This week, I learned a three-part framework to business success* that blew my mind.

It’s really simple:

Be important
Be clear
Be known

Why do I love it so much?

It puts simple words and structure to something I’ve been noticing for a long time, but hadn’t articulated.

See, I’m a clarity specialist.

That means I absolutely believe in the power of compelling words to help people understand and value what your business sells.

But sometimes I’d get on discovery calls and have a sense that a business wasn’t actually ready for my help.

This framework helps me explain why.

There’s an order to it, you see.

“Be clear,” while essential, comes AFTER “Be important.”

Because no amount of clarity will help you sell something that people don’t want in the first place.

Before investing in clarity, you need to be confident that what you do is important — as in, valuable enough for someone to invest in.

One way to get this confidence is through pilots, trials, and beta tests.

These take more elbow grease and personal attention than the type of marketing you might want to do later on.

But that’s ok at the beginning.

Once you’ve sold something a few times and seen for yourself that it makes a difference for people, then you can start really nailing down how you talk about it to even more people.

In short, better words are only the solution if words are the problem.

If you’re not sure the thing is important yet, work on that first. Then come talk to me.

Clearly yours,

Rachel

PS – What’s your biggest challenge this week? I’d love to be inspired to be even more helpful for you, dear reader!

*I learned this framework from Julie Chenell and Cathy Olson of Funnel Gorgeous at their digital Marketer’s Heart event this week.

This post was originally sent as an email to the Magic Words of the Week newsletter list. Every week, I share reflections on a word, quote, or phrase I think will help you thrive in your life’s work.