I'm veering away from the personal focus we've had lately on purpose and calling (
blog or
podcast). Those are where my heart primarily falls…where I love to speak to.
However, as successful self-employment is the fruit of what we are after here, I'm going to hit on a key topic: Promotion
It comes from a lot of conversations I've had with free agents (and aspiring) lately.
Imagine having the business you love. A product or service or message that is a joy to wake up and participate with. Something you believe in with all your heart. You've created a brand, you've got a website…maybe even a brick-and-mortar storefront. You are open for business! And the handful of customers or clients you have…you do a stellar job with. They love you and are raving fans.
The key word there however…is 'handful'. A handful isn't enough unless you are making $20k per pop in profit. Doubtful unless you're selling yachts.
Now again, we must assume here that you do have your product set up well, branded beautifully and showcased expertly in your storefront, be it physical or online. Going to this next step is folly if these aren't nailed. Otherwise…
…you need exposure. Not huge numbers, it can be small if it's targeted. Don't let the online world that speaks of huge numbers confuse you. Most folks need huge numbers cause they aren't selling real value or they have a crappy brand and their conversion percentages are infinitesimal.
But you do need SOME numbers. And an audience to speak to and nurture. And a percentage every month of brand new people.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Blogging, podcasting, twitter and facebook postings nurture your audience and will help gain new people here and there, but don't count on them to organically grow your audience enough to sustain your business. Many people are hiding out in these efforts…being busy as ever participating, but it's not causing conversion and purchases. Beware.
So what do you do? I'll tell you.
You know your target audience intrinsically well. You understand where they are, especially online.
And you get in front of them with credibility.Did you hear that? "With credibility." Here is the difference, and we'll use a social party where a guy spies a girl he'd like to pursue:
Option 1 - Interruption = zero credibilityGuy approaches girl and interrupts her with a 'line.' "Are you a parking ticket? Cause you got FINE written all over you."
Result - She rolls her eyes at this stereotypical methodology and does whatever she can to remove herself from his presence. He may be a great guy! But bad method.
This is advertising. Do some folks get business from it? If they do it to their target audience, know how to speak to them, have great copy…sure. But it's hard and your cost to procure is very high.
Option 2 - Understand and address a need = good credibility (and benefit of reciprocity)
Guy sees girl finish her drink and look around for more, and fetches a refill. Or sees her drop an hors d'oeuvre on her shirt and quickly grabs a napkin. Or sees some guy doing Option #1 and intervenes to tell the guy he left the lights on in his car…whatever. The point, he stayed back to figure out a legitimate need the target had, and he met it. Just a free service. He's not hoping for payment, just viable attention.
Result - She'll be a bit taken aback. If the guy smiles like a Cheshire cat, she'll know it's just a ploy. But if he just authentically gives and then goes to excuse himself…good deed done…75% of the time or more, she'll react to engage with him.
This is aligning yourself with someone or an organization to provide your expertise in a way that serves. Being a resident expert, or just flat out giving freely. But you need to do it well, and do it for a lot of people. You can also do this just to achieve credibility with the leader, which can lead to...
Option 3 - Recommendation = enormous credibilityGuy sees girl talking to someone he knows, or even searches the party for people he knows to see if anyone knows the girl…and asks for an introduction. Or approaches the host who he may not know with tactics of option #2, then requests an introduction to the girl. When the host or a friend approaches the girl with the guy and says "Stacy, want you to meet Bill, he plays guitar and I know you were asking about good places to buy a piano, I bet he'd know…"
Result - It's borrowing credibility. Notice I didn't have the introducer say, "Hey Stacy, Bill thinks your hot and would you kiss him?" It was simply saying in so many words, "I know you, and I know this guy and as I want you to trust me, I wouldn't connect you if I didn't have trust in Bill. And here is a relevant connection point." It's authentic all the way around, or it should be, or it will ultimately fail.
With your business, you need to find a way to accomplish one or more of those options to thousands of people. You need a Golden Goose. You need Oprah recommending your book, though a much smaller scale will do. There are many home mortgage lenders paying their bills on the coattails of a few good Realtors. Then there are appraisers riding the coattails of those lenders. And on down the line.
On July 8th I'll be a guest on the Zig Ziglar Success 2.0 show. The tens of thousands of folks in their audience probably don't know me. Just like that Bill didn't know Stacy. Doesn't matter, cause the host is recommending me. Endorsing me. And I know the needs of the audience, to which I'll speak directly to.
Now, how does all this relate to your specific business? Who can you align with and with what strategy to offer your service or product or message? No way I can tell you the exact prescription here. There is no cookie cutter process that fits every product or service or person (though many folks will try to sell you one). You're left to:
1. Extrapolate the concept for yourself, or
2. You get help.
I'm obviously a believer in #2. This is what we help with in Free Agent Academy. June 14 I'm leading a class titled
"Who is (or could be) your golden goose?" for our GROW level members. This is very personal. Members will have submitted their product or service and we'll talk about literal opportunities.
But as always…if not us…find someone who is invested in you and knows you, and get personal guidance.
Nothing worse than a great provision (your product or service) that dies due to anonymity. That's just a tragedy. Don't be 'that guy'.
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