Yes, Please Talk to Strangers

“. . .sometimes one feels freer speaking to a stranger than to people one knows. Why is that?" “Probably because a stranger sees us the way we are, not as he wishes to think we are.” ― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

Designing a growth strategy for your business is a little like any other relationship in life. In order for it to be successful, you really need to work at all aspects of the relationship, and every relationship needs a little something different,

Starting on the inbound marketing journey, the first people we try to talk with are often strangers. We blog (like I am doing today) ; we make sure our SEO is targeted and on point; and we shout out on the social media airways, focused on meeting strangers and turning them in to visitors.

Why is that? Why do we start the journey talking to strangers? Didn't our mothers tell us NOT to talk with strangers? Shouldn't we start with our "friends"?

Not necessarily. As Carlos Ruiz Zafón said, speaking to those that don't know us means often more honest feedback. Current customers already have a notion of what or who we are, and they also have some reaction to that notion. Expanding your customer base, requires the unbiased feedback of those that do NOT know you.

When talking to strangers, a few things.

1. keep in mind you need something special to pique their interest and get them to notice you. After all their mothers talked to them as well!

2. Show up where they are - their favorite "watering holes" - both in terms of on line and off line media.

3. Make sure you are talking about them - their problems, in their language.

4. Only once they show they are interested, talk about solutions. See if they respond (click, like) and then talk about solutions in a general sense.

5. And only after that - get them curious about your unique ability to solve their problem! Answer the WHY YOU! Now, and only now - SELL!

It is a process, and it takes time. More importantly it takes upfront planning to develop your buyer personas, and truly understand who you are talking to and why. If you want to develop the personas yourself, I highly recommend Hubspot Academy's on line class on buyer personas. Its a great tutorial on how to get started.

Next time, we will talk about our friends.... until then, any questions, please reach out! info@grandbeachconsulting.com