Unleash Your Inner Unicorn With Unique Marketing with Regina Andler

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the Creative Collaboration

Show. Chuck Anderson, I'm your host, and And this

show is all about helping entrepreneurs,

business owners, coaches, consultants, really

business owners of any kind who are on a big mission

to help the world be a better place. And you have your product.

You have your service. You have, whatever it is that you

do. And, you know, the the the goal

being, how do we enhance other people's lives while

also enhancing our own lives,

making money for ourselves. And, you know, I've been coaching business

owners for almost 30 years, and the one thing that

I see that's in common with all of them is that we started our

businesses because we wanted a better life for ourselves and

for our families. And along the way, there are challenges,

such as how do you start stand out

in a crowded marketplace? There is time you know, right

now, there's no better time to,

engage in virtual networking. Every single day, there are,

multiple opportunities to get the word out about what you're doing

and network with people. And, you might

run into people who sound a lot like you

and seem like they're doing, what you're

doing. And nobody really is the same, but, you know, this the challenge

is, how do you stand out? How do you

differentiate yourself from everyone else? So I

wanted to bring in an expert on this. And, today, I have

I'm I'm honored to have Regina Adler here with me today who

is definitely an expert. She's written books. She has programs.

She can help you, stand out. So, Regina, welcome to

the program. Thanks for having me here, Chuck. I'm excited to be here.

Awesome. Well, yeah, I'm excited too. And I know this is something that

we've, we've been planning here for for the last few

weeks, and we're we're finally here. So so

listen. That was the light introduction. I think a great place

to start, Regina, is tell everybody a little bit

about, who you are, the work that you do, and and we'll go from there.

Sure. I call myself an AI empowered business strategist,

and what I do is I help entrepreneurs differentiate themselves

and attract more clients using a proprietary methodology I

created called the Unicorn Factor. And I just

love to help, specifically coaches and consultants,

stand out in a crowded marketplace. I've been in business

myself for over 20 years. My first business was actually a

computer business. It was a brick and mortar business.

And in in running that business, I

actually became a business consultant through that

business when I was in a client's office. The the short

version of it, the reader's digest version I was at one of my clients one

day and I was fixing their server and I hear them in the

background talking about all these problems they're having with their business and I'm thinking,

wow, I have some solutions for them. So I said, hey. Can I give you

some suggestions? I did. They implemented them and they went, wow.

Can you help us fix our business? And I said, sure. And I instantly became

a business consultant right then and there.

I love how those opportunities sort of just, like, accidentally

happen. And, you know, I've got my share of stories like that

as well, but I love it. Like, you're in the right place at the

right time, and you're listening. Right? You're

paying attention to what they're saying. So,

I love that I love that origin story. And, what

so what was, what what was the the the challenge

that they were that they were experiencing? Well, at the

time, this particular company was having a challenge with their employees.

Mhmm. And some of their employees will just say they weren't doing what

they were supposed to be doing. And because they weren't doing what they're supposed to

be doing, their clients were calling up and complaining.

And having known how to I came from corporate world

and I had to deal I was in management and corporate world way back when.

I had to deal with HR a lot. And so I had a lot of

HR experience on dealing with employees. And from a

small business standpoint, it's a little bit different too. Because from a

small business standpoint, you know, you might be a company of

5 people. And so if you have a problem with 2 employees, you

know, that's most of your workforce. Right? I mean, 2 out

of 5 of your employees. And so when you think about, well, what do I

do about this? How can I fix this issue? It becomes a

big challenge for that company. And so I basically help them

figure out what to do, how to, you know,

fix the situation. 1 of the employees just didn't stay an

employee anymore. 1 of them did. That has to happen

sometimes. Yeah. One of them did and got the message,

and I helped them basically provide them

information and what to tell that employee if they wanted to keep their job and

what they needed to do and how to approach it. So it was a whole

bunch of communication that went into it. Part of the challenge was

communication with the employees. So I helped them with that. So there there

was a lot of little different pieces that went went to it, but it was

really an employee situation. Mhmm. Well, I love

that that start. And, you know, there's

companies and business owners that are out there struggling with a whole lot of things,

