step formula to crafting powerful and coherent brand messaging, so that you're known for all the right reasons across key channels and platforms
How to grow your income, impact, and influence by becoming more visible this year
A sneak-peak into the Movement Makers Leadership Academy!
Show Transcript:
Nikki Groom:
Hello, Movement Makers. A bit of a spin on our regular programming today. A few weeks ago, I led a masterclass for everyone in my network called Identifying Your Unique Advantage in which I led participants through how they could uncover their hidden value in order to become known as one of the go-to experts in their field or industry.
There's also a workbook for this masterclass that you can grab at nikkigroom.com/workbook. And I wanted to share this in an episode for the podcast with you, because it reflects an exciting new direction for me as I do more and more work helping leading experts and new emerging voices to speak, communicate and lead at a world class level. This episode is for you if you are someone who wants to better communicate your unique advantage, so you can increase your influence, impact, and income.
I also talk about the new program I launched recently, the Movement Makers Leadership Academy, which is a nine month impact accelerator for new leading voices who wants to leverage their expertise, insights, and ideas to drive meaningful change. To find out more about the program, visit nikkigroom.com/mastermind, or listen to the end for all the details.
Identifying your unique advantage. This is why you're here today. What we're going to be tackling is uncovering your hidden value, so that you can become the go-to expert in your field. We may already be acquainted, and I do so hope that we are. I'm Nikki Groom and I specialize in helping experts communicate, speak, and lead at a world class level so they can change their world.
If you are someone who wants to uncover your hidden value and communicate your unique advantage so you can increase your influence, your income and your impact, I created this masterclass for you. I certainly want to make sure that I'm delivering a ton of value to you, so you are going to walk away really, really clear on what your unique advantage is. That's my guarantee to you. And at the end, I will be sharing a little bit about my new program.
And I'm really excited about it, because it is for those of you who do want to go from being the best kept secret in your industry, in your fields, to becoming known, again, as this person who really can help others. So, stay tuned for more details about that. So, let's get started. A little bit of backstory in terms of why this has kind of become my passion and my area of expertise.
When I first became an entrepreneur back in 2012, the more I networked online, the more people I would come across who offered the same services as me. If you've had that before as well, I call it comparisonitis. If you've seen other people doing the same thing as you, and you think, "Ugh, why is there any point doing what I do, because I can't set myself apart?"
That was me. And the more I realized I needed to set myself apart if I wanted to secure that new business. This is what I needed to be able to do. I needed to know myself better and position myself powerfully so people immediately understood the value I delivered. That was what I was on a quest to do. And so that might sound familiar to you as well.
And I recall having a coaching call with an early mentor and saying, "I just really want to figure out what my thing is." And what I meant by that was the thing that would differentiate me, that would help me reach more people, and that would help me become known for all the right reasons. At first I thought the secret was maybe bundling up my services into packages, but while that certainly helped, it wasn't anywhere near the full story.
After all, if I could package my services in a certain way, then couldn't someone else do exactly the same? The same with the pricing. And while I firmly believe that pricing actually is positioning, because if your prices are way up there, people are going to be like, "Oh gosh, this person clearly really knows what they're doing," it still wasn't the full story.
There's a phrase you may have heard, you can't read the label from inside the jar. I always come back to that. And ironically, just as I was trying to figure out what the heck my label said, I was simultaneously working with entrepreneur after entrepreneur, and expert after experts, helping them to uncover their thing, their unique advantage, and communicate that in a way that people wouldn't readily forget.
First, I did that as a copywriter, and later as a business brand and marketing coach and strategist. And after a while, I realized there was a repeatable framework that helped me help my clients to grow their influence, impact, and income. And wherever I taught that method, be it in a group training, or a webinar, or a Mastermind, or one on one, people always got results. So, I knew I was onto something.
My guess is that you are here today, you're frustrated maybe. Whenever you see other people, perhaps even your peers, who are securing amazing opportunities, clients, stages, you name it, and wonder why you are not yet seeing a similar level of success. Maybe you've noticed that those people seem to be immediately known for one thing, while you are still struggling to figure out what your thing is.
