What’s a Customer Buying Journey & Why You Need One to Create Consistent Client Attraction

INTRO: After generating over a million dollars in sales and selling one of her businesses with a single email, your host, Kathryn Thompson, takes an unconventional approach to marketing and sales. So if you're ready to tap into a more powerful way to be seen, heard, and a sought after entrepreneur in your industry, without having to spend endless hours marketing your business and chasing clients, you're in the right place. Be The Sought After Entrepreneur Podcast is here to help you ditch the cookie cutter, one size fits all approach to marketing and use your unique energy to effortlessly attract the most aligned clients. When you do this, you're You can spend less time marketing your business and more time doing your soul work and enjoying the richness of your life. Welcome to Be The Sought After Entrepreneur Podcast. And here's your host, Kathryn Thompson.

Kathryn Thompson: Hey, hey, super stoked that you're tuning in this week's episode. I cannot wait to dive in today's topic [00:01:00] because I want to unpack a really important question that was recently asked of me. Inside of Spellbound by one of my newest members on our one-to-one strategy session kickoff call.

Now, all of my clients that come into Spellbound get a one-to-one kickoff strategy call because what we do on those calls is really develop and align to marketing and sales strategy for them. And every business looks different. And so this strategy is really bespoke to who they are. But a big part of that strategy is developing a customer journey that takes somebody from cold to sold faster, so to speak.

And the question that my client asked me was, what do you mean by a customer journey and what do you mean by a funnel? And to me, They are the same thing. I'm going to unpack what I mean by that. So for those of you that don't know me, if you're new to my podcast, new to me, um, I've been doing marketing and sales for over 20 years now.

And I spent a [00:02:00] lot of my life and career in the offline world, uh, working with brick and mortars, working with corporations, startups, you name it. I wasn't, in the course creator online coaching space. And so I spent a lot of my time building out these customer journeys. And so for me, it's just a language thing.

The customer journey and the funnel to me are the same thing in the online course creator space. A funnel is oftentimes some type of opt in to a Freebie, a lead magnet ebook, uh, might be a meditation, could be a hypnosis, could be a free masterclass, could be a challenge, you name it, you've probably seen it, if you're in that space, but to me they're the same thing, they're really designed to build a pathway from cold to sold faster.

And when I said this to her, I said, what do you want your customer journey to sort of look like? And she wanted clarification on what it is and what the intent of [00:03:00] it is, so to speak, so that she knew, uh, that we were speaking the same language, obviously, but that we were coming into it with sort of the same Same understanding of what it is, because like I said, a lot of people in the course creator space coaching space consulting space is very familiar with the word funnel.

And the word funnel in a lot of ways does have a bit of a bad rap because we've seen these complicated funnels with upsells, downsells, side sells, you name it, or these big grandiose launches that we often see. among really big names in the industry. And there's nothing wrong with a grandiose big launch when you're a big business and you've got the resources and the capital and the all of that to have those types of launches.

But for most online course creators, coaches, and consultants, that isn't true. the essence of their business, right? They would be considered more small to medium sized businesses and how we build the strategy for your business [00:04:00] will depend on that in a lot of ways, right? Do you have the resources to run these big style launches that are often taught by big business, right?

So when I was in the corporate world and I was working with various size of businesses, I would never say to a small business or a startup, Oh, by the way, you need to market in this way and have this massive ad campaign because they actually never had the budget for it. Right? Whereas the big corporation that had a million dollars or more in marketing budget to spend, we would approach things quite differently.

And so that's one thing that I want you to consider as I'm chatting with you is why I have these bespoke sessions with my clients, because every business is different and their budget and what they have available and whatnot is different. They might have a team, some might not have teams, all of those sorts of things.

And so it's not a cookie cutter, one size [00:05:00] fits all approach, which is the same way I approached my 15 year career as I was just mentioning, right? So it depends on budget, depends on resources, depends on, you know, what it is you actually want to create and why you want to create it and what the intention is.

And that to me is the first step of the whole process is like, What is the intention of this customer buying journey? And my client said to me, can you explain what this customer journey is? AKA a funnel, which are to me, interchangeable. So I want to start by saying that to me, they're interchangeable so that when I use them interchangeably, you know, I'm talking about the same thing, the customer journey, aka The Funnel, and basically what that is, is like I said, a pathway that takes your audience from cold to sold faster.

