In this week’s episode of the Creative Business Breakdown, Rachel and I talk about the importance of educating your community in whatever way makes the most sense for you. We share some of our favorite tips for reaching your target audience and leaving an impact on whoever you are talking to.
Educating doesn’t have to be a formal event or scripted process. Spreading the word about your business or product can be as simple as starting a conversation with your cashier. Most of our influential conversations take place outside of the board room or classroom setting. Very rarely will you find us making a structured sales pitch or formal presentation about our services. Most of our marketing and education happens within everyday conversation with all of the people we meet along the way. We never know who could be a potential client, so being prepared to talk to anyone and everyone is on the top of our list of tips for educating our community.
When you encounter situations where you can share your story and provide a little insight, keep in mind these few things we shared in the podcast this week:
- Stay off your soap box – Nobody wants a lecture. Unless you are a professor or making a formal presentation, keep it conversational. Instead of professing your message to your audience, get to know them and make the education piece specific by asking questions and finding your in. Ask the questions that can make it personal.
- Keep it simple and limit your talking points. What are the few basic things that someone needs to know about you or your business? What information is going to keep them interested or grab their attention. Limit yourself to the bare basics so you can get the important things across when you are pressed for time but know where you can go next and what details you want to share in longer conversations.
- Practice your elevator speech – Ask everyone you know to ask you questions about your venture so that you can work out exactly what you want to say, how you want to say it, and without using too much jargon. Challenge yourself, can you limit your main talking points to 20 seconds?? What if you only had an elevator ride to share as much as possible?
- Leave them wanting more – You don’t have to share all your business details in one visit. Encourage whoever you are speaking with to follow up the conversation or seek out more information. Leave them wanting to learn more about you and your business.
- Have your resources ready – When encouraging that continued dialogue, be sure to have your resources at the ready so you can direct people where to find you and ask their questions. Keep your business cards stocked, your website up and running, and your mental list of additional resources ready to go.
- Make the effort to make connections – Put yourself out there and be approachable. A warm smile and a listening ear can go a long way.
If you are ever met with resistance or hostility, just keep doing your best work. Not everyone may be ready to hear what you have to say in that moment. Remember that someone may simply be having a bad day or may need a rain check and that’s ok!
Until next time, smile and keep being your awesome self!
-Katey & Rachel