And hey, there's no shame in that. We have all been there, as I shared with you. Not knowing what your unique advantage is may be causing your growth online to stall out in terms of the number of followers or subscribers you have, or the number of people engaging with your content. Is that happening for you? Let me know in the comments if it is. Or it could be showing up in your client pipeline with either not enough people waiting in line to work with you, or too many of the wrong folks on standby.
I'm sure some of you have experienced that as well. I have plenty of people who want to work with me, but I don't know if they're quite my people. I feel like I've kind of evolved out of working with them, and now I really need to be able to attract more of the people who actually could use my help. Or it could show up in the lack of confidence you feel when someone asks you what you do. Sometimes that can feel like the absolute worst question to be asked, doesn't it?
It's like, "How do I begin to answer this question?" Well, all of that ends today, because I want you to walk away from here feeling not only inspired to show up and share with your audience as you cultivate existing relationships and make new connections, but also certain on who your people are so you never waste time talking to anyone who's not a great fit. And confident that you have what it takes to communicate what you do in a way that the right people immediately understand and feel excited about, because now they know how to work with you, or champion you and your work.
I'm going to break down my formula for figuring out your unique advantage with the goal that you will be able to leverage that in the future to increase your influence, your income and your impact, and become known, again, as one of the go-to experts in your field or industry. I truly believe that's possible for you. So, let's dig in. Are you ready? Really there are three things that you need to be clear on if you want to identify your unique advantage. That thing that sets you apart and helps you get an known for all the right reasons.
And those three things are your movement, your truth and your people. So, I'm going to break this down one at a time. So, number one, your movement. I like to refer to your movement as your vision for change. The vision of the future you have, where things are different, things are better. And this idea, this vision, is the possibility that feeds your mission every day.
Every single day, the work you're doing is inspired by this vision. And so if you have an idea what your movement or your vision for change, this idea, this vision of yours is, this possibility that feeds your mission every day, let us hear it. But it's the thing, the issue, the cause that you are passionate about. The thing that gets you all worked up. You know your work will not be done until things are different, or you pass the torch onto someone else, or perhaps multiple other people.
It's bigger than yourself, and it's the change that you ultimately want to create in the world. So, that's one piece of the pie. And next up we have your truth. So, this is when we bring you into the equation well and truly, because you might have this vision, this bigger sense of purpose that's calling you forward, but why? Why you? What's your story? And I'm not just talking about your highlights real, although we definitely want to make sure that we weave that in here.
You might have qualifications, certain places you studied that you are really proud of. You might have worked in certain places, spoken at certain events, scored certain deals, and we need to know all of that. Yes, and? What's the rest of the story? What's the behind the scenes stuff that connects you to your audience and your people? Because they want to know why you care.
It's okay to admit some of the ways that you've struggled, and then share how you overcame some of the obstacles in your path. Or you may have seen some of the ways other people struggled and it sparked in you a desire to help them, because you knew you had the skills or strengths to do that. A word on strengths. I truly believe that every disadvantage has an advantage. Just let that sink in for a minute.
Every disadvantage has an advantage. So, if you are always giving yourself a hard time and saying, "Oh, I'm too much of this," or, "I'm too much of that," every disadvantage has an advantage. And Gallup, who's the company behind the StrengthsFinder assessment, which I'm a huge fan of, and if you've talked to me for any length of time, you've probably discovered that. Gallup agrees with this, because they say that 60 to 70% of your weaknesses are actually just an over or underuse of your top five strengths.
60 to 70% of your weaknesses are an over or underuse of your top five strengths. So, your truth usually also encompasses, in addition to your story, in addition to your strengths and maybe even your perceived weaknesses, because we know that they're probably just strengths in disguise. Your truth usually also encompasses your approach, your process, your framework, your way of doing things that guarantees results time after the time.
And you know that, because you've witnessed that. You feel confident that if people follow a certain set of steps in a certain order, they will get where they want to go. I also like to call this your change model, because from the time they begin working with you or they first hire you, they're not going to be the same as they were at the beginning. So, what is the transformation that you deliver? What is the approach that you have developed that delivers results without fail? What do you know is possible for people, and how do you know that?
