Do you find your product is servicing a need you otherwise didn't expect? - OWN IT. Do people talk about your personality more than they do about your product? - OWN IT. Did you intend for your fabulous gardening tool to become the #1 selling product among back yard pooper scoopers? no, but OWN IT! Did you set out to create a following of business people, only to find that 80% of your following is work-from-home dads? - OWN IT.
Owning it - requires a dash of creativity and a whole lot of flexibility. But as a small business, you have the luxury of being nimble and adaptable.
What do you own? Testimonials are a GREAT way to discover your selling features and what you already own. Hearing it directly from the client's mouth. Gosh, you are really good at _____. You totally brought ____ to my life/business/career... Thank you for always ______. These are key messages that you should be tuning into. Many people resist this - get over the fear and jump in - these are your future FANS. Listen to them.
Package it.
Now that you know and are confident in what you are about - find a way to package it to sell your product. This is where you can get creative and have some fun with it. The more focused you are, the easier it is (and more enjoyable) for graphic designers, website creators and PR people to put your name out there.
Do you have something you can teach others? Something you can break apart and sell in chunks? Something you can provide in bulk or over time or as needed? Something you can turn into a book, video or other tool. It doesn't matter what it is - it's value able to someone. You only need to look at your audience to know how they might best use what you have to offer - then enlist your creative team to find different ways to package it.
Sell it.
There are many definitions of 'selling it'. In traditional business terms, it usually means 'widget x $dollars = sales' but there is another way to sell - it's creating multiple channels that garner interest which ultimately leads to sales. This is where a little creative direction comes into play to turn your idea or concept into a CALL TO ACTION. Ultimately, the goal is and should always be, sales.
It takes someone 5-7 times to see or hear you before they recall exactly who you are or what you do. The majority of what people remember is your tone of voice, visuals - only 7% are the words!
Get out there. Find ways to inject yourself or your product into the conversation. Start a new community, thread, discussion. Tap into people's passion the reasons they enjoy working with you. But I promise, if you start with OWNING, you won't have to do much selling.
I like to think that the Science of Business is Sales, but the Science of PR and Communications - well, it's more of an Art ;)
Photo by The Creative Exchange on Unsplash