Have you ever thought about your content being the thing that you use to sell your products? I hope that you have, I hope that you're like, yes, Krystal, that is the main reason why I want to create a podcast, write a blog, or create a YouTube channel, because you want to use it as a platform to sell your services, sell your live events, sell your digital courses, whatever it is that you're trying to sell. I hope that this is the mindset that you already have. But if you
don't, that's okay. Because I want to share with you today, a little bit why some people struggle with selling through their content. And it has a lot to do with how you deliver information when you are selling through your content. So we're gonna talk about the three reasons people won't buy your product through your content, and what you can do about it.
Because I've seen this too often where someone will come to me and say, Krystal, you know, I've been mentioning that I have a course or I've been mentioning about my free resources, and people just aren't opting in for them. They're not buying my stuff, what can I do? And so I'm pretending today that you are coming to me with the exact same
questions. And I want to walk you through the three reasons why I most often see people aren't buying, people aren't really taking action when people are presenting an offer in their content. So let's get right to it. Welcome to the Proffitt Podcast where we teach you how to start launch and market your content with confidence. I'm your host, Krystal, Proffitt, and I'm so excited that you're here. Thanks for hanging out
with me today. Because if you've been trying to figure out the world of content creation, this is the show that will help be your time saving shortcut. So let's get right to it, shall we?
Okay, so as we dive into this today, I really want you to think about what you have done currently or previously, with things in your content that could be relevant. And I don't want you to feel like I'm shaming anybody today, because I am guilty of all of these hits, why I can speak to them. So personally, and really deliver a message of, hey, I've done this too. So let's just I just want to throw that out on the table, that I never want to create content, that's shaming people of saying, You've did this and it's wrong, and you're bad. And I'm just I'm not all about that. If you've been around here for a while, you know that. But if you're brand new to this community, I just wanted to kind of throw that out there as a disclaimer that I am not here to shame you, I am here to show you where I see people missing the mark and how you can course correct and change things. That way, when you are ready to start selling something you have this amazing offer, you've created this amazing course or product or whatever it is that you're trying to sell, I want you to actually get results and not just say it's not working, where are things messed up? Or why is this not working the way that I thought it would. So this is how we're going to dive in to this today. And like I said, there's three main reasons that we're going to focus on. And I'm gonna give you some specific
examples.
So let's dive in to number one. The first reason why people aren't buying through your content is you have way too many CTAs. Now CTAs are our calls to action. And I this is one of the biggest ones. It really is. I was gonna say I've been there this one could be No,
this is the biggest one. This is the biggest one because I've had people I've done podcasts audits, I've gone to people's YouTube channels to see, you know what they were doing, like people have asked me, okay, well, you go check out my channel and let me know what you think. And I'll watch a few videos or I'll listen to a few podcast episodes. And they'll say, Well, I'm trying to promote this thing. And it's not working. And I listened to it or
I watch it or I read it. And I see that there are 17 different things that they are asking people to do in one piece of content. So let me give you an example of what I've seen. Don't ask someone that is listening, watching reading your content to subscribe, leave a comment follow you on Instagram, download your freebie, check out your website, join your Facebook group and buy your product all in one span of content. It's just it's way too overwhelming. You've asked them to do way too
many things. And by asking them to do way too many things, they're not going to do anything. Because they're like, Well, what is the most important here like our brains? And I want you to think about this, like, whenever you are inundated with so many different things all at once. Do you take action? Do you actually do the thing that someone is asking you to do? Or do you just say, I don't really know which one to do first. And
I'm kind of busy right now. And I don't really have time to do all that I'm just okay, that that was good. It was a great videos are great podcasts, like, Whatever, I'm just, I'm gonna go on about my day. And this happens to me all the time, I will hear something and I'm like, Man, this is super, super valuable. I really like it. But then they have too many calls to action. And I'm like, Oh, I don't, I don't really want to get on Facebook right now and
join their group. And I don't, I don't, I can't, I'm driving, I can't get on Instagram. And they said something about a freebie. And then they think that they said their website. But I don't know how you spell that. And like, it's just it's too much. So I just, I don't have time for all that I'm just going to go on about my day. So don't have too many calls to action, because your audience will have way too many options. And they won't take action on any of them. So that is my teaching moment of
this. And now we're going to talk about what to do. Instead, the thing that you should do is have one clear, very, very clear CTA that will lead into your sales funnel. Or if you don't want it to lead anybody into your sales funnel, you just want to make that ask, then that's