And I'm not trying to put you on the spot, but if you've done this, if you've led people through this process, then you should have stories that you can share, case studies that you can develop, testimonials that you can put out there that say, "Yeah, actually this process works. Look, people have used it, and these are the results that they have achieved." The truth is really taking into account every parts of you that has made it here today, even the parts of you that were shaped by challenges and hard times.
All of that equipped you to do the work you do today. So, that's your truth. And so the third piece when you're trying to figure out your unique advantage, is your people. You cannot figure out your unique advantage without having a really clear sense of who your people are. If you have coached with me, if you have been in any of my programs, I know for sure that you've heard me say this before, but when it comes to your people, and who I really mean by your people is the people that you serve, the people that you support, the people who you want to hear your message, they are your people.
If you've ever heard about ideal client avatar, you can get very mired in the nitty gritty details of who our ideal avatar is. All I want you to do in order to figure out your unique advantage, is to consider who are those people that I most want to serve, what are they struggling with, and how are they feeling? And if you want to throw a couple of other questions into the mix, what do they want most, and what do they fear most? Get really clear on this.
And we're whizzing through today, but feel free to jot down some notes, to take some time to think about this. You know, what are my people? What are they struggling with? What do they need help with? How are they feeling? And this is how are they feeling before they've even found you, before they've had a conversation with you and even know that you might be the solution to their problems. What do they want the most? And what do they fear the most? What are they worried about? What are they concerned about?
What the worst case scenario as far as they're concerned? You need to identify this stuff so that you can speak to them and communicate your unique advantage to them in a way that they can understand. So, there's a lot there, and a lot of prompts and it might be a bit, "Ah, well, okay, this is all well and good, Nikki, but how the heck do I start putting this into action?"
Well, I really do want you to put this into practice. Here's how this looks. I'm going to start with the example of Katie, who is actually on our call today. And Katie is an incredible human being. She joined my nine month program, my incubator, my mastermind, last year, and spent a lot of time experimenting, creating new courses and programs and ways of working with her.
Having conversations with different people, speaking at all sorts of events, and really honing her idea of what she wanted to do, what her vision for change was, and who would be most impacted by that vision for change, because this isn't the kind of work that can be done overnight. And even though Katie is an expert, she has been working for herself for, I think like 10 years, right Katie? And she is truly an expert in every sense of the word, she had to spend time regardless, iterating, testing, and getting clearer.
But here's what she came up with. You're going to take your movement and you're going to take your people and you're going to sandwich them together, and you're going to answer the question, what is it that you are doing every day and for who? Katie is a great example. She's all about radical self acceptance. Her view of the world is that one day all of us will understand that we are truly inherently worthy and we have always been worthy, and we have always been worthy of self acceptance.
This piece didn't happen overnight, again, but she does that for high achievers who have ADHD challenges. So, can you see immediately when you hear that Katie is an expert in radical self acceptance for high achievers with ADHD challenges, you immediately know what Katie's all about and why you should refer people to her, or why you might want to even work with her.
It's very clear. You know if you're hosting a summit, or a conference, or you're having an event inside your organization, maybe it's like your diversity and inclusion council and you really want to tune into that segment of your workforce, you know, "Ah, I need Katie. That's who I need to speak with." Another example, Nicha, same deal. She joined my program last year and her movement plus her people, you can see how I'm sandwiching these together and phrasing these, this is the work that she's doing every day.
Non-negotiable self-care for women in tech. Non-negotiable, self-care for women in tech. This didn't come about overnight over a serious of coaching conversations and research that she did, experiments that she led. She kept coming back to this idea of non-negotiable self-care. And as soon as she shared that with all of us, we were like, "Oh, that." Because it's not just self-care, but it's non-negotiable. And it's not just non-negotiable self-care for anybody, it's non-negotiable self-care for women in tech.
Again, now you immediately know when you hear that, I know exactly what Nicha does, and I know exactly who she does it for. We'll do a few more examples. This is my client, Heather. She is a phenomenal speaker, definitely check out her website actually, because she just launched a new one, heatheryounger.com. She's a phenomenal speaker, consultant, she's really doing a gazillion things and doing them at a very high level.
