G’day … Trevor here …

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The other day, I heard for the first time the phrase “wide paddock, strong fences”, mentioned by an ex-professional footballer here in Australia when talking about the culture of the club he played for, and the room the players had to live their lives, but acknowledging there were ‘fences’ in place to ensure they didn’t stray too far from the club’s values and behaviour expectations.

I think “wide paddock, strong fences” - as a metaphor - also works well for founders and solopreneurs who are creating content to support their brand and their business.

We want to give ourselves some scope, some room to move, in terms of exploring topics, issues and ideas in the public arena - whether that be via social media, our owned media channels, an opinion piece for an industry magazine, or a speaking gig.

At the same time, we need to be cognisant of the need to be focused and purposeful in our communications; covering too much intellectual territory may ‘muddy the waters’ and confuse our intended audience, making it hard for people to understand what it is we do, what our strengths are, what value we bring to the table, and how we might be able to help them.

At the end of the day, we need to be known for something - our knowledge, our field of expertise, our IP … a certain topic or issue, perhaps. I call this planting a ‘flag in the ground’.

I raise this as food for thought only. I’ll cover it in more depth in future newsletters 😃 

Krautrock legends meet American hip hop DJs

As I write this, I am listening to The Music of Grand Theft Auto V, Vol. 2: The Score by Tangerine Dream, in collaboration with Woody Jackson, The Alchemist, Oh No and DJ Shadow.

Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music group that was started in 1967 and have remained a working band ever since, albeit with revolving line-ups (remember this song from the movie Risky Business? Tangerine Dream at its hypnotic best). I especially love their movie soundtracks; they make for terrific background music for creative work!

What have you been listening to this week? HIT REPLY AND LET ME KNOW - I’m always interested in other people’s musical tastes 🙂 I received a couple of ripper recommendations last week from Jon - thanks mate!

Five forerunners to sustained commercial success

If you’ve been in business for any length of time, you will have heard the phrase “know, like, trust” rolled out ad nauseam.

It’s been drummed into us: To generate new business leads, to make the sale - particularly in service-based businesses - people need to know us, like us, and trust us.

And I agree. It’s hard to argue with such a truism, but I also think it’s a bit shallow and only tells half the story.

Yes, we need to be known.

Being ‘invisible’ in the marketplace serves no-one - either you, or your potential clients and customers.

[ Marketing thought leader, Mark Schaefer, has written a terrific book on the topic of becoming known. It’s called - funnily enough - Known 😀 ]

But just known for the heck of it i.e. straight brand awareness, being ‘famous’ - is one thing, but more important is to be known by the right people, and recognised for what it is you do, what you’re good at, and what you stand for (your values and principles).

Yes, we need to be liked.

People do business with people, not logos. Life’s too short to work with people we can’t stand being around. That said, the ‘like’ factor - while pretty important - is not always applicable.

Imagine if you needed to undergo a critical surgical procedure and the best surgeon available was a prick - you’d probably ‘do business’ with him. Ditto, a super-savvy accountant who’s a whiz at legally reducing your tax liabilities, an investment adviser who can regularly deliver you out-sized returns, or a lawyer who is not fun to be around but she’s the best in the business and is going to help you win your case: you’ll likely do business with these people even if you don’t necessarily like them, because they are so good at what they do.

So let’s keep the ‘like factor’ in there, definitely, but I’ll sneak in respect as well. It’s a bonus if our clients like us, but they do need to respect us if we are to do our best work together.

AND YES … we need to be trusted.

Trust is the social currency of today.

Building a strong profile and reputation is underpinned by trust, which in turn is foundational for strong client relationships, and ongoing professional and commercial success.

But let’s go a cut deeper.

We should always be aiming for earned trust, which is trust developed through repeated interactions and experiences. It’s the confidence and reliance that develops between parties through consistent actions, transparency, and mutual respect over time.

Let’s keep going … there’s more to this story.

Know/like/trust = half the equation

In order to drive our business forward, we need to build our brand and reputation, and focus on becoming better known in the marketplace, and more liked and trusted (and respected) as a person and a professional operator ✔️✔️✔️✔️

Boxes ticked, let’s move on …

There are two other critical factors at play here. We also need to be:

• Front of mind with our target audience, and

• Talked about in a positive way in the marketplace.