what you should do. And by make the ask I mean, if you are selling something, if you're right in the middle of a live promotion, or maybe it's you're launching your evergreen promotion, make the ask, don't tell people to go to your show notes. Don't tell people to subscribe to your show. Don't tell them to leave a comment. Don't tell them any of that say, go here, do this. Go here, do this. I know that sounds super Elementary, but it is that is
that not clear. If I say go to KrystalProffitt.com/[whatever] that I'm trying to get you to go to, and do this. It's very clear, what I want you to do. It is very clear, go here, do this. I'm gonna say it again, go here, do this. And I know that sounds so repetitive. But I hope that that's like sinking in as the clearest call to action that you can make the simplest one because another thing that I see is people will overcomplicate
the CTAs that they have. So not only do you have way too many in your content, they're super complex and complicated. You'll I have seen where people will say, okay, the URL for this is and it's like a bitly, that makes absolutely no sense. Or it's some really long URL that has numbers and weird lettering and like, don't do any of that make it as easy as possible for someone to follow the call to action that you are making. And just make it super, super clear.
Go here, do this. And then the next thing I want you to do that is instead of having way too many calls to action, is just don't have too many options. And by don't have too many options. It mean exactly like we're kind of piggybacking off what we just said, but I don't want you to have your call to action be like
a four step process. So even if you have just one call to action, don't say, Okay, go here, and then you're gonna go here, and then you're there's gonna be a drop down menu, and then you're gonna go and then make sure you click this button, but not that button. It's too much, it's too much. Go here, do this, because it will make it so much easier because it's clear what you're asking people to do.
And then the last thing I want to tell you is pick the most strategic call to action for your content and your audience. And what I mean by this is, every platform has a different way for you to do a call to action. And let me give you an example like a comparison of a podcast versus a YouTube channel. So on YouTube, I can put on the screen. Here is the URL, I can say the URL and I will link to it in the actual video where people can just click in the upper right hand
corner. If you've ever watched videos and you see those little slide the cards that slide out. So I could say it actually like verbally say the URL, I could display it on the screen. I could also have the little card sliding out and I could have it in the video description. That is four places that I have the opportunity to get someone to go and do that CTA but I didn't say it multiple times. And it's all the same thing. It is all the
exact same CTA. So that is being strategic for a YouTube channel. The same thing for a podcast, if I were doing a podcast during a live launch, and I said, Okay, this is what we're talking about today, you can go to Krystalproffitt.com/[what] the URL is. And then it's going to be linked in the show notes. That's another thing I could say. So I could link it in the episode description, which is what you would upload in your podcast player, as well as the actual show notes that are going
to be on my website. That is how you are being strategic with your content and your audience. And then the last one, of course, is blogging. You can have it at the very top of your website, like as a banner, that that's like the most important CTA, you have it right there at the top. And then you can mention it multiple times throughout your blog post. Or you can even have it as like a standalone, ad type image URL. Like there's a lot of different
ways that you can do this. But make sure that you have one clear CTA CTA, you don't have too many options to follow like steps within that CTA and pick the most strategic for your content, and your audience. So that is reason number one why people won't buy is you have too many CTAs.
Now let's dive into Reason number two, why someone won't buy your products through your content, you have a confusing message. And I actually have this post it on my desk right in front of me that says if you confuse you lose, and that's by Donald Miller, he wrote this book called Building a story brand. And it was one of the most impactful books that I've read in my online business journey. I still remember when I read it, I still go back and
reference this book. Because it just, there was so much power. And I've heard a million people say this now like if you confuse you lose, and it just is one of those things that if I were to get you know, this is a silly, but it's true. If I were to get something tattooed on my body for a marketing concept, it would be if you confuse you lose. So if you cannot articulate what your product is, or why someone should buy it,
you have already lost. So if you are in the middle of a podcast episode, and you want to talk about your product, but if you cannot explicitly say what your product is, what are the benefits of it, or why someone should buy it, you've already
lost. And what I have done in the past, here's where my own personal experience really comes into this is I will go back to how I plan my episodes like I'm looking at Asana right now, and this is I'm like, This is what's keeping me on track, I have everything listed out all the points I want to make. But what I used to do back in the day, is I would just have this little bullet point that says mention your course, or mentioned profit podcasting. And that's all it was, there was no script for it.
