Networking: Your Key to Filling Your Practice With Clients
September 27, 2012
OK – so I’ve been a bit absent from these pages the past few weeks. True.
But…by now…you should know that I have been working on something. Something BIG to share.
Stay tuned here next week: what’s coming will change the way you look at your marketing plan FOREVER. And that is not a tease…it’s a promise.
Have a nice weekend all and dream happy dreams of your fabulous life.
oxo
[New Video] The Key to Saving Money on Marketing (hint: Always Be Ideal-Client Focused)
August 13, 2012
Strategy. It’s kind of a buzzword when we discuss effective marketing. That’s because the only TRUE way to be effective and efficient (i.e. save money) is to be laser-focused on your Ideal Client.
Don’t know who that is? Watch today’s video and think about this checklist:
1. Who needs what you have so much they will pay anything to get it?
2. AND who loves what you do?
3. AND who do you enjoy working with?
If they pass all three tests, you have yourself an IDEAL CLIENT.
It’s not what you have, it’s what you DO with it. ;-)
April 11, 2012
Now, where have I heard THIS before…. “it’s not what you have, it’s what you do with it that counts.” Oh, true…so true.
We’re talking about SOCIAL MEDIA, people. Settle down.
By now, I think most of us understand that just putting up a Facebook page or checking Twitter once in a while is not going to bring your business any benefit. You have to know how to use it – and share with others in the sandbox – to really make social media relevant to your business.
So….how can you do that without eating up tons of time in development and execution? Here’s my top 5 tips….
1. Be relevant. First, you have to know who you want to talk to and WHY. Just knowing you have customers and clients is simply not enough anymore. You have to know something about them and why they would want to seek you out. When you figure this out, it will be a lot easier to address their concerns, offer information and share with them – and that approach will, in turn, grow loyalty and grow referrals.
2. Be consistent. Ya gotta show up. Every week, every day. Pick the days of the week you will blog – and do it the same time, the same day EVERY week. This consistency will also build trust – and people will start realizing your there to help and be a reliable source of information for them. This is very valuable to clients and customers at this stage in our consumer evolution.
3. Be giving. By giving I mean this: give of yourself, your expertise, your knowledge. Sharing some of what you know is not going to keep people from coming to you as paying clients. In fact, the opposite is true. If you give freely, this will only serve to cement you in their pantheon of “go to pros” when they are ready to spend money. Have a little patience – it will pay off big time.
4. Be transparent. Transparency = authenticity. The social media landscape is very solidly customer-driven. Transparency in all things is king. If you can be open handed about how you do business, what you recommend, how you deal with adversity and in general, with clients and colleagues, this will also rank high among those presently kicking your tires.
5. Be helpful. Answer questions. Seek out conversations on all social media outlets that may relate to your business. Don’t worry that the person may be out of your market or out of your league — if you know an answer and can provide information, do it. You never know how it will come back to you – but trust that it will.
Make it EASY for Your Prospects to Work With You
March 8, 2012
I know this sounds like, “duh, MJTVgirl….you into the wine a little early today?” — but, in reality, many of us have this issue. Any of these sound familiar?
- “I don’t want to put prices on my page – each client is sooooo different,”
- “I will put up ALL the things I could ever conceive of doing for a client on the website. They will find what they are looking for,”
- “A website is the place I can showcase everything….that way, everyone will see how incredibly talented I am!”
OK..no. No. And most definitely NO.
Let’s address pricing: do you realize that you are missing a HUGE SEO opportunity if you don’t talk about pricing? What if you wrote an article that addressed “How Much Does it Cost to X” – fill in your specialty or product. Wouldn’t that be an article you think a LOT of your prospective customers would be searching for? Particularly if you are in a business where the pricing is not necessarily so available? If you are clear about your pricing, say it.
In terms of a business that custom-fits the product or service to the client need, that is fine, however, I would recommend you come up with “products”: packages that you know many of your target customers would want. This is a great way to show them the product/service you are offering can be boxed-up in a meaningful way — and they can get their heads around what you do. If you are so vague about how everything will work, they won’t trust you and will go elsewhere.
Next – there is not really such a thing as a competent generalist. Most of us do some sort of specialized work. Whether it is for one or two industries or within one category. For example, both of these could be true: “I build pools” OR “I build high-end, custom pools.” If you have a beautiful mansion and are looking for something really unique, who would YOU call? The point is, be specific to what you’re offering. The narrower (narrower?) you can be, the more expressive and the more you can address specific issues — these are your clients. Searching for help and finding that level of specificity feels like slipping into a warm bath. Ahhhhhh……
One more little point on this: If we are the pros, why would you leave it up to those who seek the help to “figure it out” on your website what you do and how you can help them? I would never want to leave it up to a customer who is looking for help to accurately diagnose what type of help he or she needs. In a service industry, that is my job. All they know is “something isn’t working and I need help.” For god’s sake, help ‘em find help.
The third no-no is really just an ego issue. Remember — the best copywriting, the best kind of content addresses the NEED – and it’s not “hey, wonder where I can find a guy with a HUGE ego to help me?” No one is searching for that. They need your help. Let them find you. OK?
mary jo cranmore
