The Exact Problem You Solve 🎯

Summary

The transcript emphasizes the importance of positioning oneself clearly in subject matter expert work by identifying and focusing on the main problem one solves. It discusses the challenge of pinpointing a specific target market and the core issue they face, whether it's scaling a business, transitioning a family-owned business, or addressing personal concerns like eliminating belly fat. The speaker encourages self-reflection on what keeps the target audience up at night, suggesting that understanding their deepest fears or dreams is key to crafting a compelling personal brand and effective content strategy.

Takeaways

• 🎯 The importance of being clear on the main problem you solve in your professional work, especially for subject matter experts.
• 🚀 Positioning is crucial; you need to know how you want to be seen by your audience on platforms like LinkedIn and your website.
• 🔑 Identifying the single biggest problem you solve is key to attracting the right audience who are seeking that specific solution.
• 💡 Even though you may help in many ways, focusing on the main thing you do for your audience helps in attracting the right clients.
• 🌟 Use specific examples to illustrate the problem you solve, such as helping business owners scale and exit successfully within a certain timeframe.
• 👥 Target a specific audience with a clear problem in mind, like female tech founders who want to balance work and family while scaling their business.
• 📈 Understand the core fears and dreams of your target market to tailor your services to address their deepest concerns or aspirations.
• 🤔 Ask what keeps your target market up at night to uncover the fundamental issues they are dealing with.
• 💬 Listen to the questions and problems people frequently bring to you; these can indicate the exact problems you should be solving.
• 📚 Personalize your messaging in your own language rather than relying solely on copywriters or ghostwriters.
• 📝 Once you identify the core problem you solve, it becomes easier to create content, develop an online presence, and articulate your personal brand.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the speaker's discussion on subject matter expert work?

The main focus is on positioning oneself clearly in terms of the exact problem one solves, which is crucial for subject matter experts to be recognized and sought after in their field.

Why is it important to identify the 'main problem' one solves according to the speaker?

Identifying the main problem helps in attracting the right audience who are seeking a solution to that specific issue, making one's personal brand and offerings more targeted and appealing.

What does the speaker suggest as a key strategy for positioning oneself in the market?

The speaker suggests focusing on and communicating the single biggest problem one solves as a key strategy for positioning oneself in the market.

How does the speaker illustrate the concept of positioning with the example of a fitness professional?

The speaker uses the example of a fitness professional who specifically targets 40-year-old men wanting to get rid of belly fat, showing how a clear and specific target market and problem can make one's offerings stand out.

What is the significance of understanding the 'core problem' that keeps a target market up at night?

Understanding the core problem addresses the fundamental issues that motivate and concern the target market, allowing one to provide solutions that resonate deeply with their needs and desires.

Why does the speaker emphasize the importance of specificity when defining one's target market?

Specificity in defining a target market helps in creating more focused and effective marketing messages, content, and solutions that directly address the unique needs and challenges of that market.

What is the speaker's opinion on hiring professionals like copywriters or ghostwriters for personal branding?

The speaker believes that while hiring professionals can be helpful, often their work may not resonate as well as when one creates content in their own language and style, which is more authentic and relatable.

How can understanding a target market's dreams and fears help in developing a personal brand?

Understanding dreams and fears allows one to approach personal branding from both a problem-solving and aspirational perspective, creating a more compelling narrative that aligns with the market's desires and concerns.

What advice does the speaker give regarding the creation of content once the core problem is identified?

The speaker advises that once the core problem is identified, it becomes easier to create content such as online learning materials, books, keynote talks, LinkedIn articles, and website copy that directly addresses that problem.

What is the potential downside of not identifying the core problem one solves, as mentioned by the speaker?

Not identifying the core problem can make it difficult for people to understand what one does, hinder the development of a specific personal brand, and complicate the creation of targeted content and marketing materials.

How can one determine the exact problem they solve for their audience according to the speaker?

One can determine the exact problem they solve by reflecting on what people consistently ask for help with, the issues that keep their target market up at night, and the dreams and fears of that market.

