This blog is nothing special. What you do with it could be.
We’ve put together a 6-part blog series called Make Your Business Known that will walk you through a secret ingredient we use to help our clients grow in confidence and clarity in their marketing.
Here’s the thing I’ve noticed. Every business owner understands that in order to grow they need to make more people aware of their business. Being known is the essential first step towards an increase in customers.
But there’s a problem.
Too many businesses fail because of a lack of clarity. They know that they need to do something to get the word out. They know that advertising and marketing their business is a key to success. So they scramble to put up a website or post on social media or make a video or place an ad (all very good things, by the way). Yet, the lack of clarity ends in a jumbled mess that yields unpredictable and inefficient results. Not what you’re looking for.
A lack of clarity can kill your business.
There’s good news though. Your efforts don’t have to be stressful, frantic or unclear. Make Your Business Known will walk you through a simple process to clarify some foundational attributes of your business that will give you clarity and direction in your marketing.
First up: Who Are You?
We are starting off with a doozy of a question in this series called Make Your Business Known. This is probably the most important question you’ll ask yourself today (besides “What’s for lunch?”) But it might be helpful to reframe the question as…
How would your customers/clients describe you?
Better still, what do you want your customers to say about you? In your ideal world, how would the people you serve describe your business? What your customers say and think about your business will determine whether you succeed or fail. So it’s imperative that we not only describe how people would ideally think about you, but also work towards making it a reality.
Think of this exercise as a target. We are setting up a clear goal by determining what you want to be known as. This will help direct your communication and operational efforts internally and externally.
So here’s the process.
- Write down as many descriptive words or phrases as you can think of. Write down a minimum of 20 descriptors.
Pro-tip: Don’t edit right now. If you think it and it sounds like something you’d want people to say about your business, write it down. - The next step is to narrow down your list to your top five words/phrases. What most resonates with you? Take out your highlighter and put a nice fluorescent swipe across the words you’ve chosen.
- Great work so far. Okay, last step. From your highlighted choices, select the one descriptor that you most want people to say about you. Circle it.
- Boom, done. You’ve got your first brand attribute locked in!
Make sure to come back in two weeks for the next phase of Make Your Business Known. We’ll help you nail down who your audience is so you know who you’re communicating to.