Most of the small business owners I know don’t really enjoy “selling” themselves or their businesses. If you feel the same way, I’ve got some sweet news for you.
In addition to building loyalty with personal relationships, you can also build loyalty by giving people relevant information.
This quote from Jay Baer’s book, Youtility (which comes highly recommended by Chris Brogan) sums it all up: “Smart marketing is about HELP not HYPE.” Click to Tweet
It’s about lending a helping hand, being useful to your potential clients. It’s about answering questions your clients have and providing information that will help them make a decision about buying from you.
“The difference between helping and selling is just two letters.” Jay Baer Click to Tweet
Jay’s book focuses mostly on corporate examples but the concept of Youtility can absolutely be applied to small businesses, any business really. More on that in a second.
First, here are three examples from the book to give you an idea of what we’re talking about.
3 Examples of Youtility
Charmin Toilet Paper
Charmin is a brand of toilet paper in the US and they created an app called, Sit or Squat, which is free and invites users to rate bathrooms all over the country.
Phoenix Children’s Hospital
Knowing that new parents need a car seat to take their precious new cargo home safely, the Phoenix Children’s Hospital developed an app to help parents figure out which car seat is the best one for their situation. The app is free for anyone, not just people who have babies at this hospital.
Hilton Hotels
Hilton Hotels help people on Twitter with real time, local recommendations and it’s not only for people who are guests at a Hilton Hotel. It’s for anyone.
No need to panic, you don’t have to develop an app to apply Youtility to your business. Here are five ideas about how small business owners can apply Youtility.
5 Ways You Can Be Useful to Your Clients
1. Answer Questions
You can invite people to ask questions that you will answer on: Twitter, Facebook, in webinars, or in blog posts. Learn more about this here.
2. Share Resources
If you come across an app, article, book, or service provider that someone you know would appreciate, share it with them. My friend and former client, Mary Jane Roy, works with people to reduce their stress. Every time I come across an article, a talk, or an app about stress – I send it to her.
3. Give Referrals
You can be useful to prospective clients and members of your network by giving referrals. More on that in my video: The Secret that Makes Giving Referrals Easy.
4. Support People
If you see an opportunity to help someone with your expertise with a quick tip, do it. And I’ve learned that it is best to first ask the person if they are interested in hearing your suggestion to be sure it will be well received.
5. Connect People
Connecting people who share something in common is a way to be extremely useful to the people in your community. Get more details on this here.
You may be thinking, being useful sounds great but if I give all of my best information away then people won’t need my products and services. More great news, this isn’t the case. Find out why in my post: Clients Will Still Hire You Even If You Give Away Great Content.
I hope you’re starting to get some ideas about how you can start being useful to people today.
Take some time to invest in helping your community and watch your business grow.
© Stephanie Ward
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER, BLOG OR WEBSITE? You can, as long as you include this information with it: Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to create meaningful and prosperous businesses. Grab your FREE copy of the special report ’7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus business building tips, at: https://www.fireflycoaching.com.
How can you be useful to your community? Share your thoughts and questions in the below in the comments section. I respond to every single comment.
