This episode is a Q&A episode answering questions from you about “Racing to the Top” with your business. Instead of treating what you do like a commodity and continually racing to the bottom, here’s how you can race to the top!
What Do You Mean By “Race to the Top”?
When you starting a business, many entrepreneurs make decisions about who they’ll serve. If you try to serve the masses right away, you’re sitting there with your fingers crossed that you will become an overnight success. I hate to break it to you, but there is no such thing as an overnight success. We shouldn’t race to the bottom by trying to find advantages to exploit the status quo. We shouldn’t compete on price, location, or speed, because someone can always do it cheaper, closer, or faster. Compete by adding more value for your customer than the price they pay.
Find Your Community
“People like us do things like this.” — Seth Godin
The people like us are the people around us who see some aspect of the world similarly or who have similar experiences to ours. We encounter others through these early community connections that bring them into a similar orbit that find themselves drawn to our shared experiences, and we find that they also encounter many of the same problems we do. When you solve a problem of this community, you’re adding value to their lives. You have just found the smallest viable audience. You’re solving problems, and in return, they are paying you for it. They are the first to have their problem solved by you, and you serve them well. They tell others they know that have similar issues needing to be solved… Other people like us. They all had this problem but you solved it. I bet you can solve it for others too with this thing. The thing like this.
Brand as Reputation
The bottom line when it comes to brand is that it’s not your name, a logo, or a sign. Your brand is the reputation that others have about you and your business. When you’re starting out, your reputation is a blank slate. You have no experience, but also you have no baggage. Through time, your experience grows, and your reputation will as well. Like attracts like, and your reputation spreads, and you end up with a clientele that expects that from you and will act accordingly.
Kill Them With Kindness
What if I told you that there is one thing that you can focus on in your business that will set you apart from everyone else in your industry, make you the talk of the town, and make your brand such that you get the best customers to join your community? No matter what business you’re in, if you focus on kindness in every interaction you will have an amazing advantage that can’t be surpassed or undercut. When you focus on kindness, you add so much value in every interaction that the rest of your brand identity and reputation dovetail around it.
The best part? Kindness is free.
Don’t let that price tag fool you about the value of it.
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If you’re not satisfied with the social media results you’re getting, Beyond Your Side Hustle offers this training via email.
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