How to Start a Business: Part 4- Community
This is my 100th blog post!
It’s also National Read A Book Day so in celebration,
my books are $1.00 for a limited time only!
This blog post is the last blog in a four-part series on how to run a business. For the other parts, you can click here to learn how to start a business, learn how to generate content, and learn how to market and advertise your business.
I want to emphasize this one point in particular. The crucial part of a business is its heart. Growth, sales, and return on investments are critical, but I believe the company is strongest if you look for opportunities to give back. We all know stories of authors who give back. James Patterson's work with donating books to schools, Dean Koontz's work on canines for independence, John Green's project for awesome. There are more examples in different industries, of course, such as Bill and Melinda Gates, but I believe you don't need to wait until you're making a certain amount to keep in touch with your community.
Here are some ways to connect to your community:
Don't pull up the ladder.
For a visual, imagine we're all trying to reach the top of a house. One person claws their way to the top of the ladder, turns around and glances at their former peers below, only to yank the ladder away, cutting those who follow off on the same path that person just took. I've seen people reach success in their chosen career and then turnaround and bite those who come behind them. They view everyone as competition and let their feelings of being threatened drive their decisions to avoid helping, or in some sad cases, even harming those who try to follow in their footsteps. One of the first quotes I heard when I got in this industry is, "The new author who asks for your help today could be the next bestselling author tomorrow." It pays to be nice. Look for ways to help.
Sharing is caring.
A split-second decision could be life-changing for another person. It costs exactly zero dollars and zero cents to share someone's product or good news to your audience, but it could be everything to someone with a small social media following. I just recently witnessed a YouTuber with almost two million subscribers share a new, similar channel to their base. It wasn't anything fancy. All she said was that she liked their content and wanted to share. Immediately, this new channel received over two hundred thousand subscribers. That's the difference between a couple of bucks a month and over ten thousand dollars a month. It costs no money to share another person's work but gives publicity and possibly sales.
Everyone needs someone they can call.
Who hasn't faced frustration with technology or had a question in the middle of the night that Google didn't answer? Sometimes we need another person to show us how something is done or just sit with us to talk about options and the path we should take. We all know something that could help another person, whether or not we realize it. The two most valuable things we all have are information and time. Be liberal with both. I don't have an MBA, but I did start my own business and welcomed talking with others who have a similar dream. That's part of the reason for this blog post series. Even if it only helps one person in my audience, to that one person, this blog post might be the first step towards achieving their dream.
Another example was when that same YouTuber I mentioned earlier posted a behind the scenes series walking her audience through precisely what she does to create her popular videos. It may seem like this practice flies in the face of protecting intellectual property. Still, she didn't become unsuccessful overnight because people from her audience decided to follow in her footsteps. What it did do was increase her popularity and reaffirm her positive image with her audience. Imitation is the best compliment.
What else can you do?
Sometimes, if you can help a person one on one, take it and make the most of it. When someone reaches out and asks for help, a quick two-sentence reply is nice, but I wonder if that would be enough to help me. Instead, I try to sit down with the people who ask for help and walk them through whatever they need, be it questions about writing, publishing, teaching, websites, or even a shopping recommendation. If they took the time to ask, I will take double the time in my answer. Maybe it's the teacher in me, but I strive to be someone who people know they can count on.
If you can, volunteer your time with an organization in your industry. In case you think I'm repetitive, I talked about the importance of joining these organizations, but going and sitting on the sidelines is one thing, but introducing yourself and asking, "How can I help?" is a different thing. Decide what you have time for and try to find ways to make time for even a seemingly small contribution. Again, sometimes even something little will mean the world to someone else. In short, offer to help and be reliable.
Remember who this is all about.
Notice, I didn't say what, but who. The financials might be the backbone of a business, but people are the heart. If you don't believe me, consider how quick loyalty can turn when the food quality at a restaurant goes down, or an airline cuts the snack or takes what little legroom people had to save a few bucks. It would be like me hiring a ghostwriter to churn out some fast crap or going cheap on the editing with no respect for the reader who is in the hospital waiting room, reading this book for a momentary escape from whatever difficulty is going on in their lives. Remember who matters and give them something extra when you can.
Enjoy! And thanks for following me on my journey!
Kathryn