And what do I mean by that? And there's various stages along that journey, and the stages and the way in which we connect with people looks differently. So stage number [00:06:00] one is what we call awareness, right? Is that is somebody coming into your world who may or may not have ever heard from you. There has to be a level of awareness that is developed, not only for your brand, right?

Not only for who you are, what you do, why you do what you do. That's not the only awareness we need to create. The other awareness we need to create is this awareness around the problem in which your audience is likely facing, right? Oftentimes when people come in at this stage of the customer journey, they don't actually know what is causing the problem that they are experiencing, or they don't know what is getting in the way of of achieving the desired outcome that they want.

So they might be thinking that they need to do a certain thing in order to achieve a certain thing and it's not happening and they can't figure out why and so they're [00:07:00] frustrated. Your goal and your job at the awareness phase, one, is to have this awareness be created about who you are. So get, be visible to these people.

But it's also being able to speak to, in a well articulated way, what the problem is and why they're experiencing that problem or highlight what's getting in the way of achieving that desired outcome. And when they, when somebody creates that awareness, you peak someone's interest, right? So there's an energetic peak of interest.

That's like, Ooh, I had no idea. I wasn't looking at it from that perspective. Oh, I can see very clearly now why I'm experiencing what it is I'm experiencing. Now, what ends up often happening is, is that lots of people are really good at creating that awareness, getting visible, creating inspirational content, maybe [00:08:00] some educational content, pointing out maybe some of these mistakes or blocks or whatever it is that you want to call them, is really great at creating that awareness.

But there's a big step in the middle of this customer journey that often gets overlooked. And I would say by the majority of people, because what often happens is we're taught to create awareness and then sell our thing, right? So you've got this really amazing thing that you're putting out there. And that's like, Buy My Thing, Buy My Thing, Buy My Thing.

But there's a big stage in the middle, in my opinion, that gets overlooked. And that's what I call the nurture phase of it. This is where we start to build the know, like, and trust. The know piece of this is the awareness, right? Someone getting to know who you are, but When we jump straight to the sale, we've basically pulled the trigger in my opinion too quickly.

There's this slow burn phase that needs to [00:09:00] happen. And when I say slow burn, I don't mean that it has to take months and months and months and months to happen. Because it'll depend on your audience. It'll depend on how quickly they move. This is the intricacy and the nuance that you need to start to navigate and understand about your audience, right?

Which is why, again, a lot of the people that I work with, I'm like, I'm not here to tell you what to do. I'm here to help pull this out of you and obviously reflect back to you where we want to take this because you know your audience better than anybody else. No mentor, no coach, like you're going to know the nuances of what makes them tick.

Now, I've been in the industries for a long time, so I do have a level of awareness and knowing about audiences and what makes them tick and what motivates them and different things like that. But again, I'm not working with them on the daily, right? As a business owner, It's your job, first and foremost, to really listen to what your people are saying, how they're saying it, why they're [00:10:00] saying it, and getting really curious about why they're saying it, right?

If we stay at the surface level, we'll never get to that depth in order to build, that know, like, and trust in a way that moves people really quickly. So when I talk about the know, like, and trust, the like and trust element of this is that middle phase, that nurturing, but it's also the place on the journey that we've got to cultivate and create demand for the solution.

And this doesn't mean the offer, right? The offer discussion or invitation happens at the sales portion. of this journey. So to me, there's three stages. Some people will say there's four, some will say there's five. I love to simplify the shit out of things. So I'm like, there's an awareness phase. Then there's this depth of nurturing that needs to happen.

And that's the like and trust phase of it. When we think about dating, and I've used the dating analogy, we think about dating. This is where we start to [00:11:00] align with our values. This is where we're like, can I actually see a future with you? The awareness phase is the First date, let's just say, or it's the swiping on the dating app, right?

You're just, there's an awareness. There's like, Ooh, my interest is piqued. I like the way that that guy looks or the woman looks or whatever. And I really like what they wrote about who they are and what they're looking for. So I'm going to swipe and take a chance on that swipe. That's what's happening when somebody clicks on your ad or your social posts and maybe makes a comment.

But when they make a comment, it doesn't mean that they're like, I'm bought in. All that's happened there is that their interest has been piqued. And then we have to do some nurturing, right? We've got to build the like and trust element of it. And that happens in the middle phase of this journey. And so you might be thinking, okay, Kathryn, this is all cool.

