Did you ride that 2020 roller coaster my friend? Raising my hand over here.

Don’t get me wrong there were so many valuable lessons last year – many of which sparked this post.

1. Time management.
2. Pandemic proofing a business.
3. Eagerness to dig deeper into thrive in all areas of life versus just survive. Perhaps you just  want to utilize your time more efficiently in the new year.

Regardless of where you are in your entrepreneurial journey – last year undoubtedly echoed some lesson of convicted appreciation of time. 

And if you’re investing your time in creating products or offering services – I can almost bet you are also eagerly seeking ways to creates waves, build momentum, and make an impact in the lives of your community.

Your community.

Not your audience.
Or some strange avatar.
Nor is it a singular fictitious person made up person.

Your community. That is, people you desire to serve or are currently serving.

And you know what is incredibly beautiful about building a community instead of an audience – the relationships are more often than not mutual. Gratitude is passed back and forth. And the impact of what you provide almost always swings back to you.

It’s for this very reason – community building – I want to encourage you to think differently about how you market your offers.

Less of “If you build it, they will come” and more of how much can I pour into those who are sharing their time with me.

Here are four quick tips on how to market your business from a place of empowering your community.

Meet | Your Community Where They Are

The piece of your larger story that you share on a daily basis won’t resonate with everyone every day.

I hope you just took a huge sigh of relief.

You know that hamster wheel you’ve been on, the one that when something doesn’t go overall as well as you had hoped, makes you feel like you’ve got it all wrong.

This is your invitation to jump off.

Instead, let’s focus on meeting your community where they are. From there you will want to align your content with value that will move their needle forward.

Step by step. Little by little.

And let the numbers go.

Next I want you to share. Continue to share. And share some more. Commit to 90 days of consistency.

And I can assure you, there were will many moments where you will be tempted to give up. But I can assure you, you will start to see traction with consistency.

So how do you meet your community where they are?

Here are three quick ways to do this: 

1. Ask them to share where they are in their journey. Here are a few sample questions to use on IG
   1. When you think of (your product/service), what comes to mind. 
   2. Would you say you are (this or that). Use the this or that to help decipher where in their journey your community is.
2. Review the performance of your current content – using google analytics to see what content resonated the most. 
3. Take a look through questions you’ve received. Better yet, make a running document of questions you get throughout the year. This will help you quickly identify where your community is getting stuck. 

Point three is gold. It is here that your community is telling you not only where they are but also where they are stuck.

This leads us perfectly to our next tip.

Create | Value Aligned Solutions

Armed with this information, you have the ability to make adjustments to your offerings. Specifically in how you describe the benefits and explain the results your community can obtain from them.

Let me show you what I mean.

Aligned solutions are those that help your community envision how their investment in you can result in a transformation. That is take them from something they are struggling with or could be struggling to having what they perceive as a truly beneficial solution.

For example – a potential concern of engaged couples is a fear of forgetting some of the most important moments of their wedding day.

• Photography/Videography services provide a solution to this as they ensure that the moments of the day are captured professionally.
• An event planner or coordinator provides the solution of ensuring that all the details are accounted for, prepared for, and then executed on the day of the event. Helping couples to anticipate what their needs might be and making sure they are effectively communicated.

A helpful formula to create value aligned solutions: 

• what your community has told you they are struggling with or anticipating struggling with and use the value of your service to highlight how it helps alleviate this struggle.

The best way to do this is good old fashioned pen and paper – with two columns.

• One for what your community has identified as desires or needs and
• one for a description of the benefits of your services or products.

Then all it takes is the pairing of these two in your messaging and a commitment to consistency.  

Speak | From Benefits + Results

Now that you’ve aligned the solution-based benefits of your services/products to where your community currently is in their journey, you have everything you need for sharing your business story with your community.

And that is what I would encourage you to do – share your story.

As you start to pull together content for your the tools you use to market your business, considering using a simple formula like this one. 

Craft Your Marketing Message: 

1. Lead with a relatable feeling, experience, or situation
2. Identify a potential struggle 
3. Provide simple value-based solutions that help your community take a step forward 

And keep it this simple. Because if its simple for you – its simple for your community.

The overarching goal is to demonstrate understanding, acknowledge and validate the barrier your community may be facing, and then provide value to move beyond the barrier.

And not just “book my service” or “buy my product.”

No real value goes deeper. Value that helps your community take a true step forward on their own. 

Nurture | With Actionable Content

This is where the magic happens. By sharing with your community the tools to move beyond a barrier,  you are doing three things: 

1. Establishing yourself as a reliable resource 
2. Empowering your community with belief
3. Cultivating a space where provided value > perceived value 

If you are consistently leading with actionable value you will effectively market your offers and services because you’ve demonstrated “how” without being asked.

The old give more than you take turns into give more than you ask.

So take this momentum you’ve established and add actionable value each time you go to share your offer with your community.

See where it takes you.

Looking to dive deeper into this idea of cultivating community with story, strategy, and streamlined systems? 

Join our Facebook community as we continue to dive deeper into this content. I promised early this year that 2021 is going to not only look different – it’s going to be different. Can’t wait to cheer you on this year! ‘

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