And her movement is cultures of listening, and her people is organizational leaders who want to drive new levels of employee engagement. Notice here, I could have said cultures of listening for organizations, or organizational leaders, but that doesn't really help us differentiate them enough. So, I added a little bit here, cultures of listening for organizational leaders who want to drive new levels of employee engagement. So, it's not for everybody.
And if you've been doing what you've been doing for any length of time, you should know by now that you don't have to be for everybody. So, if you are starting to get a sense of what your movement might be and you know how to summage that with your people, and this really is your unique advantage, and we're going to add to that in just a moment. Here's another way to phrase that, because you might be thinking, "Well, how do I weave that into conversation?"
Well, if someone says, "What do you do?" A great way to do that is to flip your people and your movement. So, lead with your people first and use the phrase, "I help..." But I feel like the combination of, "I help..." is so potent, because it immediately shifts you into that place of service and you no longer feel like you're tooting your own horn, or it no longer feels uncomfortable to say what you do, because you're immediately putting other people first.
So, Heather's, for example, would shift and she would say, "I help organizational leaders," and maybe we add in, "Who wants to drive new levels of employee engagement." So, you might be thinking, "Well, where does your truth come into this?" Well, have you ever been in a conversation with somebody at a networking event where they've said, "Well, what do you do?" And so maybe you could lead with that piece. "Well, I help these people do this. This is what I'm all about. This is my vision for change. This is my movement."
And then they might say, "Oh, well, why do you do that then?" I had a really, really great conversation with a friend of my, Louis, when I first met him. I remember this so vividly. It was at an event, a three day event, and we were sat at a picnic table outside and he was telling me that he is all about helping organizations introduce more play and creativity into their employee's lives.
And I was intrigued, because it sounded really different, the kinds of things that he was doing. And I said, "Oh, why do you do that?" He said, "Because I went through a really dark period in my life when I was really, really depressed and I lost my job and my girlfriend broke up with me and I didn't know what I was doing with my life." And as soon as he said that, it kind of got me in the gut and I was hooked. I wanted to know more.
And so even though at times you might just be able to talk to people and share your movement and your people, hopefully that opens the door to deeper conversations when you can say, "Hey, I do this work because here's what I experienced," or, "Here's what I believe as a result of what seen as possible for other people," or, "Here's what I know is possible to do, because I've helped these people do it."
It's really important to bring you into the equation whenever you can. And if you're thinking about, for example, delivering a talk or a workshop, you might want to start with what you do and then go into your why. It's always such a great supporting statement. If you're writing your website copy, maybe you about page. Again, start with what you do and then follow it up with why.
I want to share some more examples here, so if we go back to Heather's example, why does Heather help organizational leaders create cultures of listening? Well, her story is amazing. And actually when I first started working with her, she said, "You know, this is a story I haven't really shared before, but I'm thinking about sharing it more and more." Heather's story is a powerful one, because she is a child of a multiracial and interfaith marriage who didn't feel accepted or listened to by certain members of her family.
So, even to the point that she went to her grandmother's house, her grandmother had framed other members of the family, Heather's cousins pictures on the wall, but Heather wasn't on the wall. And she talks now at length about this. In her talk she weaves this story through her talk, she weaves it through her website copy, she weaves it through her workshops. And she actually does also do some consulting on diversity and inclusion these days too, and she talks about it at that time as well.
She didn't feel listened to, so that's her truth. That's why she does what she does. Here's another example. Susan is another client of mine, another phenomenal human being, and Susan through a practical and repeatable framework, helps innovation leaders be more intentional about the stories they share to make their breakthrough ideas easier to understand, easier to champion, and easier to bring to life.
But why does she do this work in the first place? She first mastered... And again, when she told me this story, it just blew my mind. She mastered the art of storytelling when she was working as an international aid officer in rural Thailand in the nineties, helping to slow the spread of HIV by turning sex workers into entrepreneurs. So, that's her why. She saw what could be possible when you told the right story. And she's since gone on to work in Fortune 500 boardrooms around the world, helping global innovation leaders craft stories that bring their teams together around breakthrough ideas.