Fine and dandy, and this is great, but what does that nurturing look like? Now, this [00:12:00] can look very different for every business. I'm just going to give you some examples, right? So the awareness piece could be posting on social media with some awareness content, but the nurture phase could also be posting content on social media that starts to build demand for the solution, right?

So now they're aware what's causing the problem. They don't necessarily know what's available. They're now going to start to explore options, right? So again, when there's someone swiping on the dating app, they're swiping, their interest is peaked. They might go on five dates in a week. That's them exploring options.

Them going on date one with you does not mean they're bought in and that they're exclusive with you. Now, this isn't like, oh, why isn't someone picking me? Or why, why are they interested in that person? It's because everybody has the right and choice to explore what's available to them. So your job at the nurture phase is to [00:13:00] really showcase what you stand for, what you believe in, what your unique approach and perspective is to what it is that you're doing and how it's different than maybe other people out on the market.

And this isn't about putting other people down and making yourself look superior. This is just highlighting how you look at the world different. This is that unique perspective and what I call positioning, right? It's that position in the market. you are the thing that stands out amongst other people and that's how you're different in a lot of ways.

But nurturing could be reaching out to somebody and saying, hey, nurturing could be having a Q and a call once a months for people to jump onto a free Q a call for them to jump onto to ask you questions and to get to know you. Nurturing could be a discovery call, not a sales call but a discovery call.

Nurturing could be putting training in somebody else's group that has your ideal clients in, so you're, you're giving [00:14:00] value. There's so many different ways that we can add in the element of nurture, right? Nurturing could be a beautiful email sequence that you send out to your people once a month or like a newsletter.

right? That gives a ton of value. There's so many different ways that you can do this, which is why the cookie cutter, one size fits all approach doesn't work for everybody. Cause some people are like, I don't want to do discovery calls. I'd rather write long form copy and content. So I'm going to focus on writing some really powerful blogs.

I'm going to focus on writing some really powerful long form emails to my people that just gives a ton of value to them and shows them who I am and shh. shows them parts of who I am. Usually in the nurture phase, I often say that it's vulnerability and like intimacy are huge for this, right? And, and intimacy being like, who are you?

Pull back the curtain, show me who [00:15:00] you are, show me what it's like to work with you, show me what people are saying about you, right? So client case studies and testimonials are beautiful at this stage because it gives this whole round well rounded perspective. And then we can invite people to a sale, but we're inviting the people that have gotten to this stage of the process.

So you'll probably see on my social media, I don't do a lot of sales on Instagram. I'm not putting out a sales call on Instagram all the time. Now, some people do that and it works for some people's businesses. It never worked for my business. It also never worked for my people. Y'all that are listening to this and those that follow me over on Insta know this, right?

My people don't want to be sold to every single day. There is a depth and, and a level of, Uh, intimacy and context that my audience, my people, you people want to see and hear, right? [00:16:00] But, like me, I'm a self starter. I can self navigate pretty well. I can find my way around somebody's website. I can decide on my own terms whether it is I want to book a call or not.

Right? I don't need to be reminded 15 times that I can book a call with somebody. If I see an offer, my eye might be on that offer and I could move pretty quickly down that pathway, right? From, from awareness to soul, but I, I do need to see depth in context. When I'm looking for a mentor or coach, I'm like, give me something other than highlighting my problems or highlighting the things that are blocking me.

And then trying to sell me on your solution. Like, give me a choice, number one, is first and foremost, but show me why we're aligned in a lot of ways. And I'm a when you know you know, so it's usually a feeling for me, but others, it can be that, oh, I know I feel called to working with you, but now I [00:17:00] need to kind of do my due diligence and go through, what am I getting, do you have any references, things like that, which again is all part of that nurture phase.

So. When I'm talking about this customer journey, everybody in business needs to create one. And this to me is why a lot of businesses struggle because we don't have that journey, right? We're either just posting on social media, like hoping and praying that people will drop into our DMs. We're coming up with this amazing offer that Has flown through us and we've channeled it and we get so excited about, we just post it on social and then nobody buys.

And we're like, why isn't anybody buying? Because that's really jarring to a lot of people, right? Being slammed with an offer when they're like, I, I don't know you that well, or. Or you put the offer out and somebody buys it or people buy it and you're like, well, that was a past client. And there's a reason why that's happening.

