Down the Rabbit Hole
East of the Ozarks
Cloudy 38 Degrees
11:48 a.m.
“How do I grow a business” can seem like a complicated question.
It’s actually very simple. And that’s what makes it so hard.
The way to grow a business is to answer more of the right questions for the right people.
There are only so many questions the world has about what you do:
- What is it?
- Who is it for?
- What do I get?
- Why is it different/better/more valuable?
- Is this the type of person/business that belongs in my life?
- Why are YOU the one I should get it from?
These are rather bland, but necessary questions. Without answers, there’s no point of connection that makes it clear to any particular human “out there” that they should take a step closer to what you have.
If you look around at most businesses that exist, these questions usually go largely unanswered. Sometimes all of them, sometimes a few. Sometimes for years, sometimes forever.
The result is confusion and missed connection. People just “walk by” (figuratively and literally) and don’t even notice you.
But you can’t exactly post a bulleted list of these answers on your front door and expect that to be enough. We’re looking for clarity AND emotional impact.
(The only human who needs the bulleted list of these answers clear in their mind is YOU. When YOU’RE clear, everything you say or do about your business is within this context of knowingness.)
The challenge is to answer these questions in a compelling and engaging way.
The weird part is, it’s far more powerful to answer these indirectly than directly.
If you answer these questions directly, you come across like you are at one of those terrible “networking” meetings where everyone is dying to tell you about themselves in 30 seconds or less.
So how do you communicate answers to these questions indirectly?
You do it with demonstration. That is what the media platform is all about. This is a strategic tool that provides ongoing demonstration of you.
When you demonstrate YOU, who you are, what you think, what you believe, how you work and the way your work impacts the lives of those you serve, those who are watching will be able to answer these questions themselves.
At its foundation, business is simple. When we don’t keep it that way is when it gets difficult.