Another client of mine, Mary Pat, love Mary Pat. I love all my clients. My clients are awesome. So, Mary Pat, why does she do what she does? What is her truth? Well, she has trained, coached and mentored thousands, and I mean thousands, of corporate leaders to improve their emotional intelligence and become more effective leaders through her humanized leader framework. So, that's why she does it.
And I'm going to help you put all this together, so don't worry. Finally, what is your message? So, think about your people and think about your truth. Think about what your people are struggling with, and think about what do I really want them to know? And that is your message. How does this all go together, because you're probably thinking, "Oh my gosh, I am going to lose my mind, Nikki. You're giving me too much, I don't even know where to start with this."
Well, start with that sentence. Start with those two powerful words, "I help..." And then share with people your truth. Because I what? What do you know? What have you experienced? What do you believe to be true? And then if you're struggling, here's what you can follow that up with. And this is great for your website copy or social media copy, Facebook ads, again, this is great for a talk, if you're delivering a talk or a workshop. If you are struggling with X, Y, and Z, here's what I want you to know.
And that's where you can weave in your message. So, first of all I want to know, do you want to go from the world's best kept secret to becoming known as the go-to expert in your field, or one of the go-to experts in your field? There's room for more than one of us. So, yes or no? I ask that because the program that I've developed is really all about helping you to build an unforgettable presence, platform and body of work, that reflects your deepest values, positions you to drive action on the issues closest to your heart, and strengthens your leadership identity as a trusted thought leader.
Because not only do I believe that you possess a unique blend of lived experiences, insights, and perspectives, but you also have a unique message to deliver, and the potential to turn that message into a movement while driving meaningful change at scale and getting rewarded for it. So, as I've mentioned, I run Mastermind groups, I've run them for the past five years, and I run them for new voices who really want to broaden, deepen, their impact by deepening into the work that is calling them forward.
And this year I've made some significant changes to that Mastermind, because I now know exactly how to best serve my people with a curriculum support, resources and a community that support you to not only cultivate a personal leadership brand that differentiates you from others based on your unique capabilities, value and contributions, but also help you develop out a proprietary change model that is rooted in the transformation you know is possible and that you want people to grow to know you for.
I really believe that the world is full of people who have dedicated their lives to serving others, but none of them are you, and no one can do the work you do in quite the way that you do it. And so here's just some of what we'll cover. We'll start with that vision for change that encompasses your goals, and that will become your guiding light, your internal roadmap for the year. One that will guide you and hold you accountable.
And then we'll develop, and we don't have to this in this order, but the vision piece always does come first. We'll develop your leadership brand, platform and breakthrough idea so that people start connecting with you and the issues or causes that you care about. We'll also develop that change model that we talked about. So, you might already have a sense of that process, but we're really going to lock it in. We may even create a visual around it, and then we'll use that to inform every way that you show up. And that's going to be rooted in the transformation you deliver, or a framework that really brings that vision for change alive.
And then we're going to work to unlock your most impactful personal story, and curate a story bank of go-to narratives that translate across multiple platforms, from social media to auditoriums, podcast interviews, media articles, email marketing, and more. The list goes on. There is really no limit to where you can share your story, because people always want to hear it. So, we are going to really help you hone that so you can figure out, okay, this is the story that I need to keep coming back to.
This is the story that people really resonate with. This is a story that really does a great job of harnessing and encompassing my truth. We're going to optimize your messaging so that the right people engage and interact with you. Again, doesn't matter where you're speaking, where you're showing up, be that online, offline, we want to make sure that everything that you're communicating about yourself and about the work that you do is really hitting the nail on the head and really helping people, your people, feel seen and heard and understood.
And we're also going to help you market your message by regularly creating strategic pillar content that reaffirms what you want to be known for and repurposing that content on multiple platforms in a way that resonates with the right audience. These are all things that I have been doing with people for many, many years. I love doing them. It is definitely my passion. And my vision for change is that all of you will realize how incredible you are and you will really step into your fullest potential with my support.
