Perspective check 👀 are you too close to it? [🐝U]

There’s been a major shift in my perspective.
It’s ironic because I’m notorious for saying …
“perspective is everything”

I help business owners find the words (& develop strategies) so buyers finally get it.
Because helping people articulate their value is literally what I do for a living.

But ever since the Hormozi $100M VIP Day in Vegas, it feels like I went from grade school to graduate school thinking.
OK, maybe high school.

You know that feeling … thinking you’ve got it all figured out, right before the universe hands you a “rude awakening”?

Even my perspective on perspective changed.
& sharing more of what I’m seeing (& hearing) on client calls is shifting results in big ways.

When clarity collides with assumption

Whether it’s a 30-minute “catch-up” call that turns into a month’s worth of LinkedIn posts, or a campaign that misses because something got lost in translation….

What you see vs what your prospects see are usually 2 very different things. That’s where the Curse of Knowledge sneaks in.

The real curse: knowing “too much”

We all suffer from it.
It’s when you know your craft so well that you skip over context your audience needs to understand the value of what you do.

In your head, everything’s clear.
But to them?
It’s a thick fog rolling in.

That disconnect shows up everywhere …
It’s in your pricing, your offers, & your posts.

Where the fog first appears:
pricing without perspective

I didn’t realize how bad a problem pricing is with solopreneurs until I ended up on the other side … as a buyer.

I’ve been developing a piece of land in the middle of nowhere.
Bare. No utilities anywhere nearby.
Everything has to be off grid.
& that means most of the work to develop has to be done with local businesses.

I thought it was a good thing - support local! - until I started trying to source contractors.

Someone quoted me $250 an hour to move trees.
Cool… but what does that mean?
Are they moving one tree? Ten?
Are there a size limits?
What do I actually get for that $250/hour?

Same story when I asked about building a cabin.
“That’s at least $60,000.”
OK — for what?
Does that include materials? Labor? Timeline? Finishings?

They knew the answers.
I just knew a price tag.
No context, no clarity.
Zero connection to value.

That’s when it hit me …
We do this too.
& honestly, it stung.
I pride myself on clarity, but even I was foggy.

We assume people see what we see.
But they don’t.
& that tiny gap?
That’s where trust goes missing.

Sound familiar?
How do we stop tossing context-free ideas all over our prospects?

When you’re the one quoting

When you talk about your services …
Are you talking about what you do or the problem you solve?
Do clients see value or just cost?

When we rush to “hourly rates” or “packages,” we might think we’re being transparent.
But we’re really skipping the story that helps people see value the full picture.

Hourly rates, hidden gaps
I get the need to trade time for money.
But if it’s not clear what clients get in exchange, perspective is muddied
& someone ends up bitter & frustrated.

For my trees, I could rent a tree spade for a week & pay less than what I’d have to pay for a full day.
But there’s no way I can do 2 trees an hour.
It’d probably take me an hour just to line up to start the first one.
I don’t know the learning curve, but I’m betting if I tinker with it for a week, I can get the same amount of trees moved.

The question is, do I value the extra time more than the cost?
Do I trust I won’t accidentally kill a few trees?
Or the equipment?

There are a LOT of things that $250/hour can include to offer better perspective.

Instead of telling me what they get, they should be showing me the value in having them do it for me.

& that’s a lot more important with services that require more than time to do a task.

That’s clarity. That’s trust.
& that’s true whether we’re moving trees or building businesses.

Look at copywriters tempted to charge hourly…
That’s a structure small businesses understand…
But clients aren’t only paying for writing?
What about research, ideation, or brand discovery?

Seriously, who pays for the ideas that come while you’re walking the dog or in the shower?

If you’ve been working with them longer & get faster, should you make less for the same amount of work?
Or if you’re newer, are you expected to deliver just as much in the same timeframe? Even if it can’t be as good? Or do you not charge for the extra time?

If you bill hourly & it works for you, I genuinely want to know.
Hit reply & tell me … how do you make it work?

