Improving Your “I Help Statement” To Stand Out In Any Industry

The “I help statement” has become a buzzphrase in the online business industry. It’s meant to be a short statement that quickly and clearly defines what you do in your niche. In today’s podcast, we talk about how an “I help statement” should also help you stand out in your industry, and make your business memorable to your customers. After all, if your customers don’t remember you, your I help statement isn’t doing you much good. You want your statement to identify you, your business, and your niche, but you also want it to differentiate you and help your customers remember you for the services you offer.

Marketing is an exercise in memorization. If your “I help statement” is memorable, your customers will come back to do business with you over and over again. Dive into today’s episode to learn how to improve your I help statement as an online entrepreneur or freelancer, VA, or OBM so when customers think of your industry, your business is the first one they think of contacting.

In Today’s episode you will learn:

• What is an “I help statement” and the elements of one that will differentiate your business in your industry
• Why you need an “I help statement”
• How to make your statement memorable to your customers
• Why your statement needs to invite customers into a story and why the element of transformation is key to your statement
• Where and how to use your statement
• When variations of your statement should be used and why
• How and where to use your statement more powerfully on social media

 Resources From Today's Show:

Try Kajabi free for 14 days https://app.kajabi.com/r/sF7FazZp/t/hpcdqyng

Join my Facebook Community for more marketing, messaging, and copywriting strategies to grow your business, or up-level as a Freelancer, VA, OBM, or DOO with weekly training on adding these skills to your services https://www.facebook.com/groups/theschoolofcopyandmessagingcommunity

Full Audio Transcription of this Podcast Episode:

(00:00):

Hello, all of you. Lovely people. Thanks for joining me today on the show. Um, before we get started today, I have a cold, a really bad chest cold. I'm so sorry that my voice is going to be a little crazy. Um, that's why I didn't have an episode last week. Um, I went back to Colorado for the week for some appointments and came home really sick. And so I was not able to record last week some, sorry that there was not an episode. Um, so I'm back and at least half of my voice back this week. Um, but I'm trying to avoid coughing in the middle of the episode. Uh, so this is not going to be on YouTube today. Um, thankfully when you record a podcast, at least you can stop it if you have to, you know, cough or sneeze or sniffle. Um, but I don't think I want to take the time to edit all of that out of YouTube.

(00:53):

So, um, I will have to record this later for YouTube and today it's just for the podcast. Um, so bear with me and my voice, uh, because it is at least better, but I'm not a hundred percent yet. So for today's episode, um, you've probably heard of an I help statement. And if you do have one already, that's great. It's an important part of your marketing. Uh, however many I help statements say who you are and what you do. And that's really about it. And in many saturated industries today that doesn't really differentiate you from everybody else and it doesn't make you memorable to your customer. So today we're talking about the ins and outs of, and I help statement what it is, why you need it, where to use it. And more importantly, what you can do to improve your, I help statement so that it does differentiate you and your services in a way that ensures your customers actually remember you, how Ahluwalia and all the amens, right? Because if your customers don't remember your, I help statement, it's not doing much for you. So we're going to talk about how to do that today. Let's dive into today's episode.

(02:10):

Hey, there friends, are you one of the many women who started a business and quickly got overwhelmed by online marketing? You want your message and your marketing to be effective, but you don't want to spend all of your time on social media. Am I right? Well, then you're in the right place. Welcome to the school of copy and messaging, a podcast where we help you craft an effective message, create relevant content, and give you simple and effective marketing tools that don't require you to spend hours on social media. I'm your host, Amber Glass. I'm a certified StoryBrand marketing guide who professionally has been in this business for 20 years. Personally. I'm a breast cancer survivor and a lover of all things. Coffee, who believes that friends is still the best TV show ever. If you are ready to craft your message promoted easily online, let's get to work, grab a laptop or pin it's copy time.

(03:09):

All right, well come to the show today, everyone, uh, today's show is sponsored by Kajabi. You guys know, I love, love, love Kajabi, right? It is my favorite all-in-one business solution where you can put your website, your CRM, your email marketing, your membership, your course, all of the above in one convenient location with one login hallelujah, and one monthly fee. That saves me a ton of money over having all of that stuff in a bunch of other platforms. So I love me some Kajabi, and I know you will love it too. You can try it for free for 14 days, by going to the link in the show notes, or going to linktr.ee/AmberGlus.  Thank you today for being the sponsor of our show. Go try it for 14 days for free folks. Uh, so today's topic.

