M$M MAP

Speaker 1:

Welcome to step number three, positioning. I'm very excited about this worksheet and this exercise for you. It's called the Million Dollar Message, so get ready. Now, I want you to shut the door, switch off your phone, focus your mind. If you need to go away and get a drink, go get a drink and then come back, and when you're ready for this, give it 100% attention because this is really important.

Speaker 1:

All right, you ready? You got your drink? You shut the door? Let's go. I'm going to give you a module summary and I'm going to do it slightly differently. Right, what's your problem? What's the high value problem that you have? Well, for most architects, you have an inability to communicate a unique value, which means you get treated like a commodity, which means you end up with fee pressure, which means you end up stuck in the artists' quarter or the old quarter, you end up underpaid. Because you can't communicate a unique value, you get treated like a commodity, it affects your fees. You get underpaid, you do too much free work to try and win projects, and you end up competing on price. It's a vicious circle that you struggle to get out of. All because you can't communicate a unique value. This is an expensive problem for you to have, an inability to communicate a unique value.

Speaker 1:

Right. Fortunately, I'm going to give you a statement or a structure that instantly attracts high value clients who value and can pay for great design. It will take you less than 15 minutes to get a first draft of it. You will not need to spend a dollar, you will not need to spend hours and hours on this. You don't even need to have done marketing before or have any idea how to sell value. If you just use the template and formula` I'm about to give you, you will be able to do it and you'll be able to put something together in probably five to 15 minutes. Takes two steps. That's all it takes.

Speaker 1:

Now, one thing I'm good at is making things very simple. Well, I think so anyway. I have ability to make things simple, and this Million Dollar Message is one of my, it's just like a secret sauce. It's a secret sauce. It's a method. It's a simple method that anyone can use to identify their unique value, communicate their unique value within a sentence or two.

Speaker 1:

Here's what will happen. If you don't know how to do this, you're probably frustrated by clients questioning your fees all the time, doing a lot of work for free to win projects and not winning the projects, and working on projects for people who don't value great design or who don't want to pay for great design. You're probably not earning a significant amount of money. Now, after you understand this Million Dollar Message, you have a very good chance, if you do a good job with it, of becoming an in-demand architect with A-grade clients coming to you. Prepared to wait and prepare to pay a premium because you can deliver a unique value no one else can explain. I'm not saying they can't do it, but they can't explain it, and you will be able to explain it Immediately.

Speaker 1:

It's this type of thing, it's ability to communicate your value is one of the key building blocks of getting you to Sunshine Island. Remember, Sunshine Island is when you're in a position to charge high fees for clients and get fulfilling work because the clients value those high fees. In summary, I'm going to help you. If you're an undervalued architect or designer, frustrated by people who do not see the value in your work, I'm going to take you from undervalued and underpaid to becoming an in-demand architect for great projects of clients who value great design. It'll take two steps. We're going to use a format I call the Million Dollar Message.

Speaker 1:

Now, nothing will cost you a cent because really it's the secret sauce structure that does all the work and you don't need any marketing skill. You don't need to be persuasive, you don't need to have a golden tongue, you just have to follow the structure. That's all you have to do. Are you ready? Now, if this sounds good to you then it's already working because the structure I've just given you is the Million Dollar Message.

Speaker 1:

What you're going to do is you're going to take this worksheet here, which is called the Million Dollar Message, you're going to fill out the stuff from the top here, and then that will allow you to fill out your Million Dollar Message below. In the top we've got the assets or the different aspects, down below you take those aspects, you filter them into a sentence.

Speaker 1:

What I'll do is I'll explain each of these boxes, okay? Now the first thing we start with is a high value client, and you're going to do a Million Dollar Message for each particular high value client that you want to catch. Now, what might constitute a high value client? They might be impacted by money. When I say impacted, I mean they might be at risk of losing a lot of money or making a lot of money. It's important that they have access to money to pay you. That would make them a high value client. They have a high level of pain or consequence. If they don't get some sort of result, that won't make them a high value client. They're ready now and you can fix their problem. It's got to be a problem or an outcome that they want, that you can fix. Okay, so high value client we're looking for.

