February 4, 2025 • 15 mins
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Ever feel like some businesses just get you, almost as if they’re reading your mind? That’s the magic of a core message. In this episode, I walk you through why a strong core message is essential for your business. With the right message, you’ll find it so much easier to create things like emails, product descriptions, and social content that resonates with your audience!
I also share some common messaging mistakes, like sounding too formal or speaking about your audience instead of to them. By making your messaging more personal and clear, you’ll stand out! To help, I walk you through key questions to define your core message and a simple plug and play format to use.
Once your core message is nailed down, you’ll see how it simplifies everything else in your business. Whether you’re planning content or writing emails, your core message keeps you focused and aligned. If you want more support with this, check out my $9 SEED Framework workshop, designed to help you go deeper and create messaging that truly connects.
01:43 - Three common messaging mistakes that digital entrepreneurs make
03:24 - What REALLY makes messaging work
06:13 - How to create your core message (and a simple format to follow!)
10:50 - Tips for using your core message in your business
Links & Resources:
- The SEED Framework Workshop
- Episode 131, Strategy Over Spaghetti: A Smart Approach to Building Your Audience
- Follow me on Instagram @kristendoyle.co
- Check out my Everything Page: a one-stop shop for savvy selling!
- The Savvy Seller Collective
- Join my private Facebook community: Savvy Teacher Sellers
- More resources for growing your TPT business
- Rate & review The Savvy Teacher Seller on Apple Podcasts
Show Notes: https://kristendoyle.co/episode133
Tired of constantly hustling to sell your digital products? Check out my free 19-minute training where I show you how to turn all those products you already have into a profitable, automated business.
Get more freedom and less stress ➡️ watch now at kristendoyle.co/training
Check out my Everything Page at https://kristendoyle.co/everything
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kristen Doyle (00:00):
Ever notice how some businesses just seem to
speak directly to you, almostlike they are reading your mind?
Like they just get exactly whatyou're struggling with and what
you need? Well, that's not anaccident. It comes from having
something called a core message.
(00:21):
Today, we're talking about howto craft your core message and
why it matters so much for yourbusiness. Because here's the
thing, when you nail your coremessage, everything else becomes
easier. Writing emails, easier.
Creating product descriptionsthat actually convert, so much
easier. Even knowing whatcontent to create gets easier
and clearer when you have a coremessage.
(00:46):
Now don't worry if you'resitting there thinking, I have
no idea what my core messageshould be, or what a core
message even is. I'm going toshare some simple tips today
that will help you get clarityon exactly what you should say
to connect with your idealcustomers.
Are you a digital product orcourse creator, selling on
(01:07):
platforms like teachers payteachers, Etsy or your own
website? Ready to grow yourbusiness, but not into the kind
of constant hustle that leadsstraight to burnout? Then you're
in the right place.
Welcome to The Savvy Seller. I'mKristen Doyle, and I'm here to
give you no fluff, tools andstrategies that move the needle
(01:27):
for your business withoutburning you out in the process.
Things like SEO, no stressmarketing, email list building,
automations, and so much more.
Let's get started y'all.
Before we jump into creatingyour message, let's talk about
some of the typical pitfallsthat I see product creators and
(01:52):
other digital entrepreneurs kindof fall into. See if any of
these sound familiar to you. Thefirst one is trying to sound
super professional and ending upsounding stiff instead.
So for example, if you are acourse creator, you might say
something like, "I facilitateonline learning implementation
strategies", when what theyreally mean is, "I help you make
(02:15):
courses that your students willlove". See the difference
between the language? One feelsa lot more stuffy, the other
feels a lot more personal andapproachable.
Another big one I see this allthe time is talking about your
audience instead of talkingdirectly to them. So think about
the difference between a phraselike "teachers need organized
(02:36):
lesson plans" versus "you needlesson plans that keep you
organized and save you time".
Which one feels more personal?
Which one would make you feelmore seen and understood if
you're a teacher?
And the third big mistake isfocusing way too much on the
features and not the benefits ofwhatever you offer. Here's an
(02:56):
example of that. So instead ofsaying something like "this
template pack includes 25 SOPtemplates". Try saying something
like, "stop reinventing yourworkflows. Get your VA business
running smoothly with these donefor you templates". See how the
focus is not on what you'regetting, but how it's going to
(03:18):
help. The good news is these areall pretty easy things to fix
once you know what to look for.
So let's talk about what makesmessaging really work. What
makes people stop scrolling andthink, wow, this person really
gets me. Because a lot of timesthat is the thing that keeps
people coming back to youinstead of your competition.
