Stop Looking in the Wrong Direction
Last week I was invited to speak for a networking group of professionals and entrepreneurs about social media and business development. In response to my interactive presentation on irresistible growth in times of the Internet a savvy professional photographer pointed out that as she looked at what her competition was doing, she was finding it difficult to differentiate. Her question?
How do I come to my own irresistible value proposition?
The words spilled out of my mouth, “Why are you looking at the competition and not at your customers?”
Once we were stuck with only those who could reach us geographically via available transportation … feet, cars, bikes, trains and such. Now the Internet has opened the conversation to include anyone who wants a solution anywhere in the world. What does that mean? We can decide more clearly the kind of customers we want to serve by attracting them.
- DECIDE. Look at the customer group you want to serve. What makes them light up? When geography limited us, we had to serve the folks who wanted who came into our shop. But now we can’t possibly serve the whole world well, nor would we want to. And should we try we’ll find ourselves lost in the noise of the undefined. By deciding that group that we love, we stand out and stand up for the people we find irresistible to us.
- PROVE. Build your store, your website, your blog, and your samples to show them that they are the people you serve. Get to know that group better than any other and you’ll understand their problems, their yearnings, and what they love. It will show in everything you do and they will see it too.
- KEEP YOUR EYES ON YOUR CUSTOMERS. If you’re looking at your customers, your competition will soon be looking at you. You won’t need to be looking at what they’re doing because your customers will be fiercely loyal to you.
Over and over, we get distracted by losing our focus. We only need to do two things to grow an irresistible business.
- Keep offering products and services our ideal customers want to buy — so perfectly matched to them that they can’t quit talking about what we do.
- Keep finding ways to give them more opportunities to buy, interact, and participate in what we offer them.
We slowly become what we look at most … don’t keep looking at your competition
I repeat … It starts with a decision to be irresistible to one specific group. Then we can move out slowly to the group that stands right next to them.
Strategy is a lot about focusing on the folks who love what we do.
Be irresistible.
Liz Strauss
How can I help you be irresistible?
