"If you are serving everybody, you are serving nobody"| The Ask Avi Arya Show

You want to pick a target that you can actually hit. So that's why drilling down into a micro niche is so incredibly important. I think that people get rich in the niches. So I 100% agree with that advice. And I think if everybody can use your product or service, basically no one will. People are trying to do Instagram, they trying to do TikTok, they trying to do Twitter, they trying to do Facebook, they try, look, pick one, maybe two things.

You know, I always tell people the shortest distance between two human hearts is a story. You tell a perfect stranger a good story about who you are, and you win hearts for life. I'm going to give you my hero introduction and then I'm going to ask you to give us yours. Is that okay?

Sure.

Alrighty. Let's go for it. So, Melinda, my name is Avi Arya. Father of two girls, six dogs, husband to a superwoman, a streetcar racer turned hotelier, now social media marketer and founder of Internet moguls. Over to you.

All right, so I am Melinda Emerson. My nickname is small business Lady. I'm regarded as America's number one small business expert. I am the mom to a wonderful 15 year old boy and I have a super sweet boyfriend. And you know, my mission is in small business failure. And I am most proud of the fact that I've been in business for 22 years.

Nice. I love that. I love the mission is to end small business failure. It's just so, so crisp. Melinda, one of the things that I talk about to my community over here is the power of having drilling down your micro niche, saying, you know, I'm not serving everyone, I'm serving a subsection of people and I'm serving them with something special that they may not have anywhere else. What is your take on a micro niche?

I think that people get rich in the niches. So I 100% agree with that advice. And I think if everybody can use your product or service, basically no one will. So it's really important for us to get real specific about who we're serving. And the reason why is because every small business has the same two problems. Limited time and limited resources. Right. So you want to pick a target that you can actually hit. So that's why drilling down into a micro niche is so incredibly important.

Lovely. The riches are in the niches. And if you're serving everybody, you're serving nobody. Awesome. How, Melinda, like you're. You're America's number one expert in small businesses. And all our people here, 75 small business owners, are over here. So when a small business owner decides on working with a specific subsection of the audience, they feel scared, anxious. Oh my God, is it too narrow? I mean, will I find. What would you say to that?

Don't be afraid. You want to be known for something. Because sometimes what you could be known for is the work you turn away. Like, do you have the credibility and do you have the integrity to turn away work that isn't your core expertise? Or are you always is just chasing anybody that you think has money? You know, you want to get real specific about? Like, for me, I specialize in B to SMB marketing. If you want to market to small business owners in America, you got to come see the small business lady. Because that's what I do. That's all I do. I don't do B2C. I don't do B2B. I do B2SMB marketing. And that is all I do. And I built an entire business and a brand for myself around being that lady. And it works pretty well for me. So I think that it is scary at first when you're still trying to figure out who is going to pay you. But once you get clear, the more clear you are, the more clear they can be. And the more clear people who know you can refer you to people. Once you get clear, people are like, oh, you know, who said they needed that? So and so and so and so and so. You can really turn your friends and family into an incredible referral network once you get super clear. And what I mean by that is, do you want to say, okay, I do graphic design or do you say I do graphic design for educational institutions? Because that graphic design company can get work all day long because there's universities and schools all around everywhere. So that's what I mean by getting more specific about who you serve. And then obviously when you get to the point where you have some results, you want to throw your results on the table too. Like, for example, I am American, America's number one small business expert. And my brand reaches 3 million entrepreneurs each week online. 3 million. So when you start throwing out when you can, when you can throw out stuff that's verifiable, then. Then you really create a space for yourself, you know? But I tell people all the time, I worked like an animal to build that business. Like, if there was a hashtag for it, it would be beast mode. I mean, I. I literally for two years work Twitter like a job. And I wasn't making any money doing it, by the way. Nobody was paying Any attention to small business lady back in the day, at first, back when, you know, Twitter was 1 years old in 2008, 2009, nobody was paying attention to me. Now I have over 300,000 followers and a verified check mark on Twitter and frankly every other platform. But my point is, is that you have to appreciate something small beginnings. And you have to appreciate your first one or two customers. And the reason why is this, your existing customers are 60 to 70% more likely to do business with you. Again, a brand new fresh customer, it's like 5 to 20%. And that's if your marketing message really hits them when they need you. So you really want to pay as much attention, almost more attention to your existing customers than you do chasing new people.

Lovely. I love that. I love what you said. I worked Twitter like a job for two years. Whatever you do, you give it whatever it takes and that's when results start coming in.