(04:05):

I help statement. You've probably heard of the, I help statement. It is becoming such a buzzword today in the industry, but for those of you who may not know what it is, we're going to cover that. So your I help statement is the statement that basically answers the question. What do you do? And the reason, and I help statement is important is for a couple of reasons, the first is so that you can clearly identify what you do and who you serve when someone asks or in today's online business world. When somebody sees your online profile, vacant quickly decipher what you do and who you do it for. But more importantly, I want to talk about what you can do to improve your I help statement so that people really remember it. And so that you stand out in your industry because it is such a buzzword today.

(05:00):

Many people have, and I help statement. And if you're in an industry with lots of other people who have a similar, I hope statement, you have to find a way to differentiate yourself, your business, and your services so that people remember you and that you stand out in your industry. So that's what we're going to be talking about today. Now, you guys know I'm a StoryBrand certified marketing guide, and I want to give some differentiation to why StoryBrand looks at this a little bit differently and why I love how StoryBrand presents this just in the online business world. It has become a buzzword, right? Everybody has an I help statement that says, for example, I help female entrepreneurs create a clear message. That's an example of just putting a little bit about what I do into an I help statement. Now that's not necessarily great, but it's not bad.

(05:58):

Um, it's fine. It tells you what I do and who I do it for now with StoryBrand. What I love about StoryBrand is it teaches you to really invite your customers into a story. And it helps you to tell your customers what the transformation is that people get when they work with you. And the most important thing that StoryBrand helps its guides do is learning how to identify the problem and how to start with the problem in your, I help statement. Now StoryBrand calls this a one-liner, but it's basically the industry standard of an I help statement. And what I love about StoryBrand the reason that it helps, if you start with the problem is that it immediately grabs your customer's attention. So for example, me saying, well, I help online entrepreneurs create a clear message. That's wonderful, but a better example of my, my I help statement, that would probably be more memorable by starting with the problem could be said like this many female entrepreneurs find themselves staring at a blank screen and frustration when trying to explain what their business does at promo rate marketing agency.

(07:19):

I created a framework that helps women create a clear message to easily explain what they do. So they're never frustrated about writing their message and their business can grow more efficiently. Now let's break that. I help statement down and compare it to the first one I gave you. Now, when you're doing an I help statement, you don't want to introduce too many problems now in StoryBrand they call this introducing or opening more story loops because the more story loops you open, or in other words, the more problems you introduce to your I help statement the harder it is for people to follow. And if you find yourself in a business where you have a lot of different moving pieces in your business, which a lot of us do, you might have a course, you might have a membership, you might have, um, workshops, you might have a podcast or a blog.

(08:15):

So you have a lot of these different pieces of your business and you probably could write. And I help statement that would be a little bit different for every single piece of your business, but you don't want to put them into one. I hope statement with a bunch of commas that open a bunch of stories as Donald Miller tells his guides comments are not your friend in your I help statement. So don't introduce too many moving parts in your statement, because you're going to confuse people. Now, the way to avoid this is to pick either pick one, or you can use a controlling idea, like what is the big umbrella over everything that you do in your business that you could use as an overall I help statement. And then you could build out more details to each piece of your business. So that's kind of a 30,000 foot overview, and that's probably a whole nother topic, a whole another podcast episode that I'll do in the future on how do you can create that controlling idea.

(09:18):

Uh, but today we're going to focus on the I help statement. And the key here is don't introduce too many problems in your, I help statement stick with one problem. And we're going to talk about why you and your business are the solution to that one problem. Now, another key to your I help statement is anytime you're talking to a customer, even if they don't really mean to be doing this, they are, they're thinking about what's in it for me. What does this do for me? And does it apply to me? It's just the human brain and how it works. We are constantly filtering information, trying to figure out if it's something we have to pay attention to, and this can be good for you because it helps you qualify your audience. So, you know, if I'm talking to a gentleman who sells cars in my, I help statement says, I help online female entrepreneurs write their message.

