A note from Becca :

Everyone knows that times are weird. At the time of this writing, the entire world is sitting at a standstill, hunkering down and staying home because of COVID19.

We are doing it for the greater good. To help flatten the curve and save lives. The idea of “business as usual” has been completely interrupted in pretty much every aspect of all lives.

Marketing to your audience may feel scary as an entrepreneur right now.

They are scared of sounding like they are tone deaf to what the world, and their audience is going through.

They are not sure of their messaging. Not knowing what to talk about while also not wanting to talk about COVID19.

While it’s so important to be aware of your messaging and pivot how you are talking to you audience, I caution you against hiding away.

It’s just as important to show up and be helpful, share content and be a presence in the world today as it was 30 days ago.

As a small business, and especially as an online business, it’s important to continue to show up for your audience and share your message.

The world may be looking around after the biggest pause button ever has been hit…. but this is a pause, not a hard stop.

The rest of this post is an article that was written pre-pandemic. But, I feel it’s just as important today as it was before…. if not more so. I chose to leave the rest of the post along with the original tone. So that this post is relevant today and in 6 months time.

I hope you are all staying safe and staying home.

xo-Becca

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How to keep your customers engaged with your message.

A couple of months back, I was sitting across from a friend. Someone, I don’t see that often. We were chatting over a beer we had planned on sharing for many months, and today, we made it happen – this is how life works in your 30s when work and family life take precedence. Your friends end up on a back burner until the unicorn day when both your schedules are clear. 

But I digress 🙂

So, we were chatting and I was hearing a lot about her life.

I learned about her new job and how she already wanted to move on.

I heard all about her boyfriend and why he’s the greatest.

She told me about her dry cleaner and why they are about to lose her business.

Every time I tried to participate in the conversation, she’d cut me off and start talking about herself again and at the end of the evening, I realized that one of the main reasons I didn’t see this particular friend as much anymore was because communication with her was always one-sided. 

Now it wasn’t that I didn’t want to hear about her life – during her stories, I had tried to interject; I had tried to connect. But with the attention constantly shifting back towards her, I felt I wasn’t being heard.

And you know what? It was tiring! It was around there that I lost interest and completely checked out. And where I had one of the greatest “aha” moments while drinking a beer.

By her not engaging back with me about MY life, nor letting me interject my thoughts in any way, I couldn’t connect with her as a person, because there was no room for me in the conversation. 

So, I lost interest.

This is the same thing I see happening with social media messaging, again and again, and again!

People are having conversations about themselves, WITH ONLY themselves. This one-sided word vomit doesn’t entice people to pay attention and instead, turns them away.

So, as you work to grow your business and your brand, keep in mind that any story shared is about you – but really, it’s about your reader. How can they relate to you? What can they learn from it? How will this benefit them? What will form that connection that will convert them into a loyal follower, and eventually buyer?

Your job is to give them insight that adds value to their lives, and not just a vent sesh about your woes.

Because even if the story you share starts out about something that happened to you, it’s NEVER actually about you – and ALWAYS about the reader you’re selling to.

This is the backbone of how you build engagement, how you build brand awareness, and eventually, how you convert customers. 

So next time you post a story or tidbit on social media, think about how what you are sharing will relate to the reader and want to keep them reading and asking for more. 

That connection is what will make your brand grow!

Like this article? Check out 7 Ways to Create Visual Content that Connects