and, they they do need some coaching. They need some

consulting. They need some help. And so, follow-up

question to that is, so that's where you got your

start. What led you to what you're doing now

with helping, business owners, stand

out in the crowded marketplace? So that's

an interesting segue in because there were some many

years in between, and we won't go into all the specifics there. That could be

a long story. And so we'll just keep it short and say life

happened. I ended up selling that business. And in the

interim, while I was caretaking for my mom, I did some other businesses. I

popped in out of a few MLMs. And if you've ever been in an MLM

before, you know they have their convention every year. And I'll tell

you, I saw some great speakers at conventions. I saw John Maxwell and a whole

bunch of great people that were at conventions and learned a lot more about

business. And after I was done my caretaking

piece, I had decided that for my retirement career as

I was getting older and a lot of people were like, how

old are you? You're not that old. It was like, I'm actually 61. So,

I said that when I'm 60, I'm going to create my

retirement business, and I'm gonna do what I love to do the most, which

is being that business strategist and helping other

entrepreneurs build their businesses because I just love solving those problems.

And I kind of, jumped in a couple years early because COVID

happened. And when COVID happened, I was actually on the phone one day with a

good friend of mine, and we were talking about stuff. And I started talking about

what I'm gonna do with this retirement business. I'm gonna start it when I'm 60,

which was, you know, a year ago. And I said, I'm gonna

start it when I'm 60 and I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that. And

he looked at me and he said, so when are you starting your business? And

I said, well, I have a couple more years to go. And he goes, no.

Regina, seriously, when are you gonna start your business? And I just started laughing. I

said, well, apparently, I'm starting it now.

That that was his subtle way of going. Yeah. I I don't understand why you're

waiting for 60. Why don't you just start your business? And I said, you know

what? That's a really good idea, so I did. Isn't it great

when friends, give you such strong encouragement, to

go for it? Oh, it was it it was awesome, you know, because I I'm

it wasn't that I was hemming and hawing. I just had it. For whatever reason,

I had it in my head. It's my retirement business. I'm gonna start it when

I'm 60, and we're gonna go from there. So it just was locked in my

head until he basically unlocked it and went, yeah.

No. Now is now is a good time to start. I

love that. You know, and and and, you

know, the origin story of, you

know, again, having that strong encouragement from a friend, I

remember, when I started my consulting, it

was a dare from a friend because I've been I'm like, oh, I really

wanna do these seminars and events to

help, people with their businesses. And he's like, you've been talking it

for a long time. I dare you to do it next month.

Perfect. So I can totally relate to to what,

to to what you, shared there. And it's nice to to have

that kind of support. As well, let's talk a

little bit about standing out in the marketplace. So did you start

off working there, or did that sort of evolve? And,

because and and, you know, who you know,

let's kinda unpack a little bit who you're serving and what

some of the challenges are that they are experiencing.

Sure. So when I talked about that really early origin story, that was, like,

in 2003. So that was Mhmm. Over 20 years ago now.

And that happened back then. I don't help people.

Just just for the record, I don't help people with their HR issues

anymore. I mostly

work with with someone else. If you have an HR issue, we'll connect you with

someone else. I do know people who do that, so I can refer people

up. And, as I was doing more business

consulting for people, I was doing different pieces of it. As I grew

into my business, I actually originally started in personal

development. And I started that because a lot of the

business owners that I knew, a lot of the professional people that I knew, that

was their biggest place. It was a kind of a work life balance thing. And

so I was doing personal development to help them basically

create more success in their life and business.

Well, as I was working with a bunch of clients in that area,

it just seemed to be that every time I turned around, I was solving their

business problems for them or I was helping them work through things or helping

them strategize what their next move was. And so

I was actually working with my mentor one day, and I said, yeah. I'm thinking

about this new program, and it was a professional development one. And she just

looked at me and stopped and kind of the same thing that my friend had

done way back then. She goes, Regina, just stop. And I

said, what? She goes, you're a business consultant.