That's why I do this. We'll also map out a thought leadership plan that positions you as the expert that you are. Now, whether you want to start a podcast, or write a book, or something else, we'll really help you figure out what do you need to do, where do you need to show up in order to really be communicating with the right people?
We'll help you build a network of strategic partners that help you tap into new and exciting opportunities while boosting your reach and your impact. And last but certainly not least, we'll design for you at least one signature keynote talk and workshop that shifts mindsets, behaviors and attitudes, and gets people excited about your cause in real time. And I'm just going to whizz through. Alice is somebody who joined us last time and she said, "I went from not knowing where I was heading with my business and movement, to building the ethical move to eight team members, a membership community, and so many new followers, in addition to creating a business and personal brand that I'm very proud of. I got clear on my voice and how to listen to it."
Sephera, "The Mastermind helped me conquer my limiting mindset and break through my mental ceilings. The opportunities for my potential feel more limitless than they did before. I'm excited to play big." Carrie was having trouble identifying her priorities. She had kind of these big plans or ideas of what she wanted to do, but she really struggled with imposter syndrome. And she said that the group encouraged her to run experiments, helped her take comfortable risks that didn't seem so scary.
With our support, she launched two courses, she literally was on fire during the whole course of the time that we were working together, and she also went on to use her voice by becoming a meditation teacher on Insight Timer, and the list goes on. And the accountability support and encouragement, she said was invaluable because, and I think that this piece is critical, she moved ahead faster than she would've done on her own. You are all going to figure out how to get where you need to go, but sometimes do you ever feel it's taking way longer than you would like?
What I love about this group experience is that it accelerates that progress. So, we are really going to be working on what it is that you want to be known for, and making sure that everybody else is in the loop. And that you are no longer the world's best kept secret, that everybody around you, whether it's in your town, whether it's in your state, whether it's in your country, whether you are really thinking global, everybody thinks, "Ah, okay, I need a meditation teacher. I need Carrie."
Or Marisa created a whole program around sovereignty. "I need somebody to help with really enabling me to own my power. I'm going to go to Marisa." Marisa shared that she is finally now teaching the material that she's most passionate about, and I thought that this was really significant. "This was the thing that I wouldn't let myself do in nine years of entrepreneurship, the structure of the live group pool has created the perfect environment to reflecting my process and progress. As a creative entrepreneur who often avoids systems, it's wonderful to learn from others building organizations and replicable formulas for success."
So, I wanted to share with you a bit about my new program. You may have questions. I expect you to have questions. I love questions. So, if you do have them, or what might be easiest is to email me, nikki@nikkigroom.com. You can also pop them in the Q&A, and I'd be happy to answer them now so that other people get to benefit from the response. But if you want to find out more and apply, you can find the application form at nikkigroom.com/mastermind.
What I'm really excited about offering today, because I am so in awe of all of you who showed up live today and really carved out this time to figure out, "Okay, I want to know what my unique advantage is, because I do believe that I have something to offer the world. And maybe I'm really struggling to communicate it in a way that makes sense." We are packing it with value this year, and because the curriculum has pivoted slightly and we are really kind of deepening into what we are able to really, really help with, anyone who joins this year is really going to benefit from a program that's molded around you and your needs.
So, that's what I'm really excited about as well. Lots of one on one help, lots of hand holding if you need it, or just I can be a great cheerleader. So, that's that. Again, let me know if you have questions. And now the moment you've all been waiting for. We have a bit more time left here today, I'd love to hear what questions you have. If you are trying to figure out, "What is my unique advantage? Nikki, my head is spinning. That was way too much info. I need to really distill this down."
Take advantage of this moment right now, because I want to help you. My email is nikki@nikkigroom.com. You can also DM me. I am very active on Instagram. I'm also on Facebook and LinkedIn. So, you can send me a message there and I will get back to you. I do respond to all messages personally, it's just what I like to do. Anyway, I love hearing from you. I love hearing your questions. So, Melissa, I hope you're still there.
Melissa:
I am here, yes.
Nikki Groom:
Hooray. So, I would love to know, have any questions come through, anything that we need to address, or do you have any thoughts about what we should make sure everybody hears?
Melissa:
One question we have is if it's more of an experience and not a process, will this still work for them?