That's it. I mean, but you have to really, there's three things you can always control. Your attitude, your behavior and your commitment. And I think the difference between people me and people who want to be me when they grow up is that I am relentlessly consistent. You can set a watch to a new blog post coming out on my blog or new podcast coming out. We don't miss and we also don't ever put crap up on my blog. Like I've never put a bad post on my blog. Never. Like not in 10 years of posting. Because it doesn't serve me to put out crap. Right? It doesn't. It doesn't help me with Google search ranking to put out an article that nobody cares about and no one's reading like that doesn't work. So that's what you got to do.

So guys, so far, whatever you've heard from Melinda over here, what has been your bulb on moment? Let us know in the comments. What, what is trigger of new idea or a new thought or a new new way of doing things. In the comment box please. Belinda, I would love to learn from you what is it that has happened? Because for me it's a couple of great ideas. Working Twitter like a job that for me is the biggest bulbone right now that whatever you're doing, work it like this is all you have and this is going to pay the bills.

But also I would also say too though focus on one thing. I think part of the problem now is people are trying to do Instagram, they trying to do TikTok, they're trying to do Twitter, they're trying to do Facebook, they're look, pick one, maybe two things and do those. And don't stop until you are the czar or the czarina of that. Right. You don't need to do five or six social media platforms unless you sell social media services. Now, if you sell social media services, you probably need to demonstrate your expertise across these different brands. But if you were selling anything else, pick your poison. And really, honestly, it should be the one or two platforms where your best target customers are spending time online. Don't use Facebook because you like Facebook. Use Facebook because that's where your fish are. People buy from you over there. Don't just look at pictures of your friends, kids on the first day of school. No, no, you need to make sure that you are spending your time online wisely because social media is a big time suck, you know, and more addictive. These video platforms are really addictive. The Instagram Reels and TikTok. You, you could lose an hour and a second on those platforms because it's just so people being silly over there. But you want to make sure that you spend your time online. And frankly, anything you share online is strategic. I don't share anything online without a specific purpose for doing so.

With my cat.

No, not unless you sell cat let. Unless you sell cat litter or cat food. No, no picture. I mean, look, I'm not saying that you only ever need to be talking about business. I mean, I do think it's helpful to show people who you are. Like, I post pictures of my son on Instagram and stuff all the time, you know, But I'm saying you need to stay on message. You need to talk to your niche. You don't want to confuse people about what you're selling. You want it to be super clear. I mean, I'm fortunate because I have a nickname, Small Business Lady. So that kind of tells people a little bit about what I sell before I even start talking. But if you don't have a hero moniker like me, then you got to stay on message. You can't, you cannot be off message, you know, every now and again. Yeah. If I don't like, if I didn't like JLo's dress at the Emmys, will I leave a comment? Sure. But. But I'm in general, I'm on message.

Got it. What do you think about JLo's dress at the end?

I think JLo looks better now than she did 20 years ago.

My favorite number one forever, you know.

But I also believe she's had work done. I also believe she's had work done. She's a gym rat. But there's no way the plastic surgeons haven't helped that chick. I don't think. Believe it. Anyway, my personal opinion.

All right, perfect. Okay. So we, we talk here in this community a lot, a lot about understanding your customer avatar. You know, who is this person, how much does he make, what are his pain points, where is he living, and you know, what is it that he needs? A solution. So can you tell us a little bit about how you sort of carve out your customer avatar?

Well, I think you've got to figure out who's listening to you, you know, who is paying attention to you. There is one thing for you to target, a group of people or you target. I'm going after B2B Fortune 100 businesses. But sometimes you need to look at your own data. Who's looking at your stuff, who's reading your stuff, who's coming to your blog once or twice a week. And that will kind of tell you about your avatar and I'll tell you a true story. So for years I thought that My audience was 70% female and 30% male. And it wasn't until I've invested in analytics software that I found out that my audience was actually 52% female and 48% male. Particularly, particularly in social media. But when we drilled down to an avatar, we really said okay. Even though we know that information, there's got to be a specific person that we're talking to. So for me and my business, it is a 30 plus female, professional, educated, married, with children. They're working a mid level career job. They probably are only doing it for the money or the benefits and they are desperately trying to figure out how to get out of corporate America.

Love that. Guys. How many people just absolutely love the crisp crystal clarity with which Belinda told us about her customer of that. That's how well you need to, I always say you need to know your customer of that. Like your best friend, like, hey, he can't do this or she can't do this or she'll definitely do this. He'll buy this product in a heartbeat.

Exactly. And I also think too, you need to write your email like you're writing to a friend. You don't want to send generic email pitches out. You want to talk to people's pain. You want to talk to your solution. You want to tell stories about people you've helped. Like, you want to write your email copy like you're talking to a friend. And if you do that, it's going to convert a lot more.

