Your small business doesn't need a louder voice

Most small businesses are told to do more, to shout louder to outperform stalling growth. This always leads to more spending, more time, and more effort - which often isn’t realistic to the clientele I work with.

This will not work.

As the saying goes, there’s always a bigger fish. Trying to outdo your competitors who may have more budget or more man-hours, it’s a losing game.

And if this is something everyone is doing - you only become more susceptible to vagueness and forget-ability.

The fix? We need to be clear about who you’re for. Concise action will always perform better. Thorough research, and proper planning on the matter ensures we’re not being loud for everyone.

Compound the conciseness with consistency, and these effects will only grow. During customer acquisition, your bread and butter is what draws people in - and the consistent focus on these aspects is simply what works.

And in all honesty, we might lose out on some customers… good. A more focused customer is going to provide much more lifetime value than one of the people we may not target. Trust is always greater than reach.

So what do we actually do with this?

Start by cutting the messaging. If a competitor could put your ad or line or any marketing materials on their website and it'd still work, it's not specific enough.

Get specific about the one problem you solve better than anyone else. Say that - it’s who you are. Say it the same way, everywhere, every time. Then stop measuring success by how many people saw it. Measure it by how many of the right people remembered it.

You don't need a louder voice. You need a clearer one.