Websites Are The Home Base For Business
By Cheval John
A person has just started a new business and they are looking to attract new customers.
They understand they don’t have the funding to buy ad space on billboards.
They understand one of the ways to market their business is by being featured on media outlets.
The first thing they might do is hire a public relations firm to pitch to major media outlets.
The only problem is major media outlets are not interested in them because they are not big enough.
It might seem like a good idea because major media outlets like CBS, ABC, etc., have major national reach.
It would be better if they would focus on getting featured on niche media because:
1. They Have Targeted Audience.
People who follow a niche media are passionate about the subject.
They invest their valuable time to follow what the reporter or blogger from the niche media are talking about.
2. They Are The Original Test Tasters.
If you have a product or service, they are willing to see what you are about.
They are willing to put their own reputation on the line because they believe that you are the real deal.
3. You Don’t Have To Go Through Gatekeepers.
If you want to reach out to major media, you have to pitch yourself to someone and convince them you have a story that will generate interest.
If it gets approved by that person, they have to pitch your story to their editor for the final approval before they could air it.
The biggest advantage with going with a blogger, all you have to do is pitch your story to them and if it is good, they will immediately write about it.
4. You Will Featured On Major Media
You might thing this is counter to what I am saying earlier.
It is not because shows from major media outlets are looking for content everyday because they have to fill in their time slots.
Most of the time they look at websites from bloggers/niche media outlets to find their story.
If it interests them, it will be featured on their shows and voila, you will be featured on a major media outlet.
For example, this person who is living in South Korea was featured in Black Enterprise website recently.
What was interesting: the story was first featured on a blog called,”Black Girls Learning Languages”
So if you are convinced about avoiding the major media when first starting out your business, here are some tips to stand out:
1. Have An Active Social Media Presence
Whether it is Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn, you have to be on there because most of your audience are on there.
2. Share Valuable Content
Do not blast out promotional posts only because that will give the impression you do not care about them, but only about making a sale.
3. Share Your Competition’s Content
If you find that their content resonates with you, share it with your audience.
What that does is let them know you care about them.
Even if they end up buying a product or service from your competition, they will remember you because you were willing to be a giver.
In the long run, you will end up receiving business due to your generosity.
4. Create A Website
Your website should be the main hub for your business because it is your real estate.
If you focus your business only through social media, it could end up costing you.
Social media is rented land and what we have seen over the years is algorithms being changed because the owners of these social media sites want the audience to stay on their platform as long as they can.
If you are a marketer and all you are doing is spamming the audience on the social media platform, they will run away.
And that is not what the owners of the platform wants.
If you have a large audience on the social media platforms and you base your business from that, when the algorithm hits, you lose a large share of that audience and your base revenue.
Niche Media or Mass Media
By Cheval John
A person has just started a new business and they are looking to attract new customers.
They understand they do not have the funding to place an ad in newpapers or buy a spot on the billboards.
They figured out one of the ways to market their business is by being featured in the media.
The first thing they might do is hire a public relations firm to pitch their business to shows on major media outlets.
It might seem like a good idea because major media outlets like CBS, ABC and NBC has a nationwide reach.
The first problem: it cost an average $10,000 to hire a great public relations firm to pitch your story to major media.
The second problem: the shows from major media will not be interested in you because you are just starting out and you are not big enough for them.
The better solution would be to focus on getting your story featured in niche media.
The reasons are:
1. THEY HAVE A TARGETED AUDIENCE.
When your story gets featured on a new media outlets like blogs or podcasts, you have a much better chance at accomplishing your goals.
Their audience are very interested in what you have to say.
If they are interested, there is a good chance you can win over some customers.
Dr. Ai Addyson-Zhang‘s live streaming show, Classroom Without Walls, has an average audience of 100 views from around the world.
That might look to you like peanuts.
However, every times a guest appears on her show,they ended up gaining new clients.
