Clarity of Vision

A recent conversation reminded me that nothing in social media is really “new”. Networking sites, bookmarking, and using different mediums for your message have all been around for some time. Forums used to be called message boards, blogs have been used for a better means of interactivity than websites for years, and we’ve been connecting on the Internet since it appeared on our radar.

True, the sophistication, automation, and applications are all moving ahead at light speed, but the tools have been here for awhile.

What we also don’t realize in the rush to jump on the wagon with social media is that despite the seemingly rapid movement of the web, to be successful in a web-based business is no different than any other business—it takes more than just a few days or weeks.

Yes, there are those who have struck it rich fast, some with one-hit wonders, others who have made it seem like it’s an overnight phenomenon. However, if you ask any of the big Internet Marketers how they built their positions, my guess is that they’ll tell you it took them time. The average off-line business takes 2-3 years to become established. The web might be a little quicker, but in my experience, not by much.

One of the biggest mistakes I made and see others making is to jump in without a plan. In fact, most don’t even know who their niche market is! They make the same mistake I did—falling in love with what I had to offer, instead of finding out who wanted it, if they even did.

In the next few posts, I’ll give you a start on what to think about as you build your plan, how to find your niche market, and then how to speak to them using the tools of the web, no matter what you call them. Social media, the idea of using the viral nature of the connectivity of the web can be powerful, but only when you know how to harness what it offers. Here’s what’s coming up:

1. What is your vision for your product/service/business and why does it exist (purpose)?

2. Who is the niche market you plan to target?

3. What does that niche market need?

4. Can you fill that need?

5. What keywords would your niche market use to find what you have to offer?

6. What medium are they using to connect and find what they are looking for?

7. What 1 or 2 strategies can you focus on that will target your niche at the same time you are following your vision/purpose?

With all of the questions above answered, you can now establish your mission objectives (goals) to help you accomplish your vision. Getting answers to each will take some brainstorming and time. So, take a breath, get focused, and stay tuned!

If you haven’t already subscribed to the RSS feed, now is a good time. When you do, you’ll be notified every time I post!

In a couple of weeks, Branding & Marketing Mastery, the 10th book in the Guide to Getting It series by coaches, will be fresh off the printing presses! The chapters in this book combine years of branding and marketing experience with the unique guidance and perspective of Business Coaches.

Wherever you are in terms of building your business, these authors have been there. Whether you are a new business owner establishing your brand, or a seasoned entrepreneur looking for ways to increase visibility, the advice given in these pages will give you new ways to view branding and marketing.

Through their stories and perspectives, the authors guide you to look at creating a branding and marketing strategy from an internal approach, using insight based on values to establish your message in the marketplace. Apply the lessons, and you will build your business in an authentic, inspired way.

As one reviewer said, it’s like getting a marketing seminar in a book!

To celebrate its upcoming arrival, I’m making a one-time only offer of free shipping and handling if you pre-order right now!

To pre-order the book and save shipping and handling charges, click here!

Chapter titles and authors:

Creating A Visionary and Focused Marketing Strategy by Marilyn Schwader

Mass Appeal Equals No Appeal: Discovering Your Niche Market by Cheri Alguire

Attracting Baby Boomer Women to Your Business by Jane Lee Williams

Branding: The Soul of Your Business by Judy Winslow

Authentic Branding by Dawn Andrews

The Evolution of Loyalty: Five Steps to Branding by Mary Ellen Merrigan

The 7 Marketing Archetypes and How to Deal With Them by Dr. Miriam Reiss

Networking: The Insider’s Guide to Finding and Leveraging Your
Best Opportunities by Kim Lysik Di Santi

Quantum Marketing by Jille Bartolome

One of the hottest topics in business, whether online or offline, is how to increase your list, the most valuable asset of your business. To do that online, you have to get people to find you. That involves driving traffic to your site, whether it’s a blog or website. The concept seems simple, but why aren’t people flooding to your site?