(10:14):

Then clearly he is going to know as am I, that my services are probably not for him. And that's okay. But if my I help statement was I help car salesman, sell more cars. He's instantly going to be more interested in what I'm saying that I'm doing, because it applies to him, do not be afraid to let your, I help statement, qualify business for you and qualify customers, because it can actually save you time in the long run. Now, when a customer here a problem that they're actually dealing with, they begin to pay attention and it starts to differentiate you already in your industry. And it will immediately make you more memorable to your customer because they associate you with solving a problem that they have. So when, let me give you a couple more examples using my eye help statement. When I say I help female entrepreneurs create a clear message that helps them grow their business, okay?

(11:12):

That's not bad. You know, a help female entrepreneurs. Um, I help them create a clear message that I want them to grow their business with. Okay. Not bad. But when I say many female entrepreneurs find themselves staring at a blank screen in frustration, when trying to explain what their business does, I help them create a clear message that explains what they do in a way that's easy for their customers to understand. So their business will grow. Do you see the difference? It helps them identify how they're feeling, right? Frustrated, staring at a blank screen. If any of you out there have ever felt that way, when you've created content for your business, or maybe a sales page or your, your website, copy, you know exactly what that feels like. And that probably triggered you. That probably brought you back to a time that you remember feeling frustrated when you were staring at a blank screen.

(12:10):

So what I did with that, I hope statement is I identified an emotion that you were feeling about a problem that you were having in your business. And now when you think next time about staring at a blank screen, when you're creating content, what I did was I invited you into a story where I said, I know that that's a problem you have. And then next, we're going to talk about revealing yourself and your business as the solution to that problem and giving the customer a picture of what that transformation looks like when that's no longer a problem. So what's going to happen in the mind of your customer is the next time that they're faced with this situation. They're going to remember you and your service because you tied your service to that problem, into the emotion that that problem created for them. And it's going to remind them of the solution that you told them to work with.

(13:06):

You would have. This is what helps your, I help statement become a lot more memorable to your customers. Now, the next thing it's going to do is when that customer is maybe talking to a friend, let's say who also owns an online business. And that friend says, gosh, I've been frustrated lately. I just am spending way too much time staring at a blank screen, trying to create my content. And that person is going to say, you know what? I know somebody who can help with that. And they're going to remember my brand and my services, because my, I help statement associated that problem with a solution. And it helps it be more memorable in the mind of your customer. So not only are they going to remember it, but if they run into other people with that problem, it's going to help them refer you faster because they can remember you and they remember the problem that you solve.

(14:02):

So let's talk about why that gets their attention. Again, if I'm talking to a male car salesman and I give my, I help statement this, probably isn't going to resonate with them. And that's okay because it's not a problem that they have. But if I'm speaking to a female entrepreneur who just spent last Saturday morning, staring at a blank screen, trying to figure out what to put on her website, you bet it's going to resonate with her. And that's what I want because that's who my audience is. That's who I serve is female online entrepreneurs. Okay. So I just have to tell you guys, I'm going to take out the last, like two minutes of my recording because it was me coughing into the microphone. Oh, I hope I get over this head cold in chest cold soon. Okay. Um, so the next piece of making yourself more memorable to your customer is giving them a vision of what it looks like when your business solves this problem.

(15:00):

This is one of the main differences with creating your, I help statement through StoryBrand, and with a StoryBrand guide is you're inviting your customer into an experience and you're helping them see you and your services as a solution to solve that problem that they just identified with. And you're showing them what their life looks like after it's been solved. Now, what is this doing? Creating a vision in the mind of your customer that helps you be more memorable. And it also helps position your customer. As the hero, you in this situation in your business are the guide that helps get them there. You always want to position your customer as the hero. Now I know that this can get long, and we're going to talk about when to use a shortened version of this. I help statement. Um, but the first part of your statement is the problem.