Lovely. So, Melinda, you know, I know you're very successful. You know, you obviously you're a verified figure on all platforms. A lot of people come to you. Firstly, a thank you so much. My dad always says the most important thing you can ask from people is not their money, but it's their time. You gave us your time. Me and my community here are very, very grateful for every single minute that we are spending with you. And huge respect and regards for all the success that you had, all these people that you. But I want to take you back and, you know, I want you to help our audiences over here because around the world, small businesses have gone through the most trying times. And what happens is. And I've been talking to some members in my community here as well. What happens is that fear, anxiety, lack of confidence, all of those things grip you into holding you to believe it's not going to happen. What's your message to all of us?

You know, this has been a hard time for small businesses worldwide, particularly minority women entrepreneurs. And so, and what's interesting, because it's been unparent, it's amazing that it was global. Like, it wasn't like one country got hurt. All of us got hurt. It was a global pandemic. At the same time, all of us know people who died, you know, and I think that in your country, India had, you know, almost as many people in the US Died, I think it was almost. You guys might have had more, but it was just the most devastating thing you can even imagine. And I think the thing that you have to think about when you think about your business is that if you build a better mousetrap, the world will be the path to your door. No matter where your door is.

Nice.

People don't care where it's being manufactured at. They care how fast can you get it to me and what's the price? And I. And I think that when you think about your business, what I want all of you to think about is strategy. Because what strategy is in a business is creating something about your business that is not easily duplicatable by your competitors.

Nice.

So if you're just buying products and reselling them on Amazon, okay, well, anybody can do that. So you got to figure out. And when you doing that, you're going to get into a race to the bottom, because your only value proposition is going to be price. And that's a dangerous, dangerous race to get into. You want to think about how you can create a customer experience, whether it's their shopping experience, whether it's their unboxing experience when they get your product or service, they're buying. But you got to figure out how to get somebody to look forward to getting that box. And it could be what the box looks like, right? It could be anything. But I think you've got to think about some kind of secret sauce, like some kind of thing that you do that's special, that's uniquely that, you know, and it could be anything. Like, people. A lot of people use the example of Zappos. And so what Zappos did was they. They sell shoes on the Internet. But what they did was they decided to treat every customer like a vip. They overnighted every customer their shoes, and they did it free of charge. Like, they did not charge people to ship them their shoes, and they took free return. So if you didn't like the shoes you wanted to send them back, they would eat the cost of you shipping them back. But think about it. Most people bought three pairs of shoes and kept two, so they knew what they were doing. They didn't mind eating the shipping because they knew you were going to keep two of the pairs of shoes.

Of course.

But my point is, is that let's say you're a funeral home. I had a funeral home client one time, and he wanted to do something special for his customers because obviously he met people at their worst. You know, they just lost someone. And he and I talked about creating a give something that you could mail to the family a week later. So he decided to buy these wooden clocks, and he had it engraved on the back. Always remember the good times.

Wow.

You think that or do you think they would call anybody else the next time they had a need? Of course they wouldn't. Right. It could be. So I don't want you guys to think it's just like E commerce businesses that have to get this. No, it's any business. Whether you're a service business, whether you're an E commerce business, you have to think about how you can love on your customers, how you can make them excited to do business with you, how you can get that repeat sale. Because it's not about the first sale. It's about that repeat sale. It's about turning that customer into an advocate for your brand. It's about keeping a customer. It's not about getting a customer. And that's what I want you guys to really think about and focus on, because that is really what's going to make the difference.

Lovely. Milena. We often talk about this differentiator What I see happening in the market is two very interesting things which have always been around, but social media has amplified it. Story and a community around the story. And there you go, you found a differentiator. Would you like to say a few things on a story or. And community? Because that's, I guess that's one of the things that differentiates a product or a service.

Definitely the story about why you built it in the first place, the story about why you started the business. Business, how your product helps. A story that you got from someone that used your product and how it changed their life. These are the things that will sell. You know, what other people say about you is more valuable than what you say about you. And so that's why you want to make sure that you ask for reviews, that you follow up with people and get video testimonials so that you can use them on your website, use them in your landing pages. Like, this stuff is really, really important because I cannot tell you how many times I've gotten emails from people in different languages. I literally have to hit Google Translate sometimes because my book has been released in so many countries that's not all English speaking. And so sometimes someone will send me a letter from Brazil or whatever and I'm like, okay, let me. You know. But the fact that they took the time to send me a letter about how my book changed their life, I mean, that's amazing because like you said, time is the most valuable thing anyone can give you. So for someone to take the time to do something like that, that, that meant the world to me.

The world.

