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If Your Business Is Broke-Just Hit The GFI Switch

by fasteasysuccess
21 replies
I had a post about lessons from my dog and touched on going after your target market, but...

What about sharing that message in a way they understand?

What do I mean?

Great Question.

Let me give you an example that just took place. We just moved to our new house and I set up my home office in one of the rooms downstairs.

About two days after I set up everything, couldn't get any power to my computer or printer.

The lights and fan worked in the room, but couldn't get any power from the outlets, so...

Went to the fuse box, flipped all the switches and still not working. Called an electrician and explained what was going on.

He was nice and said "Sounds like you just need to hit the GFI switch".

I've never heard that term, so asked what it is. He simply replied...

"Some homes have them in the same room and some in other rooms. Just find the GFI switch and hit it and you're all set. If that's not it, give me a ring back."

I said "o.k., so just look for a switch and hit it?" He said "Yes."

Hung up and went on my journey to find this mystery GFI switch.

I looked in every room of the house. In the attic, In the garage and nothing.

Maybe it's a box or maybe it's a big switch. What in the world am I really looking for?

After wasting all this time looking for something I have no idea what looks like, I Googled it.

It turns out that this mysterious GFI switch is simply a reset button you find on the outlets.

Like if you're in a hotel and the plugs stop working in the bathroom because of the hair dryer or radio, then you push the button on the outlet in the middle and it resets.

I simply went in to the office, found the socket with the button, pushed it and magically- everything starts working.

All he had to say is look for the plug or outlet with the button on it and push it.



Instead...

He used an industry term that isn't common to everyone, so...

Let me ask you this...

Are you doing the same thing with your marketing or messaging? Maybe when you are speaking to your customers?

Making things more confusing than they have to be or maybe you're using language that's common among professionals in your field, but not to people "outside".

What's the best way to really multiply your marketing message and results?



One way is to simply speak the language your market does, not the way other professionals in your market do.


Forget the GFI Switch and Hit The Reset Button Today.
#brokejust #business #gfi #hit #switch
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  • Profile picture of the author naviown
    All he had to say is look for the plug or outlet with the button on it and push it.



    Instead...

    He used an industry term that isn't common to everyone, so...
    Dang, this advice is a diamond.

    So simple, yet it is soooo effective.
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  • Profile picture of the author jmosticc22
    This is golden advice especially for those who are looking to be in business for themselves, the best and most successful business owners are great communicators. People understand them, I feel that if you can't explain your business in simple terms than you don't really understand who you are selling to.
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  • Profile picture of the author palmtreelife
    Agreed. It's easy to get caught up with IM acronyms, lingo, jargon when selling products online. A lot of the time, we are marketers are selling to average people who shop online and have no idea what these abbreviations mean.

    The people who can take complex ideas and simplify them to a grade 8 level will make the most money. We need to explain our business in 10 words or less, have a well polished elevator pitch, and even better...a unique but simple way to describe what we do.

    I invest in real estate and I heard a veteran investor answer the question "what do you do?" by saying "I collect homes". She could have said she's a real estate investor, which is what most people would say and sounds super boring, but she grabs people's attention with a more visual image of her collecting homes and leading to more questions and a good conversation.
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  • Profile picture of the author fasteasysuccess
    Agreed jmosticc22 and palmtreelife I remember when I started taking clients for marketing and people would ask me what I do. I always wanted them interested so would give my quick explanation but very uniquely and got the famous "really, how do you do that?" and that's what you want to not only grab peoples attention but also get them excited about what you do.
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  • Profile picture of the author Odahh
    now .. separate from the message you are trying to give .. but having to do with your reaction to the electrician just telling you to hit the gfi switch.. with the expectation on his side that you understood what he was talking about .. when you did not .. and you went searching until you found the answer on google ..

    my view is that much of self improvement is filled with catch phrases and lingo .. that many people use .. but no one explained thinking everyone just understands ..

    so get your self some good habits.. a positive mindset, work hard , think positively.. blah blah blah . delay gratification, ..and dozens of other terms not worth repeating . at this point ..

    you can nod your head and parrot this terms.. and assume you know what they mean.. or you can ask the people using the term what they mean when they use the lingo and catch phrases .

    or you can try to take action when you are really not clear on what you are supposed to be doing..

    but then again i am just basically suspicious of the messaging fed to any group in mass ..
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  • Profile picture of the author fasteasysuccess
    Just simply comes down to if want to sell or provide anything to a market, speak the language of your market not industry terms that are common only to people who work in your field.



