We're still processing through the 5 stages of marketing and optimizing our funnel. We've been working backwards so we're in the last stage which is actually the first.
Stage 1 is attraction. It's how they first discover you exist. I'm sure you've already put a lot of thought into how you're going to get yourself out there. Let's focus on it some more.
Some ideas:
- Public speaking
- Writing
- Getting referrals
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- Advertising
- Networking
- Joint Ventures
- Fairs, markets, shows
- TV, radio, podcast interviews
- Social media
- Other established platforms such as Etsy, Elance, Odesk, Ebay, Amazon
- Public speaking
- Facebook Live, Youtube
- Webinars and teleconferences
Writing
This can be your blog on your site, guest blogging on other people's sites who have a similar niche audience, writing articles for different publications, or writing a book and marketing it on Amazon with a strong incentive and instructions for taking the next step with you. Posting on relevant forums and social media in a way to establish credibility counts as writing too.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
If you don't rank strong with Google, people will rarely find you from a search. Google is free traffic from people who are looking for what you offer and therefore not to be ignored. SEO is a complex thing beyond the scope of this lesson, but the biggest thing you can do is write amazing lengthy content. Not long ago, all the SEO freaks were realizing that what Google wanted was fresh stuff daily. They churned out a bunch of swill, with the right keywords of course, and ranked.
Now you can beat them with really great in-depth articles that answer customer questions or solve problems. Google's job is not to get you indexed. Google is all about creating the best search experience for the customer and bring up the best results for what they searched for. They will only get better at this in the future, so to ride all these changes every time they introduce something new, just make sure everything you do is for the customer.
Advertising
I have heard this is not the best thing for a service based business, word of mouth being key with that. However, if you need to get a lot of attention fast, I personally love pay-per-click ads and do ok with them.
Here is a quiz you can use to determine where your particular business can be successful advertising.
Networking
I can see this being beneficial if your customers are businesses or business people. Otherwise, I'm skeptical but it is at least relational and can lead to joint ventures.
Joint Ventures
JV's are two or more companies who have similar audiences and come up with some plan to work together to benefit each other's businesses. I'm already sorry for what I just said, but I don't want to be too specific and put limits in your head about how it's done. Odds are, you have seen this in action and not realized it. This class for example is a hybrid of my original Dream Ventures class and several of Alice's.
Another example is a JV I did with Del of Healing Frequencies Music and owner of this site. I launched a new product specific to her audience's needs, she sold it on her site. I will promote the new product to my list (she didn't have a list yet, needed mine) and I talked about her classes and forum. She gets short term but larger exposure, I get lessor, but longer term exposure on her site. It just takes some creative thinking.
What I'm seeing a rash of, (which means it's working) are the business professionals who send out emails something like this: "Hi Seneca, my friend so and so is having this free training on how to blah blah. He's a really great expert in this area and I know you'll get a lot out of it. Here's my affiliate link, because even though it's free, there's gonna be an upsell later and I'll make lots of money if you buy."
Just an idea for those of you who thought the free introductory session or setting up an event of some kind to establish "know, like and trust" was a good idea last week. What better way than to have someone they already trust vouch for you?
Another thing I've been seeing, is the "bonus" stuff. Let's say I relaunch this class and am hustling to get people enrolled and you have a freebie that relates to my audience. I can pitch my class, do a "But wait! There's more!" and add two or three bonuses that will be fulfilled by you and others. Your free intro session, workshop, ebook, or other thing that my people will love and get excited about, and hopefully sign up with you as well as me.
I used to have some little brightly colored envelops that were full of business cards with coupons on them to go in with every order. I had one for Healing Frequencies Music that has a code to get a free song, and one from Leah with her free inner healing class, $25 off a session with Alice, along with instructions for how to get 15% off their next Freedom Flowers order.
Basically, JV's get you some exposure to the right people that you would have a hard time reaching otherwise.
Fairs, markets and shows
Again, consider your niche. Our wellness center guy decided once, and only once, to have a health fair during Kooskia Days because "lots of people are in town". Yes, they are in town because they wanna eat Lions club burgers, drink their weight in Keystone light and vomit in the grocery store parking lot. They don't want to attend health lectures and spend money on overpriced exotic fruit juice! It was a flop, but I made booth fee, won a book I'd wanted and built relationships.
If you can pull together a great looking display, stay active all day rather than sitting, especially if you can create product or perform your service so people see you doing it, great! Have your newsletter sign up stuff, a card reader (payments, not tarot, you have to specify that in places I go) and some good free info that they actually will want. Bonus if it's something they will keep and refer back to. The key here is not being forgotten as soon as they leave. Don't plan for just one sale, set up for the long term.