(15:57):

And it's the most important. And when you have an opportunity to give the longer version of this, then you definitely want to, because it's, what's going to help you be more memorable, but we are going to talk about when and how to use a shortened version of the I help statement as well. So let me, let's talk again about an example using my business. And then we're going to go into what exactly you do with all of this. So many female entrepreneurs find themselves staring at a blank screen in frustration. When trying to explain what their business does at promo rate marketing agency. I have a framework that helps women create a clear message to easily explain what they do. So they're never frustrated about writing your message and their business can grow more efficiently. Okay? That's the long version of myself. May I help statement?

(16:47):

Now you want to close your, I help statement with the results and how your customer feels when the problem is solved. So you're closing that story loop and you want the success to be all about your customer, not about your company and what you do. You put about how your customer feels. So I, I closed mine with, I want them to ever feel frustrated about writing their message, and I want their business to grow more efficiently. You know, if you're somebody who has found yourself staring at the blank screen, not really knowing how to create content or how to clearly explain what, what it is that you do, hopefully, that resonates with you, that you don't want to spend your time on being frustrated in front of a blank screen. You want your business to grow more efficiently. And hopefully, that really resonated with you.

(17:41):

I'd be curious, send me a DM on Instagram and tell me if that resonated with you. Um, so you want to the story loop by telling your customer what life is going to look like after working with you. So mine is that they're going to grow more efficiently and they're no longer going to be frustrated sitting in front of a blank screen. Now you want your customer to think of that problem and immediately think of you and your brand and that feeling of what it was like when you solved their problem. So is this way they, they think about you when they're referring you and they think about you when they find themselves in that situation again, and they want to hire you. So when I have a customer who feels like they're spinning their wheels and wasting time during a blank screen, I want them to think about me and call me up and say, you know, Amber, I'm stuck again.

(18:34):

I have to do a sales page, staring at a blank screen again, and I need some help. Can I hire you to do this? And that's the vision. I want to get them just ingrained in their minds so that every time they're in that situation, they're thinking of me and my brand. Now marketing is always an exercise in memorization. And so the more clearly you can help your customer. Remember your brand, the faster they will get there. It doesn't always happen the first time, but, you have a higher chance of it happening. If you, or identifying the emotion that they feel in the situation they find themselves in. When you want them to think about your brand, do you have a much better chance of them remembering you and your brand if you're painting that picture for them? So let's recap so far to where we are at today.

(19:24):

In the episode, your I help statement is a short sentence that tells people what you do and who you do it for. You need an, I help statement to be able to quickly identify what you do and who you do it for, and the niche that you're in when you're speaking to customers. But to make that I help statement more memorable, start with the problem you solve and invite customers into a story that explains how you solve the problem and the transformation they get when they work with you. That's, what's going to make it more memorable. Next. Let's talk about where do you use that? I help statement and how do you vary it? Yeah. Based on where you're using it. So first let's talk about social media because I think that's probably the most prominent place that you can start using your, I help statement today, even if you don't have clients yet, if you were out soliciting for clients in Facebook groups and, um, by being active on Instagram, you can put your, I help statement, um, on your profiles, on social media.

(20:26):

Now, this is also one of the places where you may have to shorten that statement a little bit. Well, actually a lot, because as you know, in your profile on Instagram, for example, and on Twitter, uh, you don't have a lot of room, right? Like you only get so many characters to write in your profile. And so you will likely find the longer version of your, I help statement doesn't fit in those characters. So that's a good time to simply use a sentence that goes back to the shortened version of what do you do and who you do it for. It is totally fine to use a shortened version of this when you need to, because you just simply don't have the room. And so you could go back to something like I help female online entrepreneurs create a clear message that helps their business grow.

(21:17):

It can be something as simple as that when you don't have the room to put your entire statement that talks more about the problem. Now you can do a shortened version with the problem. Um, you could say most, most online entrepreneurs get overwhelmed by creating their message in a way that makes sense. I help them put words to what they do so that customers can identify with them and their business grows. It can be a shortened version. It just depends on how many characters and where you're putting it and how much room you have. Totally fine to use a shortened version on social media. But you want to make sure that on all of your social profiles, if someone clicks on your profile, you have something there that identifies what you do and who you do it for. And if possible, always put a link if you're allowed to.