Your past clients already know you. [00:18:00] And so it's easier to sell to a past client or a current client than it is to somebody who doesn't even know you because they don't actually have to think that much. They already built that know, like, and trust with you. And so when you put out a new offer, a different offer, they're like, heck yeah, where do I sign up?

That is, that is the difference, right? So if you're wanting to reach more people, this customer journey needs to be built out. And this is where I see a lot of people faltering in their business because it's this post and pray method of like, I can just show up on social post about my offer and people will buy it.

And there is no actual journey or pathway that has been cultivated or created. Now you might be asking, well, Kathryn, how do we do that on social media? And This would be my answer if somebody was asking me this in Spellbound is that I would create a bit of a, I don't want to say a formula because I don't really follow the formula, but I would, I would have the mindset that I would create, you know, 30, 40 percent of this awareness content.[00:19:00] 

And I would probably Kate 30 or 40 percent of this nurture content. And then I would create the rest of it being some sales or promotional content. And this is very counterintuitive Y'all tip anything that's being taught because I hear it from my clients. They're like, but I learned this or somebody told me this.

And I'm like, if, if you want to sell more, if you want to sell 80 percent of the time, just have complete sales content out there, like buy my offer, buy my offer, buy my offer, try that with your audience. Your audience might respond differently. I just know that my people don't respond to that well. Um, and so for me, it's about.

Finding that balance, which is why I don't really follow a formula, which is why I often tell my clients, like, you've got to come up with your own formula, right? You've got to, it's not about me telling you, do 40 percent this, 40 percent this, and 20 percent this, because your audience may respond differently, right, than my audience does.

And that's why there is no cookie cutter. That's why when people teach content [00:20:00] from the perspective of like, this is what you need to put out there and this is how you need to do it, I get a bit triggered by it because I'm like, My people don't respond like that. And they don't respond to the traditional way we're often marketed to, right?

They're very self aware and aware of marketing tactics. They understand it through and through. And they, and they know what an ad is. They know what happens when they click on an ad, right? Y'all are smart, intelligent people. So it's like, it's not about trying to pull the wool over somebody's eyes with some like, false sales pathway that we're taking people on, and dangling a carrot, and not revealing price, and my people just don't resonate to that.

Now, some audiences do, and so I'm not here to say one is better than the other. It's about finding what works for you, and it's about finding what feels right for you, but also how your people respond. And, um, I think it's important to And how you want to make them feel in the process, I think is huge. You know, asking yourself, how do I want to make someone feel throughout [00:21:00] this?

What information and knowledge do I want them to know prior to ever getting on a sales call with me or investing? You know, if you're not doing sales calls and you're selling in the DMs, or you're selling through a sales page. Great, but what do you want people to know and what information do you want them to have and how do you want them to feel on that journey?

And so for me, my journey doesn't look like, my customer journey doesn't look like just posting on Instagram, right? Because to me, it's a bigger ecosystem. I'm going to share with you what I mean by that. It's a bigger ecosystem to me, right? So I use Instagram predominantly, Facebook predominantly for creating awareness.

And for nurturing in a lot of ways. Right? That's what I'm doing to nurture and build that know, like, and trust. My sales calls are designed to invite people to a sales conversation about what it is I have to offer [00:22:00] and whether or not I can support them. They are no pressure. I'm They are, decide what you want to do.

It's totally up to you. It's very empowered. It's like this is, this is an invitation to have a conversation about how I may or may not be able to support you. At the end of the day, you have every right and every choice to choose on your own terms. There's no high pressure in sales. from my perspective.

And I did a post on Instagram a little while ago about what you will not find me doing or my team doing on sales calls. Um, so again, I do them very counterintuitively. Don't ask for credit cards. We don't use mindset BS shit. You've got money blocks and that's why you're not buying. We don't use any of that, but that's predominantly where I'm selling.

All of my other efforts go to creating awareness and nurturing my audience. And I do that as you've probably are aware is this podcast is one way I nurture my people and I do it from the perspective of I'm, I'm [00:23:00] providing the value so that you have this value that you could take and run with. You know, I've had clients say, my podcast, this podcast you're listening to is like a mini course in and of itself.

Because I'm not holding back. There's nothing to hold back. I know that the support that I offer in Spellbound and in my one to ones is the value is in the feedback and the value is in the reflection back to people and the value is in me providing my zone of genius, which is words and how to articulate and communicate what it is that we want to communicate.