Outlines

00:00

🎯 Clarifying Your Core Problem-Solving Positioning

The speaker emphasizes the importance of being clear about the primary problem one solves in their professional field. They point out that while a subject matter expert may help with multiple issues, it's crucial to identify and communicate the main problem that one is best known for solving. This positioning helps attract the right audience, such as business owners wanting to scale and exit their businesses or family businesses looking to pass on the business successfully. The speaker uses the example of a Twitter user who specifically targets 40-year-olds looking to lose belly fat, illustrating the power of a clear and specific target market. The audience is urged to think about who they serve and how they can narrow down their focus to a single, core problem to solve.

05:01

🌙 Identifying Pain Points and Dreams of Your Target Market

This paragraph delves into understanding the core issues that keep the target market awake at night, which could be guilt, fear, or aspirations. The speaker suggests that identifying these pain points and dreams can help in crafting a more compelling personal brand and service offerings. They advise considering whether the target market's main concern is work-life balance, fear of failure, or the desire to grow and exit their business within a certain timeframe. The speaker also mentions the importance of using one's own voice and language when defining these problems, as it resonates more authentically with the audience. They encourage reflecting on what people frequently ask for help with, as it might indicate a larger problem that one could address through products, services, or coaching.

10:02

🛠 The Importance of Defining Your Core Problem for Branding and Content Creation

The final paragraph highlights the difficulties that arise when one does not have a clear understanding of the core problem they solve. It suggests that without this clarity, it becomes challenging to develop a personal brand, create content, or even craft an elevator pitch. The speaker encourages the audience to take this as a prompt for self-reflection and homework, to define the exact problem they solve. This process is essential for building a strong online presence, engaging content, and effective marketing materials that resonate with the target audience.

Keywords

💡Positioning

Positioning refers to the strategy a professional or business uses to establish a distinct identity in the market. In the video, positioning is emphasized as crucial for subject matter experts to be clear on how they want to be seen by their audience. The speaker uses the example of a LinkedIn profile or a website to illustrate how one's main problem-solving focus should be evident to potential clients.

💡Main Problem

The 'main problem' is the central issue that an expert or service aims to resolve for their target audience. The video script discusses the importance of identifying this singular, most significant problem to attract the right clients. For instance, helping business owners scale and exit their business successfully is presented as the main problem solved for a specific audience.

💡Target Market

The term 'target market' denotes the specific group of people or businesses that a service or product is intended for. The video emphasizes the need for specificity when defining one's target market, such as female tech founders who want to scale and exit their businesses while balancing family life, to create a clear and compelling value proposition.

💡Core Problem

The 'core problem' is the fundamental challenge that a service provider addresses for their audience. The script uses the example of a family-owned business wanting to pass the business to the next generation without compromising growth, illustrating how identifying the core problem helps in crafting targeted solutions and messaging.

💡Personal Brand

A 'personal brand' is the unique image or identity that an individual projects, particularly in a professional context. The video suggests that having a clear personal brand is essential for subject matter experts to stand out and be recognized for the specific problems they solve, such as helping 40-year-old men get rid of belly fat.

💡Content Creation

Content creation involves producing material, such as articles, videos, or social media posts, to engage an audience. The script mentions that once the core problem is identified, it becomes easier to create content that resonates with the target audience, as it aligns with their needs and interests.

💡Tagline

A 'tagline' is a short, memorable phrase that encapsulates a brand's mission or value proposition. The video script suggests using a tagline under a LinkedIn profile to succinctly communicate the main problem one solves, helping to attract the right audience.

💡Elevator Pitch

An 'elevator pitch' is a brief, persuasive speech that outlines the value an individual or business offers. The video emphasizes that identifying the main problem solved allows for crafting a compelling elevator pitch that can quickly engage potential clients or partners.

💡Impostor Syndrome

Impostor syndrome is a psychological pattern where individuals doubt their accomplishments and fear being exposed as a 'fraud'. The script touches on this concept, suggesting that by addressing the core problems that cause such feelings, experts can provide meaningful support to their audience.

💡Dreams and Fears

The video script contrasts 'dreams' and 'fears' as two approaches to understanding the desires and concerns of a target market. Dreams represent aspirations, like leaving work at a reasonable hour, while fears are the anxieties that keep people up at night, such as the fear of business failure or not spending enough time with family.