(03:40):
First you want to sound like aknowledgeable friend, not like a
textbook or an essay. Thinkabout how you would explain your
product or your service to afriend over coffee.
You wouldn't use fancy languageor industry jargon or try to
sound super professional. Youwould just talk normally, right?
(04:01):
The way that you always do. Oneof my favorite tips for this is
to read your messaging out loud.
If it doesn't feel right to sayit out loud or it just doesn't
sound like something you wouldnormally say, then your language
probably needs to be a littlebit less formal and a little
more like you.
(04:23):
The second element is using youlanguage. This one is so simple,
but it makes a huge difference.
Go look at your website rightnow. How many times on your home
page do you say I or we, orotherwise, just refer to
yourself, versus saying you ortalking directly to your
audience. So it's reallyimportant for your audience to
(04:43):
see themselves in yourmessaging.
An easy way to fix this is tolook for places where you can
replace I or we language withyou language by just rewriting
the same sentence just a littlebit. Usually it doesn't take
much tweaking to be able toswitch the perspective of that
sentence.
(05:03):
Third, focus on benefits, thetransformation that your product
or your service creates. Insteadof just listing everything
included, tell them what thosefeatures are going to actually
do for them. So, for example,don't just say that this
teaching resource you've createdincludes 30 Math Worksheets.
(05:25):
Say, help your students mastermultiplication without spending
hours creating worksheets.
And fourth, this is a big one.
Keep your language clear andsimple. Don't make people think
too hard about what you aresaying. If they have to read
something twice to understandit, it needs to be simpler. A
big culprit here is really longrun on sentences, probably the
(05:48):
kind that I use when I recordthis podcast, because this is
one exception to the say it outloud rule.
See, when we talk out loud, wetend to talk in lots of very
complex sentences, and that'sokay when we are talking to
someone, but when we're readingit, it is much easier for people
(06:10):
to read shorter, simplersentences.
Okay, now let's switch gears alittle bit and break down how to
actually create your coremessage. I'm going to share a
simple format that you can getstarted with that makes this so
much easier to do. First, youneed to get really, really clear
on three things. Number one,what problem do you solve? And
(06:33):
if you create lots of differentproducts, try to think about the
overarching problem that yourproducts solve, or maybe you
offer a lot of variety ofservices. What is that big
umbrella problem that youroffers are fixing?
And then who exactly are yousolving this problem for? And be
specific here, if your audienceis other business owners, what
(06:57):
kind of other business owners?
Corporations, small businesses,solopreneurs, female owned
businesses, online businesses.
What exactly is your targetaudience? Who exactly do you
solve this problem for?
And then third, what makes yoursolution unique? Now I know
(07:17):
sometimes it can be hard toidentify the thing that we are
doing that is unique andspecial, especially if we have a
little imposter syndrome, which,let's be real, who doesn't
struggle with a little impostersyndrome here and there. So one
of the best ways that you canfigure out what people love
about you specifically is tolook at the feedback that you're
(07:38):
already getting.
Go look at your product reviews,emails from happy customers, DMs
where people might be thankingyou for your content. What words
are they using? Whatspecifically are they saying
helped them the most? I saw acomment in a Facebook group a
little while back, and it's noteven a group I'm super active
(07:58):
in, but it showed up in my feedbecause the person had tagged me
saying that they like to learnfrom me for some very specific
reasons, and it was really goodto be able to see that and help
figure out what makes me uniquebased on what that person had
said about me.
So look for those kinds ofcomments. Look through your
product reviews and any otherplace that people are talking
(08:21):
about your work. Once you getclear on those three questions,
what problem do you solve? Whoare you solving it for, and what
makes your solution unique, thenyou can start with a simple
elevator pitch format that helpsyou to just clearly articulate
quickly what you do and who youhelp.
If you're not familiar with it,the elevator pitch idea. The
(08:43):
concept is that if you step intoan elevator and someone gets on
the elevator with you, and inthat 30 seconds that you are in
the elevator together, they askyou, what you do. You should be
prepared. You should be able toexplain your business to them in
that just quick elevator ride.
Here's a basic framework you canuse. Start with either your
(09:04):
business name or maybe the thingthat you create, or you sell,
the service that you offer, orthe thing that you're creating.
So my business helps whatspecific audience to get what
specific result without thispain point or otherwise bad
(09:25):
thing that they want to avoid.
Let me share some examples tomake it make a little more
sense. So if you are a templatecreator who sells templates for
virtual assistants, then youmight say my templates (or the
name of your business) helpvirtual assistants create
professional client systemswithout spending hours building
(09:48):
it from scratch.