Just own it. And because I was doing personal

development instead of business consulting. And so I was like, you know what? It it's

like I I keep ending up in that same spot. And so I

started doing more business consulting. And as I started doing that,

it was more of finding out where people were. And

I started really, really paying attention to all

of the business people that were out there. Now if you get emails every day,

which I'm sure you do, if you're on social media every day, which you probably

are, you'll see that there's people out there

that they look like mini mes. You could

probably if you know who the big gurus are for training,

for business training, you could probably spot them go, oh, this person was

trained by that person. This person was trained by that person because they're all little

mini mes. They're all doing the same thing. They're sharing the same types of

content, using the same templates, using the same modeling the same

formats. They all sound the same. And

the thing is is that with the 100 of

thousands of entrepreneurs out there, if you sound the same

as everybody else, then the only

thing that people are doing when they look at you and you happen to show

up in their world as somebody who might be able to help them

is, are you the cheapest? Because if you all sound the

same, they're going with whoever charges the less.

So the thing was is that how do you stand out in

that marketplace? And so I really started focusing in on

what do you do to stand out in the marketplace. And

in doing that, I started with me because I said, well, what makes me different?

I was like, okay. You're a business consultant. There's 100 of thousands of

business consultants out here. What makes you different?

And one of the tools that I use that I'll share is one

of the first things I have every single one of my clients do is a

mind map of of their skills. So if you've ever done a

mind map before, you just put a circle in the center of a piece of

paper, and I tell them write skills right in the middle there. And

then out of that circle, write everything that you know.

It could be I'm an excellent communicator. I'm a great listener.

I know I know how to fix a car. I know how to,

I I'm really good at networking. I can fix a computer.

I'm really good at solving problems. Whatever it is, all of

the skills that you have, put them on that mind map. And then what we

do is we look at that. And I can guarantee you there are

never ever ever 2 mind maps that are alike

because inside that mind map is your unique

features that help you stand out. And very few people

actually utilize that in order to make themselves stand apart

from the crowd. Yeah. You know, because you

hear it all the time and you and I have, you know, crossed paths at,

many virtual networking events where we see person

after person get up there and share, oh, I'm a

relationship coach, or I'm a, you know, marketing consultant,

or I run our mastermind on business growth, or, you know

and we can go on and on. Health and wellness,

you know, coach. They're and these are some of

the common ones that we hear, and we hear the same

thing over and over over again. And so

I love what you're saying is like, okay. Well, take

inventory of all of the, you know,

all of the things that you know how to do. So so then what so

then from there because because I always hear from people go, okay.

Well, you know, that's all well and good. I know how to do all

of these things. But at the end of the day, I'm still calling myself

a relationship coach or a health and wellness coach or a bit

a marketing consultant. And so, you know, how do how do they take

that to the next level where they don't just sound like everyone else?

Well, the number one thing that you need to do in your business

to get any kind of a client or to bring in any prospects or to

create a community is using marketing

content. Marketing is how people find you,

whether it's a website, your social media page, if you're writing a

blog, if you're have an email list. It doesn't matter

what the content is, but that content

is how people are attracted to you. And, again, if you sound like a mini

me and you're copying content, the format that everybody else is

using, you know, people get very desensitized

to what they're seeing on these things. After they see the same kind of

format over and over again, they just stop looking at it and you end up

in their junk mail or you end up just they just scroll right by you

and don't pay any attention to you whatsoever. When you

understand those unique skills, those unique qualities and

find your unique voice, now you can create

unique content that doesn't sound like everybody else.

It looks different. It sounds different. It attracts

the right people in a way that makes

you stand out. And when you stand out and become the expert,

now it's it's not about a price thing. So it's you don't look like everybody

else, so it's not a who's the cheapest. It's the, oh, wow. She's really

an expert in this. I don't care what she's charging. I'm I'm I'm going

into her program because I know she's gonna provide the result that I'm looking

for. So it's that marketing content that

you create and the consistency of that marketing content that sets you

apart from the crowd. In order to get there, you

need to know those unique qualities of yourself and then you

need to know that unique audience. You need to identify who is that

specific person that I want. And then you create that

content utilizing those unique skills that other people

aren't talking about in your unique authentic voice

so that you can then pull in the right people and bring them into

your world. Mhmm. I love that.

