Why focusing on a niche will make you more money.

As a freelancer, I can completely understand the idea of, “I’ll work for anyone that will hire me.”  If you have a job for me, unless I have a moral issue against what you do, I’ll probably take it on.  But… in developing my business, I do want to focus my efforts on a niche, because it will make me more money in the long run.  Here’s why…

1. Spend less money and time by really targeting your marketing efforts.
2. Understand an industry and cater to their specific needs, provides increased value.
3. Know where to network by going to trade events or functions.
4. It is easier to get referrals when people know exactly what you are looking for.
5. Establishing yourself as an expert and being able to charge a premium for your service.

A year ago, my daughter went to the doctor after splitting her forehead open.  The doctor said she could stitch it up but would prefer to send her to a plastic surgeon.  Doctor’s bill… $35  Plastic Surgeon’s bill… $500.  It pays to specialize!

My niche… Fitness, Health and Athletic Companies and Professionals.  But more on that later.

How has defining and marketing to a niche helped you?

I am working on launching my company, Gold Candor, in the up coming months.  What is Gold Candor you might ask?  Well let’s say you and I are standing in an elevator and you see my stylish polo shirt with Gold Candor printed on the left breast pocket and you ask that exact question, “what is Gold Candor?”  To which I would reply…

“Gold Candor is all about getting people excited about you and your company to the point where they are talking about it online!  This is done by joining in on the conversations that are already going on about you and your industry and understanding what is motivating your audience to act.”

Now for the bad news… because of the work I am doing on setting up this new company, the focus on this blog will change… slightly.

It is a social media consulting company and I will be implementing many of the tactics I recommend to my clients, so for then next little while I will be blogging about my strategies, my trials and my challenges as I push this project forward.

And away we go!

You know that guy who always likes to impress people with his vocabulary?  The guy who takes great pride in his “mastery” of the english language?  Yeah, he annoys me.  Apparently I’m not the only one.  Studies show that people who utilize big words are viewed as less intellegent and overcompensate by alienating others through their word choices.

In a study done by Daniel Oppenheimer, ironically titled, “Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity,” he had people rated the intelligence of the authors.  He found that of the papers where he manipulated the vocabulary to use larger, complex words, the readers scored the authors as much less intelligent.

Oppenheimer discovered, “Anything that makes a text hard to read and understand, such as unnecessarily long words or complicated fonts, will lower readers’ evaluations of the text and its author.”

This goes doubly for any social media communications.  If you are trying to establish your self as an expert or provide information to the massus, it is best to head Oppenheimer’s advice,

“One thing seems certain: write as simply and plainly as possible and it’s more likely you’ll be thought of as intelligent.”

Daniel M. Oppenheimer, Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly, Journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology 2005, DOI: 10.1002/acp.1178

White lies, bending the truth, slight exaggerations all quickly become points of ridicule when exposed online.  With so many resources available, it is easy for people to research and do their own fact checking on anything said.  Always remember that what is published online can stick around for just under eternity, despite best efforts to delete it.  Selfpromotion is a delicate art and people will want you to substantiate any claims.   The bigger they are the more you will need proof.

That’s why honesty is still and always will be the best policy.

Whenever there is a personal behavior that I am looking to change, this is my approach.

Step 1: Determine the cause of the behavior.

For lack of blogging motivation, there may be several causes.  Here are a few that I can think of.

1. You’re too busy with other things.
2. You’re priorities or interests have changed.
3. You feel no one is listening so why bother.
4. You have nothing to blog about.
5. You are overwhelmed with trying to keep up.

I’m not affected by all of these.  For me, number 1t has had the biggest effect on my blogging.

Step 2: What can you do to overcome that behavior?

Now this is completely oversimplified, I know, but just understanding what is keeping you from obtaining your goal can help you determine what to do to overcome the obstacle.  Here are some possible solutions.

1. Set a specific time limit and frequency for when you will blog. (this will help with 1 and 5).
2. When you do feel the motivation, write a couple blog posts.  You can schedule blog posts to publish in advance!
3. Remind yourself that everyone starts out with hardly any readers.  Experiment with different ideas and see if it increases readership. (this will help with 3)
4. Take some time to brainstorm possible topics and write them down. (this will help with 4)
5. Stay positive, pick yourself up and start up again!

Now I am really interested to know… Have you ever suffered from lack of blogging motivation?  What did you do to overcome it?

There are three strategic questions you should ask yourself before you start blogging:

Why are you blogging?

What are you going to be blogging about?

How will you be blogging?

Why are you blogging?

Well, I can start by telling you why I am blogging.  I do it to establish a reputation as a thought leader in the industry of social media as well as using it as a laboratory for social media experimentation.  Blogging can have many reasons…

• Give a more human touch to your company.
• Share ideas and collaborate with your clients/customers.
• Inform people of what is going on with you and your company.
• Establish a reputation of expertise and knowledge.

