(Newswire.net — June 27, 2020) — As a solo business owner, you will wear numerous hats which include CEO, marketing, sales, and so on. Some of those fit your skill set perfectly, that is probably why you went into business. Unfortunately many of the hats do not fit so well, they are too small, too big or just plain uncomfortable.
Many entrepreneurs struggle to sell their services even though they know it has a great deal of value and is well worth the price. But how do you get your message out there?
Personal vs Business Brand
When you are the business owner of a solo business, your personal brand is inextricably linked with your business brand, to the point where there may be little that differentiates the two at all. According to some of the big branding experts, you have to ensure that your personal brand matches your business brand.
Here’s a little secret: it is also much easier to get your personal brand out there as people are much more interested in hearing from people than from a business. So how do you get your personal brand out there, which in turn promotes your business too?
Use Public Speaking
There are many ways to promote yourself and it will not surprise you to learn that the method of public speaking is one of them. Although it takes more than just getting in front of an audience to get them to like, trust and buy from you. Like all business, speaking to an audience is about building a relationship.
To do that you need to keep them engaged and an effective way you can do this is by weaving your story (interesting to other humans) and your message (not always interesting at a first glance) together so that before the audience knows it, they have a higher level of understanding and resulting interest in your message.
Take for example Les Brown who shares his story of overcoming many obstacles to now being one of the top speakers in the world. Because people can connect to his story, he comes off more authentic which means they are more willing to buy from him.
This type of speaking is truly an art form. Too much story and the message is lost. But too little and the message is so loud that the audience switches off. We have all been in that room where it was just sales, sales, sales. Look at me and all the stuff I can offer you (if you pay me to find out more). This method is becoming old, tiresome and ineffective. The new way is to add massive value, build trust and respect. Then allow the sales come to you.
Building your story into your message
“Look at your personal story and identify the sections of your journey that resonate with an audience, are interesting to them, and form a part of who you are” says Sean Adams, a business coach from the Coaching Institute. “Pull this apart so that you can identify the highlights and remove the waffle (parts of the story that are essentially irrelevant to the message or ending) so that you have a concise story that can be slotted into a short section of your presentation.”
Next look at your message – what is it you want your audience to walk away thinking or doing? You will bore or overload them if you try to include everything that you do. We see this so often when people try to create authority through sheer overload of their accomplishments and services.
To be effective narrow down your message specifically for that particular audience on that particular day. What is most important / useful for them right here, right now? They will be able to discover all of the other things you do in time, right now focus on one thing that is ultra useful to them.
Now combine the two, your story and your message. Look at how you can weave your message into your story, subtly, so that the audience stay interested in the story but are introduced to your message. Now you are beginning to craft a structure that serves you and the audience, it leads to the next step, it does not ram it down their throats.
Your goal is to pique the interest of those that suit your message best, don’t aim for everyone, aim for the right ones and your business will not only thrive, but be more enjoyable in the process.