If you're a teacher author,maybe you say, my products help
third grade teachers teachengaging math lessons without
spending their Friday nightplanning. A course creator could
say, my course, whatever thename of it is, helps creative
entrepreneurs build passiveincome without burning out on
(10:10):
consistent launches or whateverspecific thing that your course
offers.
Those are some pretty genericexamples, and I would say be
even more specific about youractual elevator pitch, because
the key really is getting superspecific about who you help and
what transformation you createfor them. Don't try to help
(10:30):
everyone. Just really narrow inon your ideal customer. Now that
gives you a great place tostart, but it really is just
scratching the surface when itcomes to core messaging.
If you want to go deeper with amore comprehensive framework
that helps you really connectwith your audience, I'll tell
you more about a specialworkshop I have for you at the
end of this episode. But forright now, let's talk about how
(10:53):
to use this core message in yourbusiness. See once you have that
core message written out, itbecomes that foundation for
everything else in yourbusiness.
It's that phrasing that is justrolling around in the back of
your mind anytime you'recreating anything. Let me show
you what that might look like.
So let's say that you arewriting an email to your list.
Instead of staring at a blankscreen and wondering what to say
(11:15):
or how to talk to your people,you can look at your core
messaging and pull themes fromit. What's the problem you
solve? How can you talk aboutthat? What transformation do you
create? Share an example ofthat, or share some resources
related to it.
Same thing with productdescriptions. Instead of just
listing out those features,you'll be able to connect them
(11:36):
back to those key benefits thatyou've identified in your core
message. You'd be amazed howmuch easier the writing gets
when you have that clarity andyou have that messaging in the
back of your mind all the time.
Social media content can getsimpler too, because you know
what types of topics areresonating with your audience
and what transformation they'relooking for because hopefully
(11:57):
you're building an audience ofpeople who want the thing that
you are constantly talking aboutbeing what you offer. So there's
no more random posting andhoping something sticks and
people pay attention to it.
Okay, here is what I want you todo next. Take that simple
elevator pitch framework that Ishared earlier and write out
your first draft. Don't worryabout making it perfect. Just
(12:18):
get something down on paper oror on screen, as it were, once
you have that basic foundation,you might find yourself wanting
to go deeper into coremessaging, and if that is you,
or if you're just strugglingwith that basic foundation and
need a little more help.
If you really want to nail yourmessaging in a way that builds
trust and connection with youraudience, then I've created
(12:38):
something special to help youplant that core message and
watch your business grow. AndI'm calling it the seed
Framework. It is a no fluffworkshop that walks you through
my seed framework for creatingthat core messaging that really
resonates with your audience.
It's just nine bucks, and youcan find it at
Kristendoyle.co/seed.
(13:00):
Whether you grab that workshopor you just use the elevator
pitch framework that I sharedtoday, the important thing is to
get started, because once youhave clarity on your core
message for your business,everything else in your business
can rotate around that. And itjust becomes so much easier to
create things that are targetedright for your ideal customers.
(13:21):
Thank you so much for listeningto today's episode, and I'll
catch you next time.
Ever notice how some businesses just seem to
speak directly to you, almostlike they are reading your mind?
Like they just get exactly whatyou're struggling with and what
you need? Well, that's not anaccident. It comes from having
something called a core message.
(00:21):
Today, we're talking about howto craft your core message and
why it matters so much for yourbusiness. Because here's the
thing, when you nail your coremessage, everything else becomes
easier. Writing emails, easier.
Creating product descriptionsthat actually convert, so much
easier. Even knowing whatcontent to create gets easier
and clearer when you have a coremessage.
(00:46):
Now don't worry if you'resitting there thinking, I have
no idea what my core messageshould be, or what a core
message even is. I'm going toshare some simple tips today
that will help you get clarityon exactly what you should say
to connect with your idealcustomers.
Are you a digital product orcourse creator, selling on
(01:07):
platforms like teachers payteachers, Etsy or your own
website? Ready to grow yourbusiness, but not into the kind
of constant hustle that leadsstraight to burnout? Then you're
in the right place.
Welcome to The Savvy Seller. I'mKristen Doyle, and I'm here to
give you no fluff, tools andstrategies that move the needle
(01:27):
for your business withoutburning you out in the process.
Things like SEO, no stressmarketing, email list building,
automations, and so much more.
Let's get started y'all.
