Business Growth Advice Evolves
When we launched Resonnect, the Internet was still becoming a reality for small businesses. Hard to believe now, but back then thousands of blogs were posted daily, explaining to small business owners and entrepreneurs why they needed a website. The marketing and credibility building lead magnets of the day were whitepapers (a hangover from corporate) and *Special Reports*.
Along with our clients, we went through the early days of social media (plenty of experts labelled it a fad) and its adoption into all types of businesses. We also rode the roller coaster evolution and adoption of new technologies for business big and small: websites that non-technical folks could update (WordPress), the introduction of podcasts, email lists becoming indispensable, and video.
Fast forward, we now know the power of creating a book about your business and your expertise as a powerhouse credibility and authority builder. Self-publishing on Amazon has become popular because it’s both effective for generating leads and prospects and cost-effective for self-employed coaches, consultants, and other experts.
Over the years, we’ve had the privilege of working with a number of great clients spanning diverse industries and company sizes. While we continue to learn, and experiment alongside every other business owner, our mission has shifted from consulting to serving as business mentors for our clients. We’ve put a special emphasis on working with women-owned and, because Jim is a Vietnam veteran, veteran-owned businesses.
Business Mentoring for an Entrepreneur Teaching Social Skills to Children
One of our favorite entrepreneurs we’ve had the privilege of working with was a dynamic start-up founder with a noble mission. Jim had previously worked with Jeff while he was at another startup. Once *Jeff* left to start up his new company, he called Jim to help him get the new business off the ground.
Jeff and his wife had a special needs child. As Jeff researched his son’s condition, he found that one of the toughest issues for these children is learning social skills.
Jeff couldn’t find a quality social-skills learning program to help his child and reinforce lessons between therapist visits. Despite not having a technology background, Jeff dove in and successfully created an innovative social-skills learning program for special needs children like his own.
Jeff determined that he could use a business mentor. He brought Resonnect in to help with early-stage advising, business advice, fundraising, and product launch marketing. In addition to typical new product challenges, Jeff faced an unusual level of competition. Apple had recently introduced the iPad and dozens of apps for special needs kids flooded the market. His product was a robust learning program—offering significantly more capabilities than a low-cost app.
Jeff’s challenge was to set his program apart from the simple, low cost apps for special needs kids that parents found in the App Store. We clarified exactly who Jeff’s ideal buyer was, because while his game-changing program could potentially help all special needs kids, not every parent was able to buy it or spend time going through the lessons with their child. We refined messaging and social media conversations over a few months.
Our diligent work paid off. The product won early customers who loved how it helped their children and raved on social media about how they could teach social skills with the aid of the interactive video lessons. Additionally, non-profit children’s media influencers found the program on as did special needs education experts. The company flourished, expanded with more innovative products, and is going strong today.
From a business growth strategy standpoint, this entrepreneur took four key steps that contributed to his success:
- Jeff engaged and met regularly with Jim as his financing and business advisor.
- Unusual for a start-up, he viewed marketing as a business growth strategy, made it a priority, and brought in Cynthia, as an expert, to guide strategy development and implementation.
- It was early days for social media. At that time, the conventional business advice was that social media was a fad. As we now know, social media is firmly part of our culture and business. Jeff committed resources to an active social media presence including regular blogging which quickly elevated his brand’s visibility to both buyers and influencers.
- He consistently spoke directly to his ideal parent buyer in content and messages, even as he refined their profile.
The company is thriving today. We were honored to be a small part of this impressive businesses’ early days.