Too smart for your own good? Why it’s costing you sales

If you ever feel like you know exactly how to solve your ideal client’s problems, but no one is buying what you’re selling… or you’re exceptional at 1:1 but somehow it just doesn’t land when you’re trying to make online course sales, this one is for you.

Being too clever, too advanced, or just too many steps ahead of your audience might be the very reason your offers are falling flat. In this post, I’m breaking down the sneaky messaging mistakes the smartest online business owners make, and how to fix them to start making more sales with less effort.

Why Being Brilliant Can Hurt Your Sales

If you’re scaling from one-to-one to one-to-many offers, like courses or group programs, you might notice your success rate suddenly plummets. You’re getting fewer inquiries, engagement is down, and nothing seems to stick like it did when you were booked out with private clients. Sound familiar?

It’s not because you’re not good at what you do. In fact, you’re so good, you might have accidentally zoomed 3 steps ahead of your audience – and this is especially common when you’re making the move from 1:1 services (when people are finding you in a state of ‘already looking for the solution’ – by searching on Google and getting referrals). But in actual fact – up to 70% of your audience are in position where they understand their symptoms – but not what the root cause or mistakes they’re making are.

So when you’re showing up on social media, the expert language you use, the solutions you provide, and even the outcomes you promise might be too advanced for where they are right now.

Meet Your Problem Unaware Audience

Here’s the truth: about 70% of your audience is problem unaware, meaning they don’t actually know what’s causing their symptoms and current situation, let alone what to Google or which offer to buy.

If you’re leading with phrases like “optimise your funnel conversion rate” or “streamline your FODMAPs protocol,” you might be 3 steps ahead of them, because first they need to understand that their funnel, or a FODMAPS sensitivity IS the cause of their symptoms. Those are great solutions, but they require a level of understanding your audience just doesn’t have yet. Your dream clients aren’t (yet) kept awake by a FODMAPS sensitivity, they’re kept awake by stomach cramps and the embarrassment of running to the toilet every time they go out to dinner (it might be garlic – but they likely don’t even know that)

A real life example:

Let me tell you a story about my daughter, C. For about a year, she had stomach aches every night. We tried everything: eliminating gluten, dairy, running tests, tummy teas. Nothing seemed to work and all of her tests came back clear.

Eventually, we saw a dietitian who said, “It’s probably FODMAPs – apples, watermelon, garlic, onion. Cut those out for four days.” Boom. Problem solved.

Now, if someone had tried to sell me a “FODMAPs Cure” before that appointment, I would have had no idea what they were talking about. I wasn’t ready to receive that solution because I didn’t yet understand the problem.

How to wake up your audience on Instagram

You might be this incredible expert – and often people will come to me wanting to know ‘how much value they should give in their programs vs how much they should give away on their social media.

It’s the wrong question.

You’re there to share wholeheartedly – but sometimes your best (and most helpful) information isn’t something like:

• 3 foods to avoid to cure your FODMAPS Sensitivity
  • Because not only do they likely not even know they have a FODMAPS sensitivity – but this is a dead end post – it doesn’t truly empower them to understand and seek a solution to their experience

It’s actually something like

• If you have stomach cramps every night before bed, here’s why
  • This then gives you the space to help validate the exact symptoms they’re experiencing as well as educate your audience on why they’re experiencing them, with an invitation to then work with you to help them solve it

So my beautiful expert – it’s time to dumb it down!

Why Your Offer Isn’t Selling (Even If It’s Brilliant)

1. Speak to their symptoms not your solution.
2. Meet them where they are emotionally and mentally.
3. Highlight the urgent, enduring, and solvable problems they know they have.

Swap the Jargon for Juice

Instead of posting “3 Ways to Improve Gut Health in Perimenopause,” try something like “Why You Feel Bloated Every Night and What To Do About It.

“Instead of saying “Boost your Bump Offer Conversion Rate,” try “Struggling to Make More Sales? Here’s Why Your Tiny Offers Aren’t Working.”

Get specific. Get emotional. Get down to the raw pain points your ideal client is experiencing. That’s how you build connection and conversions.

Dead-End Posts vs. Discovery Content

1. Validates their experience
2. Highlights a relatable struggle
3. Introduces the root cause (i.e. what your offer solves)

Introducing: Batched

This month, we’re diving deep into Instagram strategy, and my $47 offer Batched is the perfect companion. If you’re struggling to create scroll-stopping content or stuck on what to post, Batched is your grab-and-go guide to fast and effective Instagram content. It’s one of my best-selling offers ever – because it solves an urgent problem with a simple, accessible solution.

1. The 3 A’s of content creation for Posts and Reels
2. Endless idea generation
3. Time-saving templates

Final Word: Are You Speaking Your Client’s Language?

1. Am I talking to the version of my client who is ready to buy?
2. Or am I talking to the future version of them who understands what I know?

Come back to their pain. Speak to their current struggle. Sell the transformation, not the method. You’re not too smart for your own good. But you might need to simplify your message to meet your clients where they are.

Learn More: Visit launcheasylife.com and check out more from the Signature Online Course Secrets Podcast.