Response to Your Input4 min read
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Last week, I asked for your input. I wanted to know what your issues were when it came to attracting new clients to your business.
I got a ton of responses and my head is still swimming with everything you told me or asked me. Obviously I can’t respond to every one with an answer.
But let me share two responses that were typical of the polar opposites of understanding what it means to attract great clients to your business.
First, this one:
“I’d like to know more about getting customers on social media with zero following and, attracting and converting leads.”
And then, this one:
“I reasoned, I don’t need a lot of biz (I’m 72). So I re-identified my strengths – one-on-one marketing. When I meet with the biz owner I get a job/project sometime later.
“So I used my old tactics to secure appts and it has been working well for the past 30 days. I have three potentials on second base.”
The first kind of responses were all about how to get more traction on social media, content marketing, website visits, etc.
And the second kind of responses were all about how to build business relationships.
The social media pitfall
Look, I won’t go so far to say that social media is a colossal waste of time, but for the most part, it sucks your energy and time and gives you very little in return.
And the same goes for other passive marketing activities such as posting articles online, SEO, etc. Yes, these can work with an intensive campaign but most of us don’t have the time and resources to succeed with this type of marketing.
Do relationship-building instead
As has been said a million times, people do business with those they know, like, and trust.
And you get to that place by being in front of people and providing them value. Relationship marketing activities have a much higher response and don’t require hype.
Here’s what I believe most self-employed professionals should be doing right now:
Start an email newsletter
I don’t care if it’s to 10 people to start. Don’t use it mainly to promote your services, use it to share real value with your subscribers. Then every once in awhile you can reach out when you have a service or program to offer.
Do webinars and podcasts
You can start by being interviewed by others who put on webinars and podcasts. This way you tap into the audience that someone else has already built a relationship with. But why not also conduct a small webinar via Zoom with existing clients? You don’t even need to put tougher a presentation. You can talk about their concerns and aspirations during these challenging times. They’ll appreciate it.
Create networking communities
I’m in the process of doing this with the top clients I’ve worked with over the past 30+ years. When you connect people, stuff happens! Everyone in such a group is looking at how they can help other group members. And you can do this on Zoom these days very easily.
Reach out personally and discover needs
I’m like a broken record on this one because it’s so important. Reach out to people and have conversations with them. Don’t focus on selling them; explore how you can help them. Remember, if you’re not connecting with them, they’re not thinking how you can help them.
Introduce yourself to new prospective clients
This works especially well on LinkedIn because you can closely target your ideal clients. Connect with them and introduce yourself. Share some ideas with them. Forward some of your content. Don’t sell, but get to know each other. After a while, move the conversation offline.
Yes, we’d all love to post wonderful content on social media and get a flood of responses. We’d like to tune up our SEO and get thousands of people to our websites.
But I don’t really know many people that’s worked for.
On the other hand, I’ve seen many, many people really succeed when they focus on building relationships, staying in front of them with relevant information, and reaching out to have conversations.
This is something you can do!
So, right now, I’m working on a few programs that will help you do these things successfully. Stay tuned!
Cheers, Robert
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