Getting the right offer is tricky. But if you don’t craft an offer your audience wants to buy, you’re building the rest of your business on quicksand.

An offer is a delicate blend of wants, desires, skills, and abilities. You promise to deliver a result to your audience. They promise to pay you for said result. That’s an offer in a nutshell.

But it’s a moving target, right?

You create offers to help people. People change. So offers change.

I’ve changed my main offer 10+ times now. And I’ve offered maybe 30 different things. That’s fine. Perfectly normal. And should expected. The goal is to do it imperfectly.

But there’s a few ditches you can fall into along the way. Either side is dangerous— to you or your audience. Here’s how to find the sweet spot (or what I like to call “The Godfather Offer”).

Ditch #1: Focusing Too Much on What You Want to Sell

I know someone’s in this ditch when everything feels forced. 

Marketing. Sales. Hiring. Everything is difficult. Not to say there won’t be difficult stretches in your business. There will. But if you’re white-knuckling everything, all the time—you might want to take a step back and reassess.

The reason is super simple: you’re placing your own needs (validation, income, freedom, etc.) above your audience’s. It’s like trying to sell hot chocolate during a heat wave. Just because you think you make the best hot chocolate in the world doesn’t mean people want it.

This can be a tough pill to swallow. It’s humbling to put your best effort out there only to have it soundly rejected by the market. I’ve been there. It sucks. 

But ignoring a verdict from your audience is like swimming upstream.

Conversely, catching the current of the market’s desires makes everything so much easier.

Warning signs you’re in this ditch:

• Feel resentful/bitter towards your audience
• Indiscriminately raising your prices because someone told you to
• Working way too hard for a small return

Ditch #2: Focusing Too Much on What They Want to Buy

You fall into this ditch when you ignore your passions and sense of purpose. 

You sell purple widgets because the audience in front of you wants purple widgets. You never stop to ask, “do I enjoy the process of making and selling these purple widgets for these people?” 

Sure, you might make money—even good money—selling purple widgets. But if you don’t enjoy it…what’s it costing you?

I talked to a lifelong entrepreneur recently who confessed he detested everything about his business. He’d always wanted to get his pilot’s license and teach others how to fly. Just never got around to it.

I asked him, “if you’re unhappy, why don’t you just change?” I’ll never forget his answer: “It’s too late now. I’ve been doing this for 30 years…I don’t have time to change.”

If we’re not careful, we’ll end up in the same spot. We build a business. The money starts coming in. We expand. The newness wears off. All that’s left is the work. But we don’t enjoy the work, so we get trapped.

Some people call it ‘purpose.’ Others call it your Unique Ability. Unfair Advantage. Whatever. I call it your Difference Factor: the reason you’ve been put on this planet. Engaging your Difference Factor each and every day in your business is the key to building a fulfilling, sustainable business.

Warning signs you’re in this ditch:

• Your work is devoid of meaning and purpose
• You’re Fearful your audience won’t buy from you if you make changes
• Your business is built by default instead of by design

How to Get It Right

As with most things, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. 

The people who pay you the most the easiest will sense whether or not your heart’s into your offer. Your audience picks up on your energy. And if you’re not finding joy in the creation of your offer, what are the chances someone will find joy in buying your offer? 

Bring your talents and passion to the table. Match them up with what your desired audience wants. And then you’ll have an offer that they—and you!—can’t refuse.

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