Content Strategy For Business Growth

Content Strategy For Business Growth

by | Dec 6, 2020 | Blog

Content Strategy

When it comes to your business, the content you create determines the interaction you have with your customers, or potential customers. Today, we have so many options to choose from for how we communicate with customers you already have, and the ones you hope to have. As a small business owner, or entrepreneur, you don’t always stop to think which content option is best for your business. Knowing what your options are and why choose one over the other is a step towards efficient communication with your intended audience. The result, when you choose the right form of communication, is finding the customer (s) that’s willing to pay for your services or products.

 Your Content Strategy Options

Below you will find a short video that outlines options for communicating about your business, service, product, and why you should choose each. The content in the video is similar to the blog post I wrote on the six content you can use to build your brand. As similar as the two posts may be, this is more visual, and speaks directly to why you would build a website, grow your social media audience, or choose other communication options to deliver your message. The goal is to communicate the right information, with the right tool, that will effectively reach your audience.

I also thought that I would share the transcript of the video. It’s for those of us business owners with little time and would prefer to skim the content. I know while building a business is important, other aspect of life is equally important. Before diverting your attention to family or other facets of your life, take a moment and either watch the video or read the transcript. Your business will thank you.

Share your thoughts or questions about the video and what you would like other videos to be about.

 

Video Transcript

Content strategy is the creation, publication and distribution of content that can attract an audience, increase brand awareness and engage an online community of users

Whether you are a small business or an entrepreneur, creating the right content can help to further your objectives and build your brand.

Whats more, the information you create can showcase your expertise

You may ask, why do you need the right content? Here are just a few reasons why…

Nurture relationships with current customers

Attract potential customers

To share information that’s relevant to the success of your company

The information you create should be be unique and relevant to your business brand

What kind of information can you create? The examples that follow are not your only option, just a good place to start

Build a website to share information about your company, and the product or service you offer

Create a blog to add credibility and relevance to your business.  It’s also another way to display your expertise

Continue to grow your online presence by using social media to build your brand and

Produce e-books to establish authority and grow your audience

White papers is yet another way to build credibility and to educate current and potential customers

Connect your content and other external content to demonstrate and recognize the value of others in your industry. It’s a cost effective way to build relationships while showing alternative views

Infographics is an excellent way to help your audience process elaborate content efficiently.

Within the next year alone there will be more than 4.5 billion email users. It make sense to use emails to build relationships, trust and your brand

A personalize message is not only more engaging, it allows you to create a deeper level of empathy and trust with your audience

Whether you choose an email campaign, an e-book, or all the options mention in this short video. One thing is certain, you can create content that will retain your current customers and grow your business.

Vision Statement? Do You Need One?

Vision Statement? Do You Need One?

by | Dec 3, 2020 | Blog

Your Vision Statement – You’ve written a mission statement, the next step is to articulate the vision of your business.

When you think about creating a mission or a vision statement, you are more likely to believe you should create one before the mission statement. Why? Because its human nature. We visualize or daydream about something before we attempt to materialize it or take actionable steps towards making it happen. However, for building a business, the process is actually the opposite. In business, you need a mission statement to clarify the what and why of your business. Read on to understand why the logical next step would be a vision statement.

Vision Statement  or Mission Statement? Which Comes First

Depending on who you talk with, they will either agree or disagree regarding the mission-vision process. The conflicting suggestions, as to which come first, mission or vision are not unusual.  I have to admit, when I first considered a mission and vision statement, I also believed I need to write my vision first. I didn’t realize the importance or goal of each. It was goal changing to learn that for the building blocks of a business; you need to understand the mission in order to create a vision. It’s understandable to think you need a vision statement in order to define your business mission, and learning more about the role of each helps to realize the opposite is actually more effective.

To recap

A mission statement summarizes the aims and values of a business.  When you create a mission statement, you are determining the HOW. Think of it as answering questions such as.

  • What exactly is it I do?
  • Why do I do it?
  • For whom?

When you can define your HOW and answer key questions such as the three above, then you can sit and develop a vision for accomplishing your clearly defined mission. Writing a vision statement is not simple. In fact, it can be daunting. It’s overwhelming because you are not just considering your company and its future, you are attempting to create a level of inspiration, motivation, and excitement about what you do and why you do it. Whether you are a company of one or a hundred, it’s not effortless to create a vision for your business that will compel you to do more than just hang a poster on a wall in your office.

