Building Your Reach
The economy today is far, far more developed than ever before, and nearly every market is rife with competition between businesses. Whether you own a company, are trying to build a personal brand, or work for a large business, spreading your reach is definitely worth considering, especially when trying to advance your work and career. But, while building your reach is a useful tactic to increase your own business, it doesn't require nearly as much stress or work as you may think.
If you're in an older generation of businesspeople, you likely operate largely by traditional forms of advertising, which, while tried and true, have started to decline in overall effectiveness. TV, print, and radio advertisements are older technologies that are, of course, effective, but only to an ever-decreasing extent. Social media is a prime example of how the business world has adapted to embrace new technologies in order to attract new markets. Not only is social media free to download and use, it also has very cheap advertising options that allow you to promote your products to a targeted group of people. Instagram and Facebook both offer these advertising services to anyone, but if you would rather not pay any of the associated fees with Facebook Ads, many businesses find success in developing their profiles and generating a bit of online fame. Wendy's has executed this on Twitter perfectly, with the majority of their internet fame coming from the viral tweets they're known for, not the millions of dollars they spend on TV and Internet advertising.
However, building your reach extends beyond how you market your business and brands. Networking and building a close relationship with a like-minded community are two other highly recommended ideas for increasing your overall influence and clientele list. Attending conferences, listening to speakers, and attending corporate events and galas are all terrific opportunities to meet people who may eventually become business partners, advertising channels, or even clients themselves. Connecting with a community of people can provide similar benefits as well, and the community itself can even turn into one massive funnel for your business.
Neither of these tasks are as challenging as they may sound. You can likely find communities of people through your workplace, social media, or even by chancing upon them as you're out and about. The same goes for opportunities to network. Almost every company offers some sort of employee event at some point during the year, and, if you're self-employed, there are several speaking events and charitable events that you can attend as an alternative. Students, as well, have several chances to network and join a community, especially at university. Events and clubs are held almost daily, and, by having such a large population in a concentrated area, there are endless opportunities to connect and build rapport with new people.
The crucial key to building reach lies solely on you, as a business professional, to be interested not only in the success of your business, but its relationship with its consumers. The people your business interacts with should be not only knowledgeable about the brand associated with the business, but also have a developed interest in your products and/or services. With most people, this type of relationship is not formed quickly, nor completely organically. Every individual is a consumer, and as such, these individuals need a gentle nudge to start the otherwise-organic process of developing a stout consumer-producer relationship. For younger generations, a visually appealing photo on a social media platform may be the only push they need to begin immersing themselves in the brand or business that you own. For older generations, perhaps a slightly more repetitive tack may be needed in order to guide them away from a specific brand or product loyalty toward that of your own design.
Similar to fishing, the foundation for a successful "catch" in business relies on a few simple concepts. As with any basic business plan, identification of your target is vital to success. If a target has been correctly identified, then pairing it with correct bait will, in time, draw in consumers that you can begin building a relationship with. Using incorrect "bait" will neither attract your target nor will it generate any traffic toward your business. That being said, be bold with your bait. If you cast a line out next to five other fishers, you want yours to be the most attractive, so take some risks, try inventive ideas, and be creative. Creativity is the key to attracting an audience, and it's the key to holding one, as well.
Building your business' reach is an important tactic to increase customer base and stimulate growth on both ends. By connecting with targeted audiences, as well as potential future business partners, you have the ability to generate thousands of leads and immeasurable growth in a far shorter amount of time than you'd expect.
If you're in an older generation of businesspeople, you likely operate largely by traditional forms of advertising, which, while tried and true, have started to decline in overall effectiveness. TV, print, and radio advertisements are older technologies that are, of course, effective, but only to an ever-decreasing extent. Social media is a prime example of how the business world has adapted to embrace new technologies in order to attract new markets. Not only is social media free to download and use, it also has very cheap advertising options that allow you to promote your products to a targeted group of people. Instagram and Facebook both offer these advertising services to anyone, but if you would rather not pay any of the associated fees with Facebook Ads, many businesses find success in developing their profiles and generating a bit of online fame. Wendy's has executed this on Twitter perfectly, with the majority of their internet fame coming from the viral tweets they're known for, not the millions of dollars they spend on TV and Internet advertising.
However, building your reach extends beyond how you market your business and brands. Networking and building a close relationship with a like-minded community are two other highly recommended ideas for increasing your overall influence and clientele list. Attending conferences, listening to speakers, and attending corporate events and galas are all terrific opportunities to meet people who may eventually become business partners, advertising channels, or even clients themselves. Connecting with a community of people can provide similar benefits as well, and the community itself can even turn into one massive funnel for your business.
Neither of these tasks are as challenging as they may sound. You can likely find communities of people through your workplace, social media, or even by chancing upon them as you're out and about. The same goes for opportunities to network. Almost every company offers some sort of employee event at some point during the year, and, if you're self-employed, there are several speaking events and charitable events that you can attend as an alternative. Students, as well, have several chances to network and join a community, especially at university. Events and clubs are held almost daily, and, by having such a large population in a concentrated area, there are endless opportunities to connect and build rapport with new people.
The crucial key to building reach lies solely on you, as a business professional, to be interested not only in the success of your business, but its relationship with its consumers. The people your business interacts with should be not only knowledgeable about the brand associated with the business, but also have a developed interest in your products and/or services. With most people, this type of relationship is not formed quickly, nor completely organically. Every individual is a consumer, and as such, these individuals need a gentle nudge to start the otherwise-organic process of developing a stout consumer-producer relationship. For younger generations, a visually appealing photo on a social media platform may be the only push they need to begin immersing themselves in the brand or business that you own. For older generations, perhaps a slightly more repetitive tack may be needed in order to guide them away from a specific brand or product loyalty toward that of your own design.
Similar to fishing, the foundation for a successful "catch" in business relies on a few simple concepts. As with any basic business plan, identification of your target is vital to success. If a target has been correctly identified, then pairing it with correct bait will, in time, draw in consumers that you can begin building a relationship with. Using incorrect "bait" will neither attract your target nor will it generate any traffic toward your business. That being said, be bold with your bait. If you cast a line out next to five other fishers, you want yours to be the most attractive, so take some risks, try inventive ideas, and be creative. Creativity is the key to attracting an audience, and it's the key to holding one, as well.
Building your business' reach is an important tactic to increase customer base and stimulate growth on both ends. By connecting with targeted audiences, as well as potential future business partners, you have the ability to generate thousands of leads and immeasurable growth in a far shorter amount of time than you'd expect.