Because as you just saw that customer journey from awareness to sales. There's different ways we need to talk to people at the different phases. We're not talking to people, like, if somebody's already aware of what it is they're stuck with, we're not then getting on a sales call with them and going, So, uh, can you tell me why you're stuck?

Like, or, or here's the reasons why you're stuck. We're not trying to show [00:24:00] them why they're stuck because They already know that. They've already gone through that journey, right? So we're talking to them in a very different way, which again is where I think people get hung up because it's like the same content goes out on social and it's not building that ecosystem.

So my content, my ads, all of that, my masterclass, my quiz is all done to, to form some awareness, create some awareness, but then also build that know, like, and trust and provide. High value content and information so that you could run with it if you wanted to and my intention behind everything that I do is I come from that intention of one, I want people to feel 100 percent empowered whenever they come across my stuff that they feel like they are empowered.

Now they're seeing for the first time that they can do whatever it is that they want to do, and not that I need to give people permission, but oftentimes, we get hung up in [00:25:00] our own limiting beliefs, right? Because we, we are viewing the world through a certain lens, and we only see what's possible through that lens.

And so sometimes it takes having someone reflect a different perspective, and that is what I want. And oftentimes people will say to You know, going through your stuff and, and, you know, being in your world, I feel validated. I finally feel seen and heard for the first time. I don't feel crazy for having all these ideas.

I finally understand why I don't align with maybe a lot of the way in which we market and sell, right? I feel empowered because I can now see that what I want to create as possible because I had never seen it done before. So there's a bunch of reasons why. People, you know, kind of resonate with it. But my, my whole intention is, is that you walk away from any interaction, any contact with me and my company that you feel seen, heard, and understood.

And that you feel like there's anything is possible, right? [00:26:00] That you've been infused with this energy of like, man, I can actually go and achieve that. I'm maybe I'm not as crazy as I thought I was for wanting that. That's my intention, right? Because my whole mission is to help people really come back to who they are and be the authentic expression of themselves in their business.

flows through them and out into their offers and what they say and how they want to say it. So a lot of this is not about, again, the cookie cutter, it's creating a pathway from how people can get to know you and what it is that you do and why you do it, but also helping them shift their perspective. And then how do you get them to really know you on the depth of level that they would need in order to build trust?

And again, depending on the level of investment. depending on what that investment is. A lot of people I work with are [00:27:00] in the healing space, they're soulful coaches, heart led, and a lot of the work they do is deep work, which requires a lot of trust. Right? So if you're selling the invisible and you're an energy healer, or you're working in fertility, or you're holistic health, like, people have to come to you and bear their heart and soul in a lot of ways.

And if they're coming to you and bearing their heart and soul, they're gonna need to trust you. It's not like selling how to do, how to use QuickBooks and do bookkeeping in your business, right? Or how to set up Facebook ads. Like, There's still a level of trust there, or here's a toothbrush, this is going to help you clean your teeth.

Like, there's a level of trust there that needs to be built still, but the level of trust depends on the level of trust that's required for the work. So if I have to come and talk to somebody and bare my heart and soul and showcase the depths of what it is I'm going through, my shadow, all of that stuff, I need to trust you on [00:28:00] multiple levels.

And for me, I Trust is instinctual to me. I just know if I can trust somebody, there's a level of trust that just happens instantaneously for me. And that often is based on how I feel when I'm in interaction with somebody, which is why a big part of my nurturing is connecting with people in the DMs is having conversations with people like legit conversations and not from a sales perspective, but like, Hey, I saw that you watched my masterclass.

What did you think about it? Hey, it's amazing that you took the quiz and I would love to know what your results are and, and what you thought of them. And oftentimes people that take the quiz will come and reach out to me and be like, Oh my gosh, the quiz is amazing. Like I finally feel seeing her and validated all these things.

So much makes sense, right? It finally makes sense. And so I want you to walk away from this episode with two things, right? Number one is hopefully a better understanding [00:29:00] of what I mean by the customer journey. And what pathway we're taking people on and that just because you haven't seen it built doesn't mean it's not possible, right?

So a customer journey could literally be driving traffic in some way, shape or form to your website or your blog or your sub stack. Having people opt into your sub stack newsletter. connecting with them via email. It literally could be you running, you know, a 2 ad that is an awareness ad that's out there that then leads them to booking a call with you and having a discovery call that then is followed up by, Hey, would you like to do, um, a sales call and talk about what's available to you in terms of support?

