In September 2023 I was a guest on The Small Business Show with host Shyann Malone, from America's Small Business Network. Small businesses don't have big research budgets, and that was the point of the conversation. A small business can't afford to spend money talking to the wrong people, and demographics tell you what you can see from across the room, like someone's age, which helps you know who your customers are. Values tell you why they buy and what they want from you.
The practical part of the interview was the three questions, which any small business owner can start asking tomorrow. Why do you go to work every day? If you won the lottery, why would you give half of it away? If you could talk to yourself ten years ago, what would you say, and why? The answers show you what people care about, and once you know that you can build your marketing around a story your customers already believe in. It also keeps you from building it around a stereotype, which is easy to do by accident when all you know about your customers is their age.
You can read the original at America's Small Business Network.
My new book walks you through all kinds of ways to identify (and use) your values, and it's available for pre-order now. It's called The Values Map, and I would be very grateful if you pre-ordered a copy. My publisher would love it too. ❤️
Everything gets easier when you know What Matters Most.
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