There was no other details. I didn't even I don't even know that I put the URL in there to make sure and state it. So I was not setting myself up for success, because what would happen is I would see that, and then I would think, Oh, I can just riff off of this, I can just go with this one little bullet point. And I'm gonna be really honest, I was not good at
talking about my product. In the beginning, because I had just started I didn't know, module by module, what was in there, I didn't know all the lessons, but I had created everything myself. But I couldn't just go to my brain very quickly and pick out oh, well, in this lesson, you'll get this or here are the benefits to this. And this because I had just created it. I hadn't even written all of the sales page copy for it yet. I was just in the middle of saying, Oh, it's coming. It's
coming. I was trying to build hype around it. But I ended up just looking like a total idiot because I couldn't articulate what my product was or why someone should buy it. So it was probably super confusing for people listening to it whenever I would mention my product and they were just like, who is this for? Like what? I don't understand what it is and I probably didn't even have like an actual URL to send people to I was just talking about my
product. So it was kind of like a wasted CTA because here I was like Oh, it's amazing. And you should do this. And you know, I was just rambling on like an idiot. And then I didn't even say oh, by the way, here's where you go to buy it. So it was super confusing. All around, don't do this, make sure if you are going to talk about your product, this is your do this instead section, I want you to create an elevator pitch that is clear and concise for whatever it is that you're trying to
sell. So come up with a few bullet points of what your product is, why should want someone should buy it. And what is the added benefit, after they've purchased it like is it going to save them time, save them money. And of course, if you want to, you could always include the price and where they should go purchase. But make a clear elevator pitch ride it out. And I know that we've been talking about podcasts for this.
But even if you're doing this on your YouTube, then you should have a very clear elevator pitch. And this is like, you know, behind the scenes, you're getting all the the scoop back here. Because what I love about YouTube is if you are looking directly into the camera lens, right, and you're talking about something in my mind, I will remember, Oh, this is the part where I can put something up on the screen and I can do a screen share of what the product is. Or
I could put some images up. So I will remember, I can just read off of the screen. This is what's so incredible. So when you're doing a podcast, no one can see you unless you're doing a full blown video podcast. And that brings its own complications. But you could read it off the screen, you could write an elevator pitch, and literally read it off the screen word for word verbatim what you have written out, you can do that for a podcast, you can do it for your YouTube
videos. And then when you're editing, or you could tell your editor Hey, in this particular like section of the video, I'm going to be reading off of the screen, it's going to be very obvious that I'm going to be reading. So during this time, I want you to cover my face with screen grabs or images or something where you won't see me
reading off of the screen. I know these are like little content life hacks that I just I love sharing these little nuggets of wisdom with you that I have found that helped me so much. But at the end of the day, it's helped make it less confusing. I don't want to have a confusing message because it is one of the reasons why people won't buy your product is if your message is super confusing. Remember, if you confuse you lose, and we don't want you to lose, we want you to win around here.
