Business Hack

The Wealth Dragon Way to Build a Successful Business in the Digital Age

John Lee

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781119542315
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Finance
• Index: Business

Master the online tools available to grow your business and conquer the competition

Business Hack is your essential roadmap to business growth and online marketing success. Author and successful entrepreneur John Lee shares his proven methods to harness the power of online tools, including using social media—offering practical steps to create and implement highly effective cyber-marketing campaigns. Thanks to the digital revolution, you no longer need teams of marketing experts and other expensive overheads to build and promote your business. This unique and valuable resource covers everything you need to consider when building your marketing strategy, from established principles of sales to cutting-edge digital techniques.

In today's dynamic business environment, strong and ongoing engagement in social media marketing is no longer an option–it is a necessity. From local craft-based businesses to new tech start-ups and even global multinational corporations, effective cyber-marketing can be instrumental in determining success. A comprehensive digital strategy enables you to compete across all platforms and maintain viability and relevance in the face of intense competition. Following the proven techniques in this essential guide allows you to:

• Implement powerful social media marketing campaigns to increase revenue and rise above the competition

• Integrate traditional sales and advertising methods with modern technology to create a comprehensive business marketing strategy
• Identify future trends to stay ahead of the technology curve and capitalize on new opportunities.
• Learn the skills used by successful entrepreneurs and respected experts in online marketing

The Internet and rise of digital media have changed the rules of business and marketing. It is now possible for small and new businesses to compete and thrive in the global marketplace through intelligent use of digital and social media marketing. Business Hack provides the tools and knowledge necessary to succeed in the 21 st century.

PART I
THE OLD RULES

CHAPTER 1
Your Business and Products

What is your business? And what are the fundamental rules associated with building and growing that business? Before we look at how you position your business for success in the digital age, let's look at what your business is and go through some of the traditional rules for building any successful business.

What is Your Business?

In fact, before you answer that question let's answer this one. What is a business? That's easy, right? A business sells something. But you'd be amazed by how many people fail to understand this.

If you are not selling something, or planning to sell something, then you don't have a business. You may have a brand, you may have a large following, but until you are actually selling a product or service (and ideally for a profit), you don't have an actual business.

Interestingly, the digital age has given us the ability to look like a business even when we're not. We can all start a brand, by thinking of a name, buying a website, designing a fancy logo, creating social media pages and even getting thousands of people to follow us, but until you are trading a product or service (even if it is your own power of endorsement), you do not have a business. Many so‐called “entrepreneurs” or “start‐ups” do not fully appreciate this point. Many of them have a brand but not a business. This is not to say you cannot turn your brand into a business (and we will go into more detail on this subject later in the book), but until you are selling a product or service, you are not really operating as a business.

Whether you have an existing business or are planning to create a business sometime in the future, the most important question you should be asking yourself is not, “How can I make money from a business?” but, “What do people need?” The smartest business people don't think in terms of making money, they think in terms of solving problems. If you can identify a big problem that many people have and find a great solution to it, you will automatically make money.

So what do you have that people need? What value can you bring to other people's lives? What can you do or make that is better, or more efficient, than anything anyone else is providing?

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If you can identify a big problem that many people have and find a great solution to it, you will automatically make money.

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A good salesperson knows what people need. Have you ever wondered why you sometimes go to the supermarket intending to buy a couple of items you've written on a list, that shouldn't total more than about £25, but instead you come away with a huge shopping bag full of items you hadn't intended to buy and your bank account is £100 lighter?

If you've ever shopped in Ikea, you've probably noticed how you are directed to walk through the “marketplace” before you get to the checkout. Or maybe you never even noticed and wondered how the car doors will hardly close. You only went to Ikea to get a mirror and a couple of chairs, but you left with four bags full to bursting with cushions, vegetable peelers, tea lights, wicker baskets, storage jars, a Tupperware set, placemats, avocado slicers, chopping boards, photo frames, fairy lights, egg cups, candles, clothes hangers, cucumber keepers, banana holders, a few plants, and several stuffed animals! This is because someone has successfully sold you stuff you didn't even know you even needed. But you were in the shop in the first place because you did need something. There was something you wanted that took you into a place where you were offered other items that you suddenly realised you needed. This is the first rule of selling: first give people what they want… then sell them what they need.

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The first rule of selling: give people what they want… then sell them what they need.

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The Definition of a Business

As I explained above, unless you are selling something – a product or service – you do not have a business. The very definition of a business is an operation that involves the exchange of two things of value. For example, you give me a product that has a value and I give you money that has value. We could also exchange goods – that is a business transaction. You can sell anything: products such as books, computers, phones, cakes, clothing, food and cars, and services such as dog walking, wedding planning, hairdressing, and window cleaning.

My businesses have mostly been service‐based, but in the course of my career I have helped countless people find and develop businesses that offer both products and services, so I have a wealth of experience across many different industries and markets. I have helped people with a huge range of different businesses. I've worked with property developers, hoteliers, spa owners, accountants, solicitors, restaurant owners, wedding planners, image consultants, personal trainers, models, hairdressers, educators, child carers, estate agents, writers, singers, and many more. I start by ensuring that they do have a viable business and then I help them tweak their business to ensure that they are selling a product or service that people actually need. Finally, I figure out the best way of marketing that product or service, which includes building the most effective digital presence and marketing strategy.

However, before you get your digital presence and marketing right, you have to get your product or service right. Having been a mentor and coach to so many different people, across so many different industries, I feel I have become something of an expert at identifying exactly what a person should be selling and how best to go about selling it.

Choosing the Right Product or Service

When someone comes to me for help with growing their business, the first thing I do is I look at their business and ask, “What is it you are selling?” Once I know what their existing product or service is, I start asking specific questions to get to the heart of: (a) whether that product or service is the most niche and unique thing that this particular person has to offer, and (b) whether the product or service answers a problem that people have. In other words, how does your product or service solve a problem people have, and how is it different or better than anything anyone else is selling? What is it that you can offer that no one else is currently offering? If we can't find adequate answers to those questions then we need to reassess your business.

It's imperative to work out if there is a difference between what you are selling and what you should be selling. If you haven't chosen the right product or service to sell in the first place, then no amount of digital marketing will help you. Before you go on to apply the advice in the rest of this book, about building an online following and using all the Internet tools available to you, make sure you are selling the best possible product or service.

I meet so many people who pick a product or service to sell simply because they love it. If you've picked your product or service because you like it or need it, this doesn't necessarily guarantee you will be able to sell it. You must ensure that there is a demand for it or you could end up with a lot of unsold inventory sitting around. I've seen this happen. I've also seen people waste a lot of time creating services that no one wants. Yes, you must have passion for a product or service that you want to sell, it has to be something you are able to offer, and preferably something that you would want yourself, but it must be something others want and need, too. Always test your market before you invest too much time and money investing in what you want to sell; as much as you love it, it might not be something people actually need. In which case, there is no point in producing and marketing it. You will only be wasting your money.

I can't tell you how often I make the above (obvious when you read it) point to people and they completely ignore it. Sometimes I think people just get so attached to their ideas that their ego won't let them let go! It makes me so sad to watch people lose money because they can't lose their egos and let go of their passion project once they've discovered there is no market for it. They think they can just create a market. You can't sell people what they don't w...