Other channels
Such as Ebay, Etsy, Odesk, Elance, Udemy, Amazon etc. The reason to do this is to go where the buyers already are. The problem is, you have to deal with their terms and conditions. A cycle I have noticed, is that all these kinds of platforms start out being a great thing for sellers, and then the policies shift to become less and less favorable. Never ever base your entire business on one of these. Do not put all your eggs in somebody else's basket. Some of them? Definitely!
Many times, it pays to be an early adopter. Watch these platforms as they get started. Not all make it, but if you can get a good foothold early on, you can go to the top with them. The best time to start with Etsy was several years ago. Ebay, at least 15 years ago. I'm not saying that your time with any of it has come and gone, but it's more difficult than it used to be. I'm even seeing it with Amazons Kindle publishing.
Anywhere there's money being made hand over fist, you can liken it to the gold rush. There will be crowds, exploitation, gaming the system, bad motives and ultimately the crackdown. You want to be there before all that hits, and be well established in a position where nothing can touch you. To do that, you need to be in the right place at the right time, and it will probably mean taking a risk on a new up and coming platform.
More and more, we seem to be moving toward a system where the good guys win. Social media used to be the thing. Back in the day, your Facebook page could spam your fans newsfeeds with your promotional junk all day long. Now if you want Facebook to show it, you have to put out stuff that people actually want to see. There are lots of marketer tantrums being thrown right now over these kinds of changes, within Google search and Facebook especially. It's frustrating, when you've learned how to work the system and then they change the rules. However, this is hopefully a change in the right direction for marketing as a whole. It demands you treat people right and holds you to a higher standard. If you insist on being a jackass, they insist on limiting your exposure. Doesn't that make you happy as a consumer?
Getting referrals
Don't leave this one up to the whim of the customer. Ask for them. And don't just ask your current clients, but past, as well as people who know you and know your character and strengths. To generate lots of referrals, provide an exceptional customer experience of course, and when asking for referrals, be clear on the kind of people you want referred. Tell them who your niche is by saying "These are the kinds of people I feel I can help the most. Can you think of a few people and tell them about me?"
Make the referral process a system, where you check off your list when working with each client, that you did ask for a referral. Come up with a reward system. Free session, coupons, thank you cards or something else that would make them feel appreciated if they get you a new customer or client. Have this stuff ready to go so that it's easy for you. You might want to have a gift certificate or coupon that you give every client so that they can pass it along. Ideally you would have both a printed version and an emailable version. This should be for a complimentary consultation, or product or service that they will get a lot out of, yet leave them wanting more. This makes it easy for the person to give, because it's actually a favor to their friends. If you can't do free, make it a nice discount.
If you do the gift certificate referral system, I think it's best to be upfront about what it is you're doing. If they appreciate you, they'll be happy to try to link you with friends that are good prospects. Here's some sample text for businessintercessor.com.
"Merry Christmas (first name)!
I wanted to thank you for being a great client and I hope you're happy with all your "cessions." It's a great honor to be interceding for your business, and it's my greatest hope that I'm making a difference for you.
I'm hoping that you can refer me to some friends that you think would appreciate what I do, and to make that easy, I have a gift certificate for a free cession you can pass along.
You can either email it, or print and stick it in a Christmas card. Hopefully that helps you spread a little Christmas cheer and I get some exposure for my business. Either way, we're helping Kingdom-minded entrepreneurs take dominion! Feel free to send as many emails, or make as many copies as you need."
For a client that's willing to email their contacts with your coupon, ask them to send a personalized email to each rather than a mass mailing. Provide them with some text they can copy and paste to make it easy for them and ensure that your proposal is communicated well. They can tweak it to fit their personality if they want.
Put an expiration date on the coupon. Maybe a month out, so that people can't put it off indefinitely. Tammy also gave a different "gift code" for the redeemers that corresponds with each referer. This was purely for tracking purposes.
You'll notice that Tammy essentially just got rid of some Christmas shopping for them. Who wouldn't want to give something like that? And once somebody tries her service, they recognize the value of it. This is much different than trying to recruit somebody to be your sales rep. Note: Tammy no longer needs to do this because she has plenty of business.
Essential Homework:
Create a good plan for attracting new prospects. Do the mind map or whatever works for you. Ask Papa/God for some good ideas for your business. Evaluate what you're currently doing as to how well it's working. What is effective? What is a waste of time?
Choose 1 of the 5 stages of marketing that needs the most work rightnow in your business. That will be your focus for the next 30 days. Set a reminder on your calendar in 30 days to switch to another stage after you've optimized the stage for this coming month. Post below and let us know your goals for improving.
Optional Homework:
Get a referral system in place, and start asking for them.
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