(22:11):

And that goes somewhere either to your, your website or to a link tree of some kind there's, there are many versions of a link tree, but basically, a client should be able to click somewhere. If they want to learn more if they want to go to a website or somewhere where they can learn more about you than what's listed in your profile. So always make sure there's an option there for them to click through to something. Um, link tree is a really good option. If you guys are looking for like, how do I do this? Um, I use link tree and I love it. So on Instagram, I have a link tree link. And when you click on that, it's got some of my affiliate links, and then it links you directly to my website, um, to subscribe on the podcast, to like all of the main ways that I want people to connect with me are listed in link tree.

(22:59):

And so that way, if somebody clicks on my profile and they want to learn more about me, I give them the options of where they can do that. Um, now let's talk for a second about Facebook. You guys, um, if you ha, if you hear nothing else today, here are the two most important things I want you to get out of this episode that you number one need. And I help statement that identifies the problem you solve and how you solve it for your customers, paints them the vision of what it's like to work with. Second, go to, to your Facebook profile in every single group that you are a part of now, listen closely. You can click on your profile when you were in a Facebook group that you're a member of, and it will pop a thing that says that you can edit that profile for only the group that you're currently in.

(23:52):

So why is this important? Because Facebook lets you have a profile that can be different for every group. You are in a lot of people don't know that you can do this. Now Facebook gives you lots of room. And so you can put your entire I hope statement in there, starting with the problem, talking about how you solve the problem, who you solve it for giving the reveal of what it's like to work with you in a vision of success. You can put all of that in your Facebook profile for every single group that you are in. Now here's the really cool part. You can also add a link, so it can be your main website. It can be your Facebook group. If you run your own Facebook group, it can be a link tree link. It can be wherever you'd like to send people to learn more about you.

(24:39):

Now here's why this is so important. The fact that you can edit that profile for each group you're in is really cool. And let me give you an example is Y so, um, for, for me, when I'm in groups of lots of entrepreneurs, I list that I do done for you copywriting and marketing services. Um, now if I, depending on the group I do, for example, online entrepreneurs are my big audience that I do done for you services. For one of those though, that I specialize in is course creators. So if I'm in a group, a Facebook group, of course, creators, I'm going to specifically put in that profile. My I help statement that is directly geared towards copy for course, creators. So I might say something like many course creators, find it difficult to write the copy for their course in a way that's easy for their students to understand I do done for you copywriting services that easily takes the training you need to put in your course and puts it into layman's terms.

(25:47):

They, all of your students can understand. And I do that for you so that you don't have to waste time on in your business. That was just an ad-lib, but I might put something like that in my profile for the group that is specific to course creators. Now, if I'm in a group of podcasters, which I'm also in, since I have a podcast, I may cater that I help statement to say, I help podcasters write their message. Um, or I might say I help podcasters write the copy for their website and their content so that they don't have to be frustrated staring at a blank screen when they'd rather be recording a podcast, something like that, so that it resonates directly with that audience. And so don't be afraid to do this. Don't be afraid to take your, I help statement, shorten it for the platform you're on.

(26:38):

If you need to or lengthen it for the platform you're on, when you can and be afraid to cater it to the audience that you're specifically putting it in front of it, doesn't have to stay the same. It can change based on the audience that you're presenting it to. And so if you have specific niches that you work within, like me, I like to work with online entrepreneurs, but I specifically work with podcasters. I work with copywriters, and then if I'm in a group like the virtual assistants and online business managers, I'm going to change that. I help statement and I'm going to, and I'm going to put the educational side of my business, where I say I help freelancers virtual assistants and online business managers learn how to be copywriting and content marketing experts so they can level up their business and make more money.

(27:29):

So I'm gonna, I'm gonna cater those, I hope statements depending on which group I'm interacting with. Now, that can be true for your marketing material as well. So another place moving on another place where you can use your, I help statement is basically any marketing, marketing, collateral, um, virtual or hard copy things like proposals, pricing, sheets, brochures, um, anything like that. You can put your, I help statement on the bottom of all of that marketing information so that anytime you're handing it out and people look at it again, it's a, it's an exercise in memorization. So the more that they see it, the more that they begin to remember the problem you solve and what it's like to work with you after solving that problem, the better off you're going to be at getting your customers to remember you. And you can also put it on your email signature line.

