Are you passionate about your business? I’m talking about the type of passion where you can’t wait for someone to ask you; “What do you do?”
Are you so passionate that people can feel it right through their computer screen when they look at your website, blog articles or social media posts?
How about through your videos or podcasts?
Does someone sense your passion so much and feel so inspired by your web presence that they are influenced to say,
“OMG, how did you know” and are looking at all the different ways they can buy from you because you connected with them personally?
If you’re like most businesses you are probably not experiencing that when it comes to your content marketing.
You may be blogging, sharing content on social media, optimizing your articles for Google or creating videos… and it’s all falling on blind eyes or deaf ears.
Technology and strategies are not your real problems yet that is what most businesses are chasing. The real problem is the disconnect between passion and communicating that passionate so that content is relevant, inspiring and compelling.
In fact, you can influence people through your passion and earn more business than ever before. The truth is that if you don’t connect with people emotionally it doesn’t matter how much traffic you drive to your website or how many people follow you on social media.
The results will be the same…
NO influence and few to NO sales.
What is Passion and Why Does It Matter To Your Business?
Passion is the essence of your business. It’s the window into the soul of your business.
It’s what people feel and sense. It’s the emotion behind your “why” and the feeling that inspires action.
Passion is about the results a business gets for their customers.
Passion focuses on the needs of the customer over the needs of the business.
Let’s be honest for a moment… why is that so many businesses struggle in their digital marketing?
It’s because they aren’t in touch with their passion.
Businesses are focusing on their needs and wants… more prospects, more business and a growing company.
But that isn’t what the prospect or customer cares about.
Every decision a person makes to spend money is an emotional decision. No one makes a buying decision based purely on logic.
Yet, the majority of businesses are creating information and facts that are completely detached from their passion and emotion only to discover that while people like the information they don’t do anything with it; namely give you their name and contact information or buy from you.
Is it any wonder so many businesses are struggling with Digital Marketing and have given up on it?
In a recent survey of 1,105 small businesses by Thrive Analytics in April 2015:
- 55% of all small businesses said they don’t have a website
- 40% of those who do have a website haven’t updated it in 6 months
- 77% of small businesses feel they lack the time or knowledge to manage digital media effectively.
- 70% stating they wish they could take advantage of digital media to help expand their businesses and reach new customers
If you’re passionate about your business you are going to make the priorities for what is important to the business.
If 70% of businesses “wish they could take advantage of digital media” what is holding them back?
The real problem is not time or knowledge, those are excuses.
The real problem is lack of focus and priorities due to a reality that many business owners have never discovered what their real passions are.
Recently in a mastermind I asked the six participants “what problems they are passionate about solving.”
Each one struggled with the answer and defaulted to sharing what they do.
Why?
Because its comfortable and easier to focus on logic than it is to connect with the passion and emotion behind what they do.
What About Those Businesses Who are Marketing Online?
I read dozens upon dozens of blog articles all week long and do know what they are missing?
Let me tell you what they are not missing?
They are not missing:
- Logical or intellectual ideas
- “How to” tips and strategies
- Statistics
What are they missing?
They are missing:
- Emotional connections that leave people inspired to do something other than leave
- Comments that say “OMG, how did you know…?” in some form or fashion
- Strong leads through downloads of your eBooks, reports, and more
- People who sign-up for your email list because they feel your valuable to their lives and/or businesses
- People who want to know more and high numbers of returning visitors
- Lots of social media shares that result in more leads and shares
Passion is the emotional connection that is brought about through being relevant from the site visitor’s point of view.
When you understand “what problems you’re passionate about solving” you have a foundation for a dynamic business and a life altering message.
How Can You Discover Your Passion, Build Influence and Earn More Sales Than Ever Before?
I’m going to share a simple way you can identify your passions. Get ready because people pay me a lot of money to help them with this…
Simply answer the following question:
“What problems are you passionate about solving?”
My suspicion is you have never thought about this question. If you have, it will make your head spin for a while.