What I hear often from my clients is that they don’t know what to focus on first. There are so many options in social media, there’s a lot to consider. Since traffic doesn’t come from just one source, where do you start?

Here’s my tip: Create a strategic plan!

What does that involve? Here’s a quick overview of how to get started…

1. Remind yourself about the purpose of writing for social media (no it’s not to drive traffic; that will be the result, but the purpose is to build credibility and trust!).

2. Know your target market so you can write in their language.

3. Niche your market to its narrowest target. For example, targeting “writers” is too broad. Targeting online writers is still broad. Social Media Writers is better. Social Media Marketing Writers is much more specific.

4. Once you zero in on your target market, make sure they exist! Compile a list of 50 - 100 keywords. Use Google Alerts to test the frequency of those keywords, and what sites come up when searched. You’ll see if anyone is actually searching for what you offer. (Doing this will also give you information on who is talking to the same audience, so bookmark those blogs for commenting on later.)

5. If your target market is alive and searching, find the social media they are using (blogs, networking sites, etc.).

6. Focus on one to begin. There are more things to think about and do in your overall strategy, so focusing on one in the beginning will help you avoid overwhelm. Having a target market also alleviates this overwhelm. You’ll know where to place your energy.

7. Start commenting on other blogs. Even without a blog, you can utilize this method to start to drive people to your website. Once your blog is up, you can exchange links with those blogs and build your expert status.

That’s a good start. I’ll be sharing more in future posts.

For now, Write On!

Marilyn

You’ve got a great idea for a product or a business – and it’s your passion. You are so lit up about it, you “just know” everyone else will be, too. So, you start to build it, whether it’s a book you are writing, a workshop you want to present, or an invention you create.

You’ve finished it, and now you start to market it. But no one is buying it. You’ve spent your valuable time, resources, and energy to make it, and you find that not everyone is as enamored with it as you. What’s wrong with these people?

There’s nothing wrong with them. The problem is that you must find out if there are people who are willing to buy your product – before you spend your time creating it. Are there people who want what you have to offer?

Do Your Research!

What I described above happened to me. What do I do different now? Let me share the steps I take to find a niche:

1. Pick a possible target market. For example, my first target market was “writers”. That’s a pretty wide scope. I definitely needed to whittle that down a bit.

2. Search on the Internet for that target market to see if they exist. In my case, I knew there were markets for writers. I needed to find out what they were looking for and what they were finding that matched my interest.

3. Write down the websites (more is better) you find that offer something similar to your idea/product/business.

4. Go to www.quantcast.com and enter the first website you found. Quantcast.com will give you information they have compiled showing demographics of people who visit that site, including gender, age, household income, ethnicity, education, etc. It will also give you related keywords, similar audience sites, and affinities (how much more than average an audience is likely to visit the site).

5. Look at the audience keywords. These are often the keywords that brought people to the site you are researching. The frequency represents how much more often members of this audience use those keywords compared to an average Internet user.

6. After viewing the keywords for several of the sites you found, see if there is a pattern, and if it matches your product/business/interest.

7. Take the keywords that reflect your product/business/interest and go back to your search engine and search on those terms.

8. Visit the sites that come up and see what they offer and how they are communicating with their audience. See how you would differ in what you have to offer and how you would say it.

9. Go to www.google.com/alerts and enter in your keywords to see how often people are searching for that term. Every time someone Googles a term, you will receive a notice that includes the links the searcher visited.

10. Tie your research with your product or your interest and determine if it really is a viable course for your business. If no one is searching for what you have, you’ve saved yourself a lot of time, money, and energy.

In my example, I whittled it down from the big dartboard of writers, to the smaller circle of writers developing information products (both online and offline), to a very specific target of writers writing for the web for fun and profit.

So, instead of just aiming for the big dartboard, shoot for the bull’s-eye. Find your target market and get started!

Write On!

Marilyn