30: Why Your Ideal Clients Aren’t Connecting With Your Messaging—And How to Fix It

Are you showing up consistently on social media… but still hearing crickets? You’re not alone — and this episode is for you. This is Part 1 of a 3-part series ALL ABOUT MESSAGING & BRAND CLARITY!

Today, Em dives into one of the most common (and frustrating) problems solopreneurs face: your content is out there, but your dream clients just aren’t biting. The real issue? It’s probably not your niche, your offer, or even your consistency. It’s your messaging.

For the full show notes, CLICK HERE.

Inside this episode, you’ll learn:

• The 10-second clarity test your bio has to pass
• How to write “I help” statements that actually stop the scroll
• Why vague language is killing your engagement
• A simple mindset shift to make messaging feel easier (even if you hate writing)

Plus, Em shares honest stories from her own brand-building journey — including what still trips her up — and introduces a free 5-day challenge to help you refine your message and boost connection.

🎧 Whether you’re DIY-ing your brand or just tired of talking to no one, this episode will help you go from confusing to clear — and finally start converting

Next Steps to Nail Your Messaging
If you’re nodding along thinking, “This is me”, here’s what to do:

1. Join the 5-Day Social Refresh Challenge — actionable, bite-sized steps to sharpen your messaging.
2. Get on The Messaging Edit waitlist for my September small-group messaging program — for female entrepreneurs with personal brands who want to nail their brand foundation, clarify messaging, and grow an engaged community.

Connect with me:
🫶🏼 Follow me on Instagram for daily insights
🫶🏼 Join my 321 Create Newsletter for weekly content tips
🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership

Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

Transcript

0:00

You don't write your messaging once you refine it. Over time, I want you to think of your message as like a muscle. It's not a slogan that's gonna live there forever and ever and ever. It gets stronger as you use it more. So start messy, start today, and then tweak it after you've gotten some real feedback from real people. And even then, you'll probably continue to tweak it. Welcome to the Creative Bodega, a podcast about content marketing, Instagram growth, and personal branding for female service-based solopreneurs who wanna grow their business without letting it take over their lives. I'm your host, EM Connors, and each week I'll share actionable tips, expert advice, and unfiltered truths to help you create engaging content, connect authentically with your audience, and turn followers into loyal customers. All without the burnout. If you're ready to simplify your content creation, navigate the ever changing trends and build a business that works for you while staying sane in this crazy season of life, then you're in the right place. Why your dream clients aren't getting it and what to do about it. This is an episode that has been coming for a while. I'd say one of the biggest. Forms of feedback that I get from anybody that I talk to that is trying to grow a business using social media and marketing is that they're posting, they're showing up, they're pouring their heart and hours into Canva, into captions, into emails, but no one's engaging with them. No one's clicking. And so you start to wonder, of course. Do people even need what I offer? Do people even understand what I do? Should I quit? I mean, that, that's something I hear all the time. Should I, should I quit? Should I stop? Should I, uh, or people DM me and they're like, if I can't get my business to be profitable in the next couple months, I have to go back to a corporate job, which is like the last thing I want anybody to do. Um, but if you've ever thought, I know I can help people. I just don't know how to say it in a way that makes them listen. You are exactly in the right place.'cause today we're talking about the real reason why your dream clients might be scrolling past your content and how to shift from confusing to clear and from crickets to converting. So let's get into it. The background. Why does this matter? Here's the deal. Most solopreneurs don't have a content problem. They don't even have a niche problem. They don't have a consistency problem. They're showing up all the time. What they really have is a messaging problem, and I don't say this with judgment. Trust me, I say this with so much love because I see it all the time in my community. The content coven. In fact, I asked my audience. What felt so hard about messaging, and here's what they said, no one responds to my content. Uh, my wording isn't hitting. I have so many things I wanna talk about, and I don't know how to tie it all together. I want people to feel like they have to click or learn more, and they don't. I sit in Canva or chat JBT for hours and I still feel unsure when I hit post. Or I'm just not getting anyone to talk to me. I'm not getting engagement, so I assume my messaging is just off. And if any of this sounds familiar, here's the good news. These problems honestly are fixable, and it makes me sad to think that anyone's gonna give up on their business before really giving it a shot by really nailing down some beautiful, clear, consistent brand messaging. The chances are you don't require a new niche or a complete rebrand, to be honest. They just require some messaging that's going to connect a lot more. So let's try and fix this today. Let's try and like get into this. I'm gonna give you some actionable things that you can take notes on while you're listening to this. And I was gonna say, hang up, like we're on a call. Hang up and run over to wherever you need to. Instagram your email, your website and make some tweaks that will really make a big difference. So step number one, I want you to check for clarity. This is like a ten second test. I want you to ask yourself, could a total stranger understand what I do, who it's for? And why it matters in 10 seconds or less. I'll say that again. Could a total stranger understand what I do? Who it's for and why it matters in 10 seconds or less, if your bio caption or elevator pitch needs a follow-up explanation, it is not clear enough because in today's fast scroll world that we live in. Vague is going to equal and visible. People will scroll past you as fast as possible. In fact, I was on a coven call yesterday where I was auditing people's Canva templates, and one of the main things we were talking about is just that first image in a carousel where the headline is, and it was like. Really hard to tell you who is this for? Why would I stop scrolling to look at this? If it doesn't grab my attention in two seconds, you better believe I'm just continuing to scroll on, and that's certainly not what we want. So this is where step number two's gonna come into play. We want you to get specific. We, me, I want you to get specific, even if it feels scary. So let's talk about examples, because this is where the messaging becomes really magnetic. Here's a real like before statement. Someone in my community shared. I help women live more intentionally. It's lovely, but it doesn't tell me who, how, or what the result is, right? And that's what we're looking for. Tell me who, how, and what the result is. So here's how we rewrote it. I help Christian moms with A DHD create cozy clutter-free homes so they can spend more time with their family and less time cleaning. It's still her, it's still aligned with her passions, and I obviously had to speak with her about, you know, what are her passions? Who are you speaking to? And now it actually paints a really beautiful picture. So here's another one, helping female entrepreneurs grow their businesses. Again, lovely, but very unspecific and not really like grabbing the attention of anyone that could just be so many different types of people. Instead, I help VAs land consistent 2K months by creating content that shows off their value without needing a huge following. It's clear, it's specific and it's scroll stopping. So again, tell me who. How and what the result is. Step number three, speak their language, speak their language. Your content shouldn't sound like a life coach mixed with an Instagram quote board. It should sound like a conversation that you're having with someone. So instead of helping you step into alignment and expansion. Uh huh. Like who really talks that way, right? Instead, helping burn out moms, get out of survival mode and actually enjoy their day again, right? Or here's one that was actually shared in my community. I help