Maurice Cherry is the founder and creative principal at 3eighteen media, a design and consulting studio in Atlanta, GA that helps creative brands craft messages and tell stories for their targeted audiences, including fostering relationships with underrepresented communities. Past clients and collaborators include Site5, The City of Atlanta, NIKE, Mediabistro, and SitePoint.

He is a pioneering digital creator who is most well-known for the Black Weblog Awards (the Web’s longest running event celebrating Black bloggers, video bloggers, and podcasters) Other projects of Maurice’s include Revision Path, 28 Days of the Web, and The Year of Tea. His projects and overall design work and advocacy have been recognized by NPR, News One, CNN, AIGA, Creative Bloq, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, and The Los Angeles Times.

Maurice is also an educator, and has built curriculum and taught courses on web design, web development, email marketing, WordPress, and podcasting for hundreds of students over the past ten years.

Maurice was named one of Atlanta’s Power 30 under 30 in the field of Science and Technology by the Apex Society, one of HPs 50 Tech Tastemakers in conjunction with Black Web 2.0, and was selected by Atlanta Tribune as one of 2014’s Young Professionals.

He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Morehouse College and a Master’s degree in telecommunications management from Keller Graduate School of Management.

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5 Solid Tips For Finding Your Niche

1. Social Media Ubiquity – Get an active social media presence. It is a technique that you can’t afford to ignore. Despite the fact that you might feel like there is so much noise on Social Media and that you may not be reaching out or hitting the right audience, you still need a social media presence.  Even a small one.
2. Target Advertising – Reach out to your TARGETED audience and followers. Most small business owners are consumed by the number of people on their list. That is “okay” but the REAL question is: How many people on your list are targeted?  You can even use Targeted Advertising.  You can also target your audience by messaging.  In it’s simplest form, messaging can just be having a conversation and telling your story. By doing this, you’ll see people start gravitating towards you.  When this happens, you’ll know that that your message is starting to radiate out and picking up traction.
3. Direct mail – Hands down – even still, it’s the best offline target marketing available.

Yes, with the advent of online marketing, we naturally want to use that, but You can’t just ignore the proven, tested, old school methods of sending direct mail.  Called “zip code targeting”, you can produce a targeted list of prospects and customers.  Done right, it will also bridge the gap between the digital and analogue target marketing.

4. Email Marketing – Many experts will tell you about the importance of building your list…and not just any list – one that is targeted and segmented. Marketing through email is still a powerful marketing technique. With Email Marketing, you can stay connected with your current clients and reach out to new clients.
5. Immerse Yourself – Immersion is a great self-marketing tactic. Take a great example and piece of advice from Maurice: He is a graphics designer and he understands that exposure is very important. His way of self-immersion is by volunteering to nonprofit businesses. They may not have tons of money but, if you bring your “A” game and really provide value through your work, you might just be surprised at how enthusiastic they will be in helping YOU.  Maurice has noticed, they often happily provide testimonials, new client recommendations and overall, just want to stay in touch, giving him even more work.

It’s really a win-win situation.

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Take advantage of the one thing most entrepreneurs and business owners ignore…

While trying to figure out where an how to find their target audience, most business owners completely ignore using social media, forums and message boards to offer value and create connections with their audience.  In most niches, core audiences participate on these platforms just waiting for some one to come along and offer them value.  Most people will really appreciate it and some will even join your list.

“Go out there, volunteer and provide value through your work” – Maurice Cherry

“If there’s something that you really want, something that you want to attain. You can’t just sit back, relax and wait for it to come. You have to be bold and go after it. If the opportunity does not exist, create the opportunity and forge the way where you want to go”

How To Forge Relationships With Your Target Audience

The first thing you should realize, is how important it is to forge relationships, whether it is with an individual while networking, inviting someone out for a cup of tea or coffee, cold calls and emails.

Forging relationships should be the core of your business and is a great way of letting a prospect or company know that you’re offering value.  In return, they get to know who you are, what you offer and what you’re looking for.

Really exert effort to get familiar with and understand your audience on a more personal level. Establishing familiarity will help you leverage relationships for your business success.

Expert advice from Nile Nickel, host of The Social Media Business Hour:

“As a networker you don’t want to be a card gatherer, you don’t want to always be asking. You want to give, you want to provide value.  When you do that, it becomes easy to ask for a favor or ask for an introduction or whatever it may be.  I think most people today still undervalue the power of that kind of networking…and face to face is certainly the best form of networking. Virtual is second best. Due to geographic boundaries, in some cases virtual (or online) networking is the only thing that you may have available. You can still see incredible results by using online networking as well”

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How To Get Personal With Your Audience – One Terrific Example

True to his advice about getting personal with your audience, Maurice shared with us a little something about himself.  If you like tea, then you’ll be interested in this…

Maurice is quite a tea connoisseur. His expertise is obvious just from a quick conversation. To date, he has sampled over 300 types of teas.  He loves it all: Bottled teas, loose leaf, bagged, powdered and fermented teas. You name it and Maurice knows his cup of tea. In fact, he continues to sample a new tea almost every day and then reviews it online afterward. Reviewing teas and offering his recommendations is what he calls his “Passion Project”.

If you happen to be a Tea Lover, then check out some of his expert recommendations…

• Morning Tea Recommendations: If you want a good boost in the morning, Maurice recommends a nice roasted matte tea or a classic Earl Gray tea. You might even try a regular green grebe matte.
• After Lunch Tea Recommendations: Go for a tea with a little bit lighter body. Try a tea like oolong which can aid digestion.
• After Dinner Tea Recommendations: Go for an herbal variety type of tea. Look for a good robust tea maybe with chocolate and banana. Herbal teas are good because they don’t have caffeine it which promotes calming and soothes you.
• Summer Time Tea Recommendations: Try unsweetened Ice (which is more refreshing than water) found you can find these in health food stores or Japanese markets.

5 Proven Lessons For Running A Profitable Business

• Mindset: If you are a business owner or entrepreneur, you have to come to the realization that you CAN’T help everyone.
• Sometimes you have to turn people away. If it isn’t worth your time or if it’s not cost effective (for either you or the client) then it’s the right thing to do. However, when you turn people away, help them by guiding them to their next step and even give them recommendations.
• Not everyone that walks through your door is necessarily a customer. Not everyone that contacts or calls you is your “next” client.
• Work with clients that know the meaning of the word “togetherness”. There’s no place in your business for them to treat you like just another set of hands.
• Your business needs to have a filtering system or strategic plan for leads to be converted into customers and clients.

Terrific Advice From A Successful Entreprenuer

• “Fortune favors the bold”
• “Go out there, volunteer and provide value through your work”
• “If there’s something that you really want, something that you want to attain… You can’t just sit back and wait for it to come. You have to be bold and go after it. If an opportunity does not exist, create that opportunity to get you where you want to go”
• “Done is better than perfect”

 

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