Hey there, my fabulous listener, welcome to episode 131 of the Small Business Made Simple Podcast.

Thank you for lending me your ears today – I know you have lots of choices, so I sincerely appreciate me being one of them!

If you’re a first time listener, super super welcome, I am so pleased to have you here.  I am your host Jenn Donovan, and it’s my job, via this podcast, social media and everywhere else actually, to make your business life simpler. 

Business can be lonely and hard and complicated and it’s hardly ever easy, but it should be simple or at least simpler, so that’s my commitment you to on the Small Business Made Simple podcast!

One way I help to make your life simpler is by having a group of like-minded business owners all in one stop.  To ask questions, get answers and enjoy the journey of business! If you haven’t joined the Like Minded Business Owners Facebook Group, then hope over there after this episode and join!  Simply search Like Minded Business Owners in Facebook or come to the show notes for the like.  Show notes are at www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au/131

www.facebook.com/groups/LikeMindedBusinessOwners

So, this week, let’s get into it.

What’s the number 1 thing you need for business success?

The number 1 thing?

Ok, let’s use an example I’ve heard before.

You’re opening a restaurant, what’s the number 1 thing you need?

Telepathically shout it at me – let’s see if I can get your answer!

The number 1 thing a restaurant needs to be successful.  And I promise it’s not marketing this time!

Perhaps you might have said things like a great menu, a point of difference, amazing chef, great customer services, a business plan, a marketing plan, a great location, fresh food, no competitors, good/low prices …

Did you say any of those?

Well, if you did, absolutely a restaurant needs those things to be successful, but the number 1 thing they need is a STARVING CROWD.

They can have the best location, the best food, the best chef, the best plan etc but if they don’t have a STARVING CROWD, then they simply can’t sell anything.

I think the starving crowd story came from Gary Halbert actually, a direct marketing guru from a little way back – but the story is still true in a marketing sense today.

I talk a LOT about marketing on this podcast – it’s my jam – 100%.

But before you can market, you need to find your starving crowd.  After all there’s no point in having a product no one wants right?

So how do you find your starving crowd – regardless of whether you are just starting out, just about to launch a new product or been in business a while but want growth?

There’s some quick steps you could take to find your starving crowd:

1. Think like them! Learn to talk and write like them!  What would they type into a Google search?  Write down as many phrases as you can that you think they might type into google.  These can form some of your marketing copy or even some of your keyword phrases and words for your SEO or blog writing or podcast show notes etc.
2. Go to Amazon and look for books written on your topic. Look at their reviews.  What are the 10 most common complaints disappointed people have?  You can do something similar on Facebook – especially groups.  Search keywords around our niche and read the threads.  Look for the common problems, roadblocks, grievances people have – these are the problems you SHOULD be solving (because it’s in your niche and people want help with them!)
3. Your social media insights! Your Facebook/Instagram insights tell you who is hungry for your product or service and it’s FREE and it’s tailored to you and your business and what you sell!

You know the best thing about a starving crowd – they are LESS price sensitive.  They are starving for what you have, they don’t care so much for the price, just that it will solve their biggest problem.  After all they are starving!

But the other thing to remember about starving crowds is that once they’ve eaten – they are no longer starving.  Which in business terms translates to the fact that you always have to be looking at what your starving audience wants – what’s next for them, what’s their new challenges and roadblocks that you can help fix – e.g.,/ sell a product or service to alleviate the problem or challenge or roadblock.

Learning as much as you can about your ideal audience is such a fundamental piece of the puzzle in business success.

I’ve always had a mentor in my business journey.  My first ever mentor talked about the ideal client/ideal audience at least a dozen times before I started to take notice and then about another few times before I started to the genius in the research and fundamentals of getting to know my ideal client.

Listening, reading, researching my ideal client, hanging out where they hang out, seeing what words they use, phrases they type helps me curate my content, my offerings and my language so that they know I’m talking to them.

There’s no mistake.  I hit the nail on the head or poke the frustration or delight the senses of my ideal client so that they move closer to the buying decision.

If you’ve never thought too much about your ideal client, then I’m hoping that today’s episode talking about starving crowds might just switch your thinking around the logic of this marketing fundamental.

If nothing else you take from today’s chat, think about your offerings you have now.  The services you sell or the products you sell – are they want your audience wants or what you want to sell?

Or vice versa, does your audience need something different than you’re not willing to sell?

For example, you might have a brilliant online course around taking brilliant photos with your iPhone, but your audience just wants a photographer to do the work for them – so they’re not your buyer.

Or your audience is desperately seeking a solution to buying products as rewards for their staff members and needs gift baskets, but you only sell wine – so they’re not your buyer.

And you know they don’t want courses or wine because you see them talking about their problems and challenges online all the time – you did the research, you looked at the data.

So does that mean you should become a photographer or start selling gift baskets – heck no, not at all, unless you wanted to collaborate with someone else, but it does mean that you are attracting the wrong audience for what you SELL?

You haven’t found your starving audience.

So, finally, let’s do this.

Do some research, get to know your starving crowd, look at your offerings and make sure you are using the language of your buyer in your marketing copy and that your offerings are solving the problems/roadblocks/challenges of your buyer, make sure you are attracting the people who will one day do business with you – because at the end of the day we are here to make money!

I hope this short episode has helped you think a little different about your marketing.

If you’re completely stuck and you feel like your challenges are too much at this point, then I’d love to invite you for a discovery call with me so that I can see how I might be able to help you.

There’s a link in the show notes for make an appointment with me or go to https://calendly.com/jenn-smm/discovery

We can have a chat about your goals, your struggles and roadblocks and what’s holding you back and how I can help.

But that’s all for episode 131, I’ll be back next Thursday with another great episode to help you simplify your business in 2021. 

If you’re enjoying this podcast, which if you have listened to here – you hopefully are, don’t forget to subscribe, share this episode with another superstar business owner who’s doing the daily grind and would appreciate someone making their business simpler, and leave a rating or review to show how much you are loving this free weekly content.

Massive love coming your way if you do!

See you next week on the podcast for episode 132.  But in the meantime, let’s hang out on social and get social on social – you’ll find me on Instagram, Facebook and my fav LinkedIn.

But whatever you do,

……..remember small business peeps, as my opening song says, there’s no point in dreaming small!