We live in an extremely fast paced environment which seems to be moving even faster nowadays? How do you keep up with all the different technologies emerging and the new communication channels and at the same time continue to grow your business? I don’t have an answer to that, at least not one that fits all, but I can most certainly share my experience and strategy for you to take what might work for you and your business.
Here are my TOP 7:
1. Need to speak up:
One thing platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and now Clubhouse have in common is that they all encourage you to share publicly, the subject is down to you, but your have to speak up to stand out. What Clubhouse has cleverly done is to eliminate video and large images, leaving you a tiny profile picture and of course, your voice. This removes barriers like having to dress up, even halfway if you are using Zoom, Teams, Webex or any other video-conferencing platform, you can be cooking, driving, I’ve even heard people speaking from the hot tub. They are making it easier for all of us to participate, connect and hopefully benefit in the process.
I get that some people prefer a more visual way of communicating and that’s fine, you have plenty of platforms that allow just that. These platforms are already saturated though, so I invite you to give clubhouse a go, not to sit and listen from the comfort of your home, quite the opposite, it’s important that you raise your hand, ask questions, share your thoughts, create rooms, network and connect with your target audience.
One of my business partners is currently being inundated with invitations to join rooms as a listener and he keeps on turning them down. His strategy is to join those rooms where he can speak to add value, connect with like-minded people and expand his network.
2. People by from people, but don’t go selling:
This is a clear trend in all digital channels, we seemed to have developed a radar that shuts our brain down when somebody tries to sell something to us. Does this mean online selling is dead? Of course not, it is done via a much more subtle approach intended to take us through a journey of knowing, liking, trusting until we are finally influenced by the person or organisation offering the product or service. It’s about finding the sweet spot between pulling and pushing.
Let me illustrate this with a story. My brother recently bought a new lens for his camera, so I decided to ask him what his strategy was. Before deciding which one was right for him, he poured through Google and YouTube to make an informed decision. Once he narrowed his search down to a couple of lenses, he visited the online store to check-out specs in person before making up his mind.
To put this in marketing terms, he was “pulled” into the various options of lenses (also known as inbound marketing) for the type of filming he wants to do. Then he got “pushed” into choosing the right lens by looking at the marketing inside the online store.
Based on this, how can you adapt your marketing strategy to the current social media channels? If you push from the start you are very likely to lose the audience and if you just focus on pulling, your sales will get affected.
3. Make an impact with your content:
Regardless of the platform, be significant and relevant. Have a content plan in place that supports your pull-push strategy, i.e., inspire and motivate, entertain, educate and get people to take action. Your content and delivery have to get people on the path towards knowing, liking and trusting you. Without this, forget about sales and growth.
Consistency is key as much as flexibility in terms of monitoring and evaluating what’s working and what isn’t in order to pivot accordingly. To remain current, always ask yourself the following questions with regards to your content:
What can I do more of?
What can I do less of?
What can I create?
What can I eliminate?
It may take time until you develop the formula that works for your business, but once you do, you will start to get results.
4. Podcasting can be powerful:
Don’t get me started because I love podcasting. An amazing channel to share your knowledge, experience and anecdotes, connect with outstanding individuals and have some fun. These are the values podcasting meets for me. You can also monetise this channel and of course use it in various ways to gain exposure, gain followers and promote what your business does in the back of it.
Last week I created a podcast for one of our customers in less than an hour. This is how simple it can be. There are different ways to get started but we are not going to discuss it here. However, I will write about it and you will soon find a blog on it.
In the meantime, you can check out mine: Life, Business and Stuff with Jose Ucar
Another benefit is that people can listen to podcasts in their own time, so you don’t have to be present and active like on Clubhouse, for example.
You may not want to hear this, but the more touch points you have for your target audience, the more likely you will be to succeed. Plenty of work, I know… This is a big part of running your own business.
5. Have a book, sure, how about a pre-recorded online training course?
I would suggest you do both. Having a book together with an online training course is a great way to increase your credibility and your positioning as an authority, a thought leader within your industry. People learn and consume information in different ways, therefore having written, video and audio content will all be valuable for your audience. This will also impact your visibility on the search engines, makes sense, the more quality content you put out there, the higher the possibilities for people to find, know, like and trust you.
Based on my experience and the current learning trends, I recommend you launch an online course at your earliest convenience, as it will help you to gain more exposure while building credibility around your target audience.
Simply put. Say for example you are looking to hire a coach or a trainer for your team, which coach or trainer would you go for, the one who has an online training course, a book, a podcast, an engaging website and strong presence on social media or the one that doesn’t? Are you catching my drift?
6. Model people that are achieving what you want for your business:
This ties up nicely with the above points. A very important question I ask myself is who is achieving what I want and how are they doing it? Answering this question will give you unlimited avenues to move towards reaching your goals. This applies to business and life as well.
My first point was the need to speak up, great, who is doing it successfully and how? Who has an effective pull-push strategy in place? what kind of content do they share? How do they manage their podcast (s), what books and courses do they have, how do they promote them? Curiosity has and will always be key in how we learn, so get more curious and connect with these people. A great advice I once received from my friend and mentor Toby McCartney was to connect with successful individuals and ask for help and advice. Learn direct from the source.
7. Look beyond your current market for inspiration!
As I’m typing I continue to think about the various things I do to develop and grow my businesses and those of my customers and there are many more things that can be done such as funnelling, membership areas / clubs, PR, networking, paid ads, blogging and vlogging and the list goes on…
One thing that has helped me a great deal is to look at other industries and how they market and sell their products and services to then adapt their strategies to my business (s). It’s like a cross pollination between industries.
On many occasions I hear people recommend keeping your eyes on the market and watch what competitors do, sure, do that and also look beyond for new ways in which you can meet and exceed your audience’s needs and expectations.
Remember to answer these questions regularly with your target audience in mind:
What can I do more of?
What can I do less of?
What can I create?
What can I eliminate?
Summarising...
Hope you found the above 7 tips useful. Stay tuned for new blogs and drop us a line if you think there is anything we can help you with or just to connect and say hello.