Thinking differently to drive revenue

Last week I was asked bt Natwest Content Live, what 5 things could small business owners do to think differently to drive revenue so I jotted down some thoughts.

5 things business owners can do to drive more revenue.

Identify who actually matter to you.

As business owners, we all like to think that we can help everyone and anyone with our amazing businesses and if you are really good at what you do and managed to survive the start-up years then you probably can. However, we have to come to the realisation that we do not have the resource and/or budget to target your entire market.

Take a deeper dive into who really matters to you, if you're trying to reach xx% market share, which customer profiles are easiest to reach and of most value to you. These are the people that matter to you. Not forever, just this quarter or month, break it down into manageable/reachable chunks.

Find out in which moments you connect with these important people.

Is it In-real-life, at an event or experience.

Is it in the palm of the hand, through search, then your SEO and PPC strategy needs to be on point.

Is it on social media, then you need to consider influencer outreach and creative content.

Is it in the news feed, while watching tv, it goes on, there are so many moments we can connect.

Filter down to who really matters to you this quarter and in what moments can you connect with them. Today our lives are all about connections and moments so really focus on one strong area for you and make emotional, shareable moments.

How are your people behaving in these moments?

We now know who are important to you this quarter, and what moment(s) we can connect with them, so now we need to know how are they feeling and behaving in these moments.

But guess what, your business isn’t their top priority, you are interrupting a moment of their day, not to sell to them, but to inspire them to think about your industry or product.

Do not think brand message first, think 'customer feelings' in that moment first and adapt your approach.

Research can help here but if you don’t have the budget, put yourself in that moment and think about how you feel/think/behave as a human being and you won’t be far off.

Bring the brand to life

Every brand/business can bring their story to life in an engaging way, you just have to think creatively. Whether it is in-real-life experience, online or offline. B2B businesses can do this too, not just the sexy big consumer brands, we all have a story to tell.

If you haven’t discovered/written your story try and draw/write a children's book and start with the ending, what is the ending of your book, what do you need to do to get there, they become the milestones of the book and soon enough you will be at the start of the book.

If you have a fixed assets like an office or retail unit, how could you maximise the cost of this by developing it to a experience community during the day and event space at night, related to your industry that can educate, entertain and drive revenue. Could this also have a community/educational element that is tax deductible and gets the entire company into doing good too. Could it have a research and development element that can be claimed back?

All of these things show your clients/customers your brand ethos, drives brand love and creates excellent content that you can share online.

Engage

Create a brand story and start to tell in across the channels that work for the people that matter to you, using the steps above.

Create an incentivised workshop for your team to work through these steps together and see what comes out of it.

Remember innovation and brave open-minded thinking is what will help you survive.

5 Tips on thinking differently

1/ Write a short story book – and start with the ending

The things that you need to do to get there become the milestones of the book and will present creative ways to help you on your journey.

2/ Use your office space

Ask how could you maximise its cost – and buzz-creating opportunities – by developing it to become an event space related to your industry at night that can educate, entertain and drive income.

3/ Forget the lion's share

Many businesses chase the whole market when they should be working out how to reach the people that really matter to them. Identify your audience, and think about when and where you can really connect with them.

4/Get out and walk

When you’re struggling for ideas and solutions, get up and have walking meetings to look at the problem and the opportunity. Clearing the mind by walking can really help clarify your thinking.

5/It’s all about the end result

Think about how your client/customer feels/thinks when they have used the product or service. Think about who else or how else it can be used to create the same feeling and target them.