There are times when it’s challenging to grow our business. Attracting the right client is crucial to our mission. But, what’s the ‘right’ client? Despite popular belief, the optimal clients for us are not limited to a specific industry, the size of the company or the amount of annual revenue it bills. The best customers have a certain mindset. They understand the importance of playing the long game and they are willing to make the investment in time and money to see it through. Unfortunately, this eliminates the majority of organizations today.
We live in a magic pill society.
This is true of those who want to build a personal brand, as well. As Mark Schaefer said in his post earlier this week, “People who hire me often need money NOW and they want to know how to make money through their blogging or podcasting in a matter of weeks or months. Can’t happen. It takes years. In fact, you need to adopt a three-year mindset to achieve meaningful success with your personal brand.”
The Truth About Building A Brand Online
I would argue the same for organizations. You need a three-to-five-year mindset to achieve meaningful success with any online marketing, with the exception of paid advertising. (Read more).
Mark offered several truths that accompany his post. How do I know? Because I’ve written about all of them before – and some of these posts are over seven years old!
Number 1. Slow and steady. Slow and steady wins the race. Read more.
Number 2. The myth of viral. Content that “goes viral” may be good for a quick boost, but this content often lacks staying power and merely equates to empty calories when it comes to branding. Read more.
Number 3. You have to build a sizable audience that cares about you. This is exactly why community building is so important. You must be willing to foster the community. Spend your energy on serving the needs of your community by authentically engaging with your audience. Read more.
Number 4. Standing out as a personality may be the only thing that saves you in a world of automation. While a robot can write a blog post, a robot can’t replace personal life experiences – human experiences. No one has the same set of life experiences from your point of view. No one is YOU. Read more.
After re-reading Mark’s post, I realize that we do have at least one optimal target market… Subject-matter experts (SME’s). SME’s understand the importance of personal branding, which is central to Mark’s post. Playing the long game is not for everyone, but if it’s for you, you might be a great fit for social media marketing – and for working with #Strella!