And I wanted to ask a follow-up question because this is something that, you

know, again, comes up a lot. And I notice

it a lot. Being the cohost of a of a networking,

group, we I get to hear all of the all of the

pitches. And one of the things that I have

noticed with some, they've obviously done some form

of that exercise of mind mapping, and here's all the things

that I can do and do well. And

then they take it, and that's what they put on their

website. It's like, oh, do you need help fixing your car? Do you

need help losing weight? Do you need help, doing this? Like and I see

this. It's it's epidemic in the in the coaching world where it's

like, what do you need help with? I can help with anything.

First of all, what do you say to that? And, also, how do you help

them to narrow it down so that it's it's

not like this this shopping list of it's not I

always tell people it's not like a a menu at McDonald's. Right? Like, it's not

a menu. Like, what is it that you do,

for people? So, yeah, weigh in on that and let let me know. Like, how

do you help them to narrow it down? So so there's a lot of pieces

in there. And the the first one is and and you've probably heard it

before, everyone is not your client. So you wrap

you really need to identify that ideal client that is

that's that perfect client for you. And that is the person that

you're talking to. The other thing that you said was, oh, I help people with

this. I help people with this, and I do this. I do that. I tell

them all about my skills. Well, you know what? Here's the thing that

sometimes is a little hard to hear, a little hard to digest,

but nobody cares about you. Nobody cares about your brand. Nobody cares about your

logo, your company name, all of your stuff. They don't care about that. They care

about, can you provide me the result that I'm looking for? If you

can, I'm gonna listen to you. At that point, yeah, your

your logo, your brand, you know, things come into play.

However, when you're out there, your ideal client

isn't that person you already know. The people that you already know, you already have

a relationship with, you could probably call them on the phone and say, hey. I'm

starting this new program. I think it would be perfect for you. What do you

think? And they're gonna give you an honest answer because you already know them. You

have a relationship. The people that you're working on connecting with are

people who don't know you yet. And if you sound like everyone

else, they're just gonna move on. If you start talking about you,

they're gonna move on. If you start talking

about the result that you can give them in their words,

now you've got their attention. And so finding that

unique avatar, so that ideal client that is specific to you,

that's, you know, one result that you're providing people. What is the main

result? I help people differentiate themselves and attract more

clients. That's what I do. How do I do it?

I have bunches of different ways that I that I do that. Do I talk

about that all the time? No. Why? Because that will confuse people

like crazy. Because if I start going into all kinds of different things,

it's kinda like it it's that it's that McDonald's menu. Right? It's like

if if you've ever walked in or looked at a restaurant menu and you were

like, I don't even know what to pick here. It all looks good.

Yep. A confused mind does nothing. So the

key with standing out is also being consistent in your

message, and it's a clear concise message to that

specific audience so that you actually

start attracting in the right people. It'll still draw in other people from

other places. The biggest thing that I get all the time from people is like,

well, if I narrow down that audience and I only talk about this one thing,

I'm gonna lose all this other stuff because I can do so much more stuff.

And I was like, just because you narrow it down, you're literally narrowing it down

for your marketing message. As you bring people in,

other people are gonna go, well, can you help me too? I need this. You're

gonna be like, yeah. Sure. I can. So it's all in how

you do that. So there's lots of pieces in there, but it all starts with

what are your skills? Who is that ideal avatar? And

and what is that one result that they're really looking

for? My clients are all saying, you know

what? There's thousands of health coaches. How do I stand out in

my marketplace? I can help you with that because

that's what I specialize in. I specialize in differentiation in the

marketplace. So that's what you wanna do. You wanna pull yours in.

Right there, you're leading by example because you just said it right

there. You're specializing in that. Like, look. You know, at the end of

the day, we're all marketing consultants or business consultants of one

form or another. My specialty happens to be affiliate

programs and joint venture partnerships. And so,

game changer, actually. You know, we're talking about this now,

but it really and I've been doing that for almost 3 decades. But it

was that light bulb only went on for me about two

and a half years ago where I decided, you know what? I can't

be marketing consultant anymore, because

now everybody is. And so what what what's

the specialty? And, you know, it sounds a little cliche, but I'm

gonna say it. And that is in marketing, we have a

golden rule. And that is if you're marketing to everyone,

you are marketing to no one because they can't

tell who, you know,

what what you can help them with. And so by

and I love what you mentioned here because it's there's this

definite fear that if I

narrow my focus down to this one thing, that I'm

leaving all of these other potential clients,

on the table? And how are they possibly gonna choose me

if I say I'm only good at this, one thing? What is

your what is your biggest advice to people who say

that? Stop thinking that because it's not true.

