The one thing you can do now to grow your business (before you’ve even started your business!)

Social Media Marketing • 4 CommentsAugust 31st, 2012

When I coach clients who are still at the early stages of refining their small business concept and niche, I notice a common trend that, although they’re not aware of it at the time, is limiting their business growth before it’s even begun.

 

The problem is that they are in that sluggish, slow place where they are waiting. Waiting for that moment of earth shattering clarity that they have the perfectly positioned niche and ground-breaking business idea before they start getting the wheels in motion and setting themselves up for success.

 

This is especially true when it comes to social media, particularly Twitter. Many of them know they will need to build their online presence to engage with potential customers and clients, but they don’t see the point of getting the Twitter hat on until everything is crystal clear.

 

BIG MISTAKE.

 

This is why:

 

No matter how amazing your business offering is, how perfectly you’ve identified your niche, how mind blowing your website and branding is, if no one knows about it, it’s useless. It’s like shouting at the top of your voice on a desert island- a complete waste of time and energy. And I see so many people doing this- spending loads of money on the funkiest, cutting edge website but with hardly any one visiting it because they don't know about it.

 

The thing with social media, particularly Twitter, is that it takes time to leverage it’s power. It’s not about just turning up and switching on the twitter button when you’re ready. It’s about constant plugging away to engage, interact, and build a solid community that are champions of what you do. This has to be a constant labour of love.

 

This is what I strongly advise you to do:

 

Rather than waiting for that moment of clarity, start building your Twitter community right now. This means that by the time you’re ready to start really shouting about what you’re doing and driving traffic to your website, you’ll have a tribe of people listening and ready to spread the word about what you do.

 

Don’t fret about the fact you’re not yet 100% sure about the nuts and bolts of your business, or that you don't yet have the perfect brand and razor sharp messaging. Remember, you can change your Twitter bio and branding as you go along. Just start with where you are right now. Perhaps you’re a coach still waiting to get clear on who exactly you want to be working with, well just give an overview of what you believe in and a top level summary of what you do. Or let’s say you’re a web designer that knows you long term you want to set up your own web design consultancy, just have a bio that encapsulates your passion for web design.

 

Trust me, when you're ready to seriously start building your business you’ll be so pleased you didn’t hold off on plugging in to one of the most powerful social networking tools there is. You’ll also get past that initial Twitter jitters ( a mixture of panic- what’s a hashtag? And fear- putting myself out there is scary!) and realise that having a global audience of people to interact with right now is so excitingly full of possibilities. I’ve shared 'tweets' with some hugely inspiring people to me- including Michelle Mone, which saw my website stats soar. For me Twitter is a place where anything is possible- and I love that about it.

 

So, get ready to have some serious fun with it- play, explore. When you approach it from this place, it will become a seamless part of your business development activity and will be even more powerful for it.

 

If you liked this article, then go on, click on the Twitter birdie below!

 

Want more pearls of wisdom to help you style a career & business you’ll LOVE, on your terms? Come and join the savvy tribe of career stylists by signing up for my email newsletter here