Hi! Welcome back. If there are topics you'd like me to cover, please submit them via the form on the Contact page. Don't forget to write a comment about the post. I'd enjoy hearing from you!
By now, you’ve identified a potentially profitable niche or two. It appears ripe. There’s some competition, so you know it’s viable. The niche is small enough for you to become visible, yet large enough to provide a good amount of work. You’ve done your homework, learned the niche’s ins and outs, identified a few good suspects and maybe a handful of prospects. Now it’s time to get known, get on the radar screens and build a reputation as the ipso facto go-to person.
To follow are a few ideas to get things going. If you do these tasks on a regular basis, you will build a following and a reputation as a valuable resource. Plus, you can edge out the other guys and gals who either are too lazy to do them, don’t know how or where to even start.
Social Media
Having a presence on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn is pretty much a must-do these days. The problem comes in when folks get into social media, blogging and email marketing with great guns and loads of enthusiasm but putter out after a month or two. Stuff happens. You get busy and put your social media off to the side or you run out of ideas for content. I’m as guilty as the next guy.
The trick is to write as much content as possible in advance. Take some time in the evening or over the weekend to prepare tweets, Facebook posts, blog entries, etc. Use online tools such as SocialOomph.com, HootSuite.com and Feedburner to schedule and manage tweets and feeds. For example, I use SocialOomph to schedule my tweets and also have them fed into Facebook and LinkedIn via Feedburner. I had to chuckle a while back when a friend mentioned that they thought I was sitting here, in front of this box, tweeting my hind quarter off all day. Er … no. I’ve got this billable stuff I have to get out, too.
Writing
Writing is probably the single most important task to aid in your positioning efforts. If you don’t feel comfortable writing, learn how. Writer’s Digest is a good place to start. Here’s a link their 101 Best Writing Sites.
I never considered myself a writer. Then Creative Latitude came along. While we were building the site, I said to my cohorts, Catherine (Cat) Morley and Nigel Gordijk, “Hey, we’re three designers. Who’s gonna write this thing?” Cat answered, “You write good forum posts and email stuff. You write it.” To which I replied, “But I’m not a writer.” At which time I was instructed, “Well, you are now.” And so it goes.
I tell people to simply write like they talk. Even though you might have thousands of Twitter followers, loads of Facebook fans and tons of subscribers, those posts and messages are one-to-one. So, enter into a dialogue or at least a monologue. If you write like you talk, it tends to be much more authentic and real. Don’t try to come off as an intellectual, talking down to your audience. Famed adman, David Ogilvy summed it up pretty well in his book, The Unpublished Ogilvy, “Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally. They are the hallmarks of a pretentious ass.”
Writing opens up a world of promotional possibilities. Here are a few:
- E-Newsletters
- Blogs
- Articles (free and fee)
- Whitepapers & Reports (free and for sale)
- Press Releases
- And the big one – Writing books
Other opportunities that writing can bring are interviews, book review requests and speaking gigs, which is next up on the list.
Speaking
Speaking gigs are great. Great, that is, if you don’t mind standing up in front of a bunch of people you don’t know who, if it’s a lunch or dinner meeting, are likely armed with tomatoes or other produce.
In my Low & No Cost Marketing presentation, one thing I often mention is, “Speaking is ahead of death on the stressful things to do list. Think about that for a minute. Most people would rather die than do what I’m doing now.” Sure, the first few times can be a wee bit unnerving, but, like most things, the more you do it, the easier it gets.
If you’re new to speaking and need some help getting started honing your spiel, consider joining Toastmasters. They provide a safe environment to learn speaking skills, try things out and master the art without the worry of being booed off the stage.
Once you’ve arrived at a comfort level, it’s time to find some folks to talk to. It’s a good idea to start small. Most business clubs are hungry for speakers to present during their meetings. Rotary comes to mind. Most SCORE offices put on small business workshops and seminars. Colleges and Universities are also good ones to check out. Also, check to see if there’s a state or local speakers bureau in your area and consider joining the National Speakers Association. Google up “speakers bureau” and you’ll find lots more. You might consider putting on your own seminars. These can be free or paid. But, putting on your own and be tricky and expensive, unless you have adequate space at your office.
And there you have it. Here’s how all this comes together. Joe Prospect comes into work one fine morning. He sifts through the mail and sees a postcard promoting a special offer from you. He sits down at his desk and begins to thumb through the newspaper. He notices a press release about your business or perhaps a volunteer activity in which you’re involved. He picks up the new edition of his favorite trade publication and there’s an article by you. For lunch, he’s off to his weekly Rotary meeting and guess what? You’re the speaker. In the afternoon, he checks his Twitter and sees a bunch tweeples retweeting your very useful tips, links and info.
Sure, it probably won’t all happen in the same day, but you get the idea. You’re reaching out at several touchpoints that position you as the go-to expert. To Mr. Prospect, you’re all over the place. When the time comes for him to need what you’re selling, guess who’s going to be first on his mind?
What are your thoughts? Have you used any of these techniques? If so, how have they worked for you? Or, do you have others to share?
Next up … Leveraging your expert status.