It's it's it's not it's not true. And and and I've

got multiple people including myself that's proof positive of that. And

you you too. You know, Chuck, I've known you, for a while

now out in our networking groups and everything, and you and I had a

conversation recently before this. And I said, I know you as

the affiliate guy because that's what you do. You do other

stuff, and that's great. I

know you as the affiliate guy and, you know, that that joint

venture guy because that's what you specialize in, and I know you can

help with other stuff. And so that's the message that you

want to send out. You want to create that so that people

have that that single focus to come to

and it also invites curiosity to

say, well, hey, you do that. Do you do this too? And

you're like, well, yeah. I do that too. If you're helping me with

affiliate marketing, you probably know something about marketing. Right?

Can you help me with my other marketing stuff? Sure. I can. Of course, I

can. You know? So it's it's how you word it.

There's nothing to be afraid of. When you narrow down the niche,

it's literally to attract the right

clients. So especially if you're out there saying, you

know, 2025, this is what I want. I want more

clients. Well, great. Then

start focusing on getting that client,

that one specific client that you want and then build

out from there. Yeah. And like you said, market

yourself with that one thing. Get that client in the door to

establish a relationship, then you can help them

with the other things. And you don't have to try to hit them with

it all up front. It's too overwhelming.

The this it'd be so easy for us to spend hours unpacking all of

this, and, of course, we're trying to pack this into a a short

episode here. Couple things I wanna make sure that we

get in. First of all, I know you have the book, The Unicorn

Factor. Tell everybody about that. And then if they anyone

listening in, that is struggling with standing

out in the marketplace and, could use your

help, what is the next best step in terms

of connecting with you? Sure. So as far as the book's concerned, the

book is called The Unicorn Factor, Demystifying Marketing

Content to Set You Apart from the Crowd, and it focuses

on that marketing stuff. And it actually starts with your core genius,

finding out who that audience is because you can't create that

unique content unless you have that stuff set. So it actually walks

you through and it has practical exercises. It's actually an action based

book, so there's actually exercises inside of it for you to fill

out to actually make it happen. And my my

big thing on there is, you know, when it comes to differentiation, it's find your

inner unicorn. Let that inner unicorn free. You know?

So it's find that thing that makes you unique and then

use that in your marketing. And so, let's

see. The second piece of that was How do what's the

next step in in in for people that wanna connect

with you or really need your help? So I there there's a few

ways that people can connect with me. The best way to find me is just

to go to my website. So I do have a link tree,

and I'm not sure if you have show notes or anything that you have posted.

Definitely do. I'm gonna put all the links beneath this video or in the podcast

show notes. And I know you have a free gift on there as well, so

go ahead and tell me about that. So so I would say that the best

way to get a hold of me is go to my website. It's

www.autumnassent.com. And, autumn as in, you

know, fall. Autumn, ascent, a s

c e n t.com. And on there, you'll

actually see there's a button on there that sends you to a free 5 day

email course that I have that teaches you how to create

unique Facebook content. So it's it's specifically

for Facebook content. It's called the Facebook content blueprint. And it's

it's delivered over 5 days via email. So each

day you get a new email with the next

lesson in it with an exercise that goes with it so you can actually put

it into action and see how it works for you.

Awesome. Well, if you're listening to this, or watching this on

video, look just beneath the video. All of Regina's links

are there. Everything that we've talked about there today. And

if you're listening to this on podcast, just look in the on your

phone and or your mobile device there. And and in the show

notes for this, podcast, all her links are there

as well. Go ahead and, reach out to Regina. Get

her book. Get her free gift. Talk to Regina.

