Everything you do in your marketing either enhances the signal or creates noise that causes the audience to tune out. Find out how to cut the noise.
Are you projecting a noisy marketing message?
Chances are, at least some of your marketing message represents static. That is, it interferes with your message’s clarity.
The purpose of marketing is to let people know the value that you offer. When you make that value very specific, you reach right into the hearts and souls of your ideal audience.
They light up. They jump up and respond, that’s for me! They take action and reach out to hire you.
To get that kind of response, you can’t afford a noisy message.
It’s so tempting to want to share the full breadth of what you offer. I get it. You’re multi-faceted! You certainly can do more than just one thing.
When it comes to marketing, though, it’s that one thing that will save you from obscurity.
It’s a noisy world out there. Many people are marketing what they do. You have to find a way to stand out from the noise. The way to do that is to be known for one thing.
After starting my first business, I very quickly made 6 figures, more than my previous corporate salary. One of the reasons that my business did so well so quickly is that I had clarity in my marketing message. I was known for one thing, a narrow niche.
This niche approach can feel limiting. So choose wisely. Choose what you want to known for.
Choose something where you can offer great value. For this niche to work for you, you have to be able to come through and do a great job. Quality is a baseline requirement for business success, so make sure you can deliver on your marketing message.
A narrow niche is the way to success. It doesn’t mean that people will never hire you for anything else. In fact, I started to get offers for all kinds of different work because people had had a great experience with me doing what I did best.
So your narrow niche doesn’t mean you’re limited. It does mean that it will very specifically draw people who want what you are choosing to be known for.
Face it. People will put you into a niche, whether you want them to or not. This can feel so unfair!
In a way, it is. But it’s also human nature. Especially in our noisy world, we have to categorize people and businesses and put them into a niche, just to be able to process all the information coming our way.
The niche that will draw a prospect’s attention is the one with the answer to their problem. There are many businesses out there. Your prospects will be focused on their problem. They will notice someone who presents a clear marketing message that offers them a solution.
If you’ve chosen what you want to be known for well, you’ll be able to provide them with a laser-focused solution that speaks right to them.
It’s this same clarity of niche that generates more energy and enthusiasm around your brand.
When you get super focused in your message, without the noise of all the other things you can offer, people respond. They recognize themselves in your message.
If you can then deliver and solve their problem, they’ll be strongly connected to you. They’ll talk about you. They’ll help spread the word.
Think of your marketing message as a signal you’re sending out from your business, like a radio broadcast.
At the receiving end, your prospect is going to be biased towards solutions to their problem. They are hearing all kinds of messages and filtering most of them out.
The one that cuts through the noise, the one they’ll tune into, is yours, the answer to what is keeping them up at night.
Your top priority as a marketer (and all small business owners are marketers!) is to free up the message-carrying signal from noise or interference. Everything you do in your marketing either enhances the signal or creates noise that causes the audience to tune out.
Communication is a complex process. There are many points where the signal can become distorted. Reduce or eliminate the noise as much as possible to speak to your audience clearly and effectively.
Is your marketing message clear?
Find your narrow niche by choosing what you want to be known for. Then start broadcasting with that singular clarity.
Your audience will get the message.
There Is Such a Thing As Too Much Free Content
When you fundamentally reexamine your marketing strategy, it’s very freeing. You can focus on what’s most important.
Do Your Prospects and Clients Really Know You?
People buy from those they know, like, and trust. How can you help them get to know your business? How can you build their trust?
Postpone Your Impact, and It May Never Happen
Life will always get in the way, if you allow it. We can put ourselves in a holding pattern too. For a long time, I put off starting a podcast. I’m not ready, I said. I don’t know how to do it, I said. I’m scared to do it, I said. I’ve got too much going on, I said.
