Business Marketing Starts with YOUR Consumption

The best piece of stock advice I ever received was to buy stock in companies that you’re a consumer of first.  It’s an effective strategy because chances are high if your consuming lattes at Starbucks, buying books on Amazon, or getting lost at Target…others are too.  When the recession of 2008 hit, everyone assumed the first thing to go would be the $4 coffees, but I was still going to Starbucks and apparently, so was everyone else.  When Facebook went public and their stock skyrocketed out of the gate only to hit a crash…proof to me that it would recover was when I watched everyone I knew continue to be avid Facebook users including myself.

The first question we have for clients who come to us for websites, marketing, and coaching is…what are you consuming?  What we are asking is…What is your favorite website related to what you are doing?  Who do you follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter?  Whose style do you emulate?  What ways do you consume what you are planning on selling?  Who or what inspires you?

Entrepreneurs are often entrepreneurs before they even have a business idea.  If you feel that spirit and one day hope to be the boss of your own company….start paying close attention to what you’re consuming.

Here’s the How’s and Why’s:

1. Inspiration Research. Make the vision a reality.  What colors will represent your business and brand?  What fonts do you gravitate towards?  What will you wear for your website photos?  What props or symbols represent you or your business and logo?  You develop this inspiration through spending time studying others online.  Even if your business takes unique to a whole new level…you still will need to have clear style ideas for marketing.  The more inspiration our clients have collected, the smoother the process of co-creating their business and brand goes.
2. Who will be your consumer? As you research others and their marketing…what do you enjoy?  Facebook Lives, educational statistics, exquisite photography?  Where do you spend time with companies you enjoy…their website, their Instagram, their YouTube channel?  What influences you will be the key to your success in influencing your future clientele.  Start taking detailed notes and your marketing plan will practically write itself.
3. Determine Your Comfort. Today’s entrepreneurs know that advertising is all about mastering social media.  And…that includes ‘putting themselves out there’ which can be scary.  When I first started blogging I would look for stock photos that were relevant to my subject matter.  After a couple of months, I added a photo of me and my beagle because it was relevant and I got 5X the response.  A couple of weeks later, I tested another photo of me.  Again…waaay more response.  It felt so uncomfortable, truth be said, it still does…but I went back and looked to the entrepreneurs that I consume and love online and realized that my favorites used lots of photos of themselves.  It makes perfect sense, it’s the secret that realtors knew long before social media.  Your photos and stories build personal connection with the client…and humans are always looking for that personal connection whether we realize it or not.
4. Shift the Spotlight. What do you want FOR the consumer?  It’s easy for entrepreneurs in the early stage to be self-absorbed with the building of their business and self.  How do you want your consumer to feel about your product or services?  What do you most want for your client?  What is your mission?  Shift the spotlight from you to who you will serve, then using tips 1-3…how will you create the experience for your consumer?