Go on, be visible. It could be your big turning point
Does the very thought put a clamp on your chest? Does the fear of failure (or fear of success) make you uneasy?
Being a highly visible small business is a good strategy for a few reasons. It:
1. Entices great people.
2. Establishes powerful partnerships.
3. Instigates new business.
4. Attracts potential Investors.
5. Provides valuable Publicity.
Visibility comes through standing out. Its about erecting a remarkable feature in your business, something you become known for in the marketplace. By necessity, you must put your business up in lights to achieve it.
It can be daunting, but It’s best practice for building a fast growth small business.
Here’s a few common tools smart businesses use to create market visibility:
Trade Shows. Every industry has them. They’re a chance to show off your latest products, attract new customers, form partnerships and see what the competition is up to. Albeit, this is a weak form of creating market visibility (at least in the eyes of the customer) as unless you have a particularly remarkable product, you will simply blend in with the crowd.
Product Demonstrations. No one does this better than Apple. Their World Wide Developer Conferences and keynote presentations are eagerly watched by fanatical Apple fans the world over. All over the globe, we willingly sit down and watch a 2-hour advertisement of their newly released product. Phenomenonal, isn’t it? These events create enormous visibility off the back of a beautifully executed new product launch.
Educational Events. At Dent we create visibility through our Brand Accelerator events. Our events help educate and inform small business owners on 5 skills required to position themselves as Key People of Influence in their industry. Through educating the market we deliver a lot of valuable insights to the wider small business community and at the same time attract interest in our Business Accelerator programs. Want to see how your influence stacks up? Take the test and get your scorecard.
Stunts. Richard Branson is famous for his publicity stunts to stymie the competition or launch a new business or product, like driving down 5th Avenue, New York in a tank to launch Virgin Cola or organising a blimp to mock British Airways when the London Eye (BA sponsored) was experiencing technical problems in being erected.
Grassroots Campaigns. A stunning example of a recent grassroots campaign in Australia was the one Thankyou did to launch their new product range. The Coles and Woolworths campaign touched every emotion of everyone who saw it and was an epic tale of David and Goliath. Like all remarkable campaigns, it was big, it was audacious and it was neck on the chopping block if they didn’t pull it off. Luckily, they did and more than likely received every benefit that a high degree of visibility affords the bold and courageous.
So go on, be visible. It just might be a game-changer.