I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
Something Borrowed
If you haven't had a chance to answer my 5-question survey, I'd really appreciate you taking 5 minutes now to do it.
Then, come back and read my answer to a question that came through the survey:
Where do I find my target market?
Obviously, the answer to this question depends upon your business and your audience, but I want to share a strategy that many small businesses find highly successful.
But first, I think it's important to note that the quality of your prospect list (no matter what you sell) is the goal rather than the quantity of prospects.
If quantity is indeed your aim, you can purchase lists of people or work with list-building companies. You can find them with a simple search on Google or through the usual social media platforms.
Hopefully, like me, you want to focus on quality.
So, let's talk about what it means to borrow audiences and how this strategy can work for you.
Borrowing an audience means, well, pretty much like what it sounds—you're putting yourself in front of an audience of your ideal customers that someone else has already captured and developed.
The reason this is so powerful is that you're organically building a list of vetted prospects without having to create the whole mechanism for attracting and vetting each person yourself.
Additionally, by providing you with a platform to get in front of their audience, the sponsoring company or organization is tacitly endorsing you, which carries clout and establishes credibility with their community.
Furthermore, audiences get a taste of your personality, how you think and work, and your methodology or solution. Plus, you get to position and demonstrate your value, and, even more importantly, the audience gets to experience it first hand at no risk to them.
As a result, prospects who come to you from these sources trust you more than those who come to you cold or through a lead magnet alone. They are not just interested in what you offer but are motivated to be part of your community and recognize your value more deeply.
That is rock solid gold right there!
There are a number of ways to borrow an audience, including by guest writing blog posts, appearing on podcasts, doing presentations, providing a bonus for someone else's paid offer, being a guest expert for someone else's roundtable or event, and more.
Here are some things to keep in mind if this sounds like a strategy for you:
- Identify businesses targeting the same market (or a specific segment) that offer complementary products or services—or solve problems related to the ones you do.
- Look for organizations that support your ideal customer even if their sole focus isn't related to your specific area. Many organizations actively look for unique programming to offer members.
- Reach out to other small business owners in your network to discuss joint venture opportunities and ways to share your audiences or team up to provide unique programming while doubling your outreach efforts.
- Be sure to respect the rules of engagement set out by the business or organization providing the platform. For instance, if they have a strict 'no-sales' policy, you don't want to actively push or promote a specific offer in your content.
When I talk about this strategy with clients, they often ask, "How does this differ from pursuing speaking engagements?"
Well, it does and it doesn't. Speaking engagements are one aspect of borrowing audiences, but there are many more. And a good strategy usually includes a few different methods.
Additionally, what's important isn't the size of the audience or prestige of the event or partner but the quality and appropriateness of the audience—even if that audience is small or very niche.
If you'd like some help working out a good strategy for borrowing audiences to grow your business, book some time with me. I'd love to talk to you.
Until next week!
P.S. Struggling to figure out your ideal customer? Check out my Find Your Tribe advice from last year.
Missed last week's message, find it here.
Sharing is caring. Please pass this message on.
Your success is our strategy!
Easily Said & Done
I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
Hi Reader, I have had a bunch of conversations lately with entrepreneurs who are struggling with one thing or another, which all track back in some way to a question of worth. Just to be clear, worth and value are NOT interchangeable. Worth is inherent. It does not change based on external factors such as market conditions, customer perceptions, length in business, or even audience demand. Your worth, in other words, is not determined by other people's evaluation of you, your products or...
Back in the early days of the online learning platform Coursera, I took a class in gamification offered by the Wharton School of Business. The ubiquitous application of game design elements across so many areas and sectors of business was in its infancy, and I was intrigued. One of the most fascinating things I learned about is the Goal Gradient Hypothesis, which basically posits that the closer one gets to completing a goal, the more motivated they become. If you've ever watched a marathon...
I was planning to write one of those typical messages about getting back into a business mindset now that Labor Day is in the rearview and we’re heading into the busiest time of year for many of us. But, when I sit down to write, I don’t feel the usual back-to-school energy that’s typical for me during the first week of September. Instead, I’m reflecting on my mixed bag of a summer and wishing it weren’t, in everything but name, over. I had such momentum coming into the season and then life...