Even retainers aren’t immune
Even retainers have their quirks.
I’ve had a Director of Marketing once say,
“EG, can you slow down so the rest of the team can pull their weight?”

Wait, what?!

That’s when I realized, it’s not just about pricing.
It’s about how clearly everyone understands the value exchange.

It’s not just pricing … it’s your message too

The same thing happens in your copy & your content

The meaning that connects you to your buyer, it often stays locked in our head.
All because we’re told to “use fewer words” or “kill your darlings”
& our perspective on that is different than what’s intended too!

That’s the Curse of Knowledge in action … assuming your audience can “see the rest of the forest” when you’ve only shown them one tree.

The cure: Perspective, Questions, & Context

Good news … there’s a cure for the curse

1 Map it out: 
Are you glossing over your customer’s biggest desires & needs?
Do you know their Level of Awareness?

2 Ask more (& better) questions: 
Never assume understanding … confirm it.
“What would you think if I said ___?” or
“How do you define ___?”
“When you hear ___, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?”

You’ll be shocked at how often they fill in blanks differently than you expected.

& sometimes, you’re just too close to see it yourself.
That’s when a 3rd set of eyes helps
Whether it’s a client, a peer, or someone like me doing a clarity check.

→ Ask clients. Ask your audience. Ask AI.
OR as a pro who lives & breathes this stuff.

3 Shift your focus: 
Talk about their needs & outcomes, not just your process.
Because clients don’t buy your method.
They buy what your method does for them … they care about results.

More “you get” & “your investment of $__ for __ results”
Less “I do” or “we charge”

4 Clarify context: 
Explain what you do, how you do it, & how that’s different from everyone else.
Just give your prospect the “why” before the “what”

From “That’s $250/hr”
To “Depending on the size of the tree & how far it’s being moved, we can average about 2 an hour at $250/hr”

Context turns numbers into value.
Without it, you’re just dropping random price tags in the dark.

Why is paying you $250 or $2,500 different (better for me) than paying someone else?

Marcus Sheridan (author of They Ask, You Answer) calls it The Big 5
→ answer the questions your audience is already asking about …
Cost, problems, comparisons, reviews, & best-ofs.

The real win: perspective that sells & serves

Curing the Curse of Knowledge isn’t about “dumbing things down”
It’s about pulling people out of the fog you accidentally created.

When you cure your own curse,
your message lands faster,
your clients connect deeper
& suddenly, your “price” starts to make sense in a way that discounts never could.

Because clarity doesn’t just sell better
It serves better.
It shows prospects how your work fills their needs.

Remember: Less isn’t always more
“Shorter” isn’t automatically “clearer.”
Sometimes, cutting words just cuts understanding.
Your job is to bridge the gap, not burn the bridge.

Perspective really is the new superpower

Marketing is a conversation.
And you can’t have a real conversation with people who don’t understand what you’re saying — no matter how badly they need what you sell.

It’s like thinking you’re clumsy when you really just needed glasses.
Or assuming you’re scatterbrained when you just couldn’t hear the full conversation.

Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

Is it perfect? No.
Are we done learning? Definitely not.

But I’ve learned to check for my own blind spots — and now, it’s your turn.

Seeing the forest & the trees

Perspective isn’t something you get once & keep forever.
It’s something you keep earning every time you catch yourself assuming people see what you see.

So if you’re stuck in that forest right now, where everything you say feels clear to you, but not to them …

Or if you’re trying to help your clients see the bigger picture without losing yourself in the trees …

Let’s talk.

We’ll walk through where your message might be hiding behind your own expertise & make the perspective shift together … Yours, your clients’, or both.

Because once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

Make it a great “perspective-shifting “ week!
EG

PS:
Every email is based on what you ask for … the more something’s asked for, the faster it finds its way to the top of the to-write-about pile
📣 Tell me what you want to read about … here

📈 Want to talk about better perspective & cure your Curse of Knowledge for your business by being yourself?
Find a time that fits your schedule.