You must give to receive. It’s the ancient law of karma and the most important lesson of every Christmas movie. And--as I’ve discovered working with my branding and design consultancy’s startup clients--a key factor in launching a successful business. The brand that puts its users first, whose sole purpose is to serve them, will surely win. But it’s one thing to know this, another to put it in action. So this holiday season, I give to you three simple ways to grow your business by practicing generosity.
1. GIVE THEM WHAT THEY NEED
When we start working with a new company, in the very first meeting I ask the founders what problem their product is solving. Of course everyone has an answer to this question; any solid entrepreneur knows that a real-world problem is a key building block in any pitch, not to mention the justification for why we go to work every day (and night, and weekend).
But often the problem we think we’re solving is actually self-serving. As in, “The problem I’m solving is that my product doesn’t exist,” versus considering what our target user is truly feeling/missing/wanting/needing. The temptation is to imagine that our audience is sitting around wishing there were a product exactly like the one we’re launching. When I worked in advertising, we used to joke about creative briefs that contained a consumer insight along the lines of “I wish there were a cereal that contained crunchy bran flakes and plump raisins, that was healthy and also delicious.”
Or let’s take another example we’re all familiar with, such as Foursquare. Before Foursquare, consumers were not bemoaning to themselves, “I wish I could use my phone to publicly mark all the places that I go,” or “Help! I am missing out on location-based deals that reward me for my loyalty!” Consumers were not wishing for Foursquare, because it didn’t exist yet. The real problem that Foursquare so successfully addressed? So much of who we are is defined by where we go, but our movement through the wor...
[Source: Fast Company]
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