Should you use income claims in your marketing?
March 30, 2022
Using income claims in your marketing isn’t the only way to demonstrate your expertise
How do you feel about using income claims in marketing?
Do you need to know how much a business coach is making before you agree to work with them?
Are there better ways to demonstrate expertise to prospective clients than how much you earn?
In this episode of the Courageous Content Podcast I share my thoughts.
You can listen to the podcast or read the blog version below.
Here’s what I cover:
Are income claims ever relevant in marketing?
I’ve always tried to show tangible results in my testimonials (and encouraged my clients to do the same).
But I’m also aware that each of us brings our own set of skills, unique personality – and our privilege (or lack of) – to every course/programme we take.
Which means no students is ever starting at exactly the same point – and testimonials that include ‘income claims’ can actually be misleading.
Why (and when) income claims can be misleading
I recently ran an 8 week programme to help business owners develop a recurring revenue stream.
Two students generated around £1500 in sales of their online course (on their first try).
Sounds good right? Almost a 3 x return on investment.
But what if I told you that one already had a super engaged Facebook community and membership? And the other was a well known figure in her industry with a strong following on LinkedIn?
A more ‘typical’ result came from a coach who sold 11 masterclasses at £27 – without having done anything like before. Which I think is brilliant…but isn’t quite so impressive for the sales page.
Ditto the person who only sold ONE masterclass (more on that in a sec).
Something I also might not share on my sales page is that at least 3 students DID NOT launch their course at all.
One realised selling one-to-many digital products wasn’t for them. Another had to take time out due to family illness. The third was just too busy running their business to put the learning into practice.
But that doesn’t mean the people with less impressive results didn’t succeed.
For example, the person who ‘only’ sold one masterclass had a huge win from the programme – realising she could charge loads more for her 1-2-1 – and streamline the process – so she is now making more money in less time.
Most students picked up 1-2-1 clients/other work – simply because they were out there talking about their online course.
And as for the person who decided one-to-many wasn’t for her…is that really a ‘failure’? Because quitting early probably saved her a ton of time/money in the long run!
Why I have mixed feelings about income claims in marketing
I think I’ve relied too heavily on income claims in my marketing in the past. There’s a lot to untangle, but this honest post is the first step to doing things differently.
One thing that keeps coming up for me is that while I might feel ‘yucky’ about income claims in my marketing…maybe my clients NEED them?
I have a ton of questions…but I definitely don’t have all the answers.
Want to find out more about money and marketing?
Listen to: does it matter to you if I have a 6 figure business.
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