Nikki Groom:
Yeah, absolutely. Because my belief is that... Well, I kind of want to hear some more about that actually. But my belief is that the experience that you deliver, there's probably still an order in which you do things. So, while this experience is really important that it starts with this piece and then it leads to this piece, and there's going to be a why behind each of those choices. It flows in this way, because I know when I follow this order, the sequence of things, at the end of that, the experience is just mind blowing. And they're so happy and they feel all the things that I want them to feel after going through that.
Melissa:
I love that. And let's see, we just got one more message. So, what if each experience is unique?
Nikki Groom:
I know Denise and I love that she's taunting me. Wow, good question.
Melissa:
She's laughing with you in the chat.
Nikki Groom:
Well, so I actually have some insider knowledge, because I know Denise and I know a bit about her work. And what I would say is you can absolutely customize to each client. But you're going to save yourself a ton of time if you have certain ways of doing things. So, no matter whether you are helping somebody pitch themselves to different podcasts, or no matter whether you are helping somebody figure out their social media presence. Again, I'm going to swear by this, there are certain set of steps you're going to take them through.
Now, you might have three different processes and you might bring them together because you've created like this mega package that's going to deliver a ton of value and help them get their online presence figured out, get featured on multiple podcasts. You can do that, you can bring multiple processes together. But I still would argue that those experiences that you're creating are rooted in a system, a process, a framework, that maybe is still taking shape. Maybe you're still experimenting. What if I do this step before this step? Is that going to create the same results?
Melissa:
And a few other people chimed in with some comments that I think are great. I'd say a lot of my clients are unique and this has helped me create a method to serve all of them. I put all of my practices into one method.
Nikki Groom:
Yes, exactly.
Melissa:
And then TR shared, "My work is also an experience. The work is done in the unseen realm by various consciousness I work with. It's individual."
Nikki Groom:
Think about when someone first comes to you or someone is first identified as a potential client. What happens next? Do you know that I have to get on a phone call with them for 60 minutes and I have to ask them these questions in this order, or maybe just know, okay, it has to be this set of questions. And then we're kind of going to let the unseen, the woo do its thing. And then after that experience, here's how I follow up. I send this email. I give them unlimited email access to this many days. I check in with them through Boxer.
There's still different things that you can do that really make it not only an amazing experience, but that kind of leans on, "Well, I know that if I ask these questions, I know that if I do these different things in this order, these are the kinds of results that we can create, or these are the kinds of things that people have experienced as a result of this experience." Because I love deep work. I absolutely love that. And so sometimes just holding the space is part of the experience. So, maybe you have a process, we confer via email and then we get on this call, or whatever happens next, and then I hold the space. And that is what you do, that's part of your process.
Melissa:
Leora just posted something. She says, "This is very interesting. My problem is most everyone needs me, and one of the only ways I can weed people out is with cost. I love helping women, but I'm really successful helping men too."
Nikki Groom:
Yeah. And it's interesting, because I've mentioned before that pricing is positioning. And even though it's not the full story, it certainly does help. And I know that in the first couple of years of my business, and even more recently quite honestly, every time I put up my prices, the kinds of clients that I attract are more and more my right fit client. So, it can be really effective thing to do.
And just sometimes going through that process of experimenting with pricing can help you get clearer on, "Oh, these are the people that I really want to work with. These people, maybe they're not quite ready for me yet, but these are my folks." I think it's okay, whether you decide to just help women, or help women and men, or be completely inclusive of whoever no matter their gender then, I think that's totally cool. It's really your choice. You get to choose.
Melissa:
And Katie said that this has helped her raise her prices, the work that she's done with you.
Nikki Groom:
I would high five you, Katie, if you were here.
Melissa:
Exactly.
Nikki Groom:
Let me know if you have more questions, because I'm here to help. So, Julia, I love your point about taking time to figure out why I love what I do, then sharing that. When I've done some of this work in the past and shared it, future clients really responded. It's really valuable. Julia is amazing when it comes to content creation, marketing, all the things. Julia Scott Marketing, I think, is the full company name, so definitely check her out.