Like, I mean, it can be so simple. It could be You posting on social media and inviting people to just a newsletter. It could be you hosting a live event in your local town at one of your [00:30:00] community centers. Like there's so many ways that you can build that awareness and start to build the know, like, and trust and that nurture piece of it.

But just slapping up your offers on social media and being like, buy my thing and my thing is amazing is one going to keep you in the friend zone, but speaking to the void, especially if your audience is empowered buyers, they're like, I'm not responding to that. Right, but I will respond to some depth, some context, uh, something that resonates with me, something I can see myself in, right?

A big part of the work that I support my clients with is how do we have your clients see themselves reflected in the work that you do? And that's what you do in that customer journey, right? From awareness to sales, how do they see themselves in what it is that you're doing? And that to me is only achieved through your creative self expression.

If you're trying to adopt some cookie cutter, if you're trying to fit yourself into a [00:31:00] template, it'll always fall short. The energetics of what it is that is behind the words, for me by far, is the thing that magnetically attracts people into your world. Hands down. I've seen it across the board with clients, like, Clients submitting things to me that, you know, in a traditional copywriting program or course probably would have gotten, like, ripped to shreds, but I could feel the energy of it and I would way rather put something out that I can ultimately feel the energy than something that's like this robotic like.

you know, you can tell someone's reading a hooks. You can tell somebody's reading the gist of it. You can tell because it's the same message that we see perpetuated online, right? Partly, part of standing out is one, that creative self expression. It's you being able to say things in a different way than whatever, how everybody else is saying it.

It's your unique perspective and take on it. And then it's getting really vulnerable [00:32:00] and intimate with your people. And that is that personalized. reach out, that relationship building that needs to happen. That is how trust is built, right? It's through conversation and relationship building. And that takes time, which is why, in my opinion, a lot of people skip this whole piece of that customer buying journey because it's, it's time consuming and we want things fast and we want them quick and we want to be able to have the results today.

We don't want to wait for them. Right? When in reality, when you can build out this beautiful customer journey that has people coming into your world consistently, which is exactly what I walk my clients through, is like, you've got a long term game here. But posting on social media, hoping and praying, to me, is not a long term strategy.

Just putting out an offer and selling an offer to an email list that never grows, an audience that never really grows, strategy, right? [00:33:00] Building relationships can take time depending on your audience, depending on your people, and everybody's different. Everybody moves through this world differently and everybody views the world differently in a lot of ways.

And so we've got to consider that. And so the question to you is, as you leave this episode is, are you willing to put in the time to nurture? Are you willing to put in the time to really get to know your audience and what it is they want and what they desire? And are you really willing to put in the time to build that long term strategy or Are you wanting to hop from coach to coach, method to method, strategy to strategy?

Because I've literally just given you the strategy that I've used in my whole career of 20 years of marketing. Every plan I've ever built is like, what's the journey we're taking people on? And then how are we getting them to see that, right? If you've got blogs, What strategy are you [00:34:00] using? Right? Are you using search engine optimization to write the blog, write the headers of the blog so that you can get ranked higher on Google and be seen?

Or are you just writing and putting it out there? Because there is a strategy, and that's the other battle I often will see, especially with soulful coaches, heart led entrepreneurs, right? Is that they're, they're, when we have to follow a masculine strategy, or use a masculine strategy, our inner feminine is like, I That feels too restrictive or rigid or whatnot.

And I'm, all I'm saying is that we have to have both, right? There has to be the feminine that is leading with intuition, following inspiration, and expressing ourselves creatively. Right? Which is the feminine, right? Is the receptive, is the receiving. That's what allows you to create the content at the various stages of the customer journey.

The customer journey to me is the machine or structure. [00:35:00] That's the masculine. And so the feminine flows through that masculine structure. But it allows, that structure allows us to be in our feminine, to be in our creative, to follow inspiration. We, it's not one without the other. So that's the other thing I'll leave you with is, is that like, Where is there an imbalance potentially in your business with the masculine and feminine?

Are you just wanting to solely live in your feminine and just receive and sit back and just hope and pray that everything will work out? Or do you want to have that yinging and yang? That balance, right? That, Structure that allows me to be in my feminine, and if so, that's what the journey is all about, building out that journey.

