This week on SUCCESS Line, I talk to Sara—mother, wife, business professional and budding entrepreneur. She is on a mission to “make happiness contagious” through her life and career coaching. Sara has had a long and winding path to get here and has already done so much work to get clear on her vision and purpose.
Now she is left wondering, how do I bring my vision to my audience?
This is a point many entrepreneurs face—we know our target audience, and we know what we want to help them with. But how do we reach the people who need what we have to offer?
It starts with being authentic. You don’t need everyone; you need the right people. And sure, being authentic might mean that some people won’t be interested. But more importantly, the people who are interested are the ones who are truly committed and want to follow you down the path you are forging.
Identify where your audience goes.
What is the first step your target audience takes when they start to seek out solutions for their problems?
Wherever that first step takes them is where you need to be, ready and waiting to provide yourself as a resource. This is a crucial moment for any entrepreneur trying to reach their audience. For Sara, who is specifically hoping to work with moms, her audience might go to their friends, the gym or fellow mom groups to seek out support.
Going one step further, you should also get clear on what they are looking for from each of these potential outlets. Sara’s audience is likely looking for validation—that what they are feeling is OK and that others are feeling the same thing. What is your audience looking for in a resource?
Repurpose your content.
Your audience can’t find you if you don’t make yourself available. As with many entrepreneurs, Sara said that she does best when she can talk to people one-on-one. And of course, that is a wonderful way to connect with your audience. But it is also a very slow way to build your reach and an option that is not always available.
So how can you authentically introduce yourself to more than one person at a time? Video.
It is easy to get caught in the idea that our video content has to be “perfect” before it sees the light of day. But the second largest search engine in the world is YouTube, and the majority of the videos on Youtube are made by amateurs. People don’t care about the quality of the video; they care about the quality of the content. Is it authentic, educational and/or entertaining? What matters is that the video is true to who you are, not whether you have all the newest gadgets to film with.
Furthermore, the effort of producing just one video can be leveraged across multiple platforms. You can get the video transcribed and turn it into a blog post, or slice the long-form video into short 15-second clips to create reels. You can even take the video out and turn the audio into a podcast. Squeeze as much juice as you can out of one video and you will see your efforts multiply.
There are so many ways to utilize video content and it is something we know audiences crave. Do not let your fears hamper you from reaching the people who need your message—start creating video content today.
Get in front of an audience.
Video is one of the most powerful tools an entrepreneur has. That being said, the only thing better than video content is speaking in person. However, most groups are not going to hire someone they don’t know anything about. By creating a library of videos, blog posts and podcasts first, you give such groups the chance to get to know your story and what you have to offer.
To make it even easier for groups to get to know you, you can create a speaker reel and a speaker one-sheet. What does that look like? The reel will be short snippets from your videos that give the viewer a glimpse of what they can expect. The one-sheet will include the following six things:
- Your skills and credentials.
- Who your message will resonate with.
- How clients are going to benefit from having you as a speaker.
- How the person sitting in the chair in the audience benefits.
- Testimonials from clients who have had you speak before.
- Your contact information and a headshot.
By creating this reel and one-sheet you position yourself to get in front of as many rooms as possible. It doesn’t matter if you are speaking for 10 people or 10,000—speaking in front of others gives you the opportunity to learn, grow and refine your message. It allows you to get so comfortable and dialed in that you can walk into any room, anywhere, and find the people who need what you have to offer.
The SUCCESS Line is no longer releasing new episodes on the SUCCESS Podcast Network, but you can still listen to the full conversation below.
