Hello and welcome to Marketing Your Truth, the podcast that transmutes the noise of typical generic marketing BS into a method that mirrors the depth of your passion and honors who you truly are. I'm Eleanor Holy, and if you've been searching for a way for your message to be felt, not just heard, you've found the right place. This is your sanctuary where we value and amplify the unique wisdom that only you possess. I'm glad you're here. Let's get started. Welcome back. So today I want to take you on a personal journey. It's a journey that I believe a lot of you will recognize in your own stories. So, 15 years ago, like many of you, my husband Joe and I had a dream. It was a big, bold vision of living life on our own terms. We wanted the freedom to set our own hours, to wake up each morning and decide how our day would unfold. And most importantly, no more answering to anyone but ourselves. Joe and I would stay up late talking about the possibilities, no more alarm clocks, no more rigid schedules. We'd talk about the vacations we'd take, the impact we'd make, and how we'd build a life where we had the freedom to choose how we spent every single moment of every single day. Those late-night conversations were filled with excitement and anticipation, a feeling you only get when you know you're standing on the edge of something new and ready to take the leap of faith into the unknown. And so we did. Together, Joe and I left our corporate jobs behind and launched a boutique design and development firm. At first, of course, it was so exciting. I remember the morning after we quit, and no more alarm clock, no commuting, just us and the wide open possibility of building something remarkable. It felt like freedom. It felt like the start of an incredible adventure. But here's the part nobody tells you when you set out to chase a dream. Reality has a way of sneaking up on you. It didn't take long before the excitement turned into something else. The challenges started piling up, and suddenly the dream wasn't just about creativity and freedom. It was about survival. Every single day we found ourselves in this never-ending race, chasing after the next client or the next project. It's hard to describe the constant back and forth that we found ourselves in. One minute we'd be riding the high of landing a new client, feeling like everything was finally falling into place. That adrenaline rush, that sense of, yes, we're doing it. It's happening. But that feeling never lasted long because immediately, the very next day, we were busy delivering the work. And that meant we had no time to chase down the next client. And of course, when the project was about to wrap up, the reality would hit hard again. We didn't have any new leads in the pipeline. Sure, we were getting paid for now, but what about two months from today? Joe and I would sit at the kitchen table, the stress hanging in the air, would look at each other, knowing we both were thinking the same thing. What if we don't land the next project? How are we going to pay the bills? That feeling, that hollow pit in your stomach feeling, it stayed with us for four long and excruciating years. We'd work ourselves to the ground, only to find ourselves staring at an MC sales pipeline. No new leads, no projects, just silence. And the cycle would start all over again. Chasing clients, scrambling to keep our business afloat, overwhelmed with work one minute, terrified the next, over and over and over again. Have you ever been there? Have you ever felt like no matter what you do, you're always chasing and never catching up? Like you're trying to grab a firefly and a hurricane. So eventually we got to a place where all that joy, all the hope that we had when we started, it had been replaced with exhaustion, frustration, and this constant question of why isn't this working? It got to the point where Joe and I were seriously considering going back to our old jobs. Jobs we had left because we wanted more than a steady paycheck, but here we were craving that security again. I remember one afternoon sitting at my desk, checking my inbox for what must have been the hundredth time that day, hoping that maybe, just maybe, one of those conversations we've had, one of those leads we've been chasing down, had magically decided to say yes to us. My heart would race every time an email came through only to drop when I saw it was just another newsletter or just spam. Here's the irony that I want to talk to you about today. I want you to think about this for a moment. Right now, we live in a world where we have access to all types of tools, platforms, and an endless ways to attract and engage with our prospects. But the irony is that at the same time, reaching and creating meaningful connection with our audience has actually become a lot harder. And even though we have access to all types of data to observe and analyze our ideal buyers' behavior, helping us track open rates, engagement rates, conversion rates, we're not getting any better in terms of really understanding our prospects and getting them to trust us. And there's obviously no shortage of advice, tactics, and strategies, all promising to be the holy grail of getting us more leads or getting more sales. But the fact is that we haven't gotten any better at attracting and converting our buyers. These were the thoughts running through my head that day as I sat frozen in front of my computer, staring at the ceiling. And then I had an epiphany, which is what I want to talk to you about today. I want you to think about the main thoughts that have been running in your head for the last three months. As you're on social media trying to come up with an engaging post to grab the attention of your ideal fit clients, as you're staring at your computer, trying to come up with an email to send your subscribers to keep them engaged and interested. As you're thinking about putting together a campaign to sell your offers, your programs, your services, or the conversations you're trying to have in networking events through DMs or on sales calls. I'm willing to bet that the starting question