When you have an idea in mind, it takes time and effort to lay the foundation and even more time to build and reinforce the initiative you’ve taken. In Week 4 of #MyFriendAlexa, we discuss sustaining growth and value of your idea.
Bringing long term value to your ideas can get quite challenging over time. Sustaining growth and value means to establish this initiative with strong relationships, content and practices that are lasting. In order to do this, you need to have an organized plan, because after all, if you have created something with passion, you’d want it to stick around and grow.
DEFINE YOUR PURPOSE
Having an authentic purpose is like a guiding star that shapes your growth. What is your initiative about, why did you begin, how you would like to see it evolve a few years from now, what do you want to achieve from it, are some of the questions you need to think about. Once you’ve got this sorted, developing a structured plan can help you meet this purpose in the future and the possibilities of growth and profitability become high.
USP is generally decided by how genuine your purpose is.
STRENGTHEN YOUR BRAND
This is something every freelancer hears, but is there more to it than authenticity and credibility? Developing a good rapport with your audience, reliable relationships and networking is very important, but in the midst of that, don’t become ‘everything to everyone’. You need to find your target audience and understand them. Narrowing down your target makes it easier to deliver what is desired. Here, your compelling content comes in handy. Dazzle them with your awesomeness!
BE YOUR CAPTAIN
Leadership is a strong sign of growth and in order to build your brand and sustain it, you have to be ruling over it. This is a process that requires introspection, self-awareness and the ability to look at your content from different angles. Develop a keen sense of strategy. How? Keep investing in your abilities. Even if you’re good at something there is always room for improvement and innovation. This is an excellent way to sustaining growth and value.
THE MARKETING FUNNEL
Research is something we all do. But are you doing the right kind of research? You found your niche, you found your target audience, but what people are looking for keeps changing. To understand this and get to the core, you need to understand the simple marketing funnel:
Awareness: People don’t even know they need what they have. Get their eyes on the treasure you have to offer.
Consideration: There, you’ve planted the seed and now you at least got them thinking.
Conversion: If your idea was strong enough, they are definitely a lead and you’ve got yourself a listener.
CURATING CONTENT
Let’s face it, some days content is great, other days it’s just ‘meh’ and on yet other days, we’re clueless. This definitely won’t do much good for long term sustainability, will it? Time to think differently. Keep up with the trends in your niche, the popular blogs, communities and grab the juicy content you find, using it to become an opinion leader. Reuse the trending content. On the other hand there is some content that will remain evergreen and will guarantee sustained success. Figure that out and add a dash of it too. A little brainstorming and practice can help you find the right recipe. All this with curiosity driven titles have a very high chance of attracting readers.
REVISE YOUR PURPOSE
A well crafted plan can last a long time, but as every plan, it will eventually needed some revision. Keep going back to the drawing board and re examining your sense of purpose.
Remember: You are capable of taking your online presence to incredible heights.