    Take auto insurance with insurance agents. It's casualty insurance, but imagine 2 agents advertising same thing. If most people saw an ad and all it says is call me for your casualty insurance needs and another agent said call me for your auto insurance needs, a lot of people looking for auto will just call the one who said what they were looking for (auto insurance) even though same thing. Just one person spoke to the market not within the agency.



    Everyone knows what auto insurance is, not everyone knows term casualty.


    You will not only generate better results when you speak the language of your market, you'll cut the confusion and get down to what trying to accomplish.
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  • Profile picture of the author Odahh
    i agree .. but there is also value depending on the market or your audience of bringing them into the know ..

    but personally i am starting to think in terms of audience verse market
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  • Profile picture of the author fasteasysuccess
    You can Odahh "bring your audience into the know", however to start the process you want to communicate with them correctly. Then think of how much info or "how much of the know" is necessary before you kill the sale and make things too complicated. If expanding or trying to educate you can still do that, but use language your market not only understands, but also use the language they do. This generates better results every time.
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    • Profile picture of the author Odahh
      Originally Posted by fasteasysuccess View Post

      You can Odahh "bring your audience into the know", however to start the process you want to communicate with them correctly. Then think of how much info or "how much of the know" is necessary before you kill the sale and make things too complicated. If expanding or trying to educate you can still do that, but use language your market not only understands, but also use the language they do. This generates better results every time.
      i guess if that works better for you every time .. ..different business models require different strategies ..
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  • Profile picture of the author fasteasysuccess
    I'm curious Odahh, you said that some different business models can't use what I suggested...which business can you think of Odahh that doesn't benefit from speaking to your audience in a way they understand and speaking to them how they talk ?
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    • Profile picture of the author Odahh
      Originally Posted by fasteasysuccess View Post

      I'm curious Odahh, you said that some different business models can't use what I suggested...which business can you think of Odahh that doesn't benefit from speaking to your audience in a way they understand and speaking to them how they talk ?
      if you are building an audience.. they are paying attention to you because of how you talk and what you say .. if they are paying attention to you because they are learning stuff from you .. you will be using terms they may not understand.. but they are listening to you because you explain thing in a way they go from not understanding to understanding what you say ..

      then aggain there is an anti audience .. who may never understand what you say no matter how much you talk like them or attempt to use their language ..

      lets look at many of the guests on joe rogan half the time he has no clue what they are talking about but he is an easy person to explain stuff to ..if the people where just useing term him and his audience understood.. no one would probably care about his podcast ..

      if your audiance is there to learn stuff they don't know .. it counter productive to just talk how they talk or use language they already understand ..

      but are you building an audience.. or tryingng to market a product to as many in a market .. where you only need them to buy once .. then you can talk in language the understand and talk how they talk ..

      i remember when i first heard of bullet proof coffee .. when it was first being marketed.. there where a lot of new concepts to many people .. that had to be explained to people to get them to sign on to putting grass fed butter in a special coffee from from bullet proof coffee ..

      they didn't understand before.. but after a short time a few listens they are suddenly experts on certain toxins in coffee ..at least expert enough to justify paying close to 20$ a pound for coffee .. and what ever for grass fed butter.. or however much for brain octain stuff

      I use to be more heavy into games than i am know .. and many online games especially pay to games.. invent terms and language in the games.. that get used to get people to spend extra money ..
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  • Profile picture of the author fasteasysuccess
    I see what saying but feel you want to use terms familiar to build that audience and if going at it as an educational or teaching role, you can speak the "industry language" but you still want them to know what it is by referring to the term or language they know.

    Like the insurance agent example, let's say teaching them about laws of casualty insurance and what it is. Simply saying "casualty insurance often known as auto insurance"...then continue on allows them to now they understand what exactly saying and about to teach. If just went on about casualty and insurance laws but never explained talking about simply auto insurance, the person would be distracted off the bat trying to figure out what talking about. If selling to the market, then you would want to use term auto insurance so no confusion and everyone gets. Agents, you could use terms like them and use casualty. It's who you are speaking to, depends on how you communicate and again, that's speaking to your market in the right way.


    Or if someone was brand new to marketing and business and I just started talking about your ROI and ACV is important and kept referring to ACV and ROI but never explained what it is, some may catch on eventually, some may catch on later, some may never understand. However, if I simply explained "Your ROI or return on investment and or your ACV or actual customer value is important and here's why..." then anyone knows right away where going with and what speaking about.


