How to provide value like a motherf*cker 🤙

It’s time to take the training wheels off.

Half the reason people can't get their startup off the ground is because they’re too focused on one thing;

money

They’re so tunnel-focused on making money that they skip important steps.

Obviously, every founder should be working towards their first sale, but there are right and wrong ways to do it…

A wrong way would be to send out spammy emails to a huge list of contacts and hope to God you get a response. You might get a sale or two but that’s a pretty sh*tty strategy if that’s the only thing you’re doing.

A right way would be the following 3-Step method:

1. Provide upfront value to a small audience for free
2. Grow that audience by continuing to provide value and engaging
3. Sell a product that provides incredible value for the cost

As long as your product isn’t complete garbage you’ll get sales because you’ve already proven yourself by providing upfront value. Plus, you’ll have a loyal audience that will be your very own printing press if you don’t f*ck up.

So how do you provide real value?

Whether you have 10 followers or 10,000 followers you can start providing value today if you know the different kinds of value.

Here’s a list:

1. Opinion: Share an opinion on a topic related to the industry your startup is in. This might not seem like “value” but it provides a different perspective on something your target audience is probably interested in.

2. Lessons Learned: At some point, you probably sht the bed while building your startup. If you’re new to the scene, you can share a time you sht the bed in your professional career and how it helped you start your business. Explain what went wrong and what you learned from it.

3. Curate a list: If you know how to read, you can share a list of books that you found helpful during your startup journey. Otherwise, compile a list of tips from successful entrepreneurs and share them while giving credit. Seriously, tag who you’re taking from. Don’t be an a**hole.

4. Share your industry knowledge: Chances are, if you’re launching a business in a certain industry, you’re somewhat knowledgeable in the space. Ask yourself, what would you want to know if you were a total n00b in the industry?

5. Be a connector: Do you know some solid social media accounts you know that provide value? Share them and describe how you’ve found their posts helpful. This is a no-brainer that anyone can do.

Keep in mind, the platform you’re on will determine how long your content should be.

Medium, Facebook, and LinkedIn can be long-form.

Short-form content should stay on Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram.

People have sh*t to do. If you start posting 3-page long content on Twitter you’re going to look inept. Read the room.

Schedule for Success

Alright you know what kinds of value you can create.

Now what?

Create a schedule that includes posts from each value type.

An example schedule might look like this:

Monday: 1 Opinion Post & 1 Lesson Learned

Tuesday: 1 Industry Knowledge Post & 1 Curated List

Wednesday: 1 Connector & 1 Opinion Post

Thursday: 1 Curated List & 1 Lesson Learned

Friday: 1 Opinion Post & 1 Industry Knowledge Post

Post once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

Get Eyes On It

Let’s be honest, you’re probably not dripping with followers. If you are, good for you.

Something I recently learned is that value is only as good as the number of people who see it.

To get eyes on your content, you need profile visits.

To get profile visits, you need people to see your account.

To get people to see your account, you need to engage.

Provide some quick value to people’s posts who have an audience already. It’s free publicity and as long as you’re not spamming links to your landing page, you’ll get some attention.

Keep in mind, the beginning is rough, but everything will start to compound and you’ll be glad you made it through the trenches.

Hope you enjoyed this.

If you like content like this, feel free to subscribe to my newsletter at https://founderschoice.co and follow me on Twitter @KozaDerek