How to break free from manipulative marketing with Dr. Michelle Mazur

Today’s episode of the podcast is an interview with Dr. Michelle Mazur all about bro marketing, and some of the very unpleasant tactics that people use to sell their products and services. Michelle is a messaging expert who combines the tools of successful social movements, with the qualitative research skills she earned in her Communications PhD to help brilliant business owners craft their powerful, captivating message. She has also authored The 3 Word Rebellion, is host of the Rebel Uprising podcast and is featured in Fast Company and Entrepreneur and Inc. I learned so much from my time with Michelle and this is an episode not to be missed! We talked all about what bro marketing is and how it got started, the ways I am changing how I market and sell in my own business and why we need to redefine how we look at success.   KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST: The things to look out for that will help you spot bro marketing when you are making an investment What signs you should look out for to determine if bro marketing is lurking in your business Why you shouldn’t work with someone just because of the money they are making, or the money they are promising you will make What messaging is, what it does for your business and why you need to focus on it How to use your messaging to lead and sell with expertise and credibility How to know what to say and use storytelling to build an argument for your work How to balance being nurturing and friendly to your audience, and sell to them as a business owner How we equate people who have big audiences with success, and the need to redefine that   THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO REMEMBER ABOVE ALL ELSE: How speaking about what you do in a clear and captivating way is the key to reaching the people you could help the most and the key to making more money in your business.   HIGHLIGHTS YOU SIMPLY CAN’T MISS: How as a consumer you can protect yourself so that you're confident you're making wise investments How as a business owner you can sell an online product in an online world, without using bro marketing tactics Why six and seven figure launches can often be a vanity metric, and why you should focus on the life you want and not the money you earn   RESOURCES MENTIONED: Dr. Michelle Mazur Instagram 3 Word Rebellion by Dr. Michelle Mazur on Amazon Dr. Michelle Mazur Website Duped: The Dark Side of Online Business Podcast with Dr. Michelle Mazur and Maggie Patterson Michelle Mazur Podcast, Case Study: Why You Should Stop Over Nurturing Your Audience episode The Contrepreneur Exposed on YouTube   TRANSCRIPT:   Teresa: Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of the podcast. I am so excited for you to listen to this one. I've just be listening back. 'cause you know, I batch and this was done a while back now, which is really odd, but amazing that it's coming out now, considering the episode I did last week, if you haven't listened to that one, then go back and listen. It was basically talking about why you don't want an online business. Not saying everyone doesn't want one, but just some truth. And then this was coming up, which is crazy timing because it's so good. So this is a conversation with the amazing Dr. Michelle. All about bro marketing and some of the very unpleasant tactics that people use. Now, interestingly enough, there was a time in my world where I was getting into this, where I was like, okay, that's the way we do it. And that's the way I taught it. And now I'm sure if you went back and looked at some of my earliest stuff and now I might contradicted myself and. Although, I don't like doing that because I like being very transparent and honest, but I've learned, I learned the difference and it took me ages and I spent a lot of money getting understanding of what this looks like in practice. And I've been sold to in so many different ways and had so many different tactics. And it's, it's a hard lesson to learn because it costs you money. And I think I. Like I said over time, I have now developed and changed what my messages and what I'm saying. And like I said, that might contradict some of my earliest stuff, but that's because I've learned. And I understand now and I don't like it and it doesn't fit with my values. And I don't think I was strong enough in the earlier days to go, oh, this doesn't feel nice. Do I really have to say this? Or is this the way we do it? Or is this like, it feels like I'm tricking them into buying something from me, which is things like why my cart is always open now because I am there when you are ready. Like, I love the fact that I just get, you know, wake up on a random day and I've got a new member. Like, I love that. I love that I'm there when I have. I give you the opportunity to make the decision yourself. I am not forcing you into going, you must join or otherwise, you're going to miss out. So this conversation, I have to apologize a little bit because I think I just get into this point where I'm like, oh, and they do this. Oh, and they do this. So passionate about it. Like that's I was just the back I was doing, like listening to myself thinking. Less speak Teresa, like what the hell? Anyway. So she was great and I loved it and she was so refreshing and it was just so nice to hear. So yeah, I am. I'm really excited about this episode. I am not going to talk any longer, uh, link up to everything about her and how amazing she is in the show notes. But here she is. Okay. I am super excited today to welcome to the podcast Dr. Michelle Mazur. Michelle, how are you doing? Michelle: I am great. And I'm so excited to be here with you. Teresa: Oh, me too. I was just saying that before we got on, I was going through Instagram like yeah, yeah, yeah. Like this is going to be such a fun conversation. But we start, exactly the same way every time by getting you to introduce yourself to my audience and tell them, how you got to do the thing that you do today? Michelle: Ooh, that's such a good question. So I run a company called communication rebel and we specialize in messaging. So I created a framework called the three word rebellion, and it's really about how do you create your own start with why your own five second rule. And then what are the key messages you need to get people to buy into that, that you can use in your marketing, your sales, your PR efforts. So that you can be radically consistent and get known for your work and create demand for your work. So that is what I'm focused on, how I got here. So this is my 10th year in business. Which I'm very excited about. Teresa: Congratulations. Michelle: Yeah. And my background was I'm an academic by training. So I have a PhD in communication, long story short hated the politics of academia was not a good time. Decided to I was teaching at the university of Hawaii. I moved to Seattle where I am now. Went into market research. Realised, I love research, but I didn't like being an employee wasn't particularly good at it. And I ended up starting this company because of friends said to me, you know, you have all of this information about communications stuck in your head. And he's like, you should be doing something with that. You should be helping people with everything, you know. And I'm like, oh, he was just started broad start something. So my business started as a blog. I originally was a public speaking coach because I loved speaking. Then I realized later I really did not like this professional speaking industry, but that's a story for another day. Teresa: Okay, save that for another podcast. Michelle: But everything I was doing was really focused around how do you construct this keynote speech? Like, what's the core message, what's the change? How do you market this so that people actually want to hire you? And I began to realize that my clients like, wow, my clients are using what we do together in lots of different ways. Like I'm seeing our message pop up on their website, their home page, you know, they would do like a launch sequence around there in what we created. And I'm like, Ooh, I see a bigger opportunity by going broader and really focusing on helping people powerfully communicate the value their business is creating,...