What’s Your Client’s Story?
One of the tools that is so powerful in engaging a tribe in your business and what it has to offer is by telling your story and telling it in an authentic manner. Getting too focused on your story means that you aren’t taking enough time to think about your end user’s story. It’s not because we’re selfish it’s that there are times in our business when we get really focused on ourselves. Chip and Dan Heath talked about the “Curse of Knowledge” in their book about crafting a message that sticks with people. The idea is that we get so wrapped up into what we know and what we
What Do You Stand For?
What do you stand for? When was the last time you asked yourself that question? That question is relevant for you, your business or any other organization you are involved in. When I talk about standing for something, I am talking about taking a stand but what I am really talking about is clarity. Having clarity, particularly as a new business owner, is critical. Without clarity you lack the ability to properly position the way that you create value for the world and solve problems. One asset that clarity gives you is the ability to differentiate yourself. Whether you are a business owner or an employee of a company, you
The Simplest Way To Market Your Business
SEO. PPC. Websites. Analytics. Hundreds of social media platforms. Should I use Groupon? How do I create a fan page? Who can I joint venture with? When it comes to marketing, there are a ton of tactics that you can use to market your business. You may feel a little overwhelmed just looking at all that you could do. So where should you start? That really is a million dollar question. There is one simple way that most business owners should start marketing their business that most are ignoring. The simple tactic you should use to market your business? Education. Specifically, using the knowledge that you have in your area
Is The Quickest Route To Your Business A Dead End?
You just spoke in front of 300 people at an industry event. At the end of your talk, 100 people take action on the book that you are offering them. You take these 100 names and give them to your sales team who then tries to up-sell them into a higher ticket product that you offer. 15 of those people buy making your time spent at the event profitable. You then proceed to ignore the other 85 people who had expressed some interest in what you do. Those 85 people just hit a dead end in your business. If you know anything about persuasion architecture then you know that there
Manage The Conversations That Your Customers Aren’t Having With You
“I am not sure what it is that you do.” “My friend told me that I shouldn’t use your product or service.” “I can get it cheaper somewhere else.” As a business owner, you will occasionally hear statements like the ones above from the public. This especially true if the business is newer. Whether you want them to or not, your customers have concerns about your product/service during your relationship with them. Now I know what you are thinking, how can I keep my customers from thinking like this? You can’t. But here’s what you can do. You can get out in front of the conversation and manage the conversations
Want To Stand Out? Admit When You Are Wrong
Apologies are hard. Regardless if it’s your spouse, kids or a friend who you need to apologize to. Clients are difficult to apologize to as well. Unfortunately society isn’t making it any easier for us to say sorry but it’s a skill that has to be mastered. As I am writing this, I can’t help but think about my time in Corporate America. The motto in our office was never admit you were wrong in your dealing with a client. Apologies lead to lawsuits. We would say bullshit things to clients like…”I’m sorry you feel this way….” The goal was to always put the issue back on the customer. It’s
A Powerful Resource To Get You Out Of Your Holding Pattern In Business
Despite all the information you consume and all the work you do in your business, it’s still really easy to get stuck. The most challenging thing about being stuck is that oftentimes it isn’t obvious that we are stuck. If you feel like you might be in a rut then here are some things you can do to get out. If you aren’t sure if you are in a rut try these things anyway. Before I get into the resources let me tell you about some recent inspiration that I received that help get me out of my rut. I spent some time in Houston, TX recently working on my
Do Something Worthy Of Being Noticed
“ I can’t get anyone to pay attention to my business.” “My business isn’t growing.” Have you ever complained about the above scenarios in your business? I know I have. There’s a funny thing about the above statements. The funny thing is the above statements are about ourselves. What’s funny about that? We don’t create a business for ourselves. This is where I also have an issue with personal branding. While I do think that you need to build notoriety in your particular field, what gets lost in the process is that you are in business to help other people. Thus the title of this post. Do something worthy of
What Is The Freemium Process?
Getting established in a new industry or market is hard. In fact I just read a piece from Stanislav D. Dobrev and Aleksios Gotsopoulos called The Survival Chances of New Firms in New Industries: Legitimacy Vacuum, Structural Imprinting, and the First-Mover Disadvantage. Spoiler alert: Basically being a pioneer in an industry is extremely difficult primarily due to the constraints on resources that exist for these new industry pioneers. Because of the difficulty that businesses have breaking a new product into a new industry, there has been a lot of experimenting with different business models to see what works. One of the most popular business models, particularly for tech services has
Building A Business Around Your Soul Purpose
Last week I had the opportunity to be interviewed by financial coach Chris Miles on his monthly client call. The topic was, what do you do with your Soul Purpose once you have an idea on what it is that you can do to create value in the world. Chris is a unique financial coach in that he focuses on an individuals ability to create value in the world which then leads them to the ability to create more wealth. On our call last week, I gave four points that I feel are critical to getting started: 1. Self Understanding- Knowing what your skills are and how you can match
