Tips from Obama's "Keeper of the Message"

Voters have grown numb from too many unmet promises, integrity questioning scandals and slanderous rants. The American people have tuned out this “noise,” lost confidence in their political leaders and worse, in their own ability to cause change.

The same is true in the health and healing arts field. Diet after diet and one self-help guru after another has left Americans confused and defeated by the countless failures to make any of the plans work in their life.

And like Obama, as a professional in your field, your message must also cut through the mind-numbing hype in order to be heard. And that’s just the first step. Once you’ve got their attention, you have to be able to back up what you stand for.

So, what can we learn from one of the big dogs of message crafting? In a behind-the-scenes interview in this Sunday’s New York Times Magazine written by Ben Wallace-Wells, Axelrod describes himself not as Obama’s chief political and media advisor but as “keeper of the message.”

Let’s go to school….

Lesson 1: Authenticity is how you cut through.

Axelrod has been piecing together 15 years of footage of Obama’s political life. “Most of the raw videotape he has is the banal, worn imagery of politics – Obama speaking from a podium, with the familiar, angled hand gestures, or seated and listening intently, elbows on knees.”

“There was a clip he found from Obama’s 2004 Senate campaign when the candidate told them about his work in the early 1990s as a community organizer, there was a spontaneous, sustained applause.” Axelrod says, “You know, we hadn’t thought that was an important part of his bio, but people really responded to the fact that Barack gave up corporate job offers to work in the community.”

In an industry where the “customer,” in this case voters, are numb to uber polished political performers and slick messages, this peek into Obama’s community values hits home. It’s refreshing and real. 

How can you be more authentic in your message? What aspects of your personality, values and background could add meaning and depth to how you present yourself? What is different and new about you and your approach to your work? Be willing to drop the “sage on the stage” vibe and get real with your audience.

Lesson 2: Tell me a story.

“Axelrod says that the way to cut through all the noise is to see campaigns as an author might, to understand that you need not just ideas but also a credible and authentic character, distinct politics rooted in personality.”

“One of the reasons Bush has succeeded in two elections," Axelrod says, “is that in his own rough-hewn way, he has conveyed a sense of this is who I am, warts and all.”

An important question to answer in your marketing is, “Why are you doing this?” This adds a good dose of the critical “know, like and trust” factor.

Did you overcome your own health concerns? Were you affected by the traditional medical system in a way that left you wanting something different or more effective? Did something happen to you that left you changed and inspired to do this work? Tell your potential clients a compelling story and people will listen.

Lesson 3: Drop the formulaic campaigns that your competitors are using.

“After the consecutive presidential losses of Al Gore and John Kerry, patrician candidates who ran ill-fitting 'people versus the powerful' campaigns designed for them,” [rather than as a reflection of who they were] many Democrats began to suspect the part of what was wrong with the party was its formulaic consultants.”

“The party has suffered," Axelrod says, "from a Wizard of Oz syndrome among Washington political consultants who tend to come to candidates and say: 'I have the stone tablets! You do what I say, and you will get elected.' And they fit their candidates into their rubric.”

Pricing, marketing and presenting your services like everyone else in your field only serves to make you blend in. Don’t try to fit in, fit out. When you’re willing to take a stand for what you want to bring to the world, you become very attractive to clients that truly value who you are and what you’re here to do.

Lesson 4: Get endorsements.

According to Axelrod, “when you’re breaking barriers and asking voters to do something they haven’t done before – vote for an African-American for governor, senator or president – it’s very helpful to have third party authentification, newspaper endorsements or institutional support, to encourage them to go there.”

You can do the same.  Client testimonials that represent the results you offer, articles published in local and national publications, corporate endorsements and a written vote of confidence from a former instructor or director of your alma mater, or well-known advisor all serve to encourage your potential clients to take a chance on your approach.

In the health & healing arts, you are up against your client’s long history of failing to consistentently self-care. Endorsements can tip the scale in your favor.

Lesson 5: Create a movement.

Obama’s campaign message reflects and embraces the constant attention paid to the historic nature of the candidacy itself. And not by apologizing for it or ignoring it. Instead, author Wallace-Welles writes, the message is shared through “the optimism, the constant presence of the candidate’s biography, the combination of crusading message of reform with the candidate’s natural pragmatism, the insistence that normal political categories do not apply, the use of the symbolism that accompanies the candidate’s race.”

Is your target audience tired of the traditional approaches in your field? Can you create a bigger meaning behind their hiring you? Is it time to take their health and life into their own hands? Create a movement around your message and your clients will not only adopt your strategies for better living, they’ll also share your work with urgency.

Lesson 6: Be the message.

The author writes, "Axelrod says of John Edwards 2004 presidential campaign didn’t falter because of the message, ‘which was pretty good and it got us pretty far.’ Instead he points to Edwards: ‘I have a whole lot of respect for John, but at some point the candidate has to close the deal and – I can’t tell you why – that never happened with John.”

Your message alone will not expand your practice. You must back it up with action, follow-through and a presence that matches. It will get people to listen to you, but from there, it’s all you.

So invite people to work with you. Step up and say you can deliver what your potential client wants. Make a bold statement. Offer a guarantee. Do something that gets you on the court and playing to make the championships.

To your expansion,