I mean, so I think that you want to get to the point where your work moves people, your. Your solution moves people. Like, it's not about the solution, it's about the results they get from your solution. And if you can talk about it, if you can build community, if you can invite your customers to give you feedback, do surveys, do live, you know, Facebook lives, and just ask people what they think. I mean, I'm big on that. I have to go do a Facebook Live when we finish here. But my point simply is, is that you want your customers to talk to you and you want to give them opportunities to talk to you. Because at the end of the day, that's what. Sometimes that's what they really want. People just want to talk to me. So I try to make myself available as much as I can, but it's harder.

That's amazing. But that goes back to all the success that you carved for yourself from scratch. Nothing handed to you on the platter. The last question for you is a lot of people are where you were, Melinda, when you were starting off. And, you know, I think the audience would, you know, second me when I say that we love your energy, we love your visa. You know, I can, I. We're talking for the first time, but I can almost, I can almost feel the grit and, you know, whatever it takes in your attitude. But there must be weaker moments when you were starting and doubting yourself. Can you help all of us go through our weaker moments by telling us how you went through yours?

Well, I have to tell you, when I first got started on Twitter, My son was 1 years old. I had had a high risk pregnancy, had been on bed rest for six months. My business was almost destroyed that year that I had my son because I was the number one rainmaker. So when I wasn't there, y' all know what happened? One, no rain wasn't no money coming in, and my whole ex husband worked in my business full time at that time. So our whole family's income was coming out of my business. And it was a mess. And my marriage was also in trouble, too. So on top of the business being a mess, my marriage was crumbling too. And I had a one year old baby.

Oh, my God.

Yeah. Huh. And so I had a Mariah Carey meltdown. I sure did. But you know what? I started praying. It was my faith, actually that got me through. It was praying and asking God for, well, what am I supposed to do now? Because everything is a mess. Everything. And literally, after praying about two and a half, three months, God gave me a vision and a dream three times to become America's number one small business expert. And literally, he moved every mountain out of my way to make that happen. And so I will tell you that a lot of business people don't talk about, don't talk about religion. They don't talk about the role of faith and prayer and meditation. But I will tell you, running a business is a spiritual journey as much as it is anything else.

I love that. I'm getting goosebumps. This is amazing.

Yeah. So I will tell you is that God carried me through, I don't know, in the early days when I was working online for two years making no money, my business was a mess. My husband was yelling at me, why are you on Twitter again? What is that? You know? And I said, I think I have a million dollar idea. And he was just like, yeah, whatever. I mean, literally. And so I had to build my business with all of that at my back. But, you know, mother necessity, you do what you got to do. I used to wake up at 5 o' clock in the morning and from 5 until 7am I would write my book and then my baby would wake up and I start dealing with him and get him to the daycare, whatever. And then I started working in my business and I. And I'd worked like that for years until, you know, this thing really took off for me in 2010. So it was really like from 0809. And that was when the recession before, this past recession, the recession before that was going. When all that was going on. So it was, it was bad. But. But God is so good, he's so faithful. And if you, if you say to him that he can use you as a vessel, he will enlarge your territory so that you can tell more people about him. And so that's. The only I can tell you is that my walk is very unusual. I, I am, I am not this, this, you know, business coach per se. I am an accidental business coach that just figured out that everybody would run their businesses better if they had better advice. So I put myself in charge of giving the advice and that has built me a global brand. And I'm very grateful to have the opportunity to speak to your students and to support you and, you know, would love to come back another time to support you guys.

We would love that. Melinda, this has been fantastic. Thank you so much, guys. All of you people in the Internet moguls community, one word. What did you learn from Melinda today? What did we learn from Melinda today? What was that? Bulb on moment. Awesome. I know you right on the clock. You need to run. Thank you so much, Belinda, for your time. Once the interview goes live, I'll send, I'll send you a link and all of. Where can we, where can we, all of us follow you? Do you have an Instagram handle that we.

Oh, yeah. So I am small biz lady everywhere, but on TikTok, I am the small biz lady and I'm trying to get to a thousand people on TikTok. So if all of you guys would go and follow me on TikTok today, it would really, really help me because I'm really trying to get to a thousand people.

Unfortunate part is TikTok is banned in India. So I'm, I'm in Canada right now. I'm the only one who can follow you right now. Instagram. We're happy to follow you right away.

Yes, please go follow me on Instagram at small biz lady. And check out small businesslady university.com. i've got lots of great courses to help you guys. And a brand new book coming out in two weeks, the third edition of become your own boss in 12 months.

So, yeah, I'm going to get a few copies for all of these people for sure. 100%.

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. All right, you guys.

Well, thank you for your time. Take care of yourselves. Bye for now.

Okay, Bye. Bye. You showed me how to spend my way.