Over saturation is the word pair of the day.
A startup in present day, faces the struggle of reaching their customers and getting a foot in the door. Social media, press release management, and public presence is everything now. So is customer service, and client relations, and product management, marketing, ethical responsibilities. How does a startup or new business begin while it’s just trying to get off the ground?
Startups have a bigger problem with this as much of the time they have a much larger risk factor. Then, again to over saturation, companies working on solutions are all over the place. All over social media and in blogs optimized for prime ‘page one’ spots on Google. But you’ve just started, and you with your fantastic team are not really well known yet. So we’re going to work on that. From getting started you already have your goals to change the world as we know it and a team that’s ready to go. How do we get the outside world to buy in to your goals? How do you become the startup that people want to be part of?
Be different
To diffuse the issue of needing to be best in every aspect of a startup launching you need one quality: uniqueness. Something new will cast off the stigmas of over used business models and plans of overloading social media outlets. Be new, and open to change. Startups are high growth and often see many changes to their inner workings and approaches. This allows you to test, and then make a decision on the results. Research and see what has been done before. I’m not saying to change your passion because there are so many Tech related startups. Be different because your startup deserves a fresh take from the people passionate about it. Raise awareness of how you stand out from the rest.
Getting the Attention
Skip out on networking events that claim to ‘meet and greet’ you to any investor, designer or anything else. Be cautious with utilizing social media as well. Don’t go building social media pages with generic information to lure in people who have no interest in your goals. Find the people that are already involved in your area of specialty. A niche is a beautiful thing when seeking attention, because it means that somewhere there is a whole community just for your interest. Find the people that are already catering to your niche and present to them what sets you apart. Journalists enjoy a story and bloggers want to share content that their readers can relate to. Tailor your pitch to who you’re talking to. Your idea will end up selling itself, it just needs some publicity to get rolling.
Building a Lasting Reputation
We started with how everything is everything now and failing in any aspect sends the company into crisis. The great part is this is where everything kind of all becomes one simple thing. After getting the initial shine on your operation, word of mouth continues that generated buzz. Word of mouth though is the best and worst of double edged swords. Customer service, client relations, and even press, they all have to do with people. A bad customer experience if not corrected or proactively prevented will remain with the reputation of the company. Negative client experiences can follow a company long past it growing out of being a startup. Mastering relationship building essentially fills the needs of every facet of a startup organization.
Bring it all back to home
After getting everything going, attracting more publicity and working avidly on relationships to get more people involved we need to bring it back to your goals. Your purpose and the challenges that you’re rising to are the focal point of everything. Relax in knowing that the basis of maintaining healthy relationships with your team, clients and relationships will be most everything you need. Don’t be overwhelmed by managing social media. Reach out to a client or a journalist that you’re familiar with. Use networking to your advantage where there is already a built foundation and then use that foundation as a tool.
As for everything else, work the angles that will propel your startup forward. Be less worried about the competition and how frequently updated their social media accounts are. Everything can be broken into small achievable parts that lead to success. Becoming overwhelmed will only detract from the focus that you can give to your company.