Create a vision statement that will sharpen your goals and mobilize your efforts.

It epitomize the core value of your business and you can use it as a roadmap for where you see your business in the future. A well-crafted statement can affect the long-term objectives of a business and can determine the success of a business.

With a succinct, meaningful business outlook, you are more likely to be engaged and focused on achieving the success of your business. In fact, research shows you are more productive and more effective in your efforts to pursue your business goals. That is why it’s worth the effort to create a statement that bolster your efforts to achieve success.

Shaping your vision 

Depending on the size of your business, the process for crafting a vision statement will be different. In a small business, getting the views of your employees is a simplistic process. In a larger business, you must be selective in capturing the range of voices and opinions that would contribute to forming a statement that benefits the business. For a middle to larger size businesses, greater options are available. A larger business would use resources such as workshops, individual interviews, and feedback from its employees.

Regardless of your size

But, let’s say you are not a middle to large size business or even a small one. Maybe you are a business of one, you are an entrepreneur.  A vision of your business is just as relevant regardless of your size. A small, mid to large size business may have more options, an entrepreneur may need to be more contemplative. Either way, the outlook you create today will be your source of encouragement for growth tomorrow.

Use Your Mission Statement As A Framework

Even though creating a vision statement can overwhelm, it doesn’t have to be. To develop a powerful statement, use the information you already have. You’ve taken the time to craft your business’s mission statement, now use it as a framework for your vision statement. Another technique to consider is the same one I mention in my post on writing a mission statement. Study the vision statement of your competitors, or even the ones of those businesses you emulate. Notice what differentiates your business and theirs. Possibly what they are not focusing on in their statement that you would like to in yours. Here are three examples of noteworthy vision statement of companies you may recognize.

LinkedIn–“Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.”

American Express–“Provide the world’s best customer experience every day.”

Alzheimer’s Association–“A world without Alzheimer’s and other dementia.”

Ikea – To create a better everyday life for many people

What do you notice about the vision statement of the companies above? They are short and concise. Usually a vision statement is no longer than two sentences. There are two reasons a vision statement should be brief:

  1. It should be simple enough to understand
  2. It should be memorable

While it is a good idea to be succinct with a vision statement, you may find that the one you created during your process is larger or more detailed. That the original is expansive is okay. However, you still have more work to do. Before you walk away from what you believe is the vision of your business, it’s a good idea to condense that paragraph or two into a sentence or two.

How to use your vision statement

While it’s nice to have your vision and mission statement on a visible wall to see every day, consider how to strategically integrate it into your business. Consider it a tool you can use to align and inspire you to meet your business goals. Place it on your website and stationary. Share it on social media. Whether you have one employee or fifty, even if you use independent contractors, or consultants, make sure they know and understand the value and vision of your business. Their actions and decisions should reflect your business’s vision.

Reviewing and revising is the norm

You spend a lot of time thinking, crafting, and molding the ultimate words of your vision statement. To now discover it should be revised and updated, may not be what you want to read. Before throwing in the towel and giving up, let me explain why you want to revise your vision statement as often as needed. There is only one reason or one word to consider.

Change

Even if you don’t like it, The world will change, your industry will no doubt change. Large or small, you recognize that in order to succeed you have to grow with your industry. Even If you have to attend a conference, take a course, learn a new software, or communicate differently with your clients or customers, it doesn’t matter. You will do what it takes to grow your business and achieve success. Because of your willingness to keep up with the demands of your industry, revising your vision statement to adjust and keep up with the new norm is your aim. You rework your roadmap to see the success you can achieve in the future.

Tips to keep in mind when constructing your vision statement

  • Align it with your business values
  • Use clear concise words that free of idioms or slangs
  • Write in the present tense
  • Focus on the success of your business – see your success
  • Project your success at least five years ahead
  • Be inspiring and enthusiastic with the words you use

The Vision statement you create today won’t just guide all aspects of your business. It will also be the one constant reminder during the ebbs and flow of your business. If you are a small business or an entrepreneur, it will contribute to why you pursue your business every day. For mid to large businesses, it will be the reason employees double down on their efforts to meet the objectives of the business. Above all, the vision statement is a reminder that your goals are bigger than what you do every day.

