[00:00:18] EMMA: I was at a barbecue the other day, sausages, salads, the usual chatter about work, holidays and footy, and I ended up sitting next to my mate who owns an IT business. He's one of those like cool, calm, collected tech guys and he works with big corporates and he works with medical practices and his work is so-called so cool.
[00:00:40] But he also looks after the systems for me and a few of my clients, and so he knows the work that I do. So I thought we're chatting about business, and he said to me, Hey, Emma, I know what you do. I know you're a business coach. I know you're amazing with women, all the things, "but I don't know which women you work with."
[00:00:58] I'm like, what? And I thought to myself, whoa, this is a problem. This is a problem because if someone doesn't actually know what I do and who I work with and how they can help, how on earth could I expect referrals? How on earth could I expect my name to be talked in spaces where I'm not around?
[00:01:19] Right? And that conversation sparks something big for me, and it might just for you too. And so today I wanna talk about why clarity matters. And how to make it easy for people to refer you, to recommend you and remember what you do and who you do it for. So we're going to unpack three simple things you can do right now to make sure that the world knows how to talk about your work.
[00:01:44] See, I just left that to chance. I just figured people see me on socials, I talk about it often enough, all the things, and that's not enough. So we're gonna dive straight in. We assume everyone gets it. I'm a business coach. What's not to [00:02:00] get? I help women make money. What's not to get? Apparently. Quite a lot.
[00:02:04] We assume our family and our friends and our network have all connected the dots and that magically they're out there spruiking us. Mm, they're not, and they haven't connected the dots, so we have to do that bit for them. And it sucks. I know it sucks, ladies, but it is what it is, so we just have to do it.
[00:02:22] that conversation at the barbecue was my wake up call. I've been in business for almost nine years. Here was someone who knew me personally. They had referred clients to me. They totally understood what I did, and yet he didn't actually know who I worked with. And as we talked about it, uh, I said to him, well, I work with women who own service-based businesses.
[00:02:47] I don't do product-based businesses. I say I don't work with bricks and mortar, but that's actually not true. I work with a lot of bricks and mortar. They just still happen to be in service-based businesses. And as we were talking, I said, oh, I was telling him about one of my clients who's a physiotherapist, and he's like, I know that Physiotherapy center.
[00:03:07] I'm like, uh, that's my client. And he's like, oh, you do people like that? That's your client. I'm like, yes, that is my client. Oh my goodness. Oh my I think clarity creates the connection and then the connection creates the opportunity. the best way I can describe this, right? I want you to do me a favor because I did this myself. After this conversation, go and ask five people, just five friends, colleagues, past clients, family. Ask them to tell you in one sentence what they think you do and who you do it for. It will be mind boggling for you. If they can't describe it clearly, that's your sign that we need to sharpen the message, and you might be really surprised at how unclear [00:04:00] it really is.
[00:04:01] Little story. We run Go-Getters days, three times a year in Melbourne, twice in Brizzy in 2026. They are amazing days. And at the end of the day, everyone gets to stand up with a little framework that I give them and tell us what they do, who they do it for, and how much it costs. There was 75 women in the room the last go-getters day.
[00:04:22] How many do you reckon stood up and did that? Less than half. There's an opportunity to stand in a room of other business owners and tell them who you do work for, why it matters, what it is, and how much it costs. And it dumbfounds me that only 50% of the room want to do that. I mean, I get it scary. You need to have courage and you need to like step outta your comfort zone.
[00:04:49] And the nerves are like, everyone's shaking. But the room is gloriously warm. You've spent all day with these people and unless people know what you're selling, how the heck can they buy? Unbelievable. I wanna talk about downplaying your work. Fast forward a couple of days after that barbecue and I was chatting to some family, they had come over and we were chatting about work.
[00:05:15] I always deflect. I didn't realize how much I deflect. I'm a business coach by trade. All I do is ask questions, solid questions, but I ask questions. If someone asks me a question, I ask a question straight back, very bad habit. And they said, so what's happening for you? I'm like, I don't know. Just a, you know, busy coaching this, coaching that thriving women, all the things.
[00:05:35] And this time I thought, no, Emma, no. You've just had that experience two days ago. You actually need to practice what you preach. Don't be a slow learner. So I told them what I actually did. I made it very simple because I left that barbecue riding that thing out, going right, we gotta get clear on this, right?
[00:05:54] And so I said to them, I'm a accredited business coach
[00:05:59] for [00:06:00] women in service-based businesses. And I've got a few spots open for one-on-one coaching. That was it. They asked a number of questions after that. We unpacked it. It was simple, it was clear, and it was direct. I didn't take up 10 minutes espousing all the bits and pieces.
[00:06:17] It was super simple and super clear. You know what happened next? Oh, you should talk to my friend. They've just stepped into this space. I'm like, oh my goodness. It was like a little nudge from the universe. Sometimes, ladies, I'm not that bright. Sometimes it takes a bit for me to learn things as well.
[00:06:36] But if I'm not talking about my work and you are not talking about your work, how can we expect anyone else to. I also wanna say at this point, I come from hr, HR background, and what I see over and over again is brilliant women with brilliant technical ability and they're like, the work will speak for itself.
[00:06:55] No, the work doesn't speak for itself, especially if you've got your own business. Stop being the technical expert and start talking about the work that you are actually doing. That is the way you get well-known and better positioned and funnily enough, get more clients. So let's do that, shall we? Your step, your next step is that next time someone asks you what you do, don't deflect.
