Unconscious Strategies You Didn't Know You Had And How To Make Them Work For You

"I don't use a strategy in my personal life. I don't have any plans."

That's what most of us probably see as a true statement.

In fact it is probably not true at all. We are creatures of habit and that habitual behaviour, if you were to study it would reveal patterns that repeat over and over.

How we buy things, is a great example of our unconscious patterns of strategy at work. What is really interesting is that companies are now using technology and neuromarketing techniques to track our spending patterns across the web and use this to sell us more junk. Yet we are largely unaware still, of our own patterns. There is something that strikes me as wrong with that arrangement.

An unconscious strategy is an internal process around an action that we take. It may start with an action to be taken, incorporate a feeling that we have about that and the action that we take next will pass through a series of filters that will affect when we do it (now or procrastinate), what we feel about doing it, what other actions we need to take on the way to doing it and the order in which we do these things. For example if you are leaving the house, it makes sense to check that you have your keys in your hand before you pull the door shut - and not after.

An example of an unconscious strategy might be the one we use for buying things. Buying strategy for a big item like a car might look something like this:

For others, they have a different set of conditions as their criterion that must be met before they will buy.

Sometimes the strategy that we use already for certain things works perfectly. Other times we may be using strategies that are not helping us and may be causing us problems and getting us results that are not working for us very well at all and giving us results that we don't want.

Knowing that these strategies exist mean that we have options now, to review and revise and even borrow strategies from others who are really good at doing those things that we are not so good at.

And that's a fantastic strategy!




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Your Keywords Vs What Customers Look For Online

"Everyone says keywords on Google don't count any more, but I think they do." Said someone on a group I'm in this week.

They went on to give an explanation of how they had been comparing their site to that of others in their industry.

What was useful to me in this encounter was to see unfold the process that this person was gong through to work out how to make these key words work for him on his website but missing some basic understanding of how online search works in a practical way.

That is to say - what we think are our keywords to be using on our website, need to also match with the key words and phrases that someone searching for what we do in the location that we service, would use when they search.

Now it may be that the words that we think are so important and good - are not understood by others or don't connect with them in any way that might matter.

For example. Say you are an artist with a particular style of work. You are looking for work doing this commercially and want people to find you.

Now you might think that the name of your style of work is the critical factor. In reality, this is only the case if the person searching the internet knows that this is a style and already know that this is what they want.

In many cases, we start searching on the internet with only a vague idea what we are looking for and we are hoping to find ideas that will be a fit for what we want to do but we may not know exactly what it is that will be just the thing that we want. This is especially so in cases where your product is a small niche.  If it is small, you will be doubly challenged to get in front of your target audience and you will need to go where they are in some numbers.

Fine targeting of key category is fine - but what else can you do?

Get helpful.

Many people who could use what you do don't know.
If you want to make your products or service available to more people, help them identify themselves as a potential customer for you.

Give them a clue to finding you.

Action:

If your art specialty is related to custom images of people for example, think - where might this be fun for people to have you there?

I can think of a few off the top of my head.

Corporate clients and events
Retirement parties
Businesses
Christmas parties
Birthday parties
Weddings, Showers and Engagement Parties
Fetes and markets

Now it may be that your art is just the thing that would make the event something special and allow for some great keepsakes for those attending. It's up to you to plant that seed or you will wait forever for them to think of it themselves.

I use the example of the artist but this applies no matter what niche you are working.

Do some research. Get some help from someone who is not in love with your favourite keywords and phrases.  Understand that making online work for you is not just about technical issues and what Google is doing. It is developing your insight into how your prospective customers think. If they think of what you do as being something other than you do - they are still right. And our real challenge is the same online or offline - that is -  learning to think like a customer.


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Related articles on Goals

Goal Checker - A Tool To Use

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Like to discuss your business? Lindy Asimus Design Business Engineering Get Help For Your Business Download your free 24 Page Action Plan Marketing Workbook! Subscribe to Actionbites Blog

Are You Lousy At Self Promotion Too?

'Banner Girl' promoting a bakery shop - note the loaf of bread hat!

I wish I had a buck for every time someone clever I meet has told me that they are not good at self promotion, I would be very happy.

Unwillingness toward self promotion is real and present threat to the success of any business venture. And I suspect, sometimes not the real issue.

