This blog post is a top 5 guide to making your business stand out. It covers the importance of having strong values at the heart of your business and why they are effective at creating an affinity with your target audience.

As a new year comes, it's natural to take some time to reflect on your business and how things are going. Over and beyond the obvious did I meet my goals it's important to all do some reflection on the intangible parts of your business. It's the intangible parts of your business that make you different and what will help you stand out in a crowded market place.

I can tell you from a personal view, this is something I don't think I've done necessarily well. Aside from my Geek in Your Pocket name, what really makes me different from all of the other website maintenance and security businesses out there?

Let's do this practice together, in fact head over here and download your own worksheet to help move you along. For me, I'm going to share right here, righ now...

Find your unique value and make it visible.

What about your business is different to that of your competitor? What rare quality can you offer to your customers that they can’t?

Oof, we like to think that we tell anyone that asks what makes us different from our competitors, but then the imposter syndrome sneaks in and we start comparing (see, I'm doing it now...). Here's what I think makes me different from all of the other website maintenance & security businesses out there. I'm small, on purpose. You see I don't want my business to get so big that I don't know my clients. I like the personal relationships I'm building. Yes, I can grow more AND I'm doing just that. I have even hired a team member so I can support all of my amazing clients better.

I believe, that I'm unique and special because I purpose work to understand my clients, their stories and what they want to accomplish. I want to be there to celebrate their accomplishments and also be there to make sure that their website is ready and able to support the growth that they are working towards. My approach to technology is helping my clients be empowered to know what they need, but not necessarily do the work. Just like with car maintenance it's good to know how the basics of your car operate, but you certainly don't need to do the work. That's what a mechanic is for and that's what I'm here for.

Have a clear mission

Be clear about who you are. How are you helping your customers? Why are you helping them? Where are you going?

It's early January 2021 and in about 10 days I turn 50. While I don't put much emphasis on age, with age comes knowledge (good & bad), here's what I know...

It's take me all this time to really start to get a clear idea of who I am and what I want to offer and how I want to help my community.

I didn't start my business 13 years with the intention of become a WordPress maintenance & security specialist, far from it but here I am. I love what I do, I know it's a service that many small, creative, soul driven lifestyle business owners need and for many they don't really know they need it until it's too late.

I don't want ANYONE that is working hard to build a lifestyle business to LOSE it all simply because they didn't know what they didn't know.

Make the customer the main character in everything that you do.

Be clear about who your customers are, and tune your brand into them. Reward loyal customers, be welcoming to new ones. Don’t ever make them feel like a number.

Oh boy, I think for pretty well any lifestyle business owner figuring out who your customers are and how to connect with them is the constant ever evolving challenge.

Here's what I think is a good approach, take a close look at your current client base and determine which of your clients you enjoy working with the most. Who's super easy to work with, totally respects your skills and what you do for them. Maybe you have some clients that trust you completely and what you say and recommend they simply say make it happen and tell me how much when you're done, then they pay you quickly.

Figure out what you love about your favorite clients and then figure out how to replicate them. You down that in a number of ways and this article isn't meant to be a deep dive, but do whatever you can to keep those awesome clients.

Reward them, thank them, give them shout outs on social media when you see them doing something awesome. Share their stories with your community. Essentially brainstorm all you can so you can create a love fest on your clients.

Be honest - People crave human connections.

Your customers want to know who you are. Gone are the days when a company could gain trust by being faceless. If an audience can resonate with a brand emotionally, that business not only has customers, it has a tribe that can grow.

Oh, this ONE is so totally incredibly important to ANY lifestyle business owner. Your clients are with you because they KNOW you, they respect what you do and they too want to support another small lifestyle business.

Share your story in your emails, online and where ever you connect with your community. Your current and prospective clients want to get to know the person behind the business so share that!

Gold standard customer service

Deliver excellence at every chance. Be the business that a customer will immediately call to mind when they think of customer service.

I think we can all recall those bad customer service experiences we've had, as a small lifestyle business owner your priority is to server your clients and to shine an awesome light on every single experience your clients have with you. I can tell you I haven't always excelled at this, but 2021 is the year that I do just that!

That's it for today, I'd love to hear what you think, share this post online and tag me to start a conversation.