Post by Julian Summerhayes. 423 words
My niche is law.
You will have your niche.
Better still still consider What is you Thing? What do people know you for?
“Distinct or extinct.”
Julie Anixter
If you have not yet considered how, in the on-line space, you will get found then my advice: Stop and Focus. Think carefully about the nature of your content before you spew forth said content.
Right now there is too much information out there, and if you think that Twitter, a blog or YouTube is going to scale you or your practice, then think again.
Seth Godin has continually made the point that scarcity is key to value. The trouble is that right now the information that you are hell bent on producing just isn’t that scarce. Even if you put your slant on things, go do a Google, Bing or YouTube search on your chosen thing and see what exists.
If you are trying to scale one to many, then it won’t work. Even many to many is beginning to look a bit tired.
The attention economy leaves you exposed like never before. People want something that applies exactly to their situation. The trouble is many people do not really know what they want.
Before you try to work out what is best, my advice is that you start by asking your clients. Don’t gamble on them understanding or appreciating what you do.
Try a survey, a on-line forum, email or talking to them.
The problem you face, from a group that may hitherto have had no engagement in this way, is they may not know. You may have to stimulate the exchange by making suggestions.
Remember your thing again. What is it that you want to happen? Understand the effect before you start blaming the cause.
You need to understand that as more and more people enter the on-line or social media space there will be a revert to type where you all start following each other. Just imagine how hard it will be then when you are all saying the same unremarkable thing on the same lookalike platforms?
Don’t be surprised if you get little traction to begin with. I have looked at one or two sites and there is zero engagement even though the content looks reasonably good.
Persistence is a wonderful attribute but no one wants to stare at a blank screen for too long. Trial. Error. Trial. Error. Not something you are used to but the quicker you get on with things the better.