For any business owner who is suffering from the symptoms of shyness when it comes to self promotion, perhaps it is worth stepping back a bit and taking another look at the picture.

Starting with this.

You are not your business. Your business is not you.

Or at least it shouldn't be.

While many small businesses operate as though they are the person. the reality is that no business can flourish when it is held back by the owner. Thinking that you and the business are one and the same is definitely holding back your business.

Nobody can do all things that need doing.  And certainly not do them well enough that they need to be done to as a standard from which your business needs to operate. That's not just the magic thing that you do but also the dreary stuff. The account keeping, the documentation, the quoting, the follow-up, the customer service, the marketing, the styling of the business premises or marketing materials, the design work, the content generation, the online channel development, the sales training, the delivery, the purchasing, the legal compliance, the HR management...Or any of the other things that need to be done for the business to operate effectively, and not just limp along as best it can with you the centre of the universe.

Work Out What Only You Can Do 
Some areas of the business can be done by anyone. Other aspects can only be done by you. When you spend your time doing the things that anyone can do, you are not available to do that most essential thing within the business that it needs - because you are off doing marginally useful things that could readily be done by someone else - and probably someone cheaper to employ and more capable in that role.

Work Out How To Best Do It 
Every role in a business needs to be documented and when all the other jobs are done, then remember to document what it is that only you can do - and commit to doing it.

Build A Team
Watch any of the old rock bands that are still around. What you see is that sharing the load and having access to more skills that complement what one in the band does, makes for a better product. There is indeed more than the sum of the parts and when all come together what they produce is greater than they could manage on their own. That's powerful. Use it.

A Great Manager
What else do good old Rockers have in their favour? They hire a good manager. For many a good manager made the difference between having any success at all, or being just another band that never made it.

The manager's job is to get the best deals, make the arrangements and take care of the backroom stuff that is their expertise and probably not yours. They find the opportunities to get the band seen and they arrange for those who matter to hear about you. They promote you like you never would yourself and you get to just front and do your thing that you do best.

And the manager can deal with those who think you will work for them as a freebie. Not you.

By expanding your view of what your business is, you empower yourself to focus on your strengths and gain additional brainpower and expertise to work out the puzzle to change what you have not been able to do alone, into a solution that will work and free you to focus on what you really should be doing.

Promoting your business.
Your problem that you thought was being bad at self promotion? Is really lack of a defined and marketable product. 

Or perhaps more importantly - putting the system into place that will allow customers who need what you do, to most easily find you, and buy.

Self promotion done well, is really something much richer. It is self advocacy. And if we won't be our own advocate for what we do - nobody else will. Letting the market know what you do and how that can help those needing that kind of assistance.

You'd want to promote that, for sure.



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Make Your Retail Store Irresistible To Customers

We see a lot of concern and grumbling from retail store owners and other business operators complaining about business being slow and yet in many countries we also see those same business owners doing little in the way of enticing customers to come into their store and attract their attention with charming and alluring displays to pique their interest.

Here are some I love.  They are creative, they are fun and they hold promise to the customer of abundance and satisfaction for the person who walks into their space. Here are some that just call you in to see more...

Restaurant - Paris, France

Here is a restaurant that just screams that they use traditional methods of cooking and fresh ingredients. No frozen stuff whacked in the microwave here! 

High end handbag store in Rome, Italy

This life size child's antique horse is just a splendid thing to see and speaks to a time long gone, of hand made quality and artisan products that will last forever and be worth any amount of money you spend on it.

Locksmith

Ancient village shopping precinct - France

No acres of glass here. No turnstiles and no automatic doors. That sign though, says "we're here for you and this is what we do." Nothing more, nothing less. No "SALE! SALE! SALE!" signs here.

Florist beckons with a charming floral entrance 

Like a walk in a garden this florist shop even smells of freshness and beauty you can take home to make your house come alive.

Menswear Store - Rome Italy

This clothing store leaves no doubt that the winter stock is in and they have wonderful products to keep you toasty warm in the chilly months.

Supermarket peach from Sorrento, Italy

This peach, the size of a cricket ball was selected from a box of the ugliest, misshapen and odd assortment of sizes imaginable. It was delicious! A real peach. Not the perfectly standard size and shape peaches that I see in every Australian supermarket - that are hard as rock when you buy them and bruised beyond use when they ripen, and even then are flavour-less.