Before we jump into creatingyour message, let's talk about
some of the typical pitfallsthat I see product creators and
(01:52):
other digital entrepreneurs kindof fall into. See if any of
these sound familiar to you. Thefirst one is trying to sound
super professional and ending upsounding stiff instead.
So for example, if you are acourse creator, you might say
something like, "I facilitateonline learning implementation
strategies", when what theyreally mean is, "I help you make
(02:15):
courses that your students willlove". See the difference
between the language? One feelsa lot more stuffy, the other
feels a lot more personal andapproachable.
Another big one I see this allthe time is talking about your
audience instead of talkingdirectly to them. So think about
the difference between a phraselike "teachers need organized
(02:36):
lesson plans" versus "you needlesson plans that keep you
organized and save you time".
Which one feels more personal?
Which one would make you feelmore seen and understood if
you're a teacher?
And the third big mistake isfocusing way too much on the
features and not the benefits ofwhatever you offer. Here's an
(02:56):
example of that. So instead ofsaying something like "this
template pack includes 25 SOPtemplates". Try saying something
like, "stop reinventing yourworkflows. Get your VA business
running smoothly with these donefor you templates". See how the
focus is not on what you'regetting, but how it's going to
(03:18):
help. The good news is these areall pretty easy things to fix
once you know what to look for.
So let's talk about what makesmessaging really work. What
makes people stop scrolling andthink, wow, this person really
gets me. Because a lot of timesthat is the thing that keeps
people coming back to youinstead of your competition.
(03:40):
First you want to sound like aknowledgeable friend, not like a
textbook or an essay. Thinkabout how you would explain your
product or your service to afriend over coffee.
You wouldn't use fancy languageor industry jargon or try to
sound super professional. Youwould just talk normally, right?
(04:01):
The way that you always do. Oneof my favorite tips for this is
to read your messaging out loud.
If it doesn't feel right to sayit out loud or it just doesn't
sound like something you wouldnormally say, then your language
probably needs to be a littlebit less formal and a little
more like you.
(04:23):
The second element is using youlanguage. This one is so simple,
but it makes a huge difference.
Go look at your website rightnow. How many times on your home
page do you say I or we, orotherwise, just refer to
yourself, versus saying you ortalking directly to your
audience. So it's reallyimportant for your audience to
(04:43):
see themselves in yourmessaging.
An easy way to fix this is tolook for places where you can
replace I or we language withyou language by just rewriting
the same sentence just a littlebit. Usually it doesn't take
much tweaking to be able toswitch the perspective of that
sentence.
(05:03):
Third, focus on benefits, thetransformation that your product
or your service creates. Insteadof just listing everything
included, tell them what thosefeatures are going to actually
do for them. So, for example,don't just say that this
teaching resource you've createdincludes 30 Math Worksheets.
(05:25):
Say, help your students mastermultiplication without spending
hours creating worksheets.
And fourth, this is a big one.
Keep your language clear andsimple. Don't make people think
too hard about what you aresaying. If they have to read
something twice to understandit, it needs to be simpler. A
big culprit here is really longrun on sentences, probably the
(05:48):
kind that I use when I recordthis podcast, because this is
one exception to the say it outloud rule.
See, when we talk out loud, wetend to talk in lots of very
complex sentences, and that'sokay when we are talking to
someone, but when we're readingit, it is much easier for people
(06:10):
to read shorter, simplersentences.
Okay, now let's switch gears alittle bit and break down how to
actually create your coremessage. I'm going to share a
simple format that you can getstarted with that makes this so
much easier to do. First, youneed to get really, really clear
on three things. Number one,what problem do you solve? And
(06:33):
if you create lots of differentproducts, try to think about the
overarching problem that yourproducts solve, or maybe you
offer a lot of variety ofservices. What is that big
umbrella problem that youroffers are fixing?
And then who exactly are yousolving this problem for? And be
specific here, if your audienceis other business owners, what
(06:57):
kind of other business owners?
Corporations, small businesses,solopreneurs, female owned
businesses, online businesses.
What exactly is your targetaudience? Who exactly do you
solve this problem for?
And then third, what makes yoursolution unique? Now I know
(07:17):
sometimes it can be hard toidentify the thing that we are
doing that is unique andspecial, especially if we have a
little imposter syndrome, which,let's be real, who doesn't
struggle with a little impostersyndrome here and there. So one
of the best ways that you canfigure out what people love
about you specifically is tolook at the feedback that you're
(07:38):
already getting.
Go look at your product reviews,emails from happy customers, DMs
where people might be thankingyou for your content. What words
are they using? Whatspecifically are they saying
helped them the most? I saw acomment in a Facebook group a
little while back, and it's noteven a group I'm super active
(07:58):
in, but it showed up in my feedbecause the person had tagged me
saying that they like to learnfrom me for some very specific
reasons, and it was really goodto be able to see that and help
figure out what makes me uniquebased on what that person had
said about me.
So look for those kinds ofcomments. Look through your
product reviews and any otherplace that people are talking
(08:21):
about your work. Once you getclear on those three questions,
what problem do you solve? Whoare you solving it for, and what
makes your solution unique, thenyou can start with a simple
elevator pitch format that helpsyou to just clearly articulate
quickly what you do and who youhelp.
If you're not familiar with it,the elevator pitch idea. The
(08:43):
concept is that if you step intoan elevator and someone gets on
the elevator with you, and inthat 30 seconds that you are in
the elevator together, they askyou, what you do. You should be
prepared. You should be able toexplain your business to them in
that just quick elevator ride.
Here's a basic framework you canuse. Start with either your
(09:04):
business name or maybe the thingthat you create, or you sell,
the service that you offer, orthe thing that you're creating.
So my business helps whatspecific audience to get what
specific result without thispain point or otherwise bad
(09:25):
thing that they want to avoid.
Let me share some examples tomake it make a little more
sense. So if you are a templatecreator who sells templates for
virtual assistants, then youmight say my templates (or the
name of your business) helpvirtual assistants create
professional client systemswithout spending hours building
(09:48):
it from scratch.
If you're a teacher author,maybe you say, my products help
third grade teachers teachengaging math lessons without
spending their Friday nightplanning. A course creator could
say, my course, whatever thename of it is, helps creative
entrepreneurs build passiveincome without burning out on
(10:10):
consistent launches or whateverspecific thing that your course
offers.
Those are some pretty genericexamples, and I would say be
even more specific about youractual elevator pitch, because
the key really is getting superspecific about who you help and
what transformation you createfor them. Don't try to help
(10:30):
everyone. Just really narrow inon your ideal customer. Now that
gives you a great place tostart, but it really is just
scratching the surface when itcomes to core messaging.
If you want to go deeper with amore comprehensive framework
that helps you really connectwith your audience, I'll tell
you more about a specialworkshop I have for you at the
end of this episode. But forright now, let's talk about how
(10:53):
to use this core message in yourbusiness. See once you have that
core message written out, itbecomes that foundation for
everything else in yourbusiness.
It's that phrasing that is justrolling around in the back of
your mind anytime you'recreating anything. Let me show
you what that might look like.
So let's say that you arewriting an email to your list.
Instead of staring at a blankscreen and wondering what to say
(11:15):
or how to talk to your people,you can look at your core
messaging and pull themes fromit. What's the problem you
solve? How can you talk aboutthat? What transformation do you
create? Share an example ofthat, or share some resources
related to it.
Same thing with productdescriptions. Instead of just
listing out those features,you'll be able to connect them
(11:36):
back to those key benefits thatyou've identified in your core
message. You'd be amazed howmuch easier the writing gets
when you have that clarity andyou have that messaging in the
back of your mind all the time.
Social media content can getsimpler too, because you know
what types of topics areresonating with your audience
and what transformation they'relooking for because hopefully
(11:57):
you're building an audience ofpeople who want the thing that
you are constantly talking aboutbeing what you offer. So there's
no more random posting andhoping something sticks and
people pay attention to it.
Okay, here is what I want you todo next. Take that simple
elevator pitch framework that Ishared earlier and write out
your first draft. Don't worryabout making it perfect. Just
(12:18):
get something down on paper oror on screen, as it were, once
you have that basic foundation,you might find yourself wanting
to go deeper into coremessaging, and if that is you,
or if you're just strugglingwith that basic foundation and
need a little more help.
If you really want to nail yourmessaging in a way that builds
trust and connection with youraudience, then I've created
(12:38):
something special to help youplant that core message and
watch your business grow. AndI'm calling it the seed
Framework. It is a no fluffworkshop that walks you through
my seed framework for creatingthat core messaging that really
resonates with your audience.
It's just nine bucks, and youcan find it at
Kristendoyle.co/seed.
(13:00):
Whether you grab that workshopor you just use the elevator
pitch framework that I sharedtoday, the important thing is to
get started, because once youhave clarity on your core
message for your business,everything else in your business
can rotate around that. And itjust becomes so much easier to
create things that are targetedright for your ideal customers.
(13:21):
Thank you so much for listeningto today's episode, and I'll
catch you next time.
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