It's Not About You

Monday, July 18, 2011

It's Not About You

Excelent words from Jim:

How to get your prospective client’s attention

Posted: 08 Jul 2011 07:00 AM PDT

If you want to earn the attention of your marketplace, you need to give them something important to focus on. Here’s the thing. They will only focus on what’s important to them, not what’s important to you.

A lot of marketing tends to do the complete opposite and focus on the provider, rather than the prospective client. We see lots of broadcasting about how great they are, how great their service is yet very little emphasis placed on solving the specific challenges facing their prospective clients.

That’s the wrong balance.

Earned attention

Broadcasting your special offers will never earn you the attention of your marketplace. The key word there is earn. You earn people’s attention by delivering them-focused information – Information that is all about helping them. My focus here, for example, is to deliver as much useful marketing and business development information to as many small business owners as possible. I don’t write post after post about me and what I want from MY business. I know that people come here for answers and ideas, so that’s what I work hard to provide.

By focusing on the needs of my readers, you connect with me and allow me to be a part of their business development. A subset of you will hire me, without me emailing you with “special offers”. There’s real magic there.

How can you earn the attention of your marketplace?

Give! Give them as much genuinely useful information and help as you can. Then give them even more. Help them solve problems, so they learn to regard (position) you as the go-to person in your industry. This takes time rather than money; creativity rather than force. Connect with people. Educate, don’t sell.

Get this process right and it changes everything. You start attracting qualified, high quality inquiries from people who already know you are a specialist in your field. It’s one of the most enjoyable, profitable and professional ways to grow a business.