Yes, we need to be front of mind

Cutting through the noise with our story and our message is perhaps the biggest challenge facing credible founders and solopreneurs today.

I love the idea that anyone now can become their own media channel and communicate directly with their audience without having to go through a ‘middle man’, as per days gone by. Using social networking sites and other media formats such as podcasts, blogs and online video - at little or no cost - is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We do indeed live in amazing times!

BUT … it comes with a downside, and that is every man, woman and their dog is now publishing content online, often with little regard for their audience (and AI is only compounding the issue).

Thus, cutting through all the ‘white noise’ continues to provide founders and solopreneurs with a huge challenge. It’s not insurmountable by any means, but we need to recognise the problem and become more thoughtful and strategic in how we deal with it.

And … yes, we need to be talked about (in a positive way)

The many benefits of positive word-of-mouth are well documented, but I’ll highlight a couple, namely:

1. trust, and

2. credibility.

They’re two biggies!

Research indicates that 92 per cent of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family over any form of advertising. This trust translates into higher conversion rates, as consumers are more likely to purchase products or services recommended by someone they know.

Media coverage also comes into play too, by shaping perceived importance.

Issues and (business and personal) brands that receive more media coverage are seen as more important, regardless of actual significance. In this regard, being talked about in the marketplace (via third-party media forums) can thus boost perceived importance.

The name of the game is familiarity

Familiarity is not often talked about in business, but it’s crucial, not just in getting noticed and generating new leads and sales, but also enhancing other opportunities such as media interviews, speaking gigs, collaborations and partnerships.

If your goal is to attract and recruit talent, you can throw this into the mix as well.

This is where I hand over to Nobel prize-winning psychologist, Daniel Kahneman.

Kahneman, author of the best-selling book Thinking, Fast and Slow, contends that familiarity plays a significant role in business, influencing consumer behaviour, brand perception, and decision-making processes.

Familiarity breeds trust

Kahneman notes that frequent repetition and exposure to something makes it feel more familiar, and we tend to trust what is familiar. 

This applies to brands, people, and ideas in the marketplace.

Things that are easily recalled, or ‘available’ in our minds, are perceived as more important or prevalent. Personal brands and businesses that are frequently talked about, or ‘front of mind’, benefit from this cognitive bias.

Cognitive ease leads to positive feelings

Kahneman explains that familiar things are processed more easily by our brains, leading to a sense of cognitive ease that produces positive feelings. This can translate to liking and trusting familiar brands/people more.

And what builds familiarity? Enter Kahneman’s five dimensions, or heuristics (mental shortcuts that can facilitate problem-solving and probability judgments): being known, liked, trusted, front-of-mind and talked in the marketplace.

Think of these five heuristics as forerunners to commercial and professional success.

They create the outcomes of better influence, relationships, reputation, social capital and word-of-mouth [Hat-tip to Andy Green and the team behind ‘The Dublin Conversation’, a comprehensive thought paper that originally got me thinking about this issue].

Rounding up …

Why is all this important?

Many people who run businesses focus way too much on quick-hit marketing tactics for short-term commercial gain. And that’s fine, there’s a place for that.

But, unfortunately, in doing so, they become so besotted with their brand messaging and the myriad activities designed to woo customers into ‘signing on the dotted line’ that they take their eye off the very things that precede the commercial outcomes they so desperately seek.

Kahneman's research suggests that being known, liked, trusted, top of mind and frequently discussed in the marketplace provides significant advantages in doing business.

With this in mind, what are you doing to become:

• better known,

• more liked and trusted (and respected!),

• front of mind with your target audience, and

• talked about in a positive way in the marketplace.

These are some of the topics we’ll cover more fully in this newsletter over time, with greater emphasis on the ‘how’.

Stay tuned!

I’ll leave you with this quote from Mark Masters, founder of the UK-based You Are The Media marketing learning community:

In case we haven’t met yet …

Hi, I’m Trevor. I help purpose-led business owners become clear and confident in how they leverage PR, content and digital communications for profit, impact and legacy.

Let’s connect on LinkedIn!

Discover more at trevor.world