Welcome back to the Small Business Summary…It’s the day after St. Patrick’s Day, so I’ll type quietly for those of you who hit the green beer a little hard yesterday. Through a whisper, I’ve got some killer stuff to share.

In this week’s episode:

• Announcement: Our New Event with Seth Godin!

• Feeling Behind? It Might Not Be Your Fault

• Pricing: So Many Ways To Get It Wrong…Let’s Reflect

• Win a $100 Business Book gift card

Ok, on with the show!

Pat

The Power of Your Audience

In my first life, I was a radio guy so I know a few things about audience development and selling things. And, sadly, as a radio guy, I know something about the changing audience patterns. This story caught my eye because it’s full of the buzzwords used by legacy media outlets pretending that they’re being innovative - when in reality, they’re desperate to stay in front of a group of people who are paying attention.

The article tells the story of how NBCUniversal is turning to “Fandoms” to created branded entertainment. For example, the game ROBLOX might make a mini-game or short video clip to be distributed on the NBCUniversal streaming app Peacock.

Why is this happening? Is it because NBCUniversal is being creative and trying to connect with that games users? Nope. NBCUniversal is turning to these brands because they want to entice ROBLOX users to become Peacock subscribers. It’s by necessity because these partners are much bigger with a more engaged audience!

• ROBLOX - 380 million active users

• Duolingo - 575 million registered users

• Peacock Streaming Users - 36 million subscribers

36 million registered users is still a huge audience. But, the audience has been fragmented into a thousand different shows, interests, and patterns. Our collective attention is only really captured during major live news or sporting event. (Hello, NFL.)

Why am I sharing all this? The power is in the audience. The power is in YOUR audience.

Your long term business success will be your ability to say something meaningful and attract people to consume in an audience that you own. 

There are many ways to “rent” your audience through social media, ads, or partnerships. But, these tactics are expensive (ads), limit your opportunity to say exactly what you want (partnerships), and can be revoked at any time. (social)

If we were sitting down over a coffee to talk about the future of your business, I’d ask: What are you creating to attract and engage your best clients?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this and how you’re taking action. And, if you’re not, welp…today is a great day to start.

Real Talk: Are you Behind and is it YOUR FAULT?

WTM: When you’re the only employee in the business it is really easy to be hard on your staff. It’s common to feel frustrated about your productivity and sometime even feel behind on where you think you “should” be. I was feeling that way earlier this morning and I was blessed with a quick reframe on the situation. I thought I would share…

80’s Song of the Week:
Journey - Any Way You Want It

WTM: I’m pretty sure I could write an entire newsletter on Journey’s tunes from the 80’s. This particular video rules for two reasons: First, it shows all sorts of classic technology. And second, that scene in CADDYSHACK!

What will we play next? I’m pulling together a Small Business Summary 80’s playlist with tunes suggested by YOU. Reply with your favorite 80’s song.

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