It just made a difference, because for example, and you're a great example, again, there are so many people who are offering marketing services. So, how the heck do you set yourself apart? And I think you've done a really good job of doing that. Any more questions? Anyone else trying to figure out their thing, or do you questions about the Mastermind this year and how it's changing and if it's really suitable for you and that kind of thing?
And again, you are more than welcome to shoot me an email, nikki@nikkigroom.com, DM me, or just check out nikkigroom.com/mastermind. There is more of a curriculum this year, we'll be going a lot deeper. And I'm so excited about the guest experts, I didn't talk about that before. I just love discovering cool people who are experts in their field, and then inviting them to be guest experts. So, whether it's figuring out your origin story, or really creating a world class podcast, or writing a book, or nailing your signature talk, there are a ton of experts who will be coming in and leading live trainings.
And there will also be recorded trainings as well and a curriculum that we'll work you through so that you really feel clear about what it is that you are doing, and at the same time we do have the live coaching. So, we have coaching calls, one coaching call every other week. That's an opportunity for you to come and ask all your question. And I really do love to over deliver in terms of making sure that you have everything that you need to move forward.
Even if there comes a time when I don't have all the answers, we have a phenomenal network of people, so we will get you the answers that you need, and really make sure we set you up for success so that you have a really powerful platform. Tracy, "I really want to move into the luxury arena. Is there a difference in positioning for a higher echelon client versus a non-luxury client?" Definitely. And I think it comes back to what we were saying earlier in terms of your people. When you think about your people and you think about what they're struggling with, or you think about what they want most, and that could be a great question when you think about that luxury arena, what do they really want the most?
I imagine it probably goes beyond things. What is that life that they want? And can you really paint a picture of that? And then when you're sharing the vision for change that you have, the movement that you have, be really specific about what it is that you are doing for people, and be really specific about who you're doing it for. I think we have some real estate agents on the call as well, and we have coaches from what I know, I think we have therapists.
We have all kinds of amazing people, but if you offer any kind of a service and you are looking out at the sea of other people who are doing something similar and you're thinking, "Well, I don't know, I'm still struggling to really identify my unique advantage," or even if you have a clear sense of that now, which I'm really hoping that you do, not necessarily knowing how to then take that and pull it through into everything that you do from your business model, to your sales calls, to the talks that you give, programs you put together, we are really all about helping you build a leadership brand that, again, gets you known for the reasons you want to be known.
So, one of my favorite questions to ask is what do you want to be known for? That's what we're going to be working on together, so that no one is in any doubt about what it is that you bring to the table. And it doesn't really matter who your people are, we can make this process work for you. So, we have had some product people as well. The process still really does work for product based businesses because, again, why did you create your products in the first place? What is the change that was needed in your industry? What did you see that other people were doing that you knew you or hoped could be different? And then what did you create to really fulfill that need? And then who did you create it for?
So, all those three things still come into play and really help you communicate in a way that immediately helps set you apart and helps people realize, "Oh, she actually cares, or they actually care. They actually know who I am. I feel really seen." I go to your website and I read a little bit about your story, or I read a little bit about your mission, and I immediately know, "Oh my gosh, I'm a huge fan. I want to buy these products. I want to share them. I want to give them as gifts, no matter what it is."
Amazing, good stuff. I think this is the first time I've done a class that actually stayed inside an hour. So, I feel like this is an achievement. Yes, I did whizz through, so my usual style is to stop and have a lot of interaction, but it slows me down a bit. But again, I'm really, really open to questions. If you go away and start to put this into practice and think, "I'm getting stuck." Just reach out. DM me, as I said, email me. And again, if you join me in the Mastermind, we are really going to kill it this year.
We're going to do amazing things together and really accelerate that process of helping you create a leadership brand that really does you justice. Thank you all so much for being here. I really appreciate it. I'm really excited about what all of you're doing world, and please know that I am here to support you however makes sense. If you want to join the Mastermind, I would love to have you. Fill out the application form, nikkigroom.com/masterminds. I will review that personally, and then if we need to get on a call to answer any questions that you might have, I'm more than happy to do that. And just hope that 2022 is a much better year for all of us.