Randy Cantrell is the founder of Bula Network, LLC - an executive leadership advisory company helping leaders leverage the power of others through peer advantage, online peer advisory groups. Interested in joining us? Visit ThePeerAdvantage.com
Successful Business Building Begins In Your Head.
Unfortunately, so does UNsuccessful business building.
Signal to noise ratio. I learned about how that applied to hi-fi gear before I learned to drive. Today, you likely have heard that phrase used to describe how much noise is in the world – and in our heads – compared to the signal, or good stuff. Simply put, it’s the difference between the sounds you want to hear compared to the sounds you don’t want to hear. It’s hard to hear the music when there’s too much static or noise.
Head trash. Noise. Distractions. Self-defeating thoughts. It’s all synonymous with some degree of discouragement. And we all have to fight against it.
I don’t think anybody ever completely conquers it. The most confident people have been humbled.
The most resilient have learned to get up and press on!
We’re all interested in seeing what other don’t see. Bands often sell VIP packages at premium rates to give well-healed fans an opportunity to go back stage. Authors will often invite rabid reading fans to a high priced luncheon where they can interact, ask questions, hear the author speak and get a signed copy of the latest book. We crave greater access.
Equally compelling are the stories people share of their struggle. We watch the Biography channel and see how our favorite stars rose from obscurity to fame. It’s all very intriguing.
In business – especially online business – we’re all drawn in by people willing to share how they went from an idea to launching a website that gained thousands of daily faithful readers. We hear people talk about starting with an email list of only family members, but growing it to hundreds of thousands. How did they do that? It’s the question we all ask. It’s the question we all want answered.
Our assumption is, if they did it, then maybe I can do it, too.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Still, the lessons are worthwhile. Whether we can ever replicate their success or not, there’s surely something valuable in seeing how they did it. If nothing else, it’s fun to hear the stories and to learn a thing or two along the way.
No, I’m not indifferent about learning. Or teaching. I’m quite ready to get on with it. So brace yourself.
Today, I begin a project that you can be part of. Wait, wait, wait. Don’t get too excited because I don’t know enough about all this online stuff to teach you much of anything – other than what doesn’t work!
I’m going to invite you to join me on my journey as a student. I’ll be studying some things. Investing in some things. I’ll tell you what I’m doing and why. I won’t promise you that I’m going to get it right. Shoot, I don’t even know if I’ll be approaching it correctly, but I’ll share with you anyway.
The project is quite simple:
to launch a successful website in a targeted niche and have that site serve as a lead generator for a client
My overall plan is to launch a WordPress site consisting of a blog, podcast and videos.
The content will be aimed squarely at people and companies who need a particular problem solved. It’s a targeted niche.
Many niches have a decent retention rate. That is, people are interested in something and their interest remains or grows over time. Every niche has folks who fall away, but hopefully we pick niches that grow.
For instance, people who are interested in classic pickup trucks enter that niche and continue to remain interested in classic pickup trucks.
The niche I’m going to dive into isn’t like that.
One, it’s a business to business niche. Specifically, it’s a high-end software solution whose target market are companies with annual revenues of $3M and up.
Two, it’s a niche that addresses a specific problem.
Three, when the proper solution is found and the problem is solved, the prospect has no further need for information about this niche.
So I strongly suspect the people who visit the site or listen to the podcast will consume the content as they’re trying to figure out a solution to their problem…but they’ll leave once they find that solution. That’s fine. Expected.
I could be wrong about that, but given the nature of the niche it just seems logical. The plan is to create as much useful content as possible for FREE. Along the way I want to attract as much traffic as I can, but I need that traffic to have high interest in the niche. It will be especially useful if the traffic needs a solution. It will be even more helpful if my client’s solution fills that need. But no matter, greater exposure for my client will benefit their business.
In conjunction with this, I’m going to launch another website with another blog, podcast and videos talking all about this niche project (we’ll call it the Bula Network Niche Project for now). This will be my behind-the-scenes, VIP project where I share with you what I’m doing to make this niche project successful.
Ecclesiastes 9:11 “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”
Our recent health scare put me in a contemplative mood. More so than normal.
So many others have much more severe worries and concerns. It makes me ashamed to think of my own life – and family. But so it goes. Our life matters, if only mostly to us.
None of us could get out of bed in the morning if we carried the weight of everybody’s sorrow. That funeral procession you pulled over for the other day…you didn’t know who was in that hearse. Perhaps you were carting the kids to a birthday party where some little child was celebrating turning 5. Those are the ironies of life. Some mourn while others celebrate. Some die while others are born.
I hope you’re experiencing good times. We all need the mountain top experience. Hang onto it for as long as you can.
Maybe today you’re in the valley. Maybe you’ve been there so long you can’t remember what the mountain top looks like. Hang in there. Endure. Overcome. Slog through it. You’re strengthening the muscles you’ll need for the ascent back to the top.
We’re all learning as we go. Going up demands different skills than going up. We need both if we’re going to successfully navigate through life – and help others do the same.
Go hug your wife. Or husband. And your children. And grandchildren. Don’t leave out close friends either.
Take care of yourself. Your family deserves it. Don’t ignore your health or fitness! It’s incredibly selfish if you neglect or abuse yourself. So, if you didn’t know it before now you do – it’s why I go to the gym daily! I decided a few years ago that I couldn’t “do that” to Rhonda.
