Solutions are easy. If you know the problem…
There are so many solutions out there. For the most part, they’re pretty effective. And they’re getting more inexpensive by the day.
Need a website? There are sleek and sophisticated template building sites for that. Need to edit photos quickly? There’s an app for that. It might even be free.
There’s so much noise, we’re all starved for the real deal.
You can pretty quickly figure out how to do all sorts of things. How to set up a paid ad campaign. How to make your iPhone videos look better. You can find out what people are searching and look at data from sales trends. Learn all about out how to start a podcast. Read endless free articles about branding and marketing. Figure out how to accept payments, how to hire, how to set up payroll.
In fact, you don’t even need to do your own writing anymore. AI can do that for you. (Not that I recommend going that route, but we’ll talk AI another time…)
You can find a solution to almost anything. There’s only one catch: you need to know what your problem is first. Otherwise all those options, they’re just overwhelming. And they do very little to really move the needle for you.
Learn how to talk about who you are, what you’re doing, and why you care.
Solutions are great if you know what you want to say. Having something to say, that’s the thing that’s going to set you apart. It’s what is going to keep a happy audience coming back. There’s so much noise, we’re all starved for the real deal.
HOW TO BUILD A STRONG BRAND
So when we set out to create a new type of framework, where do you think we focused? Yep, on having something to say. Otherwise known as building a brand. It’s easy to think of a brand as colors and a logo. But the best brands, the ones that withstand and get better with time, they have something to say.
Learn how to talk about who you are, what you’re doing, and why you care. And then turn your focus onto your audience. Who are they? What sets them apart? How can you see them when everyone else is just gunning (hate this word, but it’s all to appropriate here) for a sale?
Get all this in order before you start looking for solutions. It’ll sidestep overwhelm. And it’ll make sure that you’re using your time wisely. Because not all actions lead to progress.
I’ll say it again, not all action leads to progress.
This is true for every small business, whether you are online, a brick-and-mortar, retail, or service based. But it’s equally true for the artist wanting to find patrons and sell their work, or a non-profit looking to secure donations. If you’re a small operation, this is the single most important thing you can do.
A website that confuses or makes a poor impression? Doesn’t matter how much you know about SEO, it’s going to be an uphill battle. Same with unhelpful photos. And that video you worked so hard to edit? Chances are that unless it has something to say, it’s going to get lost in the noise.
Knowing who you are makes figuring out your problems so much easier. Sure you can figure out how to start a podcast. And the person teaching you how is probably going on and on about how damn great it’s going to be for you. But knowing who you are? That’s how you decide what strategy is right for you and right for your audience.
WHY MOST SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING FAILS
What’s standing between you and having the audience of your dreams is not whether you know how to start a podcast. You can learn that. It’s about knowing whether a podcast is the right strategy for you. Or should you be writing or on YouTube or doing guest speaking gigs instead?
Figuring out your problems is so much easier when you get clear about who you are and who you exist to help.
Don’t waste your time and don’t waste your money, if you can help it. Spend your limited resources building things that are actually going to help you get where you want to go. Help you get good things out into the world. So if you’re starting to think about how you’re going to spend your marketing time and budget in 2024, start here. Worry less about how to do it and spend more time deciding why you‘re doing it in the first place.
Get clear on who you are. Then get clear on what problems you’re trying to solve. Otherwise you’re going to drown in solutions.