So how do you go about creating that channel that you’re going to be so excited for?
It actually starts with your brand. This is what will help you to create a topic that you are truly excited about and it’s also what will help you to create a channel/business/blog that your audience can get equally as excited about.
If you already have a business and you’re struggling to get your online presence up and running or to build that engaged audience, then nine times out of ten a rebranding is the first and best thing you should do for your company.
If your site is just screaming: generic business! Or: generic fitness website! Then you need to start over right away and start giving people a reason to follow you.
And that starts by showing that you have passion and enthusiasm for your own brand. Because let’s be honest: if you don’t seem to care about your own site then why would anybody else?
So, you need a rebrand and that starts by deciding what you want your mission statement to be. A mission statement is essentially a statement of intent. This is a simple summary of not only what your site is about but also what it hopes to achieve. What is it going to offer to people that they can’t find anywhere else? Why should they follow you?
Consider Simon Sinek’s ‘Golden Circle’ when creating this mission statement. Simon describes a circle that is made up of three layers – an outer layer, middle layer and inner layer.
These layers are defined as ‘what’, ‘how’ and ‘why’.
If your business has a generic brand right now, then chances are that you have considered the first layer and maybe the second but not the middle. You need to find why you’re doing what you’re doing and why what your doing is important.
So, if you’re a fitness blog, then the ‘what’ is fitness information. The how is that you are informing people about getting fit via written content. The ‘why’ is what sets you apart though.
Perhaps you blog because you want to give bodybuilders a source of information and a spirit of community. Or perhaps you blog because you want to help the average person believe in themselves and get fit.
Likewise, if you sell an EPOS system, then choosing your ‘why’ might mean deciding that you want to empower small businesses. Maybe you want to bring smarter technology to the typical commercial experience.
Whatever the case, having a why will give your followers a reason to be interested in your brand. You’re giving them a reason to follow you and to care about what you have to say. You have a purpose, a mission and a passion and that is what is going to make people want to follow you.
And this ‘why’ is also what will allow you to start offering more interesting and giving people a reason to follow you.
Because if your ‘why’ is to bring modern technology to small businesses, then suddenly you can write with passion and interest about a whole selection of different topics – internet marketing, mobile apps, virtual reality, AR and more. And although it is beyond the scope of this book, it can even start to give you more ideas for products.
You might be wondering why we’re focusing so much on brand and on quality content when it comes to building an audience. The answer as I hope you’ve worked out by now, is that you’re trying to create something that people genuinely want to follow. Something that is genuinely interesting for people.
But just to tie this a little more closely into the notion of building an audience, let’s see how the audience itself should define the brand.
Because what you need to recognize next, is that your site or your business is not for everyone. As much as you might like to try and reach the widest possible audience, that will be definition make you generic. And when you’re generic, people will be indifferent to your brand.
Why is Apple so successful? Because it knows its audience. Instead of trying to appeal to everyone, it has chosen to create premium products that are for artistic professionals. In doing so, they have alienated a portion of their audience (people who want more flexibility in their technology, people who want to spend less) but they have made sure that what they’re doing appeals as much as possible to the audience that they are targeting.
Your aim should be to do something similar. In other words, don’t try to appeal to everyone and anyone who might land on your site. Instead choose a selection of people who will respond to the mission statement you have and then focus on them.
Doing this allows you to know more about your audience. That in turn allows you to know what they want and then that means you can cater to that desire and you can create something they’ll be ravenous for.
It is MUCH better to have a small audience that loves your brand than a massive audience that doesn’t care.
Okay, so with that in mind, you are now going to actively profile your audience. This means you’re going to create a buyer persona, which in turn is going to act like your ideal archetypal customer. This is the person for whom your products are practically made. This is the person that will be most likely to become a fan and to become a buyer. Create an imaginary biography: how old is this person? How much do they ear? What gender are they? What are their other hobbies and interests?
Now you’re going toc create a website that is for that hypothetical person specifically.