CORE FOCUS OF THIS MAKEOVER:
Making your business an authentic expression of who you are.
This makeover is hard to summarize – you really need to read it to ‘get it’.
To read your free copy of Hayley’s 17 page Offer Makeover go to:
http://www.tadhargrave.com/backyard.pdf
Hayley came to a recent weekend workshop I did in Edmonton.
She had this idea of starting a clothing store – all second hand – but collecting the particular kind of clothes that she loved to wear. She wanted to create a collection of clothes that was wild, eclectic, colourful and fun. Clothes she usually had to spend hours searching for herself.
What became immediately clear was that Hayley had a great idea. Whenever I shared it with women their eyes widened. They just ‘got it’. And, in marketing, the most critical piece is the core concept. Is it a good idea? Sometimes you’ll hear an idea and, for some reason you just know it’s good.
But where could she sell them? How could she find a space?
In the end, she made the brilliant decision to sell out of her backyard in women’s only clothing events – and the name of her company was born. “The Backyard Clothing Company”. The name captures a lot of who she is. And it invites her story. It raises the question, “what’s the backyard piece about?” And that allows her – whether or not she continues to sell from her backyard – to tell her story of being a scrappy entrepreneur with a good idea but a shoestrong budget trying to make things happen.
The ‘backyard’ element also speaks to her desire to make shopping a fun, intimate, social experience for women – not just some sterile process in a chain store. She’d grown up in the markets of London and wanted to bring that experience – in some small way – here.
In marketing lingo – the ‘backyard’ is her USP. It’s the heart of her story. It speaks to her authentic self. And by bringing that to her business – it’s infinitely more attractive.
Before this name, she was playing with “Perfect Fit” (i.e. these clothes will fit your style perfectly). It’s a good name – but, ironically, it wasn’t a perfect fit for her.
Another issue raised by this makeover is really clarifying what people are buying. What’s the result they want?
Every business must identify this. And it’s always something simple like, “more money” or “live longer” or “better communication”. There’s always something simple at the core of it.
Consider these examples:
FEDEX – When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.
DOMINOES – Hot, fresh pizza to your door in 30 minutes or it’s free.
CLEARASIL – Visibly clearer skin in three days – guaranteed.
And I think we captured hers well in the headline below:
psssst - Eccentric Edmonton women - revealing one of Edmonton’s hidden gems:
“Everything on the rack screamed my name.”
How you can snag more fabulous, wild, eccentric, outrageously colourful and inspiring clothing in one hour than you did all last year (and at a fraction of the price you’d expect to pay).
To read your free copy of Hayley’s 17 page Offer Makeover go to:
http://www.tadhargrave.com/backyard.pdf
Candid feedback from Hayley on how the process was for her:
How valuable was the process from 1-10?
The process was a great big 10 that is how much I got out of it. The process gave me confidence to go for what I wanted with Tad standing on the other side of it cheering me on. If you have any doubts, contact me at: hayleyrothenberg@gmail.com or 780 819 4636.
What would it have taken to make it a 10?
An even bigger 10 would have been to understand the questions in more depth to begin with. This would have helped me a lot because I spent hours trying to understand what the questions meant! Although none of this was really a waste because it becomes part of the process in becoming clear, it was very time consuming within a very short time frame. I suggest having a guideline for the questions, a guideline to the offer, make it even clearer that it is a lengthy process to get it all clear. That there will be a lot of back and forth’s, which is a lot of work with amazing, results at the end.
Roughly how many hours did you invest?
Not sure, as we went back and forth for at least 2 weeks! Perhaps have time sheets available to note how long we spent on this process.
If money were no option - what would you like to have paid for this?
Wow what a question, the back and forth’s were worth their weight in gold, without that process I would have not got to where I am today so quickly. Tad deserves the going market rate for his consultations in the back and forth’s.
What was hardest?
The questions and defining those questions with my answers.
What was most valuable?
Becoming very clear that I had something to offer which I did not need to change to fit into what is considered normal for success. But most of all it was that Tad believed in me which helped me in moving forward and NOT holding back. Part of the back and forth’s is you get to really see where you could be resistant to moving on and I loved that Tad would stretch me by asking a bit more of me, which is ultimately what I wanted.
What did you think it would be like before and how does that?
Compare to how it actually was? I had no idea what it would be like, I had only the willingness to go for it , a vision and Tad’s enthusiasm. In reality what it is actually is, is a lot of good wholesome work and the more you put in the more you get out of it, to me that’s the key.
When you look at what you first sent me vs. what we created in the end - how do you feel?
Its great, I love it, when we first started it was all an idea which became a reality, one of the things that struck me the most in the process was the more I dived into tads back and forth’s the more I became clear and could define my vision. One of the things that also startled me the most is that I started to remember as a child being involved in a lot of bargain shopping experiences, going to Markets etc, I forgot most of this which is what gave me the natural ability that I have today in what I do!
Was there a good balance of loving encouragement and honest challenge?
Absolutely, that was the best part for me
To read your free copy of Hayley’s 17 page Offer Makeover go to:
http://www.tadhargrave.com/backyard.pdf