The list goes on.  It is important to understand the why as it will help guide and direct your blog strategy, as well as set the tone for the rest of your social media strategy.

What are you going to blog about?

One of the first things I do with clients is ask what topics they are blogging about?

“I blog about all things social media!”

Well, when I’m sitting down, trying to think of something to write about, I can’t just think, “hmmm, I would like to write something about social media.”  There is social media news, social media trends, social media analytics, social media events… the list goes on, and that’s just topics that include “Social Media” in the subject.  There are other aspects of social media, like twitter and blogs and face to face interaction.

It is best to think of some specific topics you would like to cover that are important to your industry or interests and write those topics down so you have a list to consult when you are choosing something to blog about.  More can be added to the list as you continue to blog.

Here is a sample of my list of topics I blog about.

• Reputation Management
• Creative Marketing Ideas
• Social Interaction
• Storytelling
• Utilization of Social Media for Marketing Purposes
• Blogging
• Customer Interaction
• Building Your Social Portfolio

How will you be blogging?

This includes the sub questions of:

• Who will be blogging?
• How often to blog?
• How will you generate interest?

Who will be blogging?

Now if you are just one person, like me, this answer is simple… um… me.  If you are a company, this answer might not be as obvious.  It is all the rage now to get the CEO to blog or have posts from upper management.  This is important but there is a whole treasure trove of talented people all the way down to the person at the front desk.  Don’t overlook the knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm (very important factor in blogging) that could be in the cube next door!

How often to blog?

This is often a point disputed among many bloggers and social media enthusiasts.  My take, blog when you have something to say, but have something to say on a consistent bases.  This is easier when you have more people blogging for you.

I try to maintain a 3 times a week posting rate (although I do slip from time to time when things are really busy!).

I have recommended anywhere from 1 time a week to 5 days a week.  It all depends on the company, the content and the intent.  You do want to update often enough to create interest and a desire to follow what you are saying.  Which leads us to…

How will you generate interest?

This is the real fun part because you get to be creative.  Think of catchy titles, connect with other blogs on similar topics, have contests and host discussions.  Here are some things to think about:

• Controversy is always a hot topic
• Look at what topics and titles catch your eye… why?
• What information is important to you?  Will that be important to your readers?

I find so often that people jump into blogging and get all excited and then get to a point where they’re asking themselves… “what do I do now?”  Having a good strategy will help you get the ball rolling and keep it rolling.

A big shot is a little shot that kept shooting. - Anonymous

What has worked for you in your blog strategy?

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I was featured on the local ABC affiliate news, ABC 7.  You can read the article and watch the video here:

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=6670482

Yesterday I was interviewed as part of a bigger piece on NPR.  You can listen to the piece here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=101408067&m=101408098

If you haven’t checked out nates2cents.com, you should.  And be sure to subscribe! :).

This is a great song by Ben Walker.  If you are not on Twitter, you are no one!

Did you ever think you could turn those who complain about you the most into some of your most loyal and outspoken clients? Once you’ve converted an enemy to a friend… you pretty much have a friend for life, and if you’ve been following along on the rest of this series, you have all the tools necessary to make it happen.

But just in case… here’s what you need to think about…

I was worked a job, when I was 20 years old, that required paperwork to be filled out and submitted to the main office on a regular basis.  After my first submission I got a call from the lady handling the paper work.  She sounded a bit annoyed as she told me I had filled the form out wrong.  I apologized and made my best attempt the following week.  When I got the call the following week, she was doubly annoyed that I had still done it wrong.  Apparently agitated, she walked me through the process and we ended the phone call.  Come week 3 I was surprised when I recieved another phone call from her, only this time she was extremely happy!

“Wow!” She exclaimed ,”In all the time I’ve been doing this, I’ve never had someone fix their problem so quickly.  I even wrote about you in my journal!”  When we finally met at a company conference, she came running up to me and shook my hand, then proceeded to introduce me to her fellow office workers, “This is the guy that made my day!”  All I had done was fill out a form correctly, but I learned two important lessons that day that can be incorparated into reputation management:

1. Listen to what people are asking.
2. It may be something small to you, but it could be a huge deal to them.

Listen to those who are complaining and if possible reach out to them.  If there is a simple problem that can easily be fixed, fix it.  Let those who have been vocal know that the problem has been fixed and thank them for their assistance.  Give them recognition and you will find that often they will be the first to praise and even defend you when future issues arise.

Have you ever gone from not liking a company or person to liking them because of something they did that changed your attitude?

Here are the 5 topics covered:

1. Flattery will get you everywhere
2. Bury it in Twitter.
   
3. Say something smart… or stupid
4. Start talking outside of your circle
5. Up Sell

Check it out!

If you haven’t already subscribed to his blog… do so now! Oh, and if you haven’t subscribed to my blog… DO IT!