This peach ... I would go back to the store every day to buy more just like it. The others with no flavour but perfect in form? No thanks. See how our expectations drive our purchases. If my experience leads me to expect disappointment, I stop buying.

Produce store Sorrento Italy

Some shopkeepers don't even wait for you to come into the store - they bring the store out to you. Local produce, fresh, not kept in cold storage, turned over from the farm every day.

Shoppers want to visit stores that are interesting. That look welcoming and that provide the items to purchase that they expect to be able to get from such a store, and to have interesting things to find that are unexpected.  They want to pay a fair price for it - not more than the shop next door and they want to feel like their patronage is appreciated.

The same applies to online shopping. That old website that you had made in 2001 with the shadow text and the animated buttons? No that just won't do. Your website needs to work for customers to use the way they shop in 2013. That means that it renders easily and cleanly on smartphones and tablets as well as computers.

Action:

Look around at other businesses - not just in the same industry as yours. Which shops do you find appealing and draw you in... and what are they doing that is causing you to want to go in there? Identify that.


Take an objective look at your business as it looks through the eyes of a customer.

Get feedback on how your store is presenting.

Is it enticing to customers?
Is the footpath dirty and littered?
Are the windows clean and well laid out?
Is there anything interesting to see and pull people into the shop to look more closely?

And remember to do the same for your online website, your blog and your social media platforms.


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Check Your Website For Roadworthiness

The world is governed more by appearances than by realities, so that it is fully as necessary to seem to know something as to know it.  -- Daniel Webster

Your business has cars that you check on each of them for safety before you assign it to be driven, right? You have made sure that it is fit to be on the road, that it is reliable to get from point A to point B and that the tyres are not worn out and the pressure is correct. There is oil and fuel in the tank and the registration is up to date and the seatbelts all operating as they should.

Your Website Vehicle 

Well we talk about traffic online and this is the currency of business.
How much traffic is there? How much of that traffic converts to sales?
That's what keeps businesses going and that is the beginning and the end of what any business owner in any field should want to know about their business whether it is online or offline or hopefully, both.

So since we are talking traffic terminology it makes sense to think of the vehicle by which the traffic is generated.

It is clear that many businesses who have a website do not maintain them as they would their fleet of vehicles and since the website has the potential to bring in new business, this is rather hard to understand why it is so.

Let's just investigate how a business might undergo a Roadworthy test with this checklist. The answers to these questions, should be known without hesitation by the owner of the business. No exceptions.

So here's your pop quiz! Now these do not represent an in depth list of questions that you should be monitoring but it is a very quick and dirty method of seeing if your website needs a service.


Your Website Roadworthiness Checklist

How do you measure your traffic to the website?

What are the top keywords people are using in search that brings them to your business?

Do you have a conversion system for your website?

What description about your business is Google picking up?

How are you using local search for growing your share of sales in the local area?

What pages are most visited on your site?
What websites are linking to you?
Which external websites are sending you traffic?

What percentage of your business comes from web compared to offline sales?

What is the turnaround time for enquiries to your website?

What facility is on the website for people to buy from you today?

If you have a shopping cart system, what is the dropout rate for those shoppers who don't complete a purchase?

What are the key words for which you want your business to come up, when people search?

In what way are you incorporating social media with your website and offline to generate traffic?

You have a process for monitoring your reputation online so you know what is being said about you and the business online.



In Summary

If you don't know the answer to these questions, then you need to get the report on these from your employees to you right now.

If you can't manage to get the report to you in short time, then this indicates you have issues that go beyond the website that need to be reviewed too.

These are just some of the obvious things that a business owner needs to be managing in the business. There are many more that you should know especially if you are paying for adwords and the like as well as issues of a more technical nature that can and should be measured in addition to these.  And it is a good idea to get these monitored by someone outside the business  from time to time - at leaste once a year, to ensure that you are getting the best advice from those inside the business whose job it is to oversee your web presence.

There are many ways to tweak a website for better performance and some of these can be done very easily and quickly.

So how did you go?

Happy with the result you achieved on this test?

If you are less than happy and would like a review of the rest of your website contact me now and let's investigate before there is any more damage.

Related posts

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Why You Need To Build Your Mailing List And How To Do It

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Like to discuss your business? Lindy Asimus Design Business Engineering Get Help For Your Business Download your free 24 Page Action Plan Marketing Workbook! Subscribe to Actionbites Blog