As a new small business, how do you begin to stand out of the crowd of infopreneurs competing for the same target market? One part of the answer seems to be that we need to be “seen” and “heard” so that our clients will be able to recognize who we are, what values are important to us.
We need to find an effective vehicle that will communicate all this, and get people to visit our website and access/buy/use the services and products we can uniquely offer them that will address their needs and wants in a very effective way. We need to establish our brand positioning to the world at large and establish meaningful connections with our target market, other professionals in related fields and beyond. “The” place to do it nowadays is on the Web.
Communicating and exchanging ideas, personal experiences and networking using social media such as writing and producing a blog (or several), Twitter, Facebook and YouTube (to name just a few popular ones) seems to be the modus operandi for the world at large now. It is no surprise that most innovative, proactive and creative business individuals are taking advantage of this great opportunity to participate so that their own unique ‘voice’ can be distinguished from the crowd. An indirect benefit of this investment is more traffic is generated to their website (the old adage ‘Curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought him back!’ comes to mind).
One thing leads to another, and this principle is made effectively clear in the life of Patti Church, co-founder of www.whyhire.me, offering a unique and dynamic Personal Branding/marketing strategy course curriculum delivered to post-secondary students at various schools and other interested groups in Ontario for a very reasonable fee – $30 per student).
At a recent guest lecture at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Patti shared how this business opportunity began to develop and grow organically – all from her participation online in social media during a difficult time in her life when she was seeking a new vocational direction.
She started participating actively and extensively in social media and ‘exposing’ herself and her strong ideals about herself on a personal level (what she is passionate about), as well as writing and talking online about her ‘take’ on social media marketing practices.
She soon discovered her niche and established her educational/mentorship program on Personal Branding and marketing strategies. Patti emphasized that she used social media exclusively to get to this point in her business, hammering home the point that all business folk (infopreneurs especially!) need to dive in and create a dynamic online presence by writing a blog, guest blogging, start Tweeting, Facebooking and posting videos on YouTube – using all pertinent social media to reinforce who YOU are and what your particular brand is.
There is no cost to writing a blog or interacting with other like-minded people online via the social media applications mentioned above and others. Be your brand. By jumping in with both feet into the social media world, we can propel our small business forward by reinforcing our brand positioning and our trustworthiness as individuals as well as business people so that our clients can say, “I know her and I can trust what she’s offering because she’s consistent in what she says and does.”
Sweet, tweet!
