I met Sashka Hanna-Rapl by chance. Except that it wasn’t by chance, because she turned out to be the PERFECT addition to our already awesome line-up of speakers for the No Limits event I am co-hosting in Brussels. These days, a lot of people throw the term heart-centred around just because it’s a fad, and when you meet a truly heart-centred entrepreneur it’s a really special experience. This is how it was with Sashka – she is the real deal. She has the soul AND the know-how. I am learning so much from her as we continue to work on No Limits, and am super grateful to have her as part of the event. This blog post is a taster of what Sashka will present at No Limits – if you can get to Brussels in March, do it, I’ll see you there!
“Oh YES! That one please!“
I proclaim to the waiter, who obligingly nods, turns his back to me and walks away. Only to return a few minutes later, with most probably THE most devine piece of chocolate cake EVER to hit this planet.
OMG! That looks so friggin’ devine – seriously.
The icing, the size – yummeee.
I take my cake fork, lick my lips and slice off the first tantalizing piece of my chocolate cake and raise it to my mouth.
My face cringes, my taste buds scream from pain.
The chocolate cake tastes anything BUT what it looked like, and my whole being protests against this blasphemy!
I’m sure that you too have been disappointed when your eyes deceive your other senses?
The same goes for your business.
Promising everything other than what was advertised.
It’s such a horrible let-down.
Even if it doesn’t have to be.
Too often businesses just advertise hot air. And what they aim to achieve with that is beyond me. However, I would love to share with you four tips on creating content for your consumers, that’s anything but hot air content.
Get yourself comfortable, and let’s get going.
STOP SELLING TO ME WILL YA?
There’s a reason why „sales“ and „Salesmen“ have such a daunting reputation and are perceived with such resentment. Because they sell you stuff you really don’t want. And then you feel trapped into buying something.
And for some unbeknown reason, businesses find it necessary to SELL „all.the.time“ in their advertising. It’s so annoying. I don’t see Red Bull or Apple stuffing their advertising down my throat. They seriously give me my space to make up my own decision whether or not to buy their products or not. Their advertising is aimed at „me“ and what I’m going through and not what the business feels necessary to SELL to me.
Yes I’m fully aware that you want to make a large profit – we ALL want to make that profit. But you also want to build up LOYAL customers. Not one-night or one-week-stands…
Tip: Find ways to discern between your Benefits and your Features in your magnetic messages. Stay true to your Brand Personality and Essence.
Ask yourself after coming up with an idea: Would YOU buy your idea? If yes, you’re onto a good content-lead.
BE ACCESSIBLE
I’m always amazed at how inaccessible small town folk who, after working to get to their level of excellence, „suddenly“ become inaccessible to the people who got them there in the first place. This is why I’m such a huge fan of Gary Vaynerchuk, Will Smith, Eric Thomas and Angelina Jolie. These folk, have no alter-ego’s and they stay true to just who they are. Basically what you see is what you get.
Yes, I am aware that there are some folk out there, who are likely to be overly possessive which makes it a little difficult to be accessible. And doing all that you did when you had „no team or staff“ makes it a little less easier to be accessible to your customers. But that doesn’t mean you can’t. You just need to find a different path to meet in the middle. That’s not too much to ask is it?
Tip: Have a support month for your loyal consumers. Have a live webinar or workshop or meeting to show your „human“ side.
RELEVANT CONTENT
So many of us procrastinate when it comes to developing our branding or our marketing strategy, a blog, a theme for your social media calendar or a kick-butt lead magnet. Why? Well for one reason, because of your indelectable desire to want to be „perfect“ before going „live“. So, instead you do everything „BUT“ what will help your business fall foward.
I hear so often that business owners are baffled as to what „content“ to deliver to their consumers. That they don’t want to deliver something that’s „already been done before“. So instead of delivering something, they procrastinate and deliver nothing. Your content, is relevant to your business. Relevant to your why and most importantly, a conglomerate of the former aimed specifically to your target audience.
Tip: Every single person on the face of this planet „steals“ ideas from someone else, and „re-invents“ the wheel instead of „inventing“ the wheel. Even Shakespeare stole a few ideas for his plays and put his own „twist“ on it.
When Apple started – it too was „just another PC“. What made it different was its design. Something NO OTHER PC manufacturer has EVER taken interest in, like Apple.
The goal ist o practice to become perfect. You have to start somewhere – you’re not going to get it right the first time. Even Thomas Edison needed his thousandth time to get it right with his invention.
Just keep swimming (as Dori would say)
BRAINDUMP
Did you know that knowledge will also make you procrastinate and create content consisting of hot air?
Yup. The more knowledge that you have, without putting it into action, the more the knowledge will become an influx and leave you stuck.
Knowledge is the fuel to keep us falling forward. A car doesn’t want fuel – it NEEDS fuel. As your content – it doesn’t want knowledge – it NEEDS knowledge to be put into action to fall foward.
Tip: Once you learn something put it into an actionable blog or lead magnet or workshop for your customers. Whatever you do, don’t keep it locked up in your brain. It just slows you down.
Are you ready to create?
Too often we entrepreneurs mistake creation as reserved for the creative and intellectually priviliged.
Not so!
It’s for EVERYONE. Including yourself.
The only requirement is action.
And I am positive that you can implement this.
All you need to do is move. Forward.
Once you get that movement in motion. Everything else will follow – with ups and downs.
The most important being, your courage to move forward and change the world, one step and person at a time.
Sashka Hanna-Rappl is an irreverent Branding, Consumer & Marketing Maestro, a passionate transformational speaker and consumer psychology junkie. She’s on a mission to inspire businesses to create unforgettable brands and to upgrade their business’ level of excellency.
BrandSashka is her company, which mentors you in the area of Branding, Consumers and Marketing. Or alternatively, she offers products tailored to your business needs to create your unforgettable brand with soul.
