Have you ever seen the Progressive insurance commercial on television that features a spokeswoman and customer in an insurance “store”, browsing through shelves of insurance (i.e. boxes that say Motorcycle Insurance, Homeowners Insurance, RV Insurance, etc.)?

I love this visual depiction of services, and you know what, our prospects are in the same boat as the shopper in the Progressive commercial. They might not know why they should choose our services or be able to compare us to the next guy.

So let’s get a little creative and create a package of  services.

What you need to do to make it happen

1. Think proprietarily. Do some research. See what other people in your field are offering and come up with a name for the package that is unique to you and that can’t be found anywhere else.
2. Mind map it. Outline the features, for example a fitness coach might offer a 90 day package that includes a before and after fitness assessment (body fat and other baseline measures), three one-on-one coaching sessions, a 30 day supply of multivitamins, a water bottle, and a subscription to a healthy eating recipe website or magazine.
3. Think benefits. Brainstorm a list of benefits to your prospect. What will he/she gain by purchasing your package? Remember features tell, benefits sell. For example some benefits of the fitness package might be more energy, a smaller dress size, no more tight clothes, look younger, feel younger, sleep better at night, play with your kids or grand kids without getting tired, lower stress, lower cholesterol, able to run a 10K or walk in the 5k next spring.
4. Set your pricing. You might ask some of your clients/friends/prospects what they would be willing to pay for a package such as this to get an idea of the ballpark range. The pricing of your package should be tied directly to the benefits. You can use your time multiplied by an hourly rate plus the cost of any products you include in the package to set your price don’t fall into the commodity pricing trap. Your package is not a commodity. It is rare. It is proprietary. It can’t be found elsewhere. I recommend setting your price accordingly.
5. Tell people about it.

If you’re ready to go with this idea but you need some accountability, let’s do it together. Join us on October 5th for the Package It! coaching group, read more here.

Space is limited, don’t dally

I know that some readers may disagree with me when I say you should write own your web content. Some of you may feel uncomfortable writing, may not have time to write, or just prefer hiring a professional writer for projects such as this, but I am here to encourage you to participate in the process at least a little bit. Here are three reasons why I think you should write your own website content.

When someone lands on your website, one of the first things they are thinking is “what can this person do for me?” Your content is really important in answering that question and the way you present yourself and your offer should be very personal. If someone else does the writing for you it’s like inviting someone over for dinner, and sending your cousin to replace you as the host. Your cousin may resemble you in mannerisms and conversational style, but your cousin is not you and makes a terrible stand in. You would never do this, and I don’t think you should do it on your website, either.

Secondly, your coaching practice is your coaching practice. It is not a paid writer’s coaching practice. No one cares as much about your practice as much as you do and one of your opportunities when writing web content is to show how much you care about what you do. This realness and authenticity is one way to “click” with your prospects. People make buying decisions based on emotional responses, this has been proven with research by the University of Florida where a national study* of 23,168 people concluded that emotions were nearly twice as important as knowledge in consumer buying decisions (*source article by Nancy D. Solomon).  Writing about what you do from the emotional benefits point of view is very powerful.

Lastly, you can build trust and credibility when you write your own content. Your website can be huge for you here. When you show up on the about page talking about how you got into coaching, what your biggest wins and disappointments have been, what you enjoy doing when you are not coaching, etc. you become someone to whom your reader can relate. You become more than a professional bio or a trained coach. You become someone they might want to hang out with and this is key in building the trust that it takes to get to yes. People do business with people they know, like, and trust. Your reader can’t get to know you if all you have on your about page is a starchy bio that someone else wrote for you.

So there, I said it. I think you should write your own web content. If you need help with editing I think it is great to ask for help, but the foundational ideas should come from your heart and your point of view.

What do you think?

Have you ever heard of Gary Vaynerchuk?

Me, neither.

That is until I started seeing his name as a speaker on just about every conference agenda I saw…South by SouthWest SXSW in Austin, Future of Web Apps in Miami, Web 2.0 New York…you get the picture. So, I thought, who is this Gary Vaynerchuk guy?

Turns out he is an entrepreneur and co-owner of Wine Library, his family’s wine business in New Jersey. He has taken wine to a new level of accessility for the younger generation with his popular internet webcast, WineLibraryTV.com, also known as The Thunder Show. Vaynerchuk’s informal, “hyperkinetic”, and “disarmingly honest” style is in contrast to conservative wine industry norms

The show is only a few years old, it debuted on February 21, 2006, but it has grown in popularity to over 90,000 viewers with a band of followers affectionately known as Vaniacs or Vayner Nation. The show is produced on a daily basis, on weekdays, and is taped in the Wine Library store in Springfield, NJ.

Gary Vee is passionate about wine and he shares his passion in a way that makes you passionate about it, too. Not only has his passion earned him loyalty from thousands of viewers, but, get this, in March 2009, Vaynerchuk signed a 10-book deal with HarperStudio for over $1,000,000 and he will release his first book, “Crush It! Turn Your Passion into Profits in a Digital World,” in September 2009. That is a 7 figure book deal! All because of passion and a focus on one thing.

So I listened to Gary Vee a couple of weeks ago at Big Omaha and turns out wine is not all he’s passionate about. He is also passionate about online content and promotion.

He challenged the audience,

“What do you love so much that you could make a TV show about it?” He went on to talk about the plethora of content in our world, “There are so many opportunities. I don’t care if it’s rubberbands or sushi or coffee. If you care about it there are others who do, too. Start talking about it. This internet thing is going to change the way programs are delivered and that includes advertising. It’s coming, get on board now.”

So what are you so passionate about that you could make a TV show?

Have you ever thought about it? What would that be like?

Do you think now might be a good time, especially in the service and information business we are in?

Content is everything. Passion is infectious. Think of the possibilities when you combine the two.

What do you think?

Anybody can offer hourly coaching or services, but you are not just anybody, right? You have a unique style, perspective and approach.

Your prospects are interested in what you bring to the table that no one else can. It might be your initial assessment, or a proprietary method of action planning or goal setting, or a new approach to mind mapping.

But honestly, you’re prospects are really not interested in you that much. They are interested in themselves and what you can do for them.

When it’s all said and done, your clients will hire you because you’re a solution to their need. Add to that a proprietary package and wowzers, you’re hot!

How is this working for you? Tell me about it.