💡Specificity

In the context of the video, 'specificity' refers to the clarity and precision with which an expert defines their area of expertise or the problems they solve. The speaker argues against vague terms like 'leaders' or 'CEOs' and instead encourages pinpointing a more specific target market to create a more impactful personal brand.

Highlights

The importance of being clear on the exact problem you solve in subject matter expert work.

Positioning yourself and how you want to be seen by defining the main problem you solve.

The challenge of identifying a single biggest problem when you solve multiple issues for clients.

Attracting founders who want to scale and exit their business within a specific timeframe.

Working with family-owned businesses to ensure successful transition of ownership.

Identifying the core problem that keeps your target audience up at night.

Using specific examples to illustrate the exact problem you solve, like helping 40-year-olds get rid of belly fat.

The need for specificity when defining your target market to avoid vague terms like 'leaders' or 'CEOs'.

Defining a target market with specific characteristics, like female tech founders with young children.

Determining the core problem for your target market, whether it's work-life balance or business growth.

Asking what keeps your target market up at night to understand their deepest fears and challenges.

Approaching problem-solving from both a dream standpoint and a fear standpoint.

The importance of being honest and direct about the problems you solve, even if it's uncomfortable.

Considering people's biggest dreams when identifying the problems you can solve for them.

The value of using your own language and voice when defining the problems you solve.

Observing what people constantly ask for help with to identify potential problems to solve.

The difficulty of developing a personal brand and content strategy without identifying the core problem you solve.

The process of identifying the exact problem you solve as a prerequisite for creating effective marketing materials.