And it doesn't have to be cookie cutter. I've given you some examples, right? I've shared a little bit of my ecosystem, which is my quiz and my masterclass, selling the Invisible. If you haven't launched it yet, I highly recommend you do. If you haven't taken the quiz, [00:36:00] I highly recommend that you do. It really is.

You will walk away from either one of those with insight and perspective. And my intention, as I mentioned, I don't create these things to just sell you, right? I'm creating them so that you can walk away and run with it if you want to. There's no high pressured sales. There's no like forcing sales down your throat.

That's not my vibe. That's not how I function. That's not who I'm about. That's not my brand. That's not who I am. Anything. Right? I'm not about that in any way, shape, or form, but, but it can be that simple. And that was one of the other things the client said to me when I explained what my pathway looked like.

She was like, wow, that's simple. And I was like. Yeah, it can be that simple. It literally can be that simple, but we as humans love to overcomplicate shit, and we love to find problems where they don't exist, right? So we're like, oh, look at this simple pathway that someone's sharing with me, and then it's like, but I don't want to do it that way, or this [00:37:00] feels rigid, or da da da, that's the ego trying to rip everything apart.

The question that you've got to always ask yourself is, what is it I actually want? How do I want to feel in that? Do I actually love doing what I'm doing? And how do I go about doing more of it? And if the pathway or the funnel is the thing that's going to give you what you ultimately want, which most people it's freedom, right?

Most people that come into my world are like, I don't want to spend all my time on social media, churning out content because there's a rigidity to that, right? Showing up five days, seven days a week on social media and having to come up with content is the polar opposite of being in your feminine inspiration, right?

It's the polar opposite of it, because there's a rule behind it. I've got to post today, so what do I have to say? That's all done in the thinking mind. That's all done in being attached to some type of outcome. I've got to post this, so I get X result. [00:38:00] That, to me, feels so disingenuine, right? And if we go back to the dating analogy, right?

If somebody was on a date with you for the first time, and they said to you, like, and they were operating from this perspective of like, What do I need to say to get this girl to like me? That would feel so disingenuine, right? What do I need to say to get this guy to like me? How do I need to act and show up to get that guy to like me?

Marry me, whatever it is. It's very disingenuine, right? And that's what to me a lot of content creation is. It's disingenuine because it's this notion that I've got to write the thing in order to get someone to do the thing. And so what I want to help shift your perspective on is, is that You can come from a place of pure inspiration of like, what do I want to say and why do I want to express it?

And how is this going to impact the industry people around me? How is it going to be supportive to them? Which is [00:39:00] very different than what do I need to say to get someone to buy from me? What do I need to say to get this guy to date me? What do I need to do to get this guy to fall in love and propose to me?

Very different actions, very different energy. Be Versus I'm going to show up in my own right. I'm going to show up in my power. I'm going to express myself. Authentically, I'm going to share what it is I have to share without holding myself back, without cutting parts of who I am off, without, you know, trying to fit myself into some rigid marketing and sales box.

I'm going to express that knowing that I, I need to build no like and trust, right? And this pathway that I want to create is aligned with me and who I am and how I like to communicate. I like to show up live on video. I like to record podcasts. I like to write long form copy. I'm way more, I'm super witty, and I love [00:40:00] short form meme stuff.

This is, this is what we do. We work with that. This is what we do. We work with what is your authentic expression, what comes naturally to you, and then we build out that journey. in, in reflection to that, right? So that you are authentically showing up in that journey. You're able to create content that for you really speaks from your soul, right?

It's not something that you think you should do or have to do or need to do. You're able to communicate and connect with your people on that level. And that to me is what is the energy behind it. I can always feel when somebody's just trying to do something. to tick a thing off a box or to go, okay, I'm following this strategy to a T, right?

I can feel it. I can feel it when, when I'm reading someone's email or their social post. I'm like, that did nothing for me on an energetic soul level. Now I might not be their ideal [00:41:00] client, but I'm just saying I can feel that, the energy behind it. And it's often the rigidity, which is the very thing many of y'all don't want, right?

You don't want the rigidity of having to show up a certain way. The whole notion is that you want to express yourself authentically. And this is your invitation to do that. You've got the pathway in the map. You've got the high level map of a customer journey, right? Now the question is, start journaling around what that awareness content looks like and what you want it to be.

