Your marketing efforts never end.
They don’t even take a day off.
If that sounds like a daunting task, you can relax. Many of your marketing strategies can be automated and even outsourced. However, there are some things that only YOU can do to build your client base the way you want it.
People who don’t market themselves correctly – regardless of how they run their business – are the ones who fall short of reaching their career goals.
Here’s how you can quickly, easily and effectively market your services to new and returning clients so you can enjoy a thriving career beginning right now:
1. Start now. Just start. It won’t be perfect, but you will gain experience along the way.
2. Be consistent. It never ends. The most successful coaches and trainers all have an ongoing marketing campaign of some type. You want to be viewed as “consistent over time”.
3. Be omnipresent. Be everywhere. Always. Yes, this is challenging at times. It’s tough to be active on all social media platforms because there are only so many hours in the day. This is why you should start with your primary platform (Facebook or YouTube most likely). Then, build out from there. You can use services such as Buffer or IFTTT to schedule and syndicate your social media posts and announcements. You can and should post every day.
4. Not every post should be a promotion. In fact, only about 10% of your posts on social media should be a promotion of some type. You should focus more on educating, information, discussing and facilitating lessons to your audience. Show you care. Actually, care. Help people. Often times coaches or trainers say, “I don’t know what to talk about on a video!” Well, you just need to be creative. Think of the last 10 great questions a client asked you. Those are 10 video topics. What are the last 10 eating/food-related questions you were asked? Those are 10 video topics. What are the last 10 exercises you did for yourself and why? Those are 10 video topics. What are the top 10 discussions related to your niche in a discussion group? Those are 10 video topics. Your ideas never end. You just need to implement.
5. Remember the old school. Some old methods of marketing are still best. Write a hand-written note to a client thanking them. Then, kindly ask for referrals. Because it is rare to receive a hand-written letter, people take the time to really enjoy it and appreciate it. You will stand out in their mind. And, they will be grateful. And, they are more likely to refer others to you.
6. Go meet people. You cannot always live on your phone or computer. As strange as it may sound, people really do exist offline. Go out in your community and network. Go to an event. Go to a local concert. Work from Starbuck’s for the day. Attend a grand opening event. Don’t be that weird person who is overly aggressive handing out cards at a rapid pace. Just meet people. Talk. Laugh. Engage. Connect.
7. Focus on your existing clients. All too often, we focus on getting new clients. If we would just keep our current clients happier, we could also reduce marketing costs and efforts and likely do even better with our businesses. We certainly hope you see all of our new efforts here at NESTA/Spencer Institute in regards to making your relationship with us even better. This is why we are doing more for you each week. We’ve increased our video content on YouTube, and have dramatically increased the blog content as well. https://www.
8. Keep “On Brand.” Keep your colors, fonts, logo, messaging and likeness consistent over time. Yes, we know it takes time to create. Once you have it down, stick with it. People grow to understand – even at a first glance – that it’s your business doing the post/email/promotion. Think of Starbucks. Could you take a 1-second glance at the storefront or the counter and know you are at Starbucks? How about Walmart or Target? What about the Apple store? In reality, I bet it would only take 1/10 of a second for your brain to register any of these brands. Why? It’s all about conditioning our subconscious mind with consistency, colors, smells, thoughts, ideas, and feelings. This is why you must be consistent over time with all your marketing efforts.
That’s it for now!
Take action.
The NESTA/Spencer Institute Team
PS: Click here to see many helpful business/career resources