I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
Channel Surfing
What does the word “channel” mean to you in the context of your business?
For a lot of entrepreneurs, it’s about marketing and all the different ways they connect to their target audiences and drive awareness and interest.
For others, it’s about how they interact and communicate with prospects and customers throughout their relationship.
And, for still others, it’s about all the different ways they’re getting their products or services out into the marketplace and in the hands of their customers.
The funny thing is that all of the above are absolutely correct.
Each is a definition of “channel” when it comes to your business model, namely marketing, communications, and distribution.
The thing is you can’t just focus on one.
You need to define them all and continue to update and tweak them as you grow and as the world around us changes.
Because that’s the thing about channels—they’re probably one of the biggest areas of our strategy impacted by external forces and, thus, more out of our control than in.
For instance, we can’t control our target audience adopting new or different social media channels, or our client’s preferences for text vs email or phone vs chat support.
So, how do you craft a strategy that works not just today but into the future as well?
To me, there are three things you have to build into your business practice:
- Good, Consistent Tracking & Market Research
The first step to successfully navigating the changing landscape of marketing, communications, and distribution is knowledge.
You need to know what’s going on, what new options are available, and how they’re impacting your audience and business.
The best way to do this is to track all the important metrics that keep you informed AND review them on a regular basis. Then, combine this with regular 'trendspotting' as it relates to your industry and customers.
- Ongoing Testing
Every business needs a way to test new ideas, new offers, and new channels.
While you’re probably not going to test a distribution channel in the exact same way you’d test a new social media channel, you do want to define a lot of the same parameters.
Some of the usual suspects are the testing timeframe, the 'success' metrics, the content and tools needed, the budget, the target audience, and any legal considerations.
For each channel type, identify the key parameters that factor into your testing. You might create a simple checklist or table for yourself as a handy little tool for your test prep.
- A Testing Mindset
I know, I know, mindset schmindset.
But I’ve spoken to so many entrepreneurs who launch a trial balloon only to be heartbroken and despondent when it pops into a million little pieces.
Heck, I have been that entrepreneur!
The last thing we want is to release another balloon up into the sky just to see it blowup before our eyes just like the last one.
And so, we shy away from putting ourselves in such vulnerable positions, ultimately letting our fear of failing stand in the way of our trying something new.
But, here’s the thing I think it’s important to remember—
A successful test is not designed to confirm the strategy you’re testing is the right path. It’s designed to provide you with the knowledge you need to define what the right path is.
In this way, even when a test ‘fails’ it succeeds.
Hey, next week I'm wrapping up my Business Model series with Pricing Models, but if there's something in your model or business canvas you'd like me to delve into, please just let me know.
In case you missed any, here are the other emails from this series on business models, revenue models, and cost structures.
Until next week, remember that while ignorance may or may not be bliss, it's definitely not a strategy for success.
Your success is our strategy!
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Easily Said & Done
I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
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