And then start to journal around, well, how would I want to nurture my audience? What does that look like? Right? How would I want to be nurtured? How would I want to develop that like and that trust? What would that look like for me? If I was to go on a date with somebody, what would that look like? Right? I was just having a conversation with another client of mine and she said to me, and I was like, this is so me, is that in order to get to know me well in a lot of ways, you will, [00:42:00] but it's like, if you rush me too quickly, I'm like, off, I'm like, ugh, too much, too much, back away, I go into my little, like, rabbit hole, right?

I don't want to be sold to you, I don't want high pressure sales, I don't want you ringing my doorbell, going door to door selling things. It's a Libra thing, I think, we don't like to be rushed, I didn't know that, but I just don't like it. I want to come to you on my own terms, in a way, and in my own timing.

And so, I know that my customer journey and the way that I've created it is that in a lot of ways, because I, I don't want to have to force somebody into a sale or use high pressure tactics to sell. That's just not me, right? And so again, it's like, how do you want to nurture somebody? Do you, does nurturing look like giving people space?

For me, it does, right? It's like, it looks like Here you go. Here's a, here's the stuff. You have all of what you need. In a lot of ways. If you have got questions, reach out. That's cool, right? My door is open. It's [00:43:00] like there's tons of spaciousness in that nurturing, but sometimes that can be really rushed too.

That can work for people. Sometimes people need to feel like they have a deadline and they need to make a decision by a certain deadline. I'm not that person. The minute I'm given a deadline to make a decision, I often don't make it because I'm like, I feel rushed or I feel pressured to make this decision in your timeframe, not my timeframe, right?

And so I never really want that for my people coming into my world. So again, I've given you the pathway. And to me, this is the pathway. If you want to create consistent sales in your business, you need a customer buying journey. Period. That's a mountain I will die on, right? You need an offer, obviously an offer that people want.

You need to be able to articulate and communicate what that offer is. But more than that, you need to be able to create awareness among your people, get known for what it is you're doing. You need to build that like and trust factor and, and start to ask yourself how you want that to look. [00:44:00] And then you need to invite people to a sales conversation.

And again, that can look very differently. How do you want to do that? Do you want to do face to face on a sales calls? Lots of people that come into my world are like, I can just talk to people. Usually when I get on a call with somebody, like it's so much easier for me to sell than it is for me to try to go back and forth in the DMs or put it on a sales page.

And I'm like, then do the sales calls. Right. But if, but if communicating on a sales page works for you do that, but you've got to start to ask yourself at these points, what it is that you want to do. people to feel how you want them to move down that pathway and what that pathway actually looks like.

And then from there, you can refine and tweak it so that it gets even better and better and better. Or you can evolve it and you can build out different, you know, side pathways and different things like that. But this is where I think people get It gets too complicated too quick because we're looking at these big name people in [00:45:00] the industry and we're looking at their launches going, Oh my gosh, like they spend six months promoting it and they've got all this content and they've hired videographers to film them and they've got all these different opt ins and they've got these different things that they're selling and they've got a challenge going right now and they're doing coffee chats and they're doing all of the things and we forget that they're a bigger business than us.

We forget that. We can create a really simple pathway. One simple pathway to one offer. And I'm not saying that you can't offer multiple offers. I'm not saying that. But if you're struggling to attract clients consistently, And you're not wanting to show up on social media all the time and you're not wanting to use hype marketing where you're like having to push promotion out consecutively for months to sell your offers, then building out the customer journey in a way that's automated is a really beautiful thing.

I call it evergreen, but it's like, they can enroll, they can come into your [00:46:00] world at any point. Now, some people love the hype, right? And if hype is your thing, then build a journey that has the hype, but it's getting really clear on what you want. The whole point of what I'm trying to say here is, is that When we look at what everybody else is doing in a lot of ways, it's really easy for that to detour or dictate what it is that we do, or we look at it and go, I can't do that, that's too much.

And I'm here to tell you that you can build a really beautiful, simple pathway, leveraging the natural way in which you want to show up and communicate, which I think is the key. Okay. So with that, I'm going to leave you. If you have any questions, please pop over to Instagram at Creative Lyon. I'm in the DMs over there.

I'd love to connect. If you have any questions about this episode, uh, please reach out. If you've loved the episode and you've got a lot of takeaway from it. Also, I'd love to hear from you. Cheers. Thanks for listening. We'll see you right back here next time. You can also find us [00:47:00] on social media at Creatively Owned and online at creativelyowned.

com. Until next time, keep showing up as your authentic self.