[00:07:17] I mean, you've gotta do some practice on this. You've gotta jot it down. You've gotta know what you're gonna say. But it's like when you go to a barbecue and someone says, what do you do? And you've got like that much time to go, I'm a business coach, I work with women service-based businesses. What do you do?
[00:07:31] That's it. Right? And you've gotta get good at that. We've got to get good at telling people what we do. And you need to practice it out loud. I've said this again and again. The tongue has memory so every time you say something, you trip over yourself and it sorts it out, and then you sound better the next time.
[00:07:49] Don't not say it. Don't just do that. I'm practicing in my head and then when it comes out, you go, Hmm. Should have said that out loud. Sounded so much better in my head. No. So practice [00:08:00] saying it clearly and proudly. No fluff, no apology. Something like I help insert audience to insert result you deliver That's one sentence. One sentence. That's all you need. For me, it's, I help women in service-based businesses grow their revenue, profit and confidence. And then if someone asks more things, great. That's it. You don't need a pitch, you just need clarity. We don't work hard enough on clarity.
[00:08:28] After those two conversations, and I got my butt kicked twice, I thought, right, this is on me. This is on me. Right? Kind of like following up in the sales process, I hear lots of women say, oh, I sent a proposal, but I didn't hear anything. Did you follow up? Did you actually do the things that as a business owner, we need to do?
[00:08:51] Right. So if people don't know how to talk about my work, it's because I haven't given them the words. So I came home, I crafted a paragraph, told them exactly what I did in three sentences, who I help, how I help them, how I get results. Then I sent a few people, some business contacts, a few friends, and just said, Hey, if you ever come across anyone who needs a business coach, one, here's my bio and here's quick snapshot of what I do and how I help Bing.
[00:09:20] I hate it when my experiments will work. I really hate it. Within a week, I had two referrals. That is how it works. People just knew what I did and they wanted to help me. I wanna just pop in one more story here because I think this is really relevant. I've been seeing the same hairdresser for 25 years.
[00:09:40] It's a long time, isn't it? and if you're not watching this or if you're watching me, you'll see that I've got blonde hair. If you're not watching blonde hair takes a bit, a little bit of maintenance. So I see her four times a year and every time we talk about business, because she loves what I do, I love what she does.
[00:09:55] She's got some nieces who own product-based businesses and all the things. And [00:10:00] in my most recent appointment with her, she said, Emma. I think you could help my nieces. Now I hear this a bit. I hear this a bit, right? And I'm like, what do, let's talk about what your nieces do. Oh my golly. Her nieces own two product-based businesses that are currently in Coles and Woolworths.
[00:10:16] They're not small businesses, and I said, I would love to help them then and there, she pulled her phone out, stopped doing my hair, pulled her phone out and said, I'm just gonna send them a text message with your details and your Instagram handle. Is that okay? Is that okay? Knock yourself out. Right? That is how it works.
[00:10:35] We've been in business, we've been in relationship together for years. She knows what I do. She watches what I do because I work when I go there and she's like, yeah, I reckon you could help this person. And then after that she went, you know what? I know this, this psychiatrist, and there's this psychologist and there's this person.
[00:10:52] Emma, I have a lot of contacts. I'm like, I know you do. And she's like, would you mind if I shared your details? I'm like, I would not mind at all. In fact, knock yourself out. Do you want me to write you an email? And she's like, yes, please. Wrote her an email off. She went, happy as Larry did not expect that.
[00:11:07] But there you go. People want to help. Oh my goodness. They so wanna help. But they can't help you if you don't give them the language. So your next step is to write a short paragraph. That answers three questions. What do you do? What do you do for people? Who do you do it for What result do they get?
[00:11:27] Then share it. That's the scary bit. Hey, I reckon, I reckon everyone's like, yeah, I've got this. I've got this. Da, da. And then share. Who am I sharing it to? Your network, your clients, your family, your colleagues. Dog doesn't matter. It's not showing off. It's setting people up to connect you to the right opportunities.
[00:11:46] So here's what I learned from a barbecue and some family chats. Don't assume that people know what you do, even the ones closest to you. Don't downplay your work. You need to own the [00:12:00] work, and you need to own the result. I'm a results based business coach. If you don't want results, we won't work together.
[00:12:07] It's really simple and you need to make it ridiculously easy for people to refer you. Clarity isn't about being clever. It's about being remembered and when people know exactly what you do, they can't help but talk about you. Also, it helps to give them a good experience, so don't be a knob. There's that. And just. That pitch or that paragraph or those three questions, I want you to think about the clients that you love working with, the premium clients that you love working with, and maybe you don't have enough of those. That's what your pitch, that's what your paragraph needs to be aimed towards.
[00:12:46] Because as we evolve in business, sometimes we create different offers for different audiences, and that's okay. But we really, what we know is that as we improve. Our expectations improve, our audience improves. Our ideal client improves all the things. So make sure that your pitch is pitched to where you want it to go in the future, not the person that you were five years ago.
[00:13:11] If this episode has made you think I need to get clearer about my message and make sure people actually know what I do. I hear you. Maybe it's time that we work together. When I coach women one-on-one, we build that business foundation that makes everything easier. Your positioning, your pricing, your sales rhythm, love sales, your messaging, all the things, and you walk away with that clarity and that confidence and a plan and makes people get what you do and wanna talk about it.
[00:13:41] Because here's the thing. We work so hard, we work so hard, and you deserve to have your work understood and your message heard. Let's do that together.
[00:13:53]