Speaker 1:

What is the expensive problem? Ideally an expensive problem that they are already aware of, or a problem that if educated about, they would agree to and they would adopt. It's best if they're already aware of their expensive problem. They know it's going to cost them a lot if they don't get a result. The problem is they're struggling to find the solution and that is when you come along with your high value result. You can deliver some sort of great outcome that they want logically, and more, probably even better, emotionally. If they're struggling to get a permit and it's something you're good at getting, that would be a high value result. If they're going to run into cost overruns, if the project doesn't get finished by certain dates and they've lost their current architect because they've had a fight, maybe you're the person who can come in like Red Adair and save the day. That would be a high value result.

Speaker 1:

Now, these type of people in these types of situations with expensive problem. As long as you can fix those problems, fees are generally not a problem, but you need to be able to communicate the value that you deliver, and that's what the statement does.

Speaker 1:

All right. Without. It is very handy if you can deliver a result which is typically associated with something which is annoying or that people don't want, and you're able to get that result done without the annoying thing. Coke can give you the taste of Coke without the sugar or without the calories or without the caffeine. Very attractive to a lot of people. Nowadays, they're doing hamburgers at McDonald's and Burger King and places like that without the meat. They have these patties which are plant-based patties, so you get the taste of a hamburger without the fact, knowing that you're eating an animal. For portion of the market, very attractive.

Speaker 1:

Now, even if this is often getting any result in life is associated with some sort of obstacle, so losing weight is like, yeah, there's no secret what to do to lose weight, but you have to do all this work and you have to eat healthy food and you have to go to the gym. Well, if we could help you lose 20 pounds without having to go to the gym or changing your diet, even if you want to eat the same food, that would be very attractive. If you can come up with any sort of architecture design-focused ways to include that in your sentence, it can add a lot of extra oomph to your statement. Okay, and then you'll say how long it takes.

Speaker 1:

Now, these are interesting. You want a superpower, a secret weapon or a secret sauce because we need a thing that justifies your ability to get that high value result, and then, if you've got that, if you've got a high value result for a high value client who is suffering from an expensive problem, and you have a unique thing that allows you to get that result, that you can talk about, then you have a great story. Maybe you've got a superpower, a secret weapon or secret sauce.

Speaker 1:

Now Superman had super powers. He could fly, he had x-ray vision and he was very strong. What is the skill or the ability that other designers see in you that they think is a gift, that gets high value results? Do you have an ability to hear things that other designers don't hear or read between the lines? Do you have the ability to see ways of getting things done than other people don't see? Did you used to work for the planning department, so therefore you know things other people don't know about getting permits? Or maybe you have a network. That there could be a superpower. Something, some gift that you have.

Speaker 1:

Okay, the next one is a secret weapon. Now Batman didn't have any superpowers, but he did have his tools and gadgets. Maybe you've got a tool that gets you a high value result. Batman had a car that shot torpedoes out at people and he had his... I'm not sure what the Cape did. Not sure what. I think it was just for looks, and the spandex probably didn't add much, but he did have a lot of tools. He had all sorts of things he would throw and lassos and things in his utility belt. Well, do you have any of those? Do you have 3D modeling? Do you have the ability to do virtual reality? Do you have that ArchiCAD software that allows you to do that stuff? Or do you have any tools which allow you to get a high value result?

Speaker 1:

The next one is your secret sauce. Now, some people don't have a superpower, they don't have a secret weapon, but they do know things and they do have methods that other people don't have. Red Adair was, in the 70s and 80s, and what he would do is used to go and put out fires in oil Wells around the oceans. It was costing the oil companies millions of dollars every day, and his ability to know what to do because he was some sort of chemical expert, he could put the fires out, save them a lot of money. He was very expensive, but then he had his secret recipes for putting fires out and no one else did. He was the guy that came up with the quote, "If you think hiring a professional's expensive, wait until you hire an amateur." While he was very expensive, at least he got the job done fast.

Speaker 1:

A special method or recipe that gets a high value result. Your grandmother probably has her secret recipe for her bolognese sauce or something like that. It's a mysterious thing that's worth having and justify. Gives you a way, so that when you tell your high results story, you can make it sound more interesting and intriguing.