Transcripts

we're going to talk about the exact

problem that you solve and I believe

it's so important in subject matter

expert work that we are incredibly clear

on the problem we solve now I know you

you're probably sitting there thinking

but I solve 20 problems Tom I help

people do this and do that and then they

want to talk to me about this and I help

them personally and I help them

professionally and I help their key

employees and that's wonderful

however what we're really talking about

here is positioning how are you

positioning yourself how do you want to

be seen and this is something that's

like this

so I need to know when I look at you on

LinkedIn I need to know in the content

that you put out there I need to know if

I go to your website the main problem

you solve and that's the key word here

main main key single biggest problem so

you may work with business owners and

well I help them develop work life

balance and I help them be present for

their families and I help them create a

strong culture inside their organization

and I help them navigate Key Personnel

is you know you get the idea and that's

all true and and look when we do

coaching when we do Consulting we end up

helping people in so many different ways

and that's wonderful that being said

what's the main thing you do for that

audience well the main thing I do for

them is help them scale and exit their

business successfully within three to

five years there you go now you're going

to attract Founders that say look I want

to be out of here in three to five years

who can help me do that because that's

the key problem that's the main thing

they're trying to solve now certainly

they want to accomplish all those other

things but ultimately what keeps them up

at night what motivates them to get into

the office early in the morning is I

want to build something that is growing

and wonderful and someone will pay me a

lot of money for in the next 3 to 5

years that is a core problem that you

solve for your target audience or hey I

work with familyowned businesses that

want to pass the business down

successfully from the founder owner of

the company to their child Okay now

what's the key problem well the key

problem is I want to make sure that the

business continues to grow without

senior

involved but in a way where senior can

still get paid because it's a fiveyear

or 10year

buyout well what's the core problem that

senior has well senior doesn't want

junior to screw up the business so I

help Founders transition to their

children but not screw up the business

and obviously you use slightly different

words than that but you get the idea so

that's the exact problem you solve for

your audience so uh one of my favorite

examples of this is someone I've been

I've been seeing on Twitter and he works

with 40y old dudes that want to get rid

of the belly

fat well I saw that and I click follow

because

well turning 40 and got a little bit of

this I want to get rid of so you know it

it it's it's such a clear Target mark

Market it's so specific that you go okay

I get the I get who he helps and how he

helps them and all of the content all of

his products and services and offerings

are all solving that problem for that

audience now does he talk about dieting

does he talk about work life balance

does he talk about you know all these

other things sure but the core problem

is 40-year-old dudes not having belly

fat and that's how he says it and it's

very very direct so couple things that

that you need to be thinking about who

is your target market and how specific

can you get that Target Market what I

hate is when people say oh I work with

leaders or I work with CEOs or I work

with Founders well every founder or just

female Founders or just male Founders or

just Founders that are under a certain

age or just Founders that run a certain

siiz company or Founders inside a

specific industry or all of those things

I work with female Founders in the tech

industry that want to scale and

successfully exit their business and

they have young children at home so they

value work life balance hey that's a

target market now what's the core

problem they want to solve well that's

for you to decide is it the work life

balance thing is it the scalability

thing is it being present for their

family pick one I know you're going to

help them in all those ways I know

they're going to want to talk to you

about all of those things but what's the

one thing and you know a great question

that's been around for as long as time

is what keeps you up at night so my

question would be what keeps that Target

Market up at night that female Tech

founder that you work with what's the

main thing is it guilt that she's not

spending enough time with her children

is it fear that she doesn't know how to

behave as a woman in a male-dominated

industry

is it that she fears she won't be able

to raise money the same way men can is

it that she wants to grow her business

so she can exit within three to five

years and that's important to her you

know really getting to the core you see

what I'm saying I mean I know I'm saying

some things that well they're a little

uncomfortable and well but but that's

the real world that's what keep these

are the issues that keep people up at

night so being willing to say this is is

specifically who I help and this is the

exact problem that I solve for them and

frankly it may be uncomfortable for

those people to hear that because they

know they have that problem and they

know they're waking up at night thinking

about it and they know that they have

guilt or challenges or impostor syndrome

around it so you being honest because

that person's going to go damn it you're

right I need to read your book I need to

hire you as a one onone coach I need you

to come in and work for actually inside

my company um another thing to think

about with your target market is what

are their biggest dreams so you know I'm

talking about pain which is a core

problem you can solve but you can also

approach it from

dreams I want to be able to leave my

office at 5:00 pm Monday through Friday

and not work on weekends that's my dream

that's my goal my goal is to coach

t-ball my goal is to grow my business

while I shrink my

waistline and if you're a fitness person

that works with entrepreneurs that could

be fantastic language so again what are

what are my dreams so you can approach

this from a dream standpoint or a fear

standpoint um you know what do they fear

what are they scared of what are they

afraid could happen and that's for you

to decide because you can go at it so

many different ways some some of it

depends on the work you do some of it

depends on your target market some of it

depends on your personality so you got

to make this work for you and this is

why I know it's nice hey I want to hire

a copywriter or I want my coach to write

this for me or I want someone to ghost

write this

but you know a lot of times it just

needs to be in your own language because

I've hired a lot of copywriters ghost

writers marketing professionals over the

years and I'll tell you most of the time

what they come up with sucks uh I

remember years ago I had someone create

a marketing brochure for me it was a

head shot it was certain colors it was a

certain tagline and I looked at it and I

hated it but I said well this is someone

that knows more about this space than me

so I'll run with it and it lasted six

months I hated it so much I eventually

changed it I like us coming up with this

stuff um another thing to think about

too in terms of you determining the

exact problem you solve is what are

people asking you helpful with and I I

often overlook this it takes me

sometimes a long time to go you know um

every week someone asks me if I can do

such and such or they come to me with

this problem and they've been doing it

for a long time now hm perhaps there's a

product or a service or coaching or

online education that could be created

based on it so what are people

constantly coming to you asking for help

um or what are they always trying to do

so hey I'm trying to do this or I'm

trying to do that or gosh I have a lot

of cups of coffee with uh CEOs of

companies and they're always trying to

figure out their culture they're always

you know trying to create a better

culture especially in a work from home

environment and they're asking me what

they should do H maybe there's something

there maybe that's the problem that I

should be solving for them so hope this

gave you a lot to think about but if you

don't identify this problem it's tough

for people to understand what you do

it's tough for you to have a very

specific personal brand and way that you

position yourself it's also tough for

you to develop content because once this

once you identify that core problem you

solve it's easy to write content it's

easy to create online learning or write

books or develop keynote talks or push

out LinkedIn articles it's easy to come

up with a tagline underneath your

LinkedIn profile it's easy to build copy

for your website it's easy to give your

elevator pitch but until you solve the

core problem of you deciding what the

problem you solve it's tough for you to

do these things so I hope this was

helpful and I hope it gave you some

homework and some things to think about