A Guide For Crushing Your Small Business Marketing

I think it's safe to say that all small business owners desire for their brand to crush. Whether you're new or have been in the game a while, this article is packed with actionable tips and strategies for making your business thrive!

Your Small Business & The Art of Selling

If you own a small business or are thinking about starting a small business, you must learn to master the art of selling. 

In the world of small business ownership, we are constantly experimenting and learning. When it comes to sales, it’s the same. The more you engage, interact and follow up with your ideal customer, the more data you have to adjust and become better at providing solutions to them - which is what sales are all about. Find the problem, provide a solution.

This is why small business ownership is NEVER about perfection. It’s about authentically showing up and SERVING the people. SERVE SERVE SERVE, then SELL. 

Many experts will tell you to master the art of the launch and constantly make offers available. I want to challenge this strategy and suggest focusing on mastering sales. Sales aren’t about an offer but instead creating content that piques the interest of your ideal client/customer. Then have a system that allows you, the business owner, to keep track of them.

Take Action To Grow Your Small Business

• Mindset

Business ownership doesn’t give you freedom, but sales do! Sales lead to financial freedom. Think about it this way; if you own a business but aren’t making any money, it isn’t going to create a life of freedom. SALES is the path to FREEDOM.

Sales should be the #1 focus until you hit an annual revenue goal that makes sense for you. Until then, the rest doesn’t really matter. This strategy will allow you, the business owner, to create a healthy foundation. So, I want to encourage you to commit to and take action to MASTER THE ART OF SALES.

• Remove Barriers.

How many times do you mean to do something, but you forget? All the time. Because of life.

Your potential customers and business partners are no different. We all simply forget. They mean to buy, or they intend to hire you, but they get distracted.

By following up, you are doing them a favor. Often, people will actually thank you for reminding them because it is something they want. Your follow-up is a gift rather than a bother.

• Shift Your Language

Instead of saying something like “Let me know when you’d like to chat about ____” give them an alternate choice like “Would you like to talk today or tomorrow?”

Remind them which product you recommend and WHY. People already have enough decisions to make. You know what they need to win so make a BOLD recommendation with the goal of serving them the best way you can.

Make life even more simple by taking their information (i.e. credit card, address, etc.) and do it for them. The least they have to do, the better.

The human brain wants things to be as easy as possible - it wants to conserve energy. Making a lot of decisions is the opposite of that. As the professional, make BOLD recommendations, ask for the sale and be confident that you are helping them WIN - because YOU ARE.

• Serve Your People

Remember, I’m a big believer in SERVING and then SELLING. That simply means that your goal is to provide value to your potential customers or clients by thinking about their needs instead of yours.

This type of focus allows you to work on building your likability and trust with our potential customers and clients.

Pro Tip: People care about what a product or service will do for THEM, not what it does for YOU. One of the best ways to build like and trust with your audience quickly is to make everything about them instead of YOU. 

TRY this:

•   what the products or services will do for THEM

•   how the product or service can improve THEIR life

•  why they should care

When you switch to focusing on them, your network is more likely to LISTEN and TAKE ACTION!

Know, Like & Trust

Ever wonder why business owners talk about the Know, Like, and Trust factor? It’s because it matters and leads to sales. If your goal is a start or grow a business, this is where your FOCUS should be. Remember, a business without sales is a hobby. And sales is the path the FREEDOM.

People buy from people that they KNOW, LIKE, and TRUST. Understanding and working on these three principles will help you move potential customers or clients from simply knowing you to purchasing from you.

The Know, Like and Trust Factor is the journey a customer takes when getting to know a business or brand. It starts with somebody knowing about a business or a brand, to them liking the business or brand to actually trusting the business or brand. This leads to a loyal customer that not only purchases from you but also becomes an advocate.

Step 1: Know

You need to know who your ideal customers are AND your ideal customers need to know that you exist, that your product or service exists and how it helps solve their problems.

Here’s How:

• Identify your ideal customer

• Understanding your ideal customer and their pain points

• Create the right content

• Be where your ideal customers are 

Step 2: Like

Now that you’ve got their attention, it’s time to build likability.  Your product or service could be everything they’ve ever wanted or needed, but if they don’t feel a connection, they aren’t likely to buy.

Here’s How:

• Be authentic and real

• Be kind and friendly

• Engage

• Be relevant

• Focus on building relationships and serving before sales

• Be generous

Step 3: Trust

The final step is to build trust between you and your ideal customers. Trust is an integral part of any relationship, and this includes business!

Here’s How:

• Be consistent

• Do what you say you will do

• Share social proof via reviews and testimonials 

RECAP: Small Business Marketing

In the end, it's all about understanding your customers and serving them well. I'm a big believer in making sure you're always on top of what your customer needs from you. If that means writing up new FAQs or adding pop-ups to make things more clear for people, then do it! No matter if they're buying a product, downloading an ebook, or signing up for a webinar - we want our clients to be successful because success is contagious.

Are you still looking for the right business for YOU? Download my free assessment to help you figure out is the best fit!