No matter how well defined your niche is, the field is crowded and full of content noise. You need to separate yourself from that noise through targeting your avatar and knowing what their problems are. However, you also need to be a fit for them as much as they need to be a fit for your services and core offer.
It is time to look in the mirror. It is time to rigidly define your advantage. Your Infusionsoft Secret Sauce is going to need it!
In this article, part four of a series, we will help you take that hard look at yourself and your team. Let's make sure your organization's attributes line up with your niche's needs and wants.
What does this have to do with Infusionsoft?
Infusionsoft delivers your message. That message needs to be delivered to the right target, at the right time, with the right tone and have the reader feel like you are the best solution to help them achieve their objectives. In our previous articles, we discussed that one of the keys to success was the demographic definition of your perfect prospective customer. However, there are factors that determine your success that are external to your business and those that are internal. The Infusionsoft Secret Sauce ingredients require this key component of strategic planning – the SWOT Analysis.
REMINDER: The secret sauce to successful use of Infusionsoft, or any other SaaS automated marketing platform, does not contain tactical marketing knowledge as its key ingredient. The most successful users of Infusionsoft are smart digital marketers that have a defined strategy. They do not start with a bunch of widgets, gadgets, plugins, API or other integration tools in order to succeed at digital marketing. They start with strategy, not with tactics!
Here is how you avoid paying tens of thousands of dollars going to seminars, live events, paid webinars and corporate universities in order to be successful with digital marketing while using Infusionsoft as one of your tools.
Infusionsoft Secret Sauce: Determining Your Advantage
A component of strategic planning is the SWOT analysis. SWOT is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses/Limitations, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. Defining your SWOT's will help you determine if your objective, your deliverable, your business plan is attainable.
Answer these questions to find your competitive advantage:
- What have you accomplished in the last twelve months? The curse of many solopreneurs and small business owners is that they have forgotten at least five big accomplishments. Set the tone for this exercise and list what you have accomplished. Keep in mind that negative actions can be positive accomplishments too, like dismissing an employee that did not fit in your organization.
- What lessons have you learned in the last twelve months? There is power is articulating what you have learned so the pain is not repeated. However, when you generate this list, make sure you drill down to the root cause. Example, maybe your employees are cranky. Why are they cranky? Because you still use dial-up for internet access?
- What are you good at? It’s healthy to acknowledge where your competencies are, especially when it used to be a weakness. List your strengths and be proud of them.
- What areas do you need to improve? Create space for lots of open dialog about what you aren’t good at. What is not working? List your weaknesses and understand this is what you need to hire for, study, learn ….. and perhaps move away from. Example, you're horrible at managing cash flow – awesome admission – now hire a CPA.
- What’s happening around you that you could take advantage of? Opportunities should be external to the company. Here you want to list the economic factors that are expanding your service offering. Example, you work with coaches and consultants that used to be middle managers in corporate cubicles prior to 2008.
- What’s happening around you that could hurt your business? Threats should be external to the company. Most list competitors here. Your answers should be about a technology that could impact your offer or perhaps your product has a patent that is running out. Think on a macro scale and think about outside factors.
Infusionsoft is just a tool that helps you stay organized and turn your sales and marketing process into a machine. That machine requires fuel and maintenance. Strategic planning is the key ingredient in the Infusionsoft Secret Sauce. In this article we only touched on one of the smartest things you can do during the planning process and that is a SWOT analysis. In our next article we will discuss how to perfect your elevator speech with a position statement, by using a formula from all the ingredients of the previous four articles.
Reference Links for Infusionsoft Secret Sauce Articles:
- Defining Your Target Market
- Pain Problem Solution
- Online Buyer Psychology
- Determining Your Advantage
- Crafting a Position Statement
- Digital Marketing Excellence
- Automated Relationship Marketing
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
by Thomas von Ahn | Chief Elephant Slayer
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords.