Time well spent, for sure. So we're

almost out of time, but, you know, again, we've

unpacked so much or scratched the surface on so much, really. I

mean, we could do a deep dive on any one of these things for a

full day workshop, I'm sure. So but,

what I wanted to talk to you a little bit about before we sign

off is, you know, the personal growth side,

of being a business owner. And, I

was you know, you and I chatted before this, and I know that you're a

personal growth enthusiast as I am. And a big part of

my journey has been, what I've learned from books.

And I always tell people, I said, look. Your business will never grow

beyond the extent that you grow yourself, and

books have been a big part of my journey. So I wanted to ask you,

has there been a book that was, instrumental

in your growth or maybe, led to a pivotal

moment that we can add to our must read book

list? Yeah. So funny enough, I knew you were gonna ask that question,

so I actually pulled it out of my bookcase. And it's a book that I

read a while ago. It is called The Slight Edge by Jeff

Olson, and it looks just like this. And

it's the slight edge, Jeff Olsen. And the thing that I liked about it is

way back when when I was first starting

my newer business doing the consulting, I was

on the on the jump both feet in first and, you know,

just see how far I sink. And, you know, you get overwhelmed and burnt out

really quick doing that. It's just my personality, the way I was.

And what I needed to do is I needed to stop and take things in

little pieces and just get a little bit further ahead, a little bit further

ahead. The slight edge, that's what it is. It's the slight edge.

Do one little thing, then move on to the next, then move on to the

next. For me, that was a challenge originally

because I'm like, I'm a microwave girl. I'm like, I want it done

in 30 seconds. I don't wanna wait a 2 weeks or wait a month or

wait a year for something to happen. I want it done now. And so I

needed to tamp back and take those little baby

steps, that slight edge, and create the success. And

I'll tell you, that book was pivotal for me.

Yeah. What a what a great book. And I I

remember sitting in on some of Jeff's seminars

back in the mid nineties, and, you know, already he was

talking about that same thing. This was before the book, but he was

talking about that same thing because people were getting overwhelmed thinking about the big

picture all the time or wanting to manifest

a quantum leap. And

quantum leaps are possible, but they're usually because of the

foundation that you built along the way.

And, and so it is taking

those incremental steps every single week. In my group coaching

program, I tell people that all the time. I'm like, you know, what is it

what is one small piece that you wanna accomplish in the next 7 days?

Go out there and do that. If you do that, it's done.

Now what's the next thing that you're going to do? And the next thing and

the next thing, and before you know it, you get there. And, and

so I love this book recommendation for so many reasons,

but, I I appreciate that. Well, I'm gonna go ahead and

put the links to that right next to your book. I recommend

that people get both. If you're watching this on video, the links are all there.

On podcast, it's in your, mobile device. Regina,

thank you. This has been amazing, and, I know we could

definitely spend a lot more time unpacking this. But I think

that I hopefully, we've inspired people today, especially if they

are having trouble standing out in the marketplace. We've given you some

things to think about. We've given you some steps that you can take. We've given

you some resources. I mean, connect with Regina. Get her

book. Go and download the, the free,

email course. You know, there's there's there's

definitely actions that you can take today. And I would

like you to choose one action step that you

heard us talk about here today and take that step

today, and that's gonna be your, incremental progress.

That's gonna be your slight edge in your business as well.

Regina, thank you. If you were to leave our audience here

today with with one pie final, piece of advice or

words of wisdom, what would you say to them? Well, first off, thank you for

having me. This has been so much fun. And that one piece of advice,

go out and unleash your inner unicorn. Stop trying to be like everybody

else. Be authentically you. Show up as you

wherever you go. The people, the world, they

need the real you. And when you do, trust me, that alone

will make you stand out in the crowd. Beautiful words to end this

episode by. Regina, thank you. To our audience, thank you as

well. And, hopefully, this has been helpful for you,

on your big mission, your vision to build and grow your

business and stand out in the marketplace. And remember, there's no

obstacle that is too big to overcome. You might be

just one collaboration away from solving that and

experiencing the the big growth in your business and making that big

impact in the world that you wanna make. So keep moving

forward. Always look for solutions. Always look for people to collaborate

with, and we will see you on the next one. This has been the Creative

Collaboration Show with Chuck Anderson, and we'll see you soon again

soon. Thanks, everyone.