Cliques in Your Market
Did you just hop on Instagram only to see a really cool opportunity that you missed out on because you just aren’t in that creative clique that some people are in? I’m going to share with you our ways of breaking through that creative clique to really grow in your market.
Invite them for Coffee
Our first tip is really simple. Go ahead and invite somebody in that creative clique out to coffee. Individually though and not all at once. Take the time to get to know them. The reason that clique is there is because they have built a relationship with other vendors. It didn’t just happen overnight. It took time.
Keep in ming that this coffee chat is a time for you to get to know the other person. It is not about pitching what you do, selling what you do, or getting on their preferred vendor list. It is literally just time to get to know them because so few people in our industry actually do that and take the time to meet face to face.
Serve Others
Our second tip is to look for needs in your industry and serve those needs well. Simply looking around at fellow business owners in your market that maybe you haven’t worked with before and see what you can do to help them out.
Take the time to actually ask them how you can help them, what they need. It sounds crazy, but it can be just as simple as, “I need help organizing my space.” Or maybe you’re a photographer and they say, “I need help getting new head shots done.” That’s something that you may be uniquely qualified to do. In that way, you’re helping and able to build a relationship, to serve your community well, and to be somebody that’s reliable that can help them when a new need arises.
Keep in mind that this attitude of service can be incredibly helpful to your business when it is done correctly. Done incorrectly, it can lead to burn out and people walking all over you. Ultimately, make sure you are being wise about when and how you serve.
Find your own Tribe
Our third tip is to find your own tribe. When you create your own tribe, you get to know people on a personal level, you’re actually going to build your own tribe around you. These people not only love you, know you, and trust you, but can also support you back. Building a tribe around you is a cornerstone for building a strong business because we cannot do this alone.
The Big IDEA
So, what do these three tips have in common? That they’re not about you. Breaking through a clique in a workplace is really, honestly, about you serving other people, getting to know other people, and not making the situation all about yourself.
What if it Won’t Budge?
What do you do when that clique just cannot be broken through? What if not matter what you do, they have no interest in meeting you, getting to know you or working with you? Sometimes these groups exist and they are like a brick wall. So what do you do? You move on, and you don’t worry about it because there are other people out there that will value you and the unique thing that you do.
There are situations where that’s happened before for us in different markets, but ultimately, move on, let it go.
If you are looking for a tribe that will be that group for you, I want you to head to the link below, and I want you to click on our link for our private Facebook group, where we have monthly hot seats and Facebook Lives every single week where you can get additional content just like this.
If you resonated with this blog post, leave a comment below and let us know what you thought or head to the video below and watch our videos all about breaking through cliques in the market place.