2. THERE ARE TASTE TESTERS
The people who run blogs,podcasts or live stream shows are taste testers because they are the ones who are ahead of the curve.
They are willing to see what your business is and are willing to put themselves on the line for you.
3. THEY ARE MORE TRUSTED
Their audience trust them because they have built a solid reputation over the years.
When they recommend something that is valuable to them, they is a great chance their audience will respond.
4. THEIR CONTENT CAN BE RE-PURPOSED ON MAJOR MEDIA
Morning television shows on major media are searching for content everyday because they have to fill their time slot.
If your story gets discovered on a blog by a major media, they will feature it as one of their segments on their shows.
Abbie Unger runs a facebook group teaching people how to land work as a flight attendant.
Her story was featured on podcasts before being picked up by the Huffington Post.
A couple of months later, a major television show featured her story in their segment.
Now that you have seen the reasons for choosing niche media, the question is how to reach out to them.
Here are some suggestions to this question
1. BE ACTIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Interact with your audience on a daily basis because they will appreciate you more.
This might even catch the eye of reporters because they are now on social media because they know that breaking news can happen there
2. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
If you know what your target audience is about, it can give you an idea of how to sell your story to a journalist.
You can’t just send a blanket press release to every journalist out there hoping for one to bite.
That will make you look bad in the long run.
3. SHARE THE REPORTER’S CONTENT
If an article by a reporter resonates, you can share it on your social media accounts.
If you do this consistently, they will take notice and there is a good chance they will respond to your pitch.
Also, interact with them on social media.
There is a good chance you all might have a lot in common.
4. MAKE YOUR WEBSITE A CONTENT HUB
Thanks to technology, journalists are short handed.
They to do everything from writing their story to editing their package before deadline to air on the news.
If your pitch does not get their attention, they will simply delete it and move on.
One of the best things you can do is create the story yourself.
You can put blog posts on your website with some clips from your event.
If you done the first three steps above, you can then send your pitch with the blog post attached to it.
There is a great chance the journalist will select it because they saw you took the time to put the story together yourself.
What are your thoughts on this?
Please leave your comment below.
It’s All Right To Be Selfish
By Cheval John
I had expected to go to another level this year because of the wins I accomplished the previous year:
Speaking at two social media conferences (social media day lima in ohio and social media day houston)
Working as a volunteer at the social media command center during super bowl 51
Getting interviewed on some live streaming shows.
I was hoping the business was going to take off because of these wins.
That was not the case.
It seemed like I was going backwards.
I ended up working full time again as an employee at a lodging company because it was the right thing to do and my business depended on it.
From that, I realized that I was not getting any younger and I needed to watch out more for myself.
So I started exercising again since in more than a decade and hired an online personal trainer by the name of Monique Kabel to get me on the right track.
The interesting part is Ms. Kabel is based in Canada.
I found out about Ms. Kabel through Instagram because she was posting uplifting messages on her account.
She competed in the World Beauty Fitness and Fashion (WBFF) Competitions and knew a lot about getting ready to compete against others in the fitness industry.
She was not like half of those who would post their photos with a link to a product or service most of the time because of their influence.
Or try to sell to people when they connect with them.
She basically shared inspiration to those who needed it and also show a lot of her workout routines on instagram stories.
So I decided she was the one to be my personal trainer and it was the best decision.
She uses the Trainerize app to put together personalized workout routines that fit me.
This was the best alternative to going to the gym because of my work schedule.
At the same time, I learned a lot from my employers because they started from the ground up in the hotel industry.
Their example of how to be fiscally responsible to the point that I have become more disciplined in how to spend money.
This also helped me to keep Ms. Kabel as my personal trainer too.
It seemed like I have neglected my business (producing content here via blog post and podcast) due to this transition back to full time employment.
I realized that I needed to be selfish and take care of me first in order to be more creative and take care of the business.
