What’s the NUMBER ONE THING you need for business success?

Ok, yep, that’s a very broad question!

So, let’s narrow it down by using an example I’ve heard before.

Just say that you are opening a restaurant. What is the number one thing a restaurant needs to be successful?

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 one thing they need is a STARVING CROWD.

The restaurant 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 first 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 my 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?

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 – how do you get this starving crowd to salivate over what you have to offer?

There are some steps you could take to find your starving crowd:

1. Ask yourself – What would they type into a Google search?

You need to think like your audience! Learn to talk and write like them!

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. Use 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.

In business terms this translates to the fact that you always must look at what your starving audience wants:

• What’s next for them?
• What’s the new challenges they are facing?
• What are the roadblocks that you can help fix?

THEN – examine how you can sell them about the product or service YOU provide 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 see the genius in the research and fundamentals of getting to know my ideal client.

And how did I get to know my ideal client – I did it by:

• Listening
• Reading feedback they write
• Researching them
• Hanging out where they hang out

And by doing this I was able to see what words they use and review the phrases they type.

All that then helps me curate my content, my offerings and my language so that they know I’m talking to them!

There’s no mistake – it is deliberate and strategic.

Doing this means I am able to 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 this blog about starving crowds might just switch your thinking around the logic of this marketing fundamental.

If nothing else you take from this, 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.
• 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 recap the steps:

• Do some research
• Get to know your starving crowd
• Look at your offerings

By doing this you will be able to make sure:

• You are using the language of your buyer in your marketing copy
• Your offerings are solving the problems/roadblocks/challenges of your buyer
• 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!

CONTACT JENN:

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.

Send me a message on any of my social platforms or book a call at: https://calendly.com/jenn-smm/discovery

I also have my brilliant Facebook Group dedicated to all things small business – Like Minded Business Owners. Please join if you aren’t already a member and become a part of a wonderful community who really get around other business owners and share their knowledge!

Or you can DM me on Instagram or send me an email jenn@jenndonovan.com.au

I wish to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Yorta Yorta People, on which I conduct my business today and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples reading this blog post today.

About the Author:

Jenn Donovan of Social Media & Marketing Australia.  Jenn’s a coach and mentor from rural NSW and is all about empowering business owners to earn what they’re worth so they can make a bigger difference in the world.  The Founder of Buy From a Bush Business, Co-Founder of Spend With Us – Buy From a Bush Business Marketplace and host of the very popular podcast Small Business Made Simple, Jenn is all about community and humans interacting with humans!  H2H Marketing – human to human marketing. Jenn talks the talk but importantly walks the walk! Jenn’s online  community is over 320,000 with her famous Facebook Group currently at almost 320,000 members and still growing every day.  She’s the major of her own little online city!

Get in touch – www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au

On Instagram – @jenndonovan_

On Facebook – Social Media and Marketing AU

Or on LinkedIn as Jenn Donovan