    You can even create your own terms and language the market is unfamiliar with, but still want to communicate in a way they will understand it instantly.


    If you go to the doctor and they tell you we need to do surgery because you have Cystitis. That unfamiliar term to most will have you thinking all kinds of things, diseases, disorders and etc are wrong, but if doctor says have inflammation of your bladder, you instantly know what he's talking about. He can say what it really is and then tell you the medical term, but you want to understand what saying instantly.


    Whether selling one time or building a relationship, you still want to talk like your market because not only makes things quicker to understand, it builds rapport and allows you to communicate your message trying to get across.
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  • Profile picture of the author Odahh
    see we are agreeing for the most part when it comes to audience building ..

    you might have to start at the point of a market using general terms.. then once you figure out who you appeal to in the market structure shift to audience building ..so you can identify those in your market who will buy from you or consume your content.. and target that group in the market..most likely to convert to your audience ..

    if you are running your own show it is probably far easier for you to to that..than if you where selling insurance ..and you boss is looking over your should to hit certain numbers make so mant calls set so many appointments sell so many policies in a months..

    which means your real audience is your boss ..

    look at someone like garry vee when you think of audiance building because he has several audiances he is building at once.. but to the build who watch him.. and who are not in position to hire him. they can got to speaches he gives.. buy his books.. or buy a pair of k swiss sneakers that gary's name is involved with
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  • Profile picture of the author fasteasysuccess
    Yes everything comes down to speaking your market language from the jump and then can shift to educating and using terms unfamiliar with. You will get better results like saying by simply using your markets language.
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    • Profile picture of the author Odahh
      Originally Posted by fasteasysuccess View Post

      Yes everything comes down to speaking your market language from the jump and then can shift to educating and using terms unfamiliar with. You will get better results like saying by simply using your markets language.
      at the start ..then you make people your audience getting to use your terms and language .

      i guess it really comes down to are you building your audience ..your business .. or are you building someone elses business and if they care weather or not there is an audience being build.. or that what your doing is ringing the register in the next few weeks or some short period of time .

      you can probably understand what i am attempting to say ..
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  • Profile picture of the author GordonJ
    Originally Posted by fasteasysuccess View Post


    Went to the fuse box, flipped all the switches and still not working. Called an electrician and explained what was going on.

    He was nice and said "Sounds like you just need to hit the GFI switch".

    I've never heard that term, so asked what it is. He simply replied...

    "Some homes have them in the same room and some in other rooms. Just find the GFI switch and hit it and you're all set. If that's not it, give me a ring back."


    All he had to say is look for the plug or outlet with the button on it and push it.
    Jargon is on you. I don't get it. Why didn't you just keep asking him? You let it go too soon.

    Did you not want to appear ignorant?

    The reason most people don't ASK for clarification (and we see it here everyday with an alphabet soup of acronyms for IM)...and sometimes, the ignorant, like myself, will ask what they mean by GFI, or whatever.

    Yea, your point...about speaking the language of the customer is an old Wheeler Point from the 1940's GET IN STEP with your audience.

    But your example, the GFI thing, shows your unwillingness to get clarity.

    The onus of understanding was/is ON YOU.

    GordonJ
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  • Profile picture of the author fasteasysuccess
    No it simply comes down to speaking to your target market using the language they instantly get. If trying to sell or offer thing, you want to cut confusion instantly and make it easy to understand.



    I was on the phone in the middle of a dark room assuming could go and find this mysterious gfi switch, but I had to figure out what it is. He could explained clearly from the jump what it is and I would of not hunted for it. Simply, don't put extra work on your potential customers, speak clearly and language they will understand and be way ahead of game.


    Your audience should know instantly what speaking about and if using language they understand, you are on the same page right away.


    If you're selling to someone via sales page, recorded webinar, video sales letter etc...a lot of times what you record or write is what it is, you can't know every ones question and they can't ask you, so by speaking your market language no confusion, know what you are trying to say and get it vs confusion.
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  • Profile picture of the author sgalla414
    The best advice, and a great slogan/ call to action for marketing "forget the GFI switch and hit the reset button today"
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  • Profile picture of the author John Briggs
    There's actually a forum dedicated to helping businesses get acquired. A friend of mine came up with the idea when she was trying to get one of her side business acquired and wasn't having much luck. It's called Acquired Social and it's a Q&A site like Quora, but it's niche is helping connect investors with startup founders looking to make an exit, or at least get more capital/funding.
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