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June 10, 2008
Are you ready to hear my message?
Let’s backtrack a few weeks. My 3-year old, Madeline, decides she wants to “write” some things. She wanted small pieces of paper, so I handed her a couple of Rolodex-style cards. Perfect! She gets a pencil and with a face of fierce determination gets to her writing.
The rest of us are out in the living room when a few minutes later, she comes on out with the cards in hand, and with a face and voice full of intensity and expectancy asks somewhat forcefully, “Are you ready to hear my message?” It turns out that each of the cards she had written on were her “messages”, and she wanted to announce them to us. She then proceeded to deliver these messages to us.
My first reaction was amusement, but then it struck me: what a great illustration of the primary area of focus for entrepreneurs, the marketing of our personal brand. Let’s take a look at the areas that she hit:
Preparation: she first made sure she was ready for when the spotlight was on her (she wrote her messages). How many of us have begun a campaign, only to realize the hard way our deliverables were half-baked? Hint: been there, done that, got the T-shirt
Knowing the audience: in her own way she knew the rest of the family would be receptive to her once she made her entrance. Do your homework. Have a clear vision of where you want to go so you’ll be clear on your own message. Ask yourself, Who wants to hear from me? Better yet, Who needs to hear from me?
Have a great headline: Madeline made a great entrance and immediately got our attention. Whether your approach is “live” (in person or on the phone) or is written (printed materials, or a web-based sales letter), you only have a few seconds to survive a go/no-go evaluation. Be clear, be real, be valuable
While we may not literally go out there and ask people “are you ready my message?”, that in effect is what our marketing efforts are all about. So remember these 3 take-aways from today: prepare, know/define your target, and deliver from the get-go.
Now, if you really want to know for sure that your audience is in fact ready to hear what you have to say (and you should want to know, you need to know), then you’ll want to check out my next update.
Onward,
alan
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Alan Stout
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(281) 658-5615 alan@801Concepts.com al
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I’m a note-taker. Whether it be in client meetings, staff meetings, classes, or training calls lead by other leaders: I want a history of it. It’s a great way to capture the knowledge accumulated by others, then you can access it later as the need arises.
This archive can meet the same need. For me, it’s a journal of where I’ve been, and hence, where I’m going. You can use it to grab what you’ve missed, or simply to get more of a flavor of where I’m coming from.
Happy hunting. |
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