Brand building for large companies is often about throwing their weight, and financial muscle, behind activities that raise awareness and understanding of the products and services.
Small companies don’t have this luxury, but with a little savvy maneuvering can still make an impact. Entrepreneur Mongezi Mtati has done exactly this with his small business, WordStar, that provides word-of-mouth marketing services to organizations both large and small.
The basis of this strategy is to position the company as a valuable source of information and insight - a thought leader, as it were. Mongezi suggests:
Define your niche as clearly as you can.
No business or entrepreneur appeals to everyone in exactly the same way that you cannot expect to appeal to everyone else.
Read and do research in your niche.
Package and share your findings - for both clients and industry colleagues. This can be done easily enough through tools such as a blog or via social media.
Find out how you can offer your expertise.
Having researched what the industry talks about, where they talk and look for insights, find out how you can offer your expertise to capitalize on the groundwork you’ve done to establish your credentials.
Collaborate with industry colleagues.
Offer assistance without putting yourself out of work, out of pocket and out of business.
Offer your expertise to potentially train would-be clients.
You are the expert and a resource they are more likely to draw on if you have established this need. Use your knowledge and research to build a media profile. This doesn’t have to be an exhaustive or expensive exercise. Find out what your local community radio station talks about related to your industry, contact them and offer to contribute on a relevant topic. The reality is they need content, and if you’ve done the groundwork you can show that you know what you’re talking about. This is a win-win situation for everyone that allows you to spread both your name and that of your business.
Follow Mongezi on Twitter at @Mongezi
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