A Framework for Authentic Business
Channel: George Kao
Date: 2018-01-16

An authentic business feels deeply meaningful, and financially supports you.

It’s not just one you’d do for the money. The activity or topic is itself worthwhile to you, even if you had to do it for free.

On the other hand, it’s not just about “doing what you love.” It is an Authentic Business, a true livelihood.

Gratefully, I’ve been able to help people make progress on their own authentic business, and I’ve been running my own for almost a decade.

My specialty is in helping transformational businesses: Coaching, Consulting, Counseling, Mentoring, Healing, and other person-to-person services for personal & professional growth.

Here is my current framework on how to launch an authentic business successfully.

Layer 1: Authentic Content Marketing
The most generous — and authentic to the soul — way of starting or growing a business is through content. This is the first layer, the foundation.

Talk about you passion, something you would love to create a business with. Since it’s your passion, you are naturally energized to talk about it.

Online, that’s called “creating content.” It can be your writing, your videos, your images, your audio, and also, the links and content you curate (gather and share) from other sources.

As you share your passion with others, you’ll find kindred spirits to connect with and talk about your passion. You’ll also be educating the general public so that more people can discover the thing you’re passionate about.

Where to create & share content?
I’d recommend using a larger platform such as Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Reddit, Medium, or Quora.

In the past — when we lived in tiny villages and that was our entire world — we had to try to please everyone, or risk being ostracized.

The beauty of the internet is that it is an almost-unlimited collection of many villages — of every style and belief. You can be truly yourself, and there will be enough people in the world who resonate with your style. Gather your kindred spirits through content sharing, and create your own village.

Start by creating content right there inside the platform (such as this blog post you’re reading) rather than trying to get people to go to your website to read it. Of course you can mention your website, and have a newsletter sign-up there, but build a following by primarily having them consume content directly on the platform first.

Also send out a monthly or weekly email newsletter (mine here) of your best recent content.

When creating content here are the three factors to keep in mind:

Authentic — Be willing to share your real point of view, even if it is controversial. The simplest way to get started is to read articles or watch articles from others in your field, and ask yourself: What do I disagree with? What’s missing from this piece of content? Can I fully support the values here, or what would I say instead? And then say it, write it. To be authentic is to share your honest opinion.
Relevant — Within your area of expertise, focus on answering the questions that your ideal clients/audience have, and talking about the things that energize them. Make list of problems you love to solve. Which ones could you create a quick solution for? Which problems are most popular or do you hear the most? Create or curate content for these.
Consistent — Commit to posting content regularly. No matter what. You might commit to a daily (M-F if you take weekends off) or a weekly rhythm, but keep at it. Follow a schedule (practice creating on demand). Of course having occasional respites of 1–2 weeks, e.g. Christmas break, is acceptable to any audience.
By doing Authentic Content Marketing, you clarify your message, you clarify your offerings, you draw forth an ideal audience to you, and you grow a body of work that sets you apart from everyone else in your industry.

When someone needs your type of service, you could be the first one they think of. When they have someone in their network who needs something you offer, they will share you, because the easiest way to refer you forward is by sharing your free content.

How to measure progress?
Are you getting real engagers? People who post comments saying that your content is helpful and/or uplifting for them.

Are you getting real subscribers? People who are subscribing to your newsletter because they don’t want to miss your content. This is why I don’t recommend opt-in freebies or telesummit list-building. Starting a relationship with subscribers by requiring them to do something before you give them content? It’s not as authentic nor effective as just having an honest sign up form that invites them to get your best content once a month/week.

Are you getting real sharers? People who share your content forward out of genuine delight, not because they want to get a reward or win some contest.

Read the full post here:
https://medium.com/@georgekao/the-4-layers-of-authentic-business-7e40c53ab598