BONUS: My Predictions for 2021
2021 will be YOUR year.
2020 has been a tough year for many entrepreneurs, and for many, it’s hard to know what 2021 will hold.
And while I can’t predict what will happen in the new year, I can use my years of business experience to make educated predictions.
Listen to this last episode of the year to learn more about my predictions for what:
Specific kind of brand I believe will excel in 2021.
Currency will be key to your success.
Will be the best messaging and offerings to share with your audience.
I wish you all the best for 2021. See you next year!
Check out my new free new training on www.yournextmillion.me, where several of my seven figure clients and colleagues share what they're doing in the next year to scale their businesses to the multi-million dollar mark and beyond.
Listen to the Show:
Laura (00:00):
As a strategic advisor to the world's leading female influencers, thought leaders and experts, I have unique perspective on the, behind the scenes of what is actually working, what's not working and where people should be focusing, moving into 2021. And so I wanted to share some of the trends that I'm seeing and also my predictions for the coming year. And while I certainly can't predict the future, right? None of us could, and none of us could have anticipated what happened in 2020. I also want to share with you just maybe some things for you to consider in your business based on where I see my own clients headed and where I am going myself with my own consulting company and a business that I'm looking forward to co-creating with a good friend of mine in the next few months. So up next, we're going to talk a little bit about what to expect in 2021 and my own predictions for the coming here and beyond.
(01:05):
Here's the challenge: so many entrepreneurs dream of leading a life of impact by creating a multi-million dollar brand, but only a tiny percentage of businesses actually scale to that point. On this podcast, we speak openly authentically about what it takes to scale your business. Following the journeys of innovators, disruptors, experts, and leaders, looking at the behind the scenes of their most challenging moments in greatest lessons learned. My name is Laura Meyer and I'm your host. I'm a serial entrepreneur, wife and mom to three. I love talking all things business, especially digging into the mindset and strategies of scaling joyfully to the multi-million dollar mark and beyond let's go!
(01:47):
Hey there. So I see so many people publishing different blog posts and podcasts about their predictions for the coming year. And it really made me think, well, what are mine? And they're quite a bit different than what I'm hearing out there. And some of it might surprise you and might even be a little bit controversial, which I always say is not a bad thing. When you stand for something, you're always going to have people who are with you and people who don't necessarily agree with what it is that you have to say. And so I would love to hear yours after you listened to this, make sure to message me, direct message me, contact me through my website. I'm pretty good on Instagram. If you DM me, I'll usually see it right away, or my team will flag it for me. And I want to know what you think about what is coming up in the next 12 months and what are you doing to prepare for the coming year?
(02:36):
So many people are looking forward to that fresh start. And then also, I think many people are still so uncertain about what is to come. We at the time of recording are going back into lock down or freeze or whatever it is that the news outlets are calling it these days. And it's frustrating. It can be really scary and feel uncertain sometimes just, gosh, you know, everyone's tired from all the reacting and responding in this year that they don't even know what to do in the coming year. And so I hope that these predictions serve as a bit of encouragement and excitement, and then also positivity in thinking through what you're working on right now to get ready for 2021.
(03:20):
So the first prediction is that this is going to be the year of the expert. I am going to predict that the personal brand movement that's been happening over the last few years is going to start fading away. Yes. I said it, personal brands are going to start fading away. And instead, what is going to start popping up are expert brands. Because I think that so many of us are sick and tired of seeing the highlight reel on Instagram and Facebook and watching these people shake their booty on the, on the reels. And, you know, looking really cute when they have like four kids and they just gave birth five minutes ago, like what is happening? I think so many people are just, or over it. They don't want to be, they don't want to see another person cartwheeling on the beach when they have like two master's degrees and they're highly qualified. And so I think in the next few years, for a few different reasons, it's going to be the expert brand revolution. And the reason is, is that so many women in corporate America and who are experts were disrupted in the last year and they are going to need to start increasing their brand authority and visibility online.
(04:38):
But they're going to start looking at some of these influencers who, who are just, you know, pretty faces, but aren't necessarily promoting their brains or their intellect. And they're going to think, I don't know, want to do that. I worked away too hard, you know, to, to just look cute on the gram. And so I think this is going to end up being the year of the expert and listen, I like to present myself and wear fancy clothes, just like the next girl. And trust me in my holiday portrait this year, there will be sequins, but I am very much an advocate for featuring a woman's brain power over what she looks like. And I think that we're going to start hearing about personal expert brands, more than we're going to start hearing about personal brands. And with this business model, the consulting and the coaching and the experts that are coming out of corporate, there's going to not only be the supply, but there's going to be the demand because there's going to be all of these gaps left in companies where full time team members used to serve that need a high level skill set because the women that are baling are the ones who are actually the smartest.
(05:56):
They're the, that had a 70 to 80 hour work week and had their kids at home and thought, I'm not doing this anymore. And they're the ones that are going to be out there providing the supply for expertise in the gaps that they left behind are going to be creating the demand. So we're going to start seeing this expert brand revolution take place within a high ticket boutique business model. And it's going to be this focus on reciprocity, connections, community. And there's going to be many, many women out there that want to know how do I create my expert brand without feeling like I need to dumb myself down to get attention. So we're going to start seeing this expert brand revolution taking place, and they're going to be out there networking, building relationships and trying to fast track their results in a more sophisticated way than we have seen in the past.
(07:08):
The second is that connection is going to start becoming your biggest currency. People are getting smarter, they're becoming more sophisticated and what they're buying. Many buyers out there have invested in programs and products and offerings that did not deliver. And as a result, they're becoming more skeptical. They're going to be buying less in automation and they're going to be buying more through connection. They're also going to be investing in building up their skill set more than they are going to be investing in information because information is becoming commoditized. You can find out most things available in most courses on YouTube or through a Google search. Now, as a course creator, you may be packaging that up and serving it up in a different way. But as we can subscribe to things like masterclass and have access to top level experts like Sara Blakely, like Annie Liebowitz for a hundred dollars, we're going to start seeing more and more, more information, become cheaper and more commoditized.
(08:23):
And what you're going to see is more cautious buyers and buyers are going to be watching experts longer before they actually invest. So funny story, couple years ago, I had met a colleague through a program that we both invested in and we were highly disappointed by. It was somebody who is out on the internet and they're marketing hard and they're going live every day. And they're saying all the right things to get the buyer in the door. In fact, even spoke to the person's spouse when I signed on and he couldn't have been more accommodating taking more of my calls, answering all my questions. I mean, I felt so cared for during the sales process. And the second that I paid, it was like a light switch flipped. And I was, it was completely an undelivered program. It was unprofessional communication. The content looked, you know, felt like it had been recorded on the fly.
(09:23):
And it was extremely poor quality, but the program price didn't reflect that at all. And so, while I was in this program with this other person, we bonded, we became friends. We kept in touch. And I then went into another program that I highly recommend that I love a program that my friend and soon to be business partner, Kelly Roach creates it's her signature program called unstoppable entrepreneur. And this friend mentioned, oh, I'm thinking about joining this program. And I said, why did I get on the phone with you? I, I love Kelly Roach. I think she does a fantastic job. And I will recommend this program to anybody and everybody who would like to listen and to potentially join. So I got on the phone with her and she said, you know, I've been watching Kelly for about six months now. And she said with the last experience that we had, I really wanted to watch her go through several sales cycles.
(10:18):
And I follow her on Instagram and her husband's a musician. And my husband's a musician and my goodness. I mean, she really researched Kelly before she joined the program. And she spoke to me on the phone and she spoke to Kelly's advisor several times. I mean, people are becoming more cautious buyers and they're going to be watching you. And they're going to be making sure that you walk your talk. It's not just going to be a few emails and a great landing page that's going to convert people because buyers are onto that. They've been served, the fantastic landing page and the high converting copy and all the things that people like me, a direct response marketer knows how to do really well. And they're smart. And they're going to say, yes, I, I know that this is being written a certain way or this webinar's being delivered a certain way. You know, everybody's following certain formulas, guru's formulas in order to create these webinars and these processes that are quote unquote high converting. But if, once they check you out, it doesn't match up. They're not going to buy from you. So that connection is going to be your greatest currency going into 2021 and beyond.
(11:30):
And third is simplification. We saw this with so many bestsellers the last year, Atomic Habits, Less is More, The One Thing. These books have been incredibly popular because everybody wants to simplify. They want to simplify their buying behavior and entrepreneurs want to do less better. But what happens is when they start becoming really scared and fearful, and they're worried about one thing working better than another thing, they ended up doing all the things and their team is running a bazillion different directions. And nothing actually works really, really well because it's lacking that singular focus. And as a result of that uncertainty, and everybody's spinning in different directions and trying to just continue to throw things at the wall to see what sticks, there's more noise on the internet than ever before with all these different messages.
(12:31):
And it's hard to really know what anybody stands for because they maybe say it once or twice and they move on or their offers completely in-congruent with their marketing message or their marketing message actually doesn't have an offer attached to it. It's something else that they used to do, but that they no longer do. And then the customer can't even keep up. So they lose trust. So what we're going to see is this focus on singular efforts, clear singular messages and offerings that are extremely simple and don't produce buyers fatigue. Whenever a client comes to me and says, well, I was thinking about two different price points. I was thinking about two different offers. I'm like, no, no one offer super clear, make it extremely specific about what you do and how you help in a tangible way that people immediately get that serves a very specific pain point for the person that you are working to help.
(13:35):
So as you are creating this focused singular message and a specific offer, some questions you can ask yourself is what specific problem does my offer solve? What is the transformation? And it needs to be that single pain point. And when you pay attention, it will help you really get clear on why people buy from you. And this can be your entry starting point. I mean, you can, you can expand your offering well past that initial offer, but it's really, really important for you to specialize and to be known for the one thing. And many times my clients struggle with this. I'll just ask them, what is it that you want to be known for? And if you say, well, branding, or you say, well, helping people on social media get more engagement that is going to end up being too broad. I can tell you right now with the amount of noise that's happening and the amount of overwhelm that people are in specifically, parents are in.
(14:31):
So that is a good percentage of the population out there who are actual parents trying to figure out childcare and education in the midst of being in lockdown and, and quarantine and hybrid. And I mean, my kids at the time of this recording, they were hybrid Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and now they're hybrid Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and Friday. And then Wednesdays are every other in-person, but for a longer time, but it starts 20 minutes....You get the picture and I'm not kidding. That's actually what's happening right now within the school system where I live. And so within that overwhelm, it's really important that you're simple and clear because when you confuse your customer their brains are just going to shut down. There's going to be like, yep. Nope, Nope, no, thank you. Cause acute confused mind always says no. And people are out there looking for solutions to their problems.
(15:34):
Especially people who are very problem aware. And there are a lot of problems out there because unfortunately when we are in pain, uh, problems arise. And there's a lot of people who are in different types of pain right now. And that's why it's so important that you are specific and that you're not wasting your client's energy, trying to figure out why they should buy from you because they will just move on much faster than they ever have before. And then the second question to ask yourself is how does it offer a specific value in a way that nobody else does? And I find this happens a lot that people just actually don't even know why they might have checked all the boxes when they went through their strategic planning exercise of like, oh, these are our certain unique, right. But if you were in a conversation with somebody, it's like, what is it that you're offering that's awesome?
(16:23):
What is it that they're like, oh my gosh, like yeah, done. That is incredible. That's just, that's an awesome offer. And most people, their offers not awesome. It's like, you're very formulaic or it hassles these buzzwords. That really good when you're actually doing the exercise for trying to figure out why people buy from you. But the person on the receiving end is like no, thanks. I'll probably find something less expensive because I actually have no idea why I would pay a premium or why it is that I would invest at the level that you're asking me to. And the third is like, how are you communicating that value with a single significant relevant message? Remember that there's number one reason why people buy that you actually want as a customer is positive expectancy. And if I can think about what is it that I am going to get, and I can envision a new possibility for myself as a result of what you're selling me, then I'm going to buy it.
(17:25):
There's another reason why people buy, which is scarcity and scarcity will get people in the door, but they're not going to stick around. And it is, it's not the customer that you really want. You want the person that's like, okay, I get it. If I sign up for this thing and I pay you for a certain specific solution to my problem, I'm going to have X, Y, Z at the end, I get it. Fantastic. Sign me up. The people who sign up out of fear because you've put something very scarce in front of them. And you've kind of scared them to buy from you. They'll buy, but they'll cancel early. They won't stick around. They won't advocate for you. They're really not the win that it seems like they are on the surface. And that's why that singular message is so important because when you're not super clear on why people should buy from you, a lot of times, especially direct response, marketers will default to scarcity and it actually doesn't solve the problem that, that you want marketing to do, which is to grow your company and be able to, to scale up and drive new revenue streams.
(18:30):
So when we're creating that new possibilities for ourselves and our business in 2021, my top predictions is the emergence of an expert brand, the connection as currency, more than ever, ever before and a new focus on singular specific, tangible messages and offerings that will win people over even in this state of overwhelm that most individuals are in and most buyers are in. I want to hear your predictions, let me know, send me a message on Instagram. And if you've loved this podcast this year, please just leave a review. It's so helpful. And letting people know about this podcast and giving them this gift of free content that's incredible when it comes to podcasting. And I'm just, I'm so excited to be able to serve you in this way. I appreciate that you've subscribed that you've left reviews, that you've contacted me this year. And let me know how this information has been helpful and useful to you. And if you have any questions that you would love to hear me answer. Let me know. I'm going to use that as future content going into the new year. I really appreciate you being here so, so much. And I hope you have eight blessed new year and beyond. I'll talk to you soon.
(19:52):
Hey there, before you head out, I want to let you know about a free new training I have right on a brand new website called yournextmillion.me. It's your next million.me, where several of my seven figure clients and colleagues share what they're doing in the next year to scale their businesses, to the multi-million dollar mark and beyond. And I have to tell you, it is not what you think. So check it out yournextmillion.me. And if you loved this show, will you subscribe to it and share it with a friend or just say something nice about it to someone, you know? I'd really appreciate it so much. Thanks so much for being here and I'll see you next time.
The Scale with Joy podcast dives into the mindset and strategies of scaling your company to the million dollar mark and beyond. Each week, we follow the journeys of innovators, disruptors, experts and leaders - sharing behind the scenes stories of their most challenging moments and greatest lessons learned-all while building their multi-million dollar empires.