. There are hundreds of social media management businesses out there, ranging from 1-person operations to multi-faceted firms. Completely saturated, right?<\/span><\/p>\nWell, similar to my focus for website clients, I am passionate about working with small businesses. I focus on small businesses, looking to expand their digital footprint, and make a mark in the busy space their own business specializes in. I look for nonprofits, manufacturing companies, and starter ecommerce and brick-and-mortar businesses. I do this because I am knowledgeable in these areas, appreciate what these companies and individuals do each day, and truly believe that helping these businesses become successful increases my success. My goal is to provide value and insight, sometimes providing consulting services to completely structure their item management process, or advise how to be involved with their customers online. Understanding the nuances of being online can be a daunting task for a small business, but my calm personality, knowledge of digital growth, and ability to explain processes in a simple and consumable way, have allowed me to make a meaningful impact for many small businesses. <\/span><\/p>\nThis fills my bucket. I love mutual success. And better than that, this self-awareness of my own strengths (and weaknesses), combined with seeking out clients I am passionate and knowledgeable about, have provided the template for the niche I am continuing to build in the crowded social media and website design space. <\/span><\/p>\nBecome an Expert and Be Authentic<\/span><\/h3>\nBuilding upon the passion that drives you to a particular niche, you must be an expert in your field. This doesn\u2019t mean to become and act like a know-it-all, but rather you need to understand the needs and desires of your customer base. Once you understand those needs, you need to become intelligible and confident in solving them. Even better yet, you need to be authentic in the services you provide. <\/span><\/p>\nThis requires you to take many steps above research and analysis. This requires you go beyond regurgitating information. This requires you to go beyond telling your clients what to do. <\/span><\/p>\nIt requires listening to your clients, understanding their problems and goals, and then applying your expertise to provide a tailored solution to help them grow. Your clients are coming to you to help them solve a problem they are unable to on their own. This is a display of trust and respect that should be handled in the same. When you are the only company offering your service, this might be less applicable. But in a saturated marketplace, instilling trust and respect–and returning the same–makes all the difference in the world. <\/span><\/p>\nPut Yourself in Your Customer\u2019s Shoes<\/span><\/h3>\nBeing knowledgeable isn\u2019t enough. The individuals that stand out from the crowd are also trustworthy, respectful, and empathetic. Empathetic means you put yourself in your customer\u2019s shoes, attempt to see the world from their vantage point, and provide a solution based on their specific needs. Those who stand out in a positive way don\u2019t make assumptions about their clients. <\/span><\/p>\nSimilarly, no two companies are the exact same, just as no two people are. This goes back to tailoring a solution, even if it requires only slight changes from the previous project. One size fits many can be a scalable model from a cost and time perspective, but the customer will suffer with an inferior result. I want to call out that I am a huge fan of templates and re-using knowledge where possible to give a customer better value, but the end result still needs to be produced for them. <\/span><\/p>\nWhether you offer products or services, especially in a crowded space, customer service shines above all else. Trust, respect, empathy, and listening to the needs of your customers will create a relationship that can bring incredible success to both parties. The path to least resistance is paved with great customer service. The barrier for your customer to move from your company to another is extremely low in this modern era, so you must leave a great impression, and continue to live up to your values. If you are true to yourself, your passion, and focus on the businesses in your niche–you might not get every client–but the ones you have will be the ones you want. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whether creating websites for small businesses, managing a blog, or self-publishing ebooks (or all 3 in my case), being noticed by an audience is as challenging as ever. The internet has given everyone in the world the chance to be impactful, on a global scale. For the investment of time, energy, and very little money […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6397,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,62],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/curiouscog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6395"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/curiouscog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/curiouscog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curiouscog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curiouscog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6395"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/curiouscog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6941,"href":"https:\/\/curiouscog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6395\/revisions\/6941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curiouscog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/curiouscog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curiouscog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curiouscog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}