Okay, the last reason people won't buy your product through your content is you're selling something that is often related to your content. Oh, I see this a lot. I see this so much. And it is. I don't know if there's really a marketing term for what you would call this, I just think disconnected, misaligned. But at the end of the day, I have seen people that will let me let me choose my own content, for instance. So I talk about content, I talk about content strategy, I talk about podcasting, I talk about YouTube, and I have this book that I want to write that is a fiction story. And it is not going to be for 90% of this audience it really well. I mean, maybe it could be for more of that. But at the end of the day, it's not going to be something that is 100% aligned with people that listen to this podcast, me selling a fiction book about something that happened in you know, East Texas in the early 2000s. Like that is not related to the type of content that I'm selling here, you're gonna be like that doesn't it doesn't even feel it doesn't even makes sense. So I want you to only sell products and services or affiliate promotions that are related to your topic, it needs to make sense. You need to hold up the thing that you're creating next to your content, and ask the simple question. Does it make sense for me to talk about this, and I will see this a lot too, as people will sign up for affiliate programs, they realize that oh, the software that I use on the back end of my business is something that like they have an affiliate program, so I should start promoting it. Right? And I'm like looking at the affiliate program, what the software is and what it does, and I'm like, That doesn't even make sense and why why would you promote that? That doesn't even make sense right? Get something you use for your personal use. And you just found out that they have an affiliate program. So you signed up for it thinking affiliate revenue is going to be your thing. But then you got to promote it. And it's not performing because it's not related to your content, I cannot stress this enough, if you are going to sell something, it has to be related to your content. And maybe it's one of those things where there's like a loose tied to it. And maybe you could squeeze by and it would be, you know, you can make some threads on Hey, it does go from here to here, barely, but it still kind of works, I want you to have a solid foundation of how the two things are connected between your content and what you're selling, because it's going to make things easier. So your do this instead is to tie your product back to your content, so that it's relevant. You will hear me talk about things on here. Like I talk about Asana all the time, I talk about Buzzsprout all the time, I talk about other affiliate programs, and I'm a part of because they are related to creating content with confidence. If they aren't, I don't talk about them here. Maybe I'll mention them in other areas, or maybe I'll put them on my tools page on my website, but you won't see me talking about them in my content on a regular basis, it doesn't make sense to, it really doesn't. So make sure that what you were talking about what you are promoting is related to what you were talking about in your content. So that is the three reasons people won't buy your
product.
So let's do a quick recap. Number one, you have too many calls to action. Number two, you have a confusing message. And number three, whatever you're selling is unrelated to your content. Now, I said I was going to do a quick recap. But actually I feel like we're leaving you with like a pessimistic message if I just give you the reason people won't buy. So let's do a quick recap
of your do this instead. So number one, if you have too many calls to action, your do this instead is to have one clear CTA don't have too many options and pick the most strategic for your content. Number two, if you have a confusing message, your do this instead, create an elevator pitch that's clear and concise. And number three, if you have something that's unrelated to your content, you need to scrap it. And tie whatever your do this instead is to tie your product back to your content. So
it's relevant. If it's not relevant, you don't need to be promoting it very heavily in your content, maybe on a web page on your website, or maybe in your show notes where you don't even talk about it in your actual episodes. It's on the sidebar side menu. But I don't think it's something you should talk about on a regular basis. But oh my gosh, that was so good. I felt like I could kept going like forever. But those are really the main points.
Because like I said earlier, these are the things that I see. And the reasons why people aren't going to buy your product through your content.
And speaking of selling products through your content, I wanted to tell you that Amy Porterfield just recently opened enrollment for her upcoming boot camp. It's called Course Confident. And it's all about how to get course clarity for the course that you're creating, whether you're creating a digital product today, and you've never done it before, or you already have a digital course and you want to make it better. I invite you to join us in this boot camp. Like
I said, it's five days. And it's going to help you take all those ideas that you have around creating a digital course and just get super clear on your next steps. But what I love about Amy's boot camps whenever she does these every year is that we have so much fun in just collaborating with other people. I love to see what other people are creating courses about there's always those really wildcard unique ideas that I'm like, Oh my gosh, I can't believe that is even a thing.
Like goat farmers are people that are teaching you how to make charcuterie boards. Like there's all these really just beautiful ideas. That's really what they are because I they're unique. And it's so fun to see what other people are doing and I want you to join us. So go to KrystalProffitt.com/amycamp to sign up this boot camp is only $47 but it does close like the Registration closes on August 30 2022. So go to KrystalProffitt.com/amycamp to register and it's going to be so
much fun. I'm going to be there I'm going to be hanging out. And if you have questions before, then let me know. But I want you to come join us. It's going to be so much fun if you want to know how to sell in your content. I hope that you come and you learn from Amy because she is so freakin good at this.
But let me give you today's show notes. Here I am, I'm giving you too many CTAs. And I just said we shouldn't do this. But I wanted to make sure that you don't miss out on the bootcamp because it is a limited time for registrations. So go to KrystalProffitt.com/episode366 For everything that we talked about here today, you'll also see another invite for the boot
camp there. But everything that we talked about here today, I'm going to list out all the three reasons why people won't buy on your content and all the notes that go along with it. But that's all I have for you today. So as always remember, keep it up. We all have to start somewhere.