I hope you find my writing and business tips and observations useful. My business and blog are dedicated to helping businesses communicate clearly and reach their potential.
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Developing interest is a marketing baby
We had a baby in the house last night, and it was lovely. Lovely to have a baby to hold but also to see how it brought our family together to watch and care for baby Sam.
Sam even came to a school event with us.
We got some interesting looks at the school, too. My daughter even got comments about being a teen Mum as she did most of the carrying at school*.
Some people smiled instinctively when they saw a baby or the baby carrier, others smiled in a bemused way when they realised Sam wasn’t a real baby. Many people were obviously curious and a number actually asked us about Sam.
Why a baby?
Obviously not a real baby, but a close resemblance in many ways
Sam was with us as part of my daughter’s school work – individual students are given 24 hours to care for the baby simulator which cries randomly and needs comforting or feeding.
In this case, it was part of learning about human development although some places run this same program as an anti-teen-pregnancy concept.
The fake baby is about the same size as a newborn, although it felt heavier and bulkier to me – probably because of the electronics in the middle and a lighter head than in a real baby.
Sparks of interest
We walked around a course/career expo and got a lot of interest – a lot more smiles than you would normally expect and exhibitors had a different reason to speak to us.
Goes to show what an ice-breaker a baby can be – it is pretty much the ultimate way to spark interest! Even (or perhaps more so!) a fake baby.
It got me thinking though – what could a SMB person do to spark a similar level of interest at an expo or other business event?
If you have a baby (or a pregnant belly) of your own, the answer is easy!
Carrying a baby simulator to gain attention is a bit weird – actually it would be a lot weird – so I wouldn’t recommend that. I wouldn’t think you’d get one cheaply, either.
So what can you do to generate sparks of interest before you open your mouth and give an elevator speech or mention your USP?
* The school event last night was aimed at younger students and my daughter had Sam because of an accelerated subject, thus it wasn’t common knowledge or a common sight and therefore generated comments and wonder.
Hear what I said about Problogger event…
You may have already read some of my impressions and lessons from the problogger event in Melbourne earlier this month.
And I intend writing more about various aspects of the weekend and things I learned and am implementing.
Now, thanks to John of the Young Digital Group, you can even hear what I thought of the event, and a little background of my writing services, too.
John has set himself the challenge of interviewing 30 bloggers who have been influenced by the event. He was a pleasure to talk to and the process was simple (although I apologise for sitting in front of a window and thus having my face shadowed a bit too much).
I have to admit to being nervous about watching and listening to myself on a video – but I pushed myself to talk to people at PBEvent and now I have raised the bar higher for myself.
Side notes: John is interviewing both attendees and virtual attendees to the event so let him know if you want to share your experiences, too. If you haven’t yet grabbed one, you can still get a virtual ticket, listen to some sessions and then talk to John!
Goals from problogger event
One question I knew John would ask was ‘what key goals have you set as a result of attending problogger?’ so I spent some time that morning thinking about specific goals – and goals that were big picture enough to be interesting and challenging.
The answer I gave John is nothing like what I had thought of saying!
One goal I do have is to find ‘sparks of energy’ as Darren called them.
He was referring to the things that I enjoy posting about and am energised by plus the things that my readers are energised and interested by.
So my goal is to sit and reflect on what topics and posts I find the most interesting to work on so I can keep my momentum going and not burn out.
The other side of my goal is to also determine which posts and topics give the most value to my readers (that is, you!) so I can help you as much as possible with your communications and writing projects.
So what does energise and interest you? Are you more interested in reading about blogging or how to manage communications projects? On learning little grammar details or how to develop consistency?
What topics do you want me to write about that will spark ideas and better communications for your business?
Hearing about energy sparks
I started this post to share John’s video.
I ended it asking about your preferences. That wasn’t planned!
Yet announcing that goal is important so I’m glad I did John’s interview to concrete that idea for myself.
You’ll have to watch the video to hear another goal of mine 🙂 And that will force me to get moving on it, too.
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