Speaker 1:

All right, and then before and after. Weight Watchers and all weight loss programs do the side-by-side comparison where they have the chubby man and then the skinny man smiling. Chubby lady, skinny lady smiling. Usually browner, teeth are whiter, they look happier. You need that before and after. Those are some of the assets we're going to use, and then once you've brainstormed different assets up the top there, we can pick them out and put them into your million dollar statement below.

Speaker 1:

What do you use your Million Dollar Message? Good point. Well, here's some things to know. The Million Dollar Message is an internal statement. That's how it's designed. Now yes, you could use it as an external statement, it could be used as it is, but really it's to use as a guide for your messaging so that you stay consistent with your message. So that you'll consistently know about who you're for, what results you can get for them, the problem that they're suffering from, what before and after you can take them to and what tool or unique mechanism you're going to use to get them there. It could be an external statement, but really it's designed to keep you focused and so that when you do use your message on your website and your articles, it's consistent with your Million Dollar Message.

Speaker 1:

When you do an interview or you make a bio, you incorporate the Million Dollar Message into the bio, and when you have a meeting, you incorporate your million dollar message into the meeting. That may be literally word for word, so it is a tool you can use directly, or you can use it indirectly and those are just some of the places you can use it. But you always want to infuse your Million Dollar Message into all your messages whenever you're out there communicating because your million dollar message is the most direct and clear way to communicate your value that you have.

Speaker 1:

Here's an example of one I completed just on Friday with Eric, who's a member of our mastermind group. We focused on who's your high value client. He said, "Right, people who want to mid-century modern residential renovation." "Great. What's their big problem?" We discussed a whole lot of problems, but the one he came down to was that there were a lot of people out there, but most contractors can't do mid-century modern homes to a high standard that the client wants or expects. It's hard to find the contractor. That's their problem. Now, it's interesting because that doesn't relate to the architect, but you'll see how he uses that a little later on.

Speaker 1:

What's the bad thing normally associated with getting a high value result that you can deliver? Well, the bad thing normally is delays in finding the right people, cost and quality. Often, if you get a contractor that's not qualified to do the work, you end up having to live with an inferior, disappointing product.

Speaker 1:

Okay, a major disadvantage that stops your clients from getting high value result in the past, that he can overcome, they've never done a remodel and they don't have a Rolodex of builders or contractors or architects who know and understand mid-century modern homes. Okay.

Speaker 1:

Then we discussed, okay, give me a before and after. He said "Yep. Hard to find a contractor, delays in cost and quality, living with mistakes. After, project finishes on time and on budget, is a superior finish, no details are missed, easy, enjoyable experience." Okay. When we talked about his superpowers, "Do you have a superpower?" He said, "Yep." His ability to see the details was one and his ability to find a way out when others only see a lock. Where others are locked in. I said, "Okay," I said, "What about your secret weapon?" He said, "Well, virtual reality or my directory of experts." "What's your secret sauce?" Now remember, we're only going to pick one of these out of these ones here, so it's just brainstorming here. Secret sauce is biophilic in fung shui design. Mindfulness design he calls it.

Speaker 1:

Of that, we then made the statement down below. We help mid-century modern homeowners who are frustrated that they can't find a specialist contractor go from no specialist contractor to having a specialist who can arrange, negotiate and gather a qualified team for you, including a qualified contractor within 30 days, using his directory of mid-century, modern home directory that he has. Even if you've never done a mid-century, modern remodeled before, not a problem.

Speaker 1:

Here's an example, just a quick example. It took us about 15 minutes to craft this once Eric had filled out the boxes up the top. It was pretty, then, easy to come up with an initial draft statement at least anyway. What I want you to do is fill out this form, go through the form, fill it out, and then if you want, bring what you've got to the weekly Q and A sessions and you can give it to Eric or I, Eric Bobrow or I, and we can review it for you, and everybody else on the call can review it for you as well.

Speaker 1:

Now, in summary, with this statement, with a statement like this, it gives you laser focus. Now if you want multiple niches, no problem. You would come up with a Million Dollar Message for each of your niches. But this clarity around who you're for, what problem they have, what result you can give them, even if there are obstacles in the way, what life looks like before and after and what is the tool, the weapon, the power that you have to do it, when you put all that together, you have a statement which your ideal client instantly gravitates towards because it's completely geared up for them. Turn this off, grab the worksheet and have it go. It's kind of fun.