Well it happened - you didn’t fill your offering and all the feelings of doubt and failure are pouring in.
This happens to everyone, but the good news is that it’s actually pretty simple why this is happening.
I have to say that this is the #1 question I get. The question comes in many different forms, but it's always the same idea: "Amanda, how can I fill my offering?"
Maybe you tell me “I need more students” or you say “How can I get more engagement on social media?” or you ask “How can I make more money?”
All of this leads to ONE thing…filling whatever offering you have currently. And this is something I don’t often say, but it’s something that really makes me different in the business coaching world.
I don’t teach you how to fill a specific offering and I don’t teach you to offer a specific offering
I believe that all businesses have the ability to offer different types of offerings and be successful.
So today I’m sharing why your offering isn’t filling and how you can fix it and fill your next offering.
Now buckle up my friend, because I’m about to share the good, bad and ugly about why your offering isn’t selling out and how it can be. Let’s dive in!
**This was also a podcast episode (episode #139). Use the player below if you'd prefer to listen to this message.
The offering Isn’t filling…this sucks!
"It sucks when something doesn't work. It feels like you're failing. The doubt of 'can I really do this?' creeps in hardcore. It's important to acknowledge those feelings." - Amanda McKinney
Recognize that those feelings are happening, understand that it's typical, and then move through those feelings.
It's important to go into this with a mindset of committing to this process. I can't wave a magic wand for you and get your offering filled. It's not an overnight situation, it's a process that you have to commit to in order to make it work.
Commit to the process, commit to trying things, and then adjust along the way.
One of the reasons you're probably not filling your offerings is because you keep trying new things all the time. You don't have to stick with that one thing FOREVER, but you have to commit to a specific offering for a time period.
Think about it this way: If you try something new on your yoga mat today, it might feel clunky and not super graceful. However, if you did that same practice every day for 7 days, you'll feel so much more graceful after those 7 days.
It's the same when it comes to your business. You can't keep offering something new all the time and expect for it to be perfect and graceful at the beginning. That's not realistic! What you want to do is commit to a process of learning about ONE offering and committing to it for the next few months.
This is the mindset we want to have when starting the conversation about why an offering isn't filling.
Why we often don’t fill an offering - no matter what it is:
Bring to mind one specific offering you have right now.
If this offering isn't filling, one of two things is happening. Either:
The offering wasn’t what our dream student was searching for, or
The message we shared about our offering is not what’s resonating with our dream student
Let's tackle each of these options:
The Offering Isn’t What Our Dream Student Wanted:
This is usually what is happening. It's because we have to take a guess sometimes what our people want when we don't know. But our guess is often wrong!
We think we know our dream student, so we jump too quickly into offering something we think they need. We get excited about an offering because it sounds fun for us and we create it in a vacuum.
I'm telling you this because I guessed wrong for a very long time. In fact, I created an entire instagram course because I saw that people were asking me a lot about instagram. I jumped at this quickly, created a course that I thought was fantastic, and it sold less than $100. It tanked after all my effort.
It was a fantastic course, but it wasn't what you wanted, so you didn't buy it. All of my effort went into something that did not work. Let me clear: I learned a ton about instagram, and I learned a ton about what you do and do not want. I learned so much. But the course did not sell.
The Message Wasn’t Resonating With Our Dream Student:
This comes into play when you KNOW that the offering solves a problem that they have and it will help them see relief and have a positive experience. But for whatever reason, the message that you're using to market the offering is not clicking with them.
Basically, the offering is spot on but our dream student doesn’t understand that they need it.
This often happens when we describe our offering in our own words, not our audience's words.
(If you're getting the feeling that I'm going to encourage you to talk to your audience more, you're right.)
Let me tell you about an experience I had. I created a membership and was talking about it all the time and highlighting the fact that it’s filled with templates and trainings. Enrollment for my membership was slower than I anticipated so I asked my members how they describe my membership and they never mentioned templates or trainings. Not once. They all talked about how the community is supportive and it’s like “Google for yoga teachers” because they can get answers for their specific business when they need it.
The difference between how we describe what we create and how our student describe what they experience is massive!
What To Do About It (How To Fill Your Offering)
But for today, I did want to share one thing with you. Now you know the problems that are common for not filling your offering - you’re either offering something your current audience doesn’t want or they do want it but they don’t know what your offering because the message isn’t resonating.
The underlying answer to both of these issues is not truly understanding what your audience wants and is searching for, so the answer is…talking to your dream students.
This is never what anyone wants to hear, but it’s the only way to see true results. You can’t create in a vacuum and expect it to work out. You have to talk to your audience to learn from them. Start with just one person; that’s all you need. It will eventually grow but starting with one is huge.
Your next step:
Identify the offering you will commit to filling and recognize if it’s (1) not what your students are really looking for or (2) the message isn’t clicking for them. Then start talking to your students so you can fix the problem you’ve identified.
"You can’t create an offer in a vacuum and expect it to work out. You have to talk to your audience to learn from them. Start with just one person; that’s all you need." - Amanda McKinney