So let's identify what the before to after transformation looks like for your prospect. And the tool that we use to identify this transformation is The Before & After Grid. Okay, The Before & After Grid. The Before & After Grid looks something like this. You can just draw lines if you want, it's pretty All of my, all of the tools and frameworks that we have are really simple because I have zero graphic design abilities. I mean it's like pathetic. So if I can build it in Microsoft Word, it gets done. So what we have her with the Before & After Grid is on this column you have the before state on this side you have the after state. Okay? The before state and the after state we're going to list who are our different customer segments or customer avatars. We wanna speak to that, we wanna have that right in our face. Who is the who? And then we also want to address the product or service, and I'll get to that in just a second, alright? When we are articulating the shift from ...

the before state to the after state we are doing it in five ways, five ways. Have. Have. What does this person have before that they don't have after? Before, you have love handles, after we're done with you, you don't. Or what don't they have before that they now have after? Okay? Now, you don't have to overthink that. That's usually just getting into the features. As we progress down, they're gonna get increasingly more powerful. So have. Next, feel. If you've heard that you should begin to write with more emotion, you're right. And this is where we get into that. What's their emotional state like before and what's their emotional state like after? Emotional state before, emotional state after. Think about that. Now average day. If you've heard, "I need to use more story "in my marketing." Right? I gave the example before of leveraging customer stories. Tell a real story. Before I was in the office, you know, 24/7. I could never get away, I could never Now that I've got this, I can now be out on my horse farm. Right? You could make up a story. A lot of what you saw in the 1-800-GOT-JUNK ad was narrative. You know before the average day was they didn't say it right? But it was there. Wife's really upset, husband's in the doghouse. He's got all this junk, she can't pull the extra you know, another car in the garage. Really frustrated. After, marital bliss. He gets a kiss. Right, so average day. What's a day in their life before you? What's a day in their life after? And then status. Status. Supposedly Napoléon Bonaparte was quoted as saying, "I've made the most wonderful discovery. "Men will fight long, hard, even die "for a bit of colored ribbon." Right? That was how he was able to take over a significant chunk of the Western world, was realizing that motivation came down to status. We talked about this a little bit remember when we had the aha moment, right? Changing the story that people can tell about themselves. What's their status before and what's their status after you? At Digital Marketer we realized that we weren't doing a great job at this. We were doing a good job of teaching people, but they weren't getting any status. That's why we pivoted to certification. Now you're certified in these areas. Look, you have a new status. You have a new name. You're now certified this. And then, good versus evil. What is the existential struggle that your product or service is in. Apple nailed this, that's what you saw. Evil. Before you were dealing with the evil of oneness, sameness, Big Brother. Now Apple is giving your individuality back. That's the good versus evil. So what fight, good versus evil, are you pitted in? Now, when we're filling out the Before and After Grid we always wanna start with the customer. So we're gonna write that down first. The customer always stays top of mind. Then we begin to fill out the before. What is their before state? Now ideally, you know this because you've talked to them. You know this because you've engaged with them. You know this because you've bothered to have those you know, 25 to 50 conversations with customers and prospects. Right? But for now, if you don't know, take a guess. Do the best you can. I'm all for guessing as long as you're willing to come back after the fact and confirm those you know, those different guesses. See where they're there. Now we go over to after. What do they want it to be? What do they want it to be? And then we're gonna finally come back around product or service. I want you to do the before and the after without thinking about what does my product or service do. Think about what is their before today and what is their desired after. Don't constrain yourself, at least not now, with what after can your product or service deliver. You're gonna think too small. So back to the plastic example, right? If they had just thought about, you know what after oh I don't have to pay, you know, a check anymore. No, no, no. We wanna think what do they actually want their after to be. That's how we're gonna begin to think much bigger about our product. That's how we're gonna stop being so product-centric and more customer-centric. Alright and I'm gonna say it again and again and again. Do not define your business by the product that you sell. Define your business by the people that you serve. This is one way to ensure that that's happening. We're gonna define our business, our product, everything that we do, by the people we serve not the thing that we sell, by thinking about the after.

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Ryan Deiss

Ryan Deiss (pronounced "Dice”) is cofounder and CEO of DigitalMarketer.com, the leading provider of digital marketing training and certifications to small and mid-sized businesses. Ryan is also the founder and host of the Traffic & Conversion Summit, the largest digital marketing conference in North America, and the creator of the "Customer Value Optimization" methodology.

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Ratings and Reviews

Mike Brown

Amazing content and very well delivered. Ryan was great at covering high level strategies while providing tangible action-items! Totally recommend this class. Thanks to Ryan and Creative Live :)

Jennifer

This was a great course - truly engaging and actionable! I am a professional photographer and would highly recommend this course to anyone who maps out their own marketing strategies. This was the first time I heard Ryan Deiss present, I'm excited to watch his other courses!

a Creativelive Student

Amazing course, the best on Digital Marketing

2,000+ classes ranging from fundamentals to advanced techniques.

The Before & After Grid

The Before & After Grid

Lesson Info

14. The Before & After Grid

Lessons

Class Introduction

The Real Goal of Marketing

The Value Journey Explained

How To Map a Value Journey

Codify Your Ascension Ladder

Splinter Your Entry-Point Offer and Lead Magnet

Deliver an "Ah-Ha" Moment

Create Engaging Top of Funnel Content

How To Generate Awareness

Transform Happy Customers Into Brand Ambassadors

The 8 Core Disciplines of Digital Marketing

The One Thing Everyone Is Always Buying

Case Studies: Selling Transformation