Get People Talking (The Hard Way)

I didn’t do it right in the beginning. Sitting on my haunches, waiting for people to notice me on Facebook – just because I was there – panned out about as well as the Gold Rush. But when, I started proactively seeking attention, the profits shifted into the black.

All solopreneurs start out the same: Bootstrapping. And that’s great. Until it doesn’t work (which is usually).

Bootstrapping simply means you have no extra cash for, well, the extras. It doesn’t mean you don’t invest in your own company.

Investment Equals Return

(Uh...let me preface that with “when done right”.)

With the right strategy and the right focus, you can make investments that will bring the profits you need to shift out of the bootstrapping mentality because, honestly, that will kill your business.

Invest in some killer design that shows you’re pro. Invest in the words that make them drool over you. Invest in the right advertising. Your profits will never be the same.

But suppose your budget is limited to the point where you can’t invest in these three areas? Then, you have to get people talking on your own (read: bust your ass to make shit happen. Period.)

Bust Ass To Get People Talking

Create content that is undeniable. Create guest posts that lead to landing pages of Awesome. Create products your customers HAVE to have.

And don’t take a lunch break.

Do things that no one else is doing...which means NOT another damn podcast that sounds like everything else everyone else is already regurgitating.

Ash Ambirge, once upon a time, sent shingles to roofing companies with the words “[Their company name] + [Her company name] = Sales through the roof” And it worked because everyone else was sending direct mail crap and business cards, but not her. She stole their attention. And their hearts.

The Garage Party showcased everyone else’s businesses (and will be back soon!) and made hundreds of contacts, mostly small business owners who eventually will look for tighter, hotter copy on their sites to make people notice them. And will remember that chick that made them feel special.

You see, the internet is flooded. Everyone yakking about the same crap in the same language as everyone else. When you do things differently, they see you. You don’t blend in. You don’t look like the wallflower at your Homecoming dance. You’re the spicy dancer in the middle of the dance floor that everyone wants just a brief moment in the arms of.

So ask yourself these questions:

1. What do my customers NEED most? 2. What is everyone else in my industry doing? 3. What is the most insane way (and legal) way I can pull in their hearts?

Then, make it happen. And tell everyone about it. Because if you don’t?? Who’s going to know??

How to get your lunacy out there:

1. Write to blogs of the audiences you’re trying to reach and tell them about your moment of temporary insanity. 2. Do a press release or three. 3. Write to journalists who would feature those kinds of stories and get them interested. 4. Ask them all to please share your unfortunate mental state with their readers so they can benefit from it. 5. Create a special landing page for said havoc-wreaking and be sure to direct all correspondence to it.

Getting people talking isn't necessarily hard, but it takes doing the legwork (you know the creativity and horn-tooting that you hate to do) to make it work.

What’s the most insane and profitable strategy you’ve ever pulled off?