Symptoms

"I need more leads." It's a common issue for creatives. But it's not the real problem.

Good leads. Bad leads. No leads. Too many of the wrong leads.

How many and what kind of leads you attract is just a symptom of the problem. Leads tell you how well your audience understands you and what you do.

"I need help distilling down the essence of what I provide and giving me words to communicate that to potential clients."

Bingo. That's the way a new client phrased it today.

They are asking the right questions. Because they realized that what they do (high end family portraits) and how they do it (high-touch customer experience) aren't connecting with the right audience. They aren't getting the right leads anymore. Something needs to shift.

So before you turn on ads, rewrite your website, build another funnel, or cold DM a zillion people... Stop and ask the hard questions:

• What's in this for my customer? What do they want out of this?

• What better reality do I give to my customers?

• What tangible problems are they facing in their current situation? And how can I meet them there?

• What emotional challenges can we solve for?

Don't chase leads. Distill your brand essence into a tangible story that you can invite customers into.

The right customers are out there. Invite them into the story.