Mission Statement, Why You Need One

Mission Statement, Why You Need One

by | Nov 24, 2020 | Blog

Mission statement, It doesn’t matter if you are a brand new startup or a small business offering a service, or a product for decades, you need one. As a business owner, you know where your business is right now and where you want it to be. However, one consistent fact is most business owner haven’t taken the time to create a visual representation of their business. Chances are, they haven’t taken the steps to create a milestone of where they are and want to be, so that a month, or a year from now, they can see how far they’ve grown, or even if there was growth.

Our Primary Mode of Communication

Before delving into this post, allow me to digress for a moment and talk about something I’m enamored with. Words. Do you realize the words we speak, or write is as important as the air we breathe? Think about it.  What would life be like if we couldn’t speak, or write, or read words in all its forms? Whether it’s in my native English or through myriads of other languages in existence, the usage of words is our primary mode of communication in every conceivable way. And, as a business owner, you must use something that’s as innate as the air you breathe, optimally.

Words are important

But you can’t just walk up to a potential customer and babble about your business and expect that potential customer to buy your product or use your service. Create and optimize words in its highest conceivable form to convince that stranger walking down the street, or surfing the internet, or meandering through one of today’s social sites to want what you offer.

Successful business owners discovered that what they communicate matters

Words have the power to determines their achievement. That realization happened either at the start of a business, or after. At some point, pen connect with paper, or fingers fly across a keyboard, intending to move an idea of business success from a thought to a tangible visual representation of true expectations.

Here is another extraordinary fact that’s as amazing as our use of words: We all don’t fit neatly in a box. That previous sentence is one of my favorite idioms. For me, it’s saying we are not a carbon copy of each other. Another idiom.  These wonderful idioms aside, as a business owner, we grow at varying speed, and so I will not say in this post that you must take your business goals and ideas from your mind and make it tangible by writing them down. Instead, consider this post to be a reference point. When you are ready, it’s here. Take into account the options mention in this post and future post on the topic. Pick one, or use all when the time is right, or when you are ready to accelerate your business goals. Here is the first optimal use of words to grow your business.

 Create a Mission Statement

Hopefully, my introduction above convinced you of its importance. If you’ve ever wondered what a mission statement is here is a formal definition. It’s a summary of the aims and values of a business, regardless of its size or type. Use Wikipedia to delve deeper into its definition, and you’ll learn there are three parts to a mission statement:

  •  Key market: The target audience
  • Contribution: The product or service
  • Distinction: What makes the product or service unique and why would they want it.

Write a mission statement to clearly outline your business goals and agenda. Also, to provide the best outcome for your customers. In order to do that, you need to understand who you are targeting, what you are offering, and how you will stand out from your competitors. As a business owner, the value or purpose of a mission statement is to clarify a business path to success.

Examples of well-known mission statements

LinkedIn: Connect the world’s professionals to make them more successful and professional.

American Express: Become essential to our customers by providing differentiated products and services to help them achieve their aspirations.

Honest Tea: Seek to create and promote great-tasting, healthy organic beverages. We strive to grow our business with the same honesty and integrity we used to craft our recipes, with sustainability and great taste for all.

Don’t be a part of the norm

Most businesses usually conclude that they don’t need a mission statement, especially if they are new or small. It’s understandable why you would think that way. Your competitor doesn’t have one. Right? My question to you is: Are you sure? Yes,  most medium to large businesses have their mission statement on their website. Just because you are not the size of American Express, it doesn’t mean a mission statement isn’t valuable.

Yes, you need a mission statement. It doesn’t matter if you have a few customers or a thousand. A paragraph outlining what your business goals are is an essential step that can only benefit your efforts to grow your business.

This is part 1 of a series on building your business with the right content

Part 2 will delve into why you need a vision statement. As a business owner, understanding and knowing about the content you need to build your business and your brand is a relevant part of achieving success. Yes,  those blog posts you need are important. And well-written content on your site is also equally important. But you need to have the right content that conveys your inner vision and capture your audience. The more you can encapsulate your business purpose, the better you can take advantage of services such as mine to suit your business needs. Stay tune for more in the series.