The temptation is that people love to answer this question by stating what they do. It’s the hardest part of my coaching or consulting.
Why?
I’m not asking what you do. In fact, I don’t care what you do for the purpose of this question. It makes no difference if you make airplanes, sell insurance, or have an online business.
It doesn’t matter what you do!
What you do is simply the means to fulfill your passion.
For example, one of the passions I’m deeply passionate about solving is the societal and political unrest that exists in the United States because over 94 million people are no longer participating in the workforce.
Most have been laid off from corporate jobs, can’t find work, aren’t qualified for work that is available, and have no hope for a bright future.
America was built on entrepreneurship. The hope for America’s future rests upon those who will start successful businesses and contribute positively to their communities by creating jobs and fulfilling their dreams.
Yet, 70% of all business will fail in the first 5 years and of those who fail 60% of them will do so within 24 months.
The reason: lack of a relevant message that contributes to declining cash flow.
There is nothing more exciting than a prosperous America with citizens who are participating in our Republic through entrepreneurship. It’s entrepreneurs who have and always will make America great!
What problems are you passionate about solving?
Entrepreneurs Cannot Pawn Their Business Off onto Their Employees
I want to bring up a serious and recent trend I’m experiencing because it’s that important!
I recently shared on Facebook that of late I’ve been talking with a number of successful business owners who had obviously lost their passion.
Their once thriving business is now struggling and they want their cash flow to return to previous levels. It’s affecting their business, employees, investors and maybe more importantly their family and lifestyle.
They know they have a serious messaging problem and that they are not communicating relevantly to their prospects and customers and it’s showing in the declining sales reports.
It’s an issue they need and want to get resolved.
However, they don’t want to do the work themselves to discover their passion which will deeply inform the message and the brand identity.
Instead, they want to give that responsibility to an employee.
When you bequeath control to others, you essentially become a hitchhiker with no seat belt. You take the passenger’s seat of your own car and entrust your safety to someone who has never driven a car before.
You cannot become a victim if you don’t relinquish power to someone capable of making you a victim.
The problem for business owners who turn their message over to someone in their business is that they risk making themselves a victim.
They become a victim of mistaken identity or losing control of their business because the world sees them differently than they really are. This happens because someone else’s vision, who has no stake in or equity sweat in it, for the company over-road their own.
If you own the business, you are the one that is responsible for your message and you are the one who is responsible for the growth and well being of your company.
I don’t want to see a business owner fall victim to the “why did I trust them with my business and it’s failing” syndrome.
What is the Result of communicating with Passion?
The result is a business that is excited every single day to share their message.
The result is a business that has developed a vision around their passion and it’s infectious.
The result is a business that is growing by leaps and bounds because they are no longer trying to reach everyone.
Passion elevates the message and communicates to one person, with one problem/need/desire and offers just one solution.
The result is a growing, thriving business that is full of opportunity and hope.
Is It Time To Discover Your Passion, Influence Your Prospects and Increase Your Sales?
Ultimately, people are influenced to buy not because of what we have to sell them. They can buy anywhere. Amazon alone is a treasure trove of opportunities to buy virtually anything you want.
But what your customers can’t buy anywhere is “me” or “you”.
What they can’t buy from anyone else is the connection that is made because they sense and feel the power of your message through your passion and they identify with it so strongly that they have to buy.
Are you feeling that your passion is missing?
Are you sensing that you communicate logically but are leaving the emotion out of your message?
Is your business not achieving the sales you want because you don’t fully understand your customers?
Are you ready to make the leap forward and learn how to discover your passion?
In addition, I want to offer you a free copy of my highly popular eBook titled “The Shift – Making the Fast Paced Transition from Mass Marketing to Context Marketing” which has been read by thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs just like you.
In it you will learn how to identify the “business you are ‘really’ in” from your prospects point of view and how to be so relevant to them in their context that they say to themselves in some way; “OMG, how did he know?” and then buy from you.
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