“Technically you don’t exist and are out of business if you don’t have any customers, so it all comes down to finding and attracting customers.” – Chas Wilson pg. 38, Five+ One
When you have the secret recipe for finding and attracting more customers, you can write your own ticket. This is what small business owners are chasing. And there are plenty of teachers out there who have cracked the code in their own way and are now passing it on to you in the form of their courses and training. I’m sure you’ve seen a few of their Facebook ads. 😉 (wink)
It can be easy to get overwhelmed by all the options for finding and attracting more customers, especially when everyone seems to have a different recipe. But if we distill it all down to a word it would be “Attention”.
In the information age where everyone can broadcast on platforms like YouTube and Facebook and Instagram (insert your favorite platform here)… what we’re really after is attention. If we can earn attention then we have a shot at relationship. And if we can cultivate a relationship we can grow our database and our sales.
In a recent conversation with Chas Wilson he said, “The first stage of the selling cycle is to get their attention and awareness”.
The trick to this profoundly simple truth is in earning their attention with trust and relevance. Unfortunately many business owners are using outdated methods of marketing and sales that look and sound like everyone else. And when you look and sound like everyone else, you don’t earn attention. In fact, you are lost in the noise of the market.
Side note… this is why I love networking and the platform that Master Networks provides. When you’re face to face with people you get a real sense of who they are and can quickly earn their attention (or lose their attention if you do it wrong).
“Ok, Chris. I agree. Earning attention through trust and relevance is a good plan and it feels right when you say it. But how do I do that?”
I’m so glad you asked 😉
I call this tribe building and it’s the simplest way to “hack” trust and relevance in a genuine and valuable way.
Not all contacts or customers are created equal. Some customers you have a stronger connection with than others. Some are easier to lead. Some buy faster and buy more.
What I’ve seen in my 17 years of business is that we like those who are like us. This is what it means to be part of a tribe. We have many tribes we identify with. But when you can find what I call your “Point of Connection” you quickly earn attention and trust.
Years ago I was teaching a class on tribe building and I asked the class to share what they were passionate about. In the middle of the room a lady raised her hand and said “Scuba Diving”. Without hesitation (and I didn’t call on her), a lady in the front right of the room turns around and excitedly says, “You like Scuba Diving? I like Scuba Diving!!” and they proceeded to have a short conversation in the middle of my class.
It perfectly illustrated my point that when you have something in common with someone else, a “Point of Connection”, you quickly pierce through the noise. Trust is immediately present, often without warrant, simply because you share a common interest and you come from the same tribe.
But if you market to the world like everyone else and lead with your product or service, leaving out HOW YOU SEE THE WORLD AND WHAT YOU VALUE, you will miss the opportunity to quickly earn attention. You will be sentenced to slog through expensive marketing campaigns and never ending networking where nothing you do seems to work.
If you want to break that cycle and quickly earn attention then here are 3 steps to get started:
One, start with your own passions and values.
Too many businesses are trying to be all things to all people. You MUST start with you. What do you care about? What difference do you want to make? How do you see the world?
This can be scary for businesses because when you think about narrowing your audience you immediately feel like you’re cutting off potential sales. But if you can stay present to the importance of earning attention, you’ll see this is crucial to your success.
Now, I’m not saying that if you love an obscure past time like underwater basket weaving that you should lead with that. Find the most passionate interest you have that the biggest number of others could have and start there.
Example: If you sell widgets, like so many others do, and you market to everyone “Hey, I have a great widget that will save you time and money” you will sound like everyone else.
But if you say “Are you a mom who’s squeezed for time and hardly has a minute to herself? Then maybe this widget of mine can help.”
If you’re a mom and have shared in this struggle of time and sanity, and you lead with this “Point of Connection” you will earn trust faster than if you don’t lead with that “Point of Connection”.
And if this were your example and you were afraid of losing sales, I would simply ask you “What percent of moms have this struggle and can benefit from your widget?” And you would say 90%.
This “Point of Connection” creates empathy and empathy feels good to the one who receives it.
Build a brand and narrative that alludes to these passions and values.
Once you have your passion or interest clarified, you want to build a brand around it. Now you probably already have a brand for your business. But I want you to think of this like a YouTube show or a show on your favorite network. While your business brand may be NBC, you have other shows inside your network that appeal to different audiences.
You want to name your show something that appeals to those in your tribe. For example, I have a real estate agent client in California who has built a local tribe around a brand called “Loving Life in Camarillo”. That’s not his real estate brand. But you can see how that would appeal to a certain audience.
He wanted to help people move from living in overwhelm to loving life. When we grew his fanbase on Facebook we targeted people interested in parenting. How many parents feel overwhelm?
His page quickly grew in fans through this narrative because he got their attention and now creates valuable community content for the fans on his page.
Start broadcasting that message in your videos, blog posts, podcast episodes, Facebook posts. You have to LEAD with this “Point of Connection”, not treat it like a footnote.
The name of the game is content marketing. You must be consistent in creating content that connects with those you seek to serve. This is the biggest stumbling block with most businesses. They run out of things to say. They don’t want to go through the learning curve of technology to learn how to use Facebook or YouTube or create their own Podcast. Or they simply don’t have time to take this on because of the demands of their business.
But this 3rd step is crucial if you want to earn attention. If you don’t consistently create content, how will they find you? How will they know you’re from the same tribe? You’ll look and sound like everyone else. So you must find a way to begin sharing your message with the world. And as you do, people will start to find you and pay attention to you because what you say feels genuine and real and connects in a way that no one else’s marketing does.
This is the secret to quickly earning attention. We’ve made marketing far more complicated than it needs to be. Be human. Be you. Lead with your passions and values and watch how your tribe finds you.