Fear nothing, share everything. This is the secret to your business’ success.
As you know I’m writing a book to help business become better through sharing everything. The businesses who give everything away, win. The passionate people behind these organisation are my Sharing Superheroes.
The essence of becoming a Sharing Superhero is explained in the very first sentence of this story. Those were to be the first words of the book. They could well have been the last, too.
I’m not in the business of giving doctored suggestions on how to win at business. If the truth be told, I’m a lousy business owner, obsessive about working in the shop rather than on it (much to Michael Gerber’s disdain).
But there’s nothing more satisfying or lucrative than a happy customer.
Someone you know is going to go out of their way and do your marketing for you by telling a friend about the great service they enjoyed, the ‘purple cow’ moment when you went from a service provider to a remarkable concierge.
I remember watching Miracle on 34th Street – the version before colour ruined theatre of the mind – when one of the big store owners had sold out of that Christmas’ hot-ticket toy. Rather than leave a customer empty-handed, they learned a competitor down the street had some in stuck and showed her the way.
Being remarkable in business comes down to one thing: Sharing. Sharing your expertise, sharing the knowledge of others, sharing experiences and experience.
Word And Mouth = Word Of Mouth
In a business setting, this is the most powerful marketing method ever devised. Give something away, and you’ll receive much more in return. In the case of customers, that amounts to trust, loyalty and engagement.
Share everything, and you’re in a totally different league. If you’re in the products game, giving the farm away in terms of education and information is akin to solving all of your customers problems and building relationships founded on integrity and relevancy.
Sharing everything when you’re in the information game causes people to break out in cold sweats. “If I tell them, they’ll know all my secrets and I’m done for!” is the rallying cry of the insecure and the unbelievers.
But the truth here is that you tell more to sell more. Let’s leave the secrecy to the nervous, shareholder-beholding corporations, shall we? Transparency is king for the innovative and inspirational: And we’re looking at you.
The more you share, the deeper runs your authority and expert status. People look to you, inspired. They quote you, refer to you among their cliques and communities. It becomes like an addiction, finding more avenues and ideas to share focused on your niche and getting that valuable information out there.
And the fun begins
Before you know it you’ve written an ebook, and you’re now a published author. The speaking engagements and business pour in, and you’re expanding on all the incredible secret sauce you unleashed on your blog and in the book. Worried about giving too much away? Not in the slightest.
While your customers rejoice and your competitors conspire, you’re already working on the next iteration or evolution of your service which has been on your mind for months.
Which leaves you time to soak up the euphoria and devotion of your tribe, and have it be the catalyst to drive you to new levels of success!
Every second counts
Don’t you hate standing still? Sometimes it feels inhumane, which is why I was one of few people to be grateful when the English football league decided to get rid of the standing terraces and bring in all-seated stadia.
It’s not just the physical state of standing still that I loathe. In business I always want to be moving forward – it’s the bastion of the sharer. And the beauty of sharing today is being nimble enough to respond to the changing needs of your customers and create content on the fly that is always relevant and useful.
We’ve already got blogs, ebooks, videos, presentations, radio shows, mood boards and much more to think about. We only need choose one – but we can adapt and adopt new techniques and media when our customers switch.
How do we know whether we’re doing the right thing? Tracking and reporting on the success of our sharing is absolutely critical to the Sharing Superhero.
Whether you’re with Woopra or Google Analytics for your website, or SocialBro or TwentyFeet to keep abreast of your social marketing efforts, there’s a dashboard catering to the specific needs of your business in understanding how quickly you’re moving towards your goals.
And then it’s simply a case of staying close to your customers to see where they’re spending their time online, how they’re using your product and service, who they’re talking to and where they’re spreading the word – all by using the tracking tools at your fingertips.
We can all be Sharing Superheroes
This and much more, coming up in my forthcoming book – Sharing Superheroes. Sign up to the Word And Mouth newsletter to get the latest updates, as well as many tips and ideas to get you on the road to Sharing Superherodom!
About Dave Thackeray
