Good Ideas Die Without An Audience

There's a natural resistance for change. It's everywhere. 

We see it when we present ideas that are both good and bad.

So how can you tell when your idea is good if people will resisit it either way?

There's no magic button you can push. There are ways, however, to test your ideas. You can do studies and focus groups. You can survey and talk to people.

But really, you don't know until you try it.

And during this "trial period" you have to have the guts to stick it out for a while. Longer than most. That's how the best people succeed. They stick it out.

Most of the time you just need an audience. 

If your ideas is good, and you are building a business around it, then all you have to do is allow the people who are looking for that idea to find you.

This is true whether your idea is to be a portrait photographer or a caracuturist. There's an audience for you if your idea is good and you have the talent to pull it off.

Find your audience. Build a platform that enables them to find you. That's what digital marketing is really all about. Letting people find you. Social media strategy is about finding the people that are already looking for you.

Do both and you're bound to succeed.

One-to-one Marketing and Building Raving Fans

Do you remember the last time someone held a door for you? Or gave you their cab because it was raining and you didn't have an umbrella but they did?

In today's age we can often become jaded. We think that people don't do these things anymore but they do. And they do it all the time. We get hit by one of these gestures and it sticks out because, even though there are some really amazing people all around the world, they aren't everywhere.

Or are they?

It's the same with companies. Do you remember the last time you went to a store and the clerk greeted you with a friendly smile and asked how they could help you? I mean genuinely help you?

When those things happen they stick out. We remember them and we think about the culture of the company and we put it in our minds that we will shop there more often. We'll visit that restaurant where the manager goes by every table more often. We'll go to the art gallery where they talk to you and greet you no matter how much money you look like you may have.

These are all "real world" situations and scenarios that can be replicated online.

You can, and very much should, do these same things online.

Because when you can connect with your current, and potential customers and clients, on a level that exceeds their expectations you begin to build a relationship on trust. You begin to build a relationship based on what you can do for your clients not on what they can buy from you.

And you build clients for life.

They remember you. They like you. They believe in you.

This trust begins to build into something much more. It begins to build into a relationship where they start to root for you. They want to support your business and your brand -- your culture -- becomes part of their buying decisions.

This is one-to-one marketing. This is that personal touch that we all crave in the online world where everything else can seem like push marketing.

Look at your digital marketing campaigns. Do they reach people on an individual basis? Are you having a conversation with them or are you just shouting "look at me, look at me!"?

Getting your product or service in front of the people who are going to become lifetime customers can be done on a one-to-one basis online. And it can be done in a way that reaches the masses at the same time. You can spread the concept of your company culture. You can build brand awareness by listening to your customers.

Stillspotting NYC Bronx Audiogram 3rd Show (102 of 118) by Ennuipoet * FreeVerse Photography - CC

Remember that they have given you that privilege when they sign up for your newsletter. Or when they like your Facebook page. When they've raised their hands and said "Hi, I'm a fan" then you have the ability to nurture the relationship and build on that.

You can turn them into raving fanatics about your company and they will spread the message of your culture.

Why Passion Sells Better Than Sex

Here's something we don't talk about enough in social media marketing: Passion.

Digital marketers will drone on and on about metrics and about community and about strategy and tactics but they don't talk about passion enough.

We don't discuss why we do what we do. The best people in their industry (regardless of the industry) are at the top because they have passion. It can be passion about the product. Passion about the service. It can be passion about the company. For some, it's passion about the process. 

You can't do it without passion.

If you work in the arts you should already know this. You will not make it in this industry if you don't have passion.

Make products you would use. Create services you wish you had when you were starting out. Know that what you are creating is helping someone be better at what they do.

When you can wrap your product or service around a big pretty bow of passion then you can market it with an enthusiasm that will sell it to your clients. 

It's way better than "sex sells".

Are You Building A Tribe?

"A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea." - Seth Godin Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us

Building a "tribe" is becoming more and more essential for many small and mid-sized businesses. The old ways of advertising and marketing are changing too rapidly to be able to rely on traditional marketing alone.

Adulation by Today is a good day - CC

Social media and digital marketing are where smart companies are putting their effort towards building their business. This is true whether their needs are for client acquisition or through reputation management. It's how they turn clients and customers into raving fans. It's how they build a tribe.

Are you listening to your clients?

Do you know what your customers really think about you?

Today it's easy enough to gather that kind of knowledge by leveraging social media, email, and other two way communications.

Open up your business to the online world and you'll see improvements in brand recognition and reputation management. Be savvy and nimble.

Your competitors are.

Your competitors are building tribes. Are you?

They are building a base of followers, fans, and friends online that are current customers or soon-to-be customers. They are listening to the good and bad things that are being said about them online and are able to work at changing perceptions or fixing issues that can help propel their business to the next level.

This is true whether you're a plumber or a fortune 500 company.

Finding a the right digital marketing plan or social media strategy can mean the difference between being #1 in your industry and region or being that other company.

Do you have the leadership capabilities to spearhead a new initiative like that? Do you have personnel in the company who can utilize their social networking skills to bring in new clients?

Are you building a tribe? What are you waiting for?