visionaries transform and maintain their businesses as a cohesive ecosystem that honors the feminine flow. I am not gonna lie, I had to read that five times before. I really like. Could wrap my brain around it. There were a lot of words, a lot of like complicated words in my opinion, and plus nobody would ever say, God, I'm just trying to like build a business with a cohesive ecosystem. You know what I mean? Like use common language that your ideal client or you would say. Instead, I said, what about I help intuitive entrepreneurs build aligned, ease filled businesses that honor their feminine energy without sacrificing structure or results? It's still a little wordy, but I just think it gets it across a lot better than using words like visionary. Uh, cohesive ecosystem, feminine flow. It just was a lot of words, right? So use the language that your dream client is using right now in dms and voice notes in their journals when they speak to you. Pay attention. Step number four, treat your pillars like pathways. I'm a multi-passionate entrepreneur. I like talking about a lot of a lot of things, to be honest, and you do not need to niche yourself down or water yourself down so much that you're only talking about one single thing. Like if I were only allowed to talk about Canva. And maybe even just making like one type of product in Canva, like digital products. If I was like, I, I am m and I help female entrepreneurs build digital products in Canva, like. I would die. I, I like, I, I would be so bored. So you don't have to niche down into a teeny, tiny little box. But you do need to guide people clearly. So if you're trying to post about a DHD routines, faith-based motherhood, and cozy minimalism, ask yourself, do all these topics lead to the same result or offer? If yes, they're not random. They're pillars, they're content pillars, and each one is a different doorway leading to the same transformation that you offer. So instead of hiding parts of yourself or over explaining package it like this, I help Christian moms with A DHD simplify their homes and routines so they can live lighter and love harder. It's a little cheesy, to be honest. Chachi, BT came up with that one. I, I wouldn't do the love harder. I feel like it's like having a live love, laugh sign in my house, but it ties everything together without watering it down. Yeah, and that's what we're looking for, right? So step number five is done is better than perfect. You do not need to have the perfect I help statement before you start posting or before you start showing up. And please don't stop showing up until you get this right. Okay. This is hard. It takes time, and so many of you shared how hard it is just to get started. You open Canva, you open chat GBT, and you spend hours spiraling. I've been there. But here's the truth. You don't write your messaging once you refine it. Over time, I want you to think of your message as like a muscle. It's not a slogan that's gonna live there forever and ever and ever. It gets stronger as you use it more so start messy. Start today and then tweak it after you've gotten some real feedback from real people. And even then you'll probably continue to tweak it. I'm not gonna lie, so I have to be super honest with you. Words have always been super hard for me. I always say, give me a Canva design. Give me branding, gimme visuals. I'm so confident. I know I can make you look better or make your designs look better. And I have a good eye. Words have never come easily to me, so it's, it's always been a struggle. It's always been a work in progress. And I have quite a bit of imposter syndrome even recording this episode right now talking about this topic. I've had to study it. I've had to work at it, and I've had to get really good at prompting chat, GPT, and teaching my gpt. Exactly how I want them to talk. So if this episode has you nodding your head like, yep, that's me, and I'm finally ready to get clear and sound like I'm a pro, here's what I want you to do next. Grab my free five day social refresh challenge. It's simple, super actionable, and it'll help you find where your message might be falling flat. And how to fix it through five days of emails, and each email is gonna include a little piece of homework and a chat GPT prompt to just help you get there faster and refine your brand messaging. The other option is to join a wait list for something magical coming this September. The name is TBD I'm, I'm toying with the magnetic messaging lab or the magnet method. What I'm envisioning right now is a small group of female entrepreneurs who really want to nail their brand foundation, clarify their messaging. Increase their engagement and actually build a community that gets what you do and wants to be a part of it. And what I'm picturing right now, and I'm still working out the details, is again, a small group, eight to 10 absolute max over. A number of weeks. I really wanna see people get results and walk away feeling incredibly confident in how they're showing up online. And I'm feeling really called to do that with a smaller group of people. So it's about finally saying the right thing to the right people in a way that's going to click. And I would love to see you there. So I'm gonna put in the show notes, the link to join that wait list. It will likely be. An application process to make sure that it is a super strong group of people who are on an even playing ground. So screenshot this episode. Tag me on Instagram. Tell me what you're going to rewrite today. Is it your bio? Is it your offer? What's that one thing that is confusing people that you know you can nail? Maybe it's your, uh, website headlines. Something like that, or I'd even love to see you rewrite the first page of a carousel post and show me the before and after. If you tag me, I'll share my stories. I will be cheering you on the whole way. Until next time, don't forget to rate and review my show. If you haven't yet would mean the absolute world to me. Just gimme those five little stars on podcast, apple podcasts. It would just, you know, help more. Solopreneurs like you find the show. Alright, I'm outta here. See you next week. Thanks so much for hanging out with me on the Creative Bodega Podcast. If you love this episode, please be sure to share it with a fellow solopreneur who could use a little content creation inspiration. And hey, don't forget to check out the show notes for any resources I mentioned on the episode. To help you create content that feels easy and actually gets you results. If you want even more Canva and content tips, head over to my website, the creative bodega.com, or find me on Instagram under the same name. Until next time, keep creating, keep showing up, and most importantly, try and have a little fun with your content. I'll see you on the next episode.