First Ingredient: The Sweet Spot

I believe that for every business owner, there is a sweet spot, a perfect and unique blend of:

• Passion — loving what you do.
• Audience — a specific group of people that you’re inspired to serve and that you love being surrounded by.
• Interaction — participating in very engaging conversations and providing one-of-a-kind content
• Offering — differentiated products and services.

If you can find that perfect blend, you and your business will become magnetic to the audience you love to serve.

Second Ingredient: A Few Core Actions

You have to find those handful of core actions that keep you immersed in your sweet spot. To find them, you usually only have to look as far as the things that make it up.

• You have a passion. Lay it out there. Be bold about it. Let people know exactly who you are and what lights you up.
• You have an audience. Find them. Surround yourself with them. Stay in the places they hang out.
• You need interaction. Start conversations. Talk with members of your audience daily. Ask them what they want and need. Find ways to be of service to them. Keep churning out high quality, helpful content, whether that be through a blog, a podcast, video, tweets, comments, or any other medium that works for you.
• You have an offering. Once you know what your audience wants and needs, find a way to provide it. Keep asking questions and find ways to improve on your products and services. Find strategic partners who can help you further serve your audience.

Once you find that sweet spot, your job is to stay thoroughly immersed in it through consistency in your daily actions. The core actions aren’t all that hard to do, but the trick is being consistent and doing those actions over and over again on a daily basis.

We tend to over-complicate things, but it really boils down to finding what uniquely distinguishes you and your business from everyone and everything else, and then doing a few key activities each and every day to constantly communicate that unique message to your niche group of customers.

What have you learned to be the handful of core activities that keep you fully immersed in the sweet spot of your business?

Image from Flickr by Muffet

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But how do you tap into this invaluable resource? It can be intimidating to go to others for help and can be perceived as pushy and self-serving if approached the wrong way. Here are a few tips to help others help you.

1. Embrace the idea of “paying it forward.”

People really do want to help you, which usually stems from them wanting to help everyone in their network. They ask what you do and immediately think, “Oh, you should meet [fill in the blank]!” Likewise, when you mention that you have a particular need, they mention several people you might consider and offer to connect you with them.

The most important thing to remember is that networking is all about adding value. The more you find ways to help those around you, the more opportunities will inevitably come your way.

2. Make it easy.

In an article on Techcrunch, Michael Arrington said “Those of us in a position to help entrepreneurs need to do more of it…But this is a two way street. Budding entrepreneurs trying to break down the walls need to grow up. Most of the time people don’t have the time to help you, and you shouldn’t aim hate at them for it. Instead, try a different angle or a different person.” This quote made me think of two things. Firstly, it’s important to remember that people are busy, so you need to make it so easy for them to help you that they can do it quickly and without too many steps.

For example, Betsy Talbot of Married with Luggage emailed people in her network recently asking for promotional help. She made it insanely easy by including links, as well as short and specific instructions for what to do with each of the links. She even included copy so that we didn’t have to come up with it ourselves.

3. Don’t be self-serving.

The second thing about Arrington’s quote that struck me was about trying a different angle. It’s easy to come at things from the wrong angle, and when promoting a business, that’s usually followed by rejection. If you always think of it as, “How can I get people talking about me or my business?,” then that means (a) you have to introduce yourself to someone without sounding like you’re selling something and (b) you have to somehow get them to feel compelled to mention you to others. If you think of it this way, it can seem purely self-serving.

Instead, find a way to help them, and of course, you have to always be sincere with your help. Maybe ask to interview the person for your blog or podcast, or if the person has written a book recently, offer to review it. By reaching out in this way, the person will actually look forward to learning more about you and your business, and if they enjoy talking with you, they may take the time to mention you to people in their own network.

The main thing to remember is that people are more than willing to help you. Most entrepreneurs are acutely aware of the value of networking, and successful ones understand that networking is all about helping others. Just remember, as Arrington said, it’s a two-way street.

What have been your biggest lessons in networking and helping others help you with your business? How do you make sure that you’re not perceived as self-serving?

Image from Flickr by crschmidt

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks