How Do I Pivot From Getting Clients From Referrals To Attracting Clients?
This is a great question, and one that can stump people that feel awkward or uncomfortable when trying to directly contact potential clients. I’m going to break this into two parts, to make it less intimidating.
Marketing Strategy- I know what you’re thinking, “I’m only starting out, how can I have a marketing strategy when I don’t have a marketing team?” The reality is that a marketing strategy is simply a visibility strategy, meaning that you are intentionally making yourself and your business visible to potential clients.
First , I want you to think about the ways you are currently visible. Think about any social media accounts you have and use to show your expertise, blogs, or publications. Next, I want you to devise a strategy to increase your visibility in the next 30 days. Now if you aren’t visible at all, you may want to start with a weekly commitment.
This goal could look like posting at least one social media post a week around your business, or going live and answering questions or just sharing information about your area of expertise. No matter what you choose, you want to think critically about what you can commit to, in terms of increasing your visibility over the next 30 days.
I know it can feel very, very scary to commit to essentially taking up space and allowing yourself to be seen, but you have to remember that people cannot leverage your business if they don't know about your business. And yes, you’ll have to do the mindset work that comes along with being an entrepreneur which includes managing the discomfort that can come from being visible.
Build Trust Through Multiple Touch Points- Only 2% of people buy the first time that they interact with an organization or a business. Only 2%! That means the other 98% of us need multiple interactions with a business or an organization to build enough trust to move to the point where we decide that we want to give our financial resources in exchange for a service.
I want you to be thoughtful of that statistic as you are thinking about your marketing strategy. How are you developing multiple touch points for people to learn about you, to experience you, to know more about who you are? Because, if people don't have those opportunities and multiple touch points, they're just not going to know or build trust in you and your business.
And when you’re thinking about building those multiple touch points, you might decide to start off with social media, a blog or a website. These touch points don’t have to be complicated, elaborate or expensive but they do need to exist.
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