2 Great Small Business Questions!

At the MyBoard networking event yesterday, there were two really good questions raised about different business strategies.

One was asking about the development of a 12 month email strategy and the second was about how to make the most of social media. This second question seemed to really resonate with people as many people seem to find themselves doing social media because they feel they should,  but struggling to see any real benefit beyond accumulating followers, likes and so on ... and this question may resonate with you as well.

The second question was "I have over 1,000 connections on LinkedIn, but I get no business from them. What am I doing wrong?". There then ensued an excellent round table discussion which asked lots of questions and then generated lots of ideas and suggestions for the person asking the question.*

What was particularly interesting about the discussion of both questions was that there was a very definite need for clarity of message in both businesses.  During the round table questioning, it became apparent that both owners have strong businesses with a good client base, a clearly defined niche market and these were smart people. Both had impressive and well established portfolios of products and services. Both were clear on what they offered, had great business names and knew where they wanted to go - and yet, in neither case, did the marketing make clear what was special about these terrific businesses.

The problem here is a difference between Inside Reality and Outside Perception. You may well be a leader in your specialist niche, but if your target prospects do not see that in the way you market your business, how will they know?

There are very few, if any, markets where there is no competition. So, it is imperative that, as a business owner, you define your Market Dominating Position - by answering this question:

"What exactly makes your business different from your competitors

as perceived by your target prospects and customers?"

And here's the secret: the second half of that sentence makes a whole world of difference!

I know this sounds brutal but in most circumstances people don't care about your qualifications, how long you've been in business, that you might be family owned, that you offer the best quality, you really work to understand their business etc etc ... you probably get the picture!

What people care about is;

"Does this company understand my problem(s)

and do they have a solution(s) that might help?"

If you can answer this question with your Market Dominating Position, then social media, email campaigns and all the other elements of how you market your business instantly become much easier and much more successful!!

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If you want to know a little more, click HERE to watch a 3 minute animation ... I promise you will find it illuminating!

*This was a very different and  very impressive format of networking event - if you'd like to know more about it, let me know and I will be happy to put you in touch with the organiser.