Are you pouring your heart and soul into your business, but feeling like nobody notices? This week, we're tackling a fundamental challenge for every entrepreneur: Awareness. It's the crucial first step in the customer journey, and without it, even the most amazing offers will fall flat.
We’ve been working on mapping out our own customer journey and realized how crucial this first step is. It’s all about answering one simple question: How do people know you exist?
We often see business owners, especially those focused on service-based businesses, get stuck here. They’re amazing at what they do but struggle to get the word out. They're so busy doing the work they don't have time to get more work. Sound familiar?
This week, we break down four key ways to build awareness, and we even share a story about a friend whose entire business is built on one of these methods. It’s a powerful example of how focusing on what works for you can be more effective than trying to do everything at once.
Here’s a quick overview of the four awareness strategies we discussed:
1. Warm Network & Warm Outreach: This is our personal favorite. It’s about leveraging the relationships you already have. These are people who already trust you, making the nurturing and discovery phases much smoother.
2. Building Content, Brand, & Social (Owned Media): Creating valuable content that people can find online (like blog posts, social media updates, and yes, even newsletters!) allows potential clients to discover you organically.
3. Advertising & Events: These are more direct methods of getting in front of people who may not know you yet. Think targeted ads or attending industry events.
4. Cold Outreach: While effective when done right, this is often the most challenging and time-consuming. We recommend prioritizing the other three first.
You don’t have to do all of these at once.
We also discussed the importance of experimentation and retrospectives. Every action you take should be treated as a test. By setting two-week “sprints” and regularly reviewing your results, you can quickly identify what’s working and what’s not.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the thought of building awareness, remember this: start small, experiment, and focus on providing value.