Starting a business is an amazing ordeal- one that is more than likely going to change your life. However, once you get past the pomp and circumstance, you are left with a lot of questions? Your main question will probably be “How do I get customers?”
Indeed, every business needs to sell something to someone. So when starting from zero, how do you build a steady stream of clients and customers? It is a “process” and can take some time. That is why I am here. No matter what, do not get discouraged.
It takes roughly 7-10 connections before someone makes a buying decision. Think about it. When you are watching YouTube and you see a great video, do you automatically subscribe to that person? Every once in a while you may, but for the most part, it takes 4-6 videos before you even think about subscribing. This person needs to earn your trust and confidence.
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Your business will be the same. You will have to continually earn the confidence of your customers and clients. An entrepreneur is paid to help others solve their problems. Nobody is going to run out and give you their money without you first earning it.
But we have gotten ahead of ourselves. Before we seek out our customers, there are some steps to attend to before we can reach them. The steps are 1) Build an avatar 2) Create ads targeting your avatar 3) Add value to your avatars’ life.
Now, let’s break down each of these steps so that we can start to see our customer numbers increase. Always remember, your job is to add value to your customers’ and clients’ lives. The money will come when you do this. If you serve only for money then money will elude you. I recommend reading the Rich Dad series, starting with “Rich Dad Poor Dad”, before starting any business venture.
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1) Build an Avatar. Building an avatar is a must, not only for finding your potential customers but also for building ads and content to help them solve their problems. But Josh, what is an avatar?
An avatar (or persona) is your vision of your ideal customer. Don’t worry, you can have more than one. It is hard to find avatar information online because all the websites want to upsell you something to get a template.
My rough template would go something like this, go ahead and print this out.
Age: ________________Sex:_________________Profession:________________
Income: ____________________Family: _____________________
Married: _______________________Discretionary Income: _____________________
Social Media Habits:________________________Friends: (Y/N) _______________________
Drinker/Smoker: _________________Problems/Issues:__________________
Ambitions/Goals:_____________________________
Add as many items as you’d like. Some people go as far as naming their avatars. You will need to be as comprehensive as your advertising entails.
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But why so much information? You are trying to build a life-long customer. Many businesses think only of a one-time sale. You want to grow along with this person. You want to know everything about their life and be there as they transition through different periods of time.
The only way that you can set yourself up to do this is by creating an avatar. At the end of the article, I will put everything together to give you an idea of how the process works. Two good books to read on this process are “Superfans” and “How to Blog for Profit”.
2) Create advertising for your avatar. Now that you have identified your target audience, how do you reach them? Well my friend, you (yes you) will learn how to advertise.
Sooo… I will have to learn how to advertise? Yes, you can do it. Advertising is a science and can be learned. You will need to keep an open mind as well as study the craft of advertising. I am just getting started in this whole new world, but I have had some success.
First, I recommend reading the book “Ca$hvertsing”. This will give you all the details on how to get started in advertising. Next, you will have to target your specific platform. I just bought a book on running Amazon Ads because that is the platform that I use to sell my books.
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Learning to advertise by yourself is a great way to learn how to market and sell your product. You will learn about human nature and how to appeal to different emotions from your customers. As a small business, do you really want to pay someone to advertise for you? They will just turn around and read “Ca$hvertsing” and then up-charge you.
Eventually, you may want to outsource your ads, but starting out I recommend that everyone conduct their own advertising campaigns. And, to be completely honest, it is super fun.
3) Add value to your customer’s life. Now that you identified your target audience and grabbed their attention, you will need to make them feel special by adding value to their life.
You see, selling your product is secondary to adding value to someone’s life. They will have no problem spending an unlimited amount of money on your products once you have increased their happiness, effectiveness, or life satisfaction.
But Josh, how will I know how to help a complete stranger in their life? They are not a complete stranger, you created them. Remember, you built that avatar in step 1? Now that person is right in front of you, either in person or over the internet.
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There are multiple ways to add value to someone’s life. My favorite is by creating useful content around your product. If you are selling carpet cleaner, start a blog about household cleaning supplies. Start creating content about organizing your living room, eradicating pet odors, and painting walls. Before you know it, people will start to warm up to you. Every once and a while do an article on your carpet cleaner. Take the long approach. Again, “Superfans” is the best book that explains this process.
If you are not into creating content (but you should be), then you can do other things. You can volunteer to clean the carpet at a church or school. You can host a fundraiser with your product sponsoring the event. Get out into the community.
I repeat your job as an entrepreneur is to add value to other peoples’ lives and assist them in solving their problems. Do this with honesty, integrity, and compassion and people will remember you. It may take you 7-10 contacts before you make a sale, but you may make 20 sales at once. Someone may go tell their whole workplace to buy your carpet cleaner or convince their school to switch to your brand. The only way to get to this level is to take the long road.
Now, I want to make this article even longer by adding an example of how this process plays out. I want you to see the importance of each step and how learning different skills along the way will assist you. Becoming an entrepreneur will make you a different person. You will need to know sales, marketing, finances, customer service, etc. Also, you will need to learn about social media. It is a never-ending world of “education on the fly”. That is why I encourage reading so much. You can skip over many of the mistakes other people have made.
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Example. Our example business is a house-cleaning business named Humble Homes. This is their main avatar.
Age: 40 Sex: Female
Profession: Human Resources manager
Income: $150,000 (combined, a lot of money in their region)
Family: 2 kids (12,9), 2 dogs Married: Yes, the husband is a doctor
Discretionary Income: $50,000 Social Media Habits: 4-5 hours a week
Friends: (Y/N) Y, some friends Drinker/Smoker: no, health nut
Problems/Issues: not enough time to cook or clean
Ambitions/Goals: work hard and reach financial independence before 50
Based on their avatar, they are targeting a mother who is just too busy to clean her home. Between the kids and the dogs, there is a never-ending amount of work around the house.
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Humble Houses starts running ads on Facebook- their avatar’s social media platform of choice. The ads feature the tagline “What would you do if you had an extra 5 hours a week?” It has pictures of couples drinking wine on the patio. It also shows pictures of a family of 4 (with dogs) going to the beach without a care in the world. The ad has a phone number to Humble Homes but also a link to their blog.
The avatar decides to go to the blog to find out more. She has never paid someone to clean her house- so she is skeptical. The blog has tons of content on how houses are cleansed, customer testimonials, and juicy coupons.
The avatar decides to follow the blog before making a buying decision. About 2 weeks later, the blog releases a testimonial from someone to whom the avatar relates. The testimonial is from a mother of two who has started a hobby with her extra 5 hours a week. This is intriguing to the avatar and she connects with the testimonial person.
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The avatar makes a buying decision and decides to buy the monthly plan. She loves the house-cleaning services and decides to play tennis with the family in her newfound free time. She becomes a testimonial member of the blog. Success!
As you can see, by taking the long road, targeting their avatars, and creating relevant ads and content, Humble Homes was successful. That is the process in a nutshell. Humble Homes added value to the avatar’s life and they were rewarded. I can tell you from experience, by starting my own blog, that the process does work.
I recently had someone read a free copy of one of my Financial Independence Magazines on Amazon. They thought it was so valuable that they bought the remaining four issues at full price. So yes, if you add value, they will come. And they will buy.
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Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I am an Amazon Affiliate. Please research any investment vehicles that are being considered. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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