(28:22):

So when people get to the bottom of your email and they see your, I help statement, they go, oh yeah, I have that problem. Okay. She can help me with that problem. And you can put it on your business cards, um, online introductions, when you have an opportunity in a Facebook group, again, let's say, um, you know, a lot of groups do a day of the week where you can put it in, what are you working on in your business? Or what is your business, or what services do you offer? This is a really great time to get your, I help statement in front of a lot of eyeballs. Um, always again, feel free to cater it to the group that you're in with. That's a really great time to do online introductions in those groups and specifically say what you do. And gosh, you guys, especially in those groups, when you start with a problem, if you're in a group for me again, let's say I'm in a group of online entrepreneurs.

(29:13):

And I post, if there's a post that allows me to talk about what I do. And I start with most female entrepreneurs get frustrated, staring at a blank screen, not knowing how to clearly state what their business does, if that is anybody in the group. And they see that first line, they're like, oh yes, that's me. And then they keep reading and they're like, okay, this lady has a framework that helps me clearly identify my message in a way that makes sense. That doesn't cause me to get frustrated by staring at a blank screen. That's what I want that customer to see. And I want that to resonate with them. And when you're in these groups of people who, you know, are your customer, your audience, and you use this statement and you start with the problem, it instantly sets you apart. It makes you more memorable.

(30:07):

And it starts to tie that emotion, that emotion that they know they have, and it's going to help them make you more memorable in their mind. So when they think of the service you provide, they're going to remember you next time. All right. You guys, um, lastly, before we head out today, um, I want to talk about a couple other things. First is next week. I'm going to be back to doing my Facebook lives in my group. Uh, and we are doing some additional training on your, I hope statements. So if you would like help on your, I help statement, um, email [email protected]. And I will include it next week in my Facebook group. Uh, when I do a training to better help you understand, how do you write your, I help statement? How do you create short versions of it? Where do we use it?

(30:58):

How do we do all of that? We're going to do more of a training next week in the Facebook group. So if you are not in the Facebook group, go jump in there so you can get in on the fun. Um, that training is going to be next week. Um, when is that going to be? It's going to be Thursday, Thursday morning. It's going to be at, um, what time did I set that for? It's going to be 11:00 AM Eastern next Thursday, 11:00 AM Eastern only for those in the Facebook group. So jump in there if you're not in there yet. Um, the link to join the Facebook group, if you need, it is in the show notes for today's podcast. All right, that's next week again, on Thursday, 11:00 AM Eastern. We're going to be doing a training in the Facebook group on creating your I help statements.

(31:46):

And so if you want help with yours and you want to email it to me, you can send it to [email protected]. All right. Um, I hope you enjoyed this episode today. As a reminder, if you guys haven't grabbed, kept my free lead magnet, if you guys haven't grabbed my website wire frame, get on the website and do that. It's Amberglus.com/website. This is a value packed guide that shows you exactly what you should include on your website to have a website that converts it, literally walks you through a map of what to include on your website and what to put, where it's awesome. It's a really valuable guide. Grab that at amberglus.com/website. Um, all right, you guys, I hope you found this valuable. I hoped you learned a little bit about to improve your, I help statement so that it becomes more memorable with your customers and where to put that.

(32:46):

I help statement. How do you shorten versions of it and what to do if you need to improve yours today? As a reminder, send me an email. [email protected]. If you want me to take a look at your I help statement and include it in my training next week in the Facebook group. All right. I hope you guys have a great week. If you are a freelancer, come back for freelancer Friday. Um, this freelancer Friday episode is going to talk about a different topic than we covered today. We're going to talk about, um, the top reasons why copywriting is a great signature service. If you were a VA online business manager or other type of freelancer. So that episode is this Friday on freelancer Friday. So if you're a freelancer, make sure you come back to check out that episode on Friday. The reasons why copywriting is a great signature service to offer in your business. All right, you guys, thanks for being here with me today. I'll talk to you again soon.

(33:46):

Thanks for listening today, friends and spending a piece of your day with me to get more information on my copywriting and content marketing and messaging services. Go to amberglus.com. You can also learn more on Instagram with me @AmberGlus until next time go share your unique message with the world.