What’s Keeping Your Clients Up at Night?

October 10, 2023
Joya Dass

It’s never a great idea to create content without asking ‘what’s keeping your clients up at night?” Especially if you are hoping to create a calendar full of calls with clients who want to pay to work with you.

The most successful companies in the world solved a problem already in the market. They didn’t divine a product and then find buyers. Especially if they wanted to have a viable business. What happens if you make this mistake? Lost time. Lost energy. Lost money. The $25,000 keynote, the freedom to work from anywhere, the second mountain home. All stay a wish.

• You’re perennially wondering where your next client will come from

• You take on jobs outside of your zone of genius

• You’re doing more free work than you want

• You’re worried about retirement.

I made this very same mistake when I started my documentary production company.

In 2010, I made a documentary about curable blindness in children in India. I wanted to be more than a talking head on TV and saw a need to provide proof of concept. I didn’t check to see what the market wanted. I liquidated my retirement money to make the film. I thought it would win an Academy Award. Instead, it played on a screen in Tribeca, Disney, and Sundance and then I realized that there was no money in documentary film.

Which is why I want to share this with you.

Figure out the one word you want to be known for and marry that with what’s keeping your clients up at night.

If I could go back in time, I would have surveyed 30 people first and asked them about what kinds of documentaries they consume, if at all. I would have married my top value (Adventure) with the most popular topic. Today I regularly produce content on what my clients are struggling with and use adventure as a means to a breakthrough. I’ve hosted sails in Croatia. A villa in Tuscany. A camel ride in the Moroccan desert. Because I’m asking my members “what’s keeping them up at night” each week and doing the important work outside of their comfort zones.

I unlocked my first 6 figure month this past year.

• I have a calendar filled with clients who see themselves in my story

• I have peace of mind in my bank account

• I have freedom to work from Paris for a month, Barcelona in 2 weeks

• I’m doing big things, like putting my Mastermind members on a NYC stage to tell their own stories

When I was building my own business, I didn’t know what the &*( I was doing. I want to be the “champion I never had” by sharing this with you.

I’m currently enrolling for the 2024 Class of my Mastermind. Walk away with 30 digital assets, including a filmed TEDx Talk on stage. Apply here.

Now on to this week’s newsletter

One Leadership Tip

This is an excerpt from an interview I did with Joanne Tombrakos on her podcast recently. Time stamp 00:09:36

I share the 3 exercises I do with a VIP Day client to build their personal brand.

One Public Speaking Tip

As the holidays approach, some of the most important scripts to have tucked in your back pocket are the ones to change the subject, say your dating life is off limits, or this subject is making your uncomfortable. I recorded this video. or you can read this blog post.

I also love this article in Glamour Magazine on the topic.

This October 25th perfume immersive is making your own signature scent.

Having done the class with Nathan Dubois, I see the parallels in building a powerful brand.

When you break down the architecture of perfume, there are 3 layers:

The “base notes” which linger long after you have applied the perfume, is the ONE word you become known for in rooms you are not in.
The “heart notes” the 3 subtopics you cycle through in your content. They support the ‘base notes’
The “top notes” are the mechanism by which you build community around your ‘thing.’ Your lead magnet.

There will be a short discussion afterwards, but focused on articulating the parallels.

Registration link here