and the theme that was running through your head was something around what can I write or say or do so I can get more visibility, more followers, more enrollments, more money, on and on. Obviously, our ultimate goal as business owners is how to grow and make more money. But the truth of the matter is that the constant factor in all of this is about one thing: me, me, me. But here's the thing when your marketing is all about you, your needs, your growth, your revenue, it's no wonder it feels exhausting. No wonder you're burned out. So that day I thought, wait a minute, I'm doing this whole thing backwards. The question isn't about how can I get more enrollments, more clients, or make more money. The real question is, how can I use my talents and expertise to serve more people? What do my audience want to hear from me today? What's one thing that I can share that would make someone's life easier today? And that thought by itself brought instant relief. No more pressure. That simple shift in perspective, moving from how can I sell to how can I serve changed everything. I felt the weight lift that off my shoulders. No more pressure to perform, to push, to convince. Now it was about showing up in a way that felt effortless and natural. It was about using my gifts to help and to serve. I want you to think about this for a second. While none of us have control over whether someone decides to buy from us, we certainly do have control over how we show up and what we do when we show up. Talk about going from a place of confusion and desperation to feeling empowered and in control. So, what did that mean for us and our business? Well, every post, every email, every offer became an opportunity to make someone's life better. We started asking, what do they need to hear from us today? What's one small way we can make their day easier? And as soon as we made that shift, our business started to shift as well. We became more creative and more inspired. The sky was the limit when it came to how we could serve our audience. And do you want to know the most surprising part of it all? The enrollments and clients followed as well. People could see that we weren't just another voice in a crowd pushing to make a sell. We were there to help them, truly help them. If you're listening to this and asking yourself, I want to give this a try. If you're feeling lost, confused, exhausted, and nothing's working, and this seems to be the exact opposite of everything you've tried and wondering where do I start? How do I do this? I have one word for you empathy. Start with empathy. Empathy is most likely the missing link in your marketing. Have empathy about the people you want to help. Genuinely become curious as to who they are. Ask yourself questions that help you get to know them at a deeper level. Questions like, why are they stuck? Why haven't they found a solution yet? What's happening to them? What's derailing them? And the most critical and important question is your solution even the right approach to help them? So what I'm talking about is going beyond their demographics and surface level nonsense stuff. I'm talking about truly stepping into their shoes, feeling what they feel. What's keeping them up at night? What holds them back? What do they hope for? What are they afraid to say out loud? This is where true connection happens. When you can stand in their shoes, understand their struggles, their dreams, their fears, that's when you'll begin to speak their language. And that's where empathy becomes the most powerful tool in your marketing. Now I've been using a very deep, soul-searching questionnaire to help my clients go deep. This questionnaire, which I advise them to take several weeks to go through, is designed to help them uncover the real emotions, the underlying motivations, and the true desires of their audience. When you take the time to go this deep to do what's necessary to understand your audience from a place of empathy, everything in your marketing will start to make sense to you. You'll see the gaps, the reason why your offers may have fallen flat. And more importantly, you'll know what to do next. You'll find yourself creating content that resonates, emails that get opened, and offers that feel like the natural next step for your audience. And here where it gets really, really exciting, when you truly know your audience, you stop feeling like you're shouting into an empty room. Your marketing becomes a conversation, a dialogue where trust is built, relationships are formed, and people are drawn to you because they feel understood. I've seen this happen time and time again, not just for myself, but for my clients as well. In the next episode, I'm gonna share one of those stories with you. It's about a client who was struggling to sell a $47 product. He couldn't seem to break through no matter what he tried, how many marketing people he worked with, how much money he threw at it. But once he took the time to deeply understand his audience, everything changed. His $47 offer, it became a $2,000 program with so much demand that he had to start a wait list. That transformation didn't happen because of a new strategy or clever tactic. It happened because he led with empathy. Before we wrap up today, I want to encourage you to take the first step. Download the questionnaire that I've included the link to in the show notes and give yourself the gift of time to reflect. This is more than just another marketing exercise. It's an opportunity to connect with your audience on a level that most people never reach. And when you do, I love to hear about your experience. What light bulb moments did you have? What shifted in your thinking? How did this new understanding change the way you approach your marketing? Listen, we're all in this together, and I can't wait to hear what breakthroughs you'll have. If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe to the podcast, leave a rating and review, and share it with anyone who might benefit from learning how to market their truth. Until next time, remember, start with empathy. It's the foundation for everything.