Steak, Cheesecake and the Man From Bali

My Saturday nights have been pretty “tame” recently.

Lots of work.

Not too much play.

So when I got a message from Mr. Dan West (from Twitter) telling me he was bopping around London for a few days, I decided it was a good time to let my hair down (proverbially — I have a skin fade), and finally meet one of the OGs of Money X.

He didn’t disappoint.

Not only did we order what Blacklock (the restaurant we were at) call “The All in” — an unadulterated platter of steak, pork chops, bone marrow and beef-dripping soaked bread.

But, as soon as the waiter comes over to ask if we want dessert, Dan decides to tell him, in true Harry Potter on the Hogwarts Express style…

“We’ll take the lot.”

Now.

As banging as that meal was, I’m not here to talk to you about food today.

Instead, I’m here to share one of the insights me and Dan nattered on about for over 4 hours.

We covered a lot:

The future of Money X.

Our business plans for the next 6-12 months.

Dan’s time in Bali.

But the one thing that stuck out in my mind from this diabetes-inducing evening was a concept I’ve understood for a long time, but never (to my memory) written about before.

And that is the concept of…

Identity shift

For those of you who don’t know, Dan’s flagship offer is his Digital Odyssey program.

That’s where he helps young entrepreneurs who have got the bit between their teeth, a “fuck it, I’ll make it work” drive for life (Dan, like me, is only interested in working with people who already have the ambition, but just need the direction), and a desire to build an epic business over the next 3-5 years.

Now. Digital Odyssey is a dope name.

So, naturally, I ask Dan how he came up with it.

“Well, I thought to myself… I’m helping them scale their biz. I guess that’s what grabs their attention. But it’s not really about that. It’s more about the person they become along the way so that they are able to achieve this transformation. That’s what I’m actually selling — the idea behind the promise. The journey. And Digital Odyssey was just a cool name to encapsulate what they’re ACTUALLY getting when they join my program — an identity shift” 

And you see this with every successful marketer.

Justin Welsh is a prime example.

He’s not selling “solopreneurship”.

He’s selling the lifestyle and the identity which comes along with solopreneurship.

Why do you think he spams tweets like this?

Because he understands the deeper motivation behind the transformation he’s offering.

He understands what his audience actually want:

The ability to control their time (while earning enough money to not give a fuck what bill the waiter passes over when they’re out for a meal with their family).

Same with how I sell stuff —

Look at my sales page for my flagship course, Client Creator (you can’t buy it right now — I’ve taken it off the market).

I’m not selling “5k/month”.

In fact, I actively and aggressively say “I am NOT promising you will make $5k/month” on the very first section of the page (since this would be an outrageous and totally unrealistic claim for ANY course, in my opinion).

I simply tell people that I am giving them the TOOLS to make this possible.

And then I talk about the LIFESTYLE and the IDENTITY SHIFT which these tools have enabled me to make in my own life.

Because just like Dan isn’t selling a “program” — he’s selling an identity shift.

I’m not selling a “course” — I’m selling a set of tools and systems which take people one-step closer to the lifestyle they ACTUALLY want.

And now I know what you’re thinking:

“But what if I haven’t achieved any meaningful ‘identity shift’ in my life (and therefore can’t sell shit like being able to walk down to a cafe and ping out profitable 30 minute emails?)”

Look. I get it.

I get why it’s easy to assume you “don’t have anything to offer”.

But have you really made ZERO progress towards your dream life?

You can create content easier than when you first started, no?

You can design a better landing page than when you first started, no?

You can write better emails now than when you first signed up to ConvertKit, no?

Are these not all little “pieces” of the puzzle towards the identity shift YOU (and hence your audience) want to make?

Why do you think you need to give someone the FULL solution to changing their entire identity in one full swoop?

Why can’t you just offer them a “piece” of the journey and then show them this is a “stepping stone” to the ultimate identity shift they want to make?

You don’t need crazy promises.

You don’t need 100s of case studies.

You simply need to systematise the insights you already have trapped inside your head, package those into a course, program or “offer”, and position those as the way your audience can get “one step closer” to the life they actually want.

This is REAL marketing.

After all…

People don’t buy “drill-bits”.

They buy the ability to hang some pictures up on the walls inside their house so that, when guests come over, they’ll have an OUNCE more pride in showing them how nicely decorated their place is (and hopefully get some validating “god, I love what you’ve done with the place” comments to boot).

Pride — that’s the “identity shift” drill-bits are offering.

Now go find what your audience really want and make them an offer to take them one-step closer to that ultimate goal.

Talk soon,

Harry

PS. I genuinely mean it when I say Dan is one of the best guys on X right now.

But not only that, he’s got a BANGING micro-course on how to use your socials to attract clients so that you can take “one step closer” to achieving the life you ACTUALLY want for yourself.

Snag your FREE copy here.