Getting your idea on a piece of paper is a very important necessary step towards turning your vision into reality. Congrats if you have come to that realization and are already there or beyond.
But truthfully- this step is not really of much value by itself. It only becomes profoundly valuable and deeply meaningful if you light those ideas on fire by calling others to action daily.
Your script, your piece of music, the outline for your book, and the concept for a business from those ideas, at any stage of execution means little, to anyone except you, without an audience. And so you must first, and every single day from then on, light yourself on fire with the power of your own ideas–enough to get really comfortable with yourself- enough to build, and continue to build, an audience through self promotion.
While we all have days we feel better about ourselves and more able to do this, it is only through effective marketing and promotion that your audience will come. There are plenty of great ideas that never get off the ground, or die on the vine, because there greatness does not alone “will” them into being. What gives them life is the interest- the action- of others.
While some ideas take off with less promotion than others, what are some of the ways a good self promoter triggers and builds the response they are looking for and need?
Here are five quick tips:
#5 Bootstrap. Leverage the strength of your idea by not throwing a lot of money at it. Spending money on your great idea is a sure way to get a taste of the ” rush of freedom” I described in Skydive your Life, but also a sure way to ensure your chute never opens with you when you get to the ground. Have the discipline to start on a shoe string budget and find a grassroots way for your ideas to take hold over and over and over again.
#4 Get online and build a case for your product, service or market niche to buy into and begin to support. Figure out “what’s in it for my audience” and build all the reasons for your audience to “need it” into your work.
#3 Get people talking about you. www.Whiteflash.com, an on-line 15 million dollar diamond store, usually a product thought to be a hands-on type of experience, found a way to do that by sending bloggers pictures of celebrities wearing Whiteflash.com designs. Whiteflash publishes 10 to 20 articles on its own website related to fashion and style as well as has a Facebook presence with a fan page where customers can share stories and photos. What does it cost them to do this? Very little and yet there business is growing at 15% a year.
#2 Experiment. Making good decisions and experimenting with different ways you can promote your ideas are more likely to score you a home run than if you only pick one. Get comfortable with trying 101 things because what resonates with your audience about your ideas might not be what you thought would. I will be the first to tell you that blogging is a great way to do this. There are many times I am surprised by which articles are well read, but each time I learn more about who you are and what you want.
#1 Your ideas must have have something clearly in it for me! Self serving self-promotion is not what draws others to you. Providing the essence of what you can share, teach or help another experience is what draws your audience. Make sure to let it shine through.
1 Comment
I find figuring out WIIFM (What’s in it for me) often the most challenging aspect of designing my marketing. Good stuff though. It always stretches my brain to figure out the answer. I usually work with a buddy to figure out the benefits. I have a stickie on my cabinet that says, “Start with the benefits first!”