Let’s be honest:
There is no point building a beautiful product, creating a fantastic service, having a stunning website, or the most knowledgeable online course on the planet, if no one knows about it and no one is buying it.
You know your product is good and you’ve put your heart and soul into it but – the customers are still not coming…
The trouble is…
Most businesses and brands go about overcoming this (all too common) problem in the same way:
- They shout louder and more often – in the hope we hear them
- They get in our face more – in the hope we will see them
- They try to sell more stuff to us – in the hope we care and the truth is we don’t until they make us.
‘Same old, same old’
If you keep repeating the same old message in the same old way you will become ‘invisibly visible’ it’s a fact.
This means that if what you’re saying is the same all the time or, worse still, the same as everyone else, you will become ‘invisibly visible’.
The surprising thing is that this is exactly what many businesses do, especially small ones.
They become another part of our everyday online noise.
Snowblind
I have a good friend who is in the process of building an amazing business. His intentions are honourable and his mission is a beautiful one.
The trouble is he sends out so many Facebook , Instagram and email updates, quotes and mantras that, no matter how much I like what he is trying to do, I have stopped reading them.
I have become ‘snow blind’ to them.
Marketing ‘experts’ are always telling us “customers have the attention span of hamsters so you have keep telling them over and over again”
I agree and I don’t agree!
Yes, it is important to get your message out there as much as possible and yes, you have to repeat your message. However, in order to stand out from the crowd, it is important to keep that brand message fresh and inspiring.
Your brand has to become ‘visibly visible’ or it will disappear. There is no other way!
- You don’t have to do eight Instagram posts a day.
- You don’t have to remind us every hour on Facebook how you’re ‘crushing it’ and how we can too if we do what you do.
Too many messages, too many posts, too many emails and too many boasts will have a negative effect on your audience.
We become snow-blind. We feel abused and brow-beaten.
Sadly, when it does comes to telling us something really important we’re not listening anymore.
Remember; follow the same old thinking, the same old techniques, the same old marketing cliches, the same old business rules and, unless you’re the exception, you will end up with the same results. It makes no sense!
You don’t have to shout to be heard
Shouting is not the answer. You know that.
Yes, people forget what you say.
Yes, people probably don’t listen when you say it.
And yes, we never listen to what we really need to hear.
We often talk when we should listen and sometimes listen when we should talk.
But shouting is not the answer.
What’s the answer?
The simple answer is – there is more than one answer!
Becoming ‘visibly visible’ takes commitment, it takes time and it takes some imagination.
- If you want people to listen – inspire them. You have to make them care
- Care more! Most businesses don’t because it is difficult and it takes real effort but if you do care it will pay dividends in the long run
- You must know your customer – and I mean really know – the chances are you don’t, even if you think you do.
- You must take control of how your brand is positioned in the marketplace.
If you do, you will be:
- In the right place at the right time
- Visible to the right audience – in the right way.
Sounds simple doesn’t it?
Here’s an interesting fact, in 45 out of the last 52 coaching calls I have done the ‘real’ customer was not who the client thought they were. Now that’s incredible but it’s means they have been wasting time, energy and expense trying to sell to the wrong audience.
