For God’s Sake Don’t Be Boring!

The other night I was at a small dinner party. During a conversation with one of the guests, my eyes started to glaze over. I said to myself, “This person is so boring.” Because I was raised in the Midwest and lived in the South for ten years, I couldn’t bring myself to walk away or interrupt (which would have been the only way to stop their incessant self-centered chatter). This person was such a complete narcissist in desperate need of attention that I began to feel like I was doing community service.

With the world the way it is, we all have so little time. Being with someone who clearly has his or her own agenda and never asks you a question or sparks a new idea can be the ultimate time waster. To make the best of any encounter, you have to become the catalyst for conversation that is engaging, real and thoughtful. That can only happen when you ask great questions that reveal insight and interest. By consciously communicating, you make yourself unforgettable and create an emotional connection.
No matter what your brand’s mission or your financial goal or your personal dreams, indentifying and earning the devotion of your target audience are the interlocking and necessary means to reaching those objectives. Who is your target audience? It’s your boss, co-workers, clients, customers – well anyone who can influence your brand.

One of the golden rules of brand marketing is to know your audience inside and out. So before any brand is introduced to the public, a very careful market analysis is undertaken in order to answer these burning questions:

Who is my target audience?
Where is my target audience?
What do they think about my brand?
What do I want them to think?
How will I attract them to my product/services/company?
How can I create an emotional connection?
Who else is competing for their loyalty?

The more you know about your audience and what they need, the more comfortable you’re going to feel, the better connection you’ll be able to make, and you’ll be better prepared to make a lasting impression. Once you’ve established who they are, you have to always be looking at your brand and at your target audience and asking yourself:

Does my audience see me as an authority in my field?
Do they feel I add value to their business?
Do I present a clear solution to my target audience’s problem?
Have I lost any customers/clients lately?
Does my audience seem happy to see me or hear from me?
Have I been passed over for a promotion or a plum project lately?
Has my staff been cut?

Answering these questions honestly will help you to stay relevant to your audience and keep you from appearing stale and boring. It’s not all me, me, me that gets the deal done. That’s a turn off. The key is to make your target audience the main character of your story by answering the question that’s on their mind and that is, “What’s in it for me if I work with you?”

I used to say, “sell them once and then never stop selling,” which is still true. However, marketing today is all about serving people. So the approach that works best now is asking smart questions and then finding ways to tailor your message and personalize it so that it is received as a gift to your client or prospect, and not a mandate. With this in mind, you’ll never be seen as boring again.
Robin Fisher Roffer is a leading brand strategist and reinvention specialist. Founder and CEO of Big Fish Marketing, she is the author of Make A Name For Yourself: 8 Steps Every Woman Needs To Create A Personal Brand Strategy For Success, The Fearless Fish Out Of Water: How To Succeed When You’re The Only One Like You, and Reinventing Yourself: 10 Steps To Shifting Your Career Into High Gear. Learn more about Robin at: http://bigfishmarketing.com