These days, it feels as if every minute of the day some form of advertising or marketing is battling for our attention. Television, radio, mobile, print and online advertising has reached such a level that it can be difficult to focus on any one product, service or company that can offer us real value.

As consumers, the white noise of modern life can make it difficult to focus but as small business owners we need to be able to cut through all of the distraction and make our voices heard by the people that could most benefit from speaking to us. Trying to compete with everyone else is extremely difficult. By targeting our messages more precisely, we can avoid a lot of the competition and speak directly to the most relevant customers and prospects.

Differentiation, savvy marketing and offering added value can make a whole world of difference. Learning more about your clients and the challenges that they face can also be greatly beneficial as you can be more prepared to meet their needs as they arise.

Take the example of a small accountancy firm. If the firm sets out to work with whichever clients it can get, it will be going up against many others firms offering the same services. It will be difficult for any of them to stand out. If the firm were to narrow down their niche, they could be more targeted. So, if they promote themselves as accountants in the I.T. industry, they will have less competition and more focus. This could be narrowed down further to hosting providers, let’s say. The more targeted they become, the less competition they have to face and the more they can learn about their clients.

In this episode of your favourite small business podcast, we’re speaking to PR guru Tim Prizeman. Tim has extensive experience of making small businesses stand out. With the attention of our clients at a premium, his insights can help our businesses achieve more.

Issue Challenged in this Small Business Podcast

How can we cut through the noise attract the right attention to our businesses?

About Tim

Tim Prizeman has over 20 years’ experience as a PR consultant working on behalf of clients in the I.T., financial services and professional sectors both at home and internationally. He is also the author of The Thought Leadership Manual – How to grab your clients’ attention with powerful ideas as well as being a renowned public speaker.

Tim is an expert in making businesses stand out from their competitors and helping them grab the attention of potential clients. With the distracting noise of modern life, it’s never been a more difficult time to grab your potential clients’ attention, so Tim’s going to share his expertise to help us do just that.

Actionable Tips

* Understand the challenges of your clients. If you understand these problems, you can more easily provide solutions and relevant benefits.

* Set aside time for brainstorming. Get together with your staff or colleagues and listen to each other’s ideas and challenges. Exchange thoughts and help each other see issues from a range of different perspectives.

* Have a repeatable or routine feature. It could be a client dinner that you hold on a regular basis. It could be an initiative or campaign that you can repeat to keep its momentum going. Consistency is so important.

Top Quotes

* “Thought leadership means that you have ideas worth following and ideas worth paying attention to.”

* “We do live in a noisy world and you do have to cut through it. Part of the solution is identifying who is it you want to speak to and part of the problem is that the definition of who you want to speak to is too broad.”

* “If you are in a niche market, you aren’t competing against everybody and you can have a targeted message that’s memorable and relevant.”