Looking back on it, this year was not a setback at all because of the valuable lessons I learned from this experience which I will share with you now:
You Must Take Care Of Your Health
I can’t emphasize this enough.
Do not fall for the so-called hustle culture of working non-stop until you get results.
Being smart with how much food you consume and the amount of time you exercise can play a part in whether your business will succeed or not.
Also, get enough sleep because you can’t be creative if you are tired all the time.
Surround Yourself With Like-Minded People
They will always lift you up when you least expect and will never bring you down just to feel good about themselves.
Focus On The Process
When you aim for the results, you lose track on enjoying the journey and end up producing crappy content.
The true social media influencers (fitness included) focused on providing value to their audience and appreciated the journey to that success.
They were the ones that helped me to make it through this transitional year which will launch me to the next level in my life in 2019.
To conclude, here are some of the people you should follow on instagram if you want to start the new year right
Newsletter For The Month of November
By Cheval John
I had a unexpected hiatus which I did not plan at all.
So I have been way behind in putting out the monthly newsletter.
I am very sorry for everything.
I am also thinking of participating in the National Nonfiction Writing Month in which I had written my second book from this event.
Here are the articles for this month:
3 Observations About Compassion From the Dalai Lama That Could Change Your Approach to Entrepreneurship-Ai Addyson Zhang, Contributor to Entrepreneur
Brand Safety Is Not the Place to Cut Corners in Your Marketing Budget-Katherine Hays, Contributor to Entrepreneur
How to Successfully Transition From Passion to Passion in Business-Kelsey Humphreys, Contributor to Entrepreneur
Lessons Learned In 2021
By Cheval John
I am thankful for 2021 because of the valuable lessons we have learned.
Earlier on, we saw the protocols of the “pandemic” being applied to many activities.
From the limitation of fan attendance in many sporting events
To college football at the FCS level, volleyball and other winter sports being played in the spring time which was a double work load for the administrators in the conferences.
As the year progressed, they allowed full attendance in the majority of sporting events.
September 3rd’s matchup between North Carolina and Virginia Tech was a full house.
And the atmosphere was electric.
That was when I knew we are getting close to being back to normal.
Then the tradition of Wisconsin Football’s fourth quarter stretch of “Jump Around” really made us feel we are back.
As we enter 2022, here are some of the lessons I have learned along the way in 2021.
Your Health Is Very Important.
Getting enough sleep, exercising, eating in moderation and walking in the sun will allow your body to fight off any illnesses.
The United States of America Is The Unique Country In The World
I took for granted how important this country.
I had the opportunity to live in Mexico and Chile for extended periods of time and I enjoyed it.
I am curious to see how others see the world in through the eyes of their culture.
I thought it was better to live overseas due to believing the “narrative” racism is happening in the USA for most of the 2000s and 2010s.
When the “pandemic” started last year, I was thinking I would have been better off being in the countries where they were doing the lockdowns.
Thankfully, I woke up in time last summer to realize this wasn’t as bad as it seems.
This “crisis” really allowed many of us to understand the uniqueness of the USA as the governors of the 50 states and territories shares the same power as the federal government.
And we have seen the results of those decisions.
Florida has more people moved to their state while California lost a bunch.
The Importance Of Being Around Like Minded People
Though it is important to have disagreement, the main thing you should have in common are core values.
If you want to improve your life and you hang around people who only sees negativity, then you will not get anywhere.
Thankfully, social media has allowed many of us to find like minded people who wants us to succeed.
The fitness community has been beneficial to me since I am not around many people who are making an improvement in life.
Time Is Valuable
Working full time while running my business has taught me the importance of time management.
It allowed me to understand if I really want to get something done, I will find the time to do it.
Since I have limited time, I am able to do an average of 20 minute weight training and 30 minute cardio.
And I was able to do a yoga for an average of 12 minutes thanks to videos on youtube.
In conclusion, it is important to prioritize your time to the best of your ability because if you don’t, you will not be able to get that time back.
Happy New Year
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