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From Disney to 6 Figure Founder
Annie Franceschi is a bestselling author, former Disney storyteller, six-figure founder, and branding expert based in Durham, NC. In 2013, Annie quit a dream job telling stories at The Walt Disney Studios to start her own agency, Greatest Story Creative®. Since then, she’s branded 100+ businesses, spoken for thousands, and released a #1 self-development book (Permission to Try). Now, through her Brand Story Solution and business consulting, Annie guides coaches, consultants, and service business owners who want to use their story to confidently, clearly, and consistently market and grow their businesses. You can read about my interview with Annie on her workshop series: Branding with Friends in this episode: 3 Tips for Creating Online Courses.
How to Use Brand CHIPS™ by Annie Franceschi of Greatest Story Creative®
And CHIPS™ is is an abbreviation, it's an acronym. So it stands for your category, your hook, your ideal client, the biggest problem you solve, and the most valuable solution you offer for that problem.
Clearly Share What You Do
Annie says, “You want to be a card in somebody else’s deck, you want to be played at just the right moment. Melody, I’m looking for the person who does this and you go, ‘Oh, I know just the right person.’” Through this method, you clearly identify how you help people by giving referral partners the right information upfront. By clearly explaining to people your “category” such as a specific job title and how you can others- you can make organic referrals easy peasy. Now you can stay top of mind for referring new clients or courses. One great example I share in this episode is Angela Tan where we talk about Webinar Funnels.
Nail Your Elevator Pitch
Nailing your elevator pitch is key to grow your referral system of people who can refer you more clients and course sales. Make it easy and quick for your referral partners to refer you by sending them an email with important information such as your biography and your contact information so others can easily get in touch with you.
I also recommend putting it in the body of the email because I know that when I am thinking about somebody, I go back to that email and what what one of the templates will do is actually gives you a little script so that, you know I can equip melody to easily refer me she can just copy the bottom of that email and say, Hey, you might want to meet my friend Annie. Here's what she does. Here's how to get in touch with her. So you never have to spend your precious mental bandwidth to introduce me and that making it easy is what it's all about.
Don't Overthink Your Hook
Are you confusing people with trying to be too unique? Yes- it’s a good strategy to find out how you stand out from the crowd- but honestly – it’s much better to tie your unique approach to a bigger bucket of interests. Annie says the “hook” is really important but it’s not as important as tying it back to what matters most to your customers and referral partners. This closely ties back to understanding who your “ideal client” is and what they need and want to achieve in their business and life.
Everybody who wants to brand themselves is so worried about the hook. How do I stand out? What makes me special? How am I a special snowflake, you know, all of those things, wonderful. The hook matters, that twist on whatever it is you do. But if you don't pair it with that larger category, people don't get that it's valuable to them.
Bottom Line
By making it simple for other people to promote you- you can book out your services without having to rely on constantly posting on social media or investing heavily in paid advertisements. Make sure to check out how to brand yourself as an expert in your field with Annie’s great resources below!
Annie's Resources
Annie has a great resource for figuring out how to create a winning referral bio to land more clients and sell more courses. So if you’re still figuring out how to pitch your brand –these elevator pitch templates are perfect for you!
Annie has other great free resources and training on her website and social media channels!
You can find out about Annie’s trainings: Branding with Friends right here.
Follow Annie on social media here:
From Clients to Courses
Learn how to attract the right students, grow your list, and promote your course all with one winning strategy!
The Course Consultant Resources
Are you a service based and creative business owner that wants to make an impact in your students life and grow your income with courses, without adding more clients to your to-do list? I love to help my clients grow their course income through creating clear marketing messaging with live webinars. If you’re looking for some support, why not check out Course Impact Mastermind? Course Impact Mastermind is my group coaching program where I offer both group and 1:1 support to help you create and sell an impactful signature course or group program. Have a question? Pop your question inside my chatbox and I’ll get back to you!
Need other help creating a referral program for your courses?
Check out this episode about affiliate marketing with Zoe Linda.
