Find the Best Marketing Strategies for YOUR Business

Marketing your business is not a one-time event. Rather, it is an ongoing process that you execute repeatedly to present your solutions to those that are already looking for them. To do this easily and effectively, you need a plan to follow each day, each week and each month in order to create visibility and attract a steady stream of leads. This plan should include specific marketing strategies that will allow you to position yourself as a problem solver for your target market.

There are a LOT of marketing techniques to choose from. So it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer number of marketing methods. But as a solo service professional, your time is extremely valuable (and often limited). Thus, it’s important to select the few marketing methods that A) make sense for your business and B) are not only effective, but that can be done consistently. Your potential clients are always looking for solutions, so it’s important that you remind them regularly of what you have to offer.

Here are some different marketing strategies that have proven to work well for solo service professionals:

• In person networking
• Public speaking
• Hosting lead-generating events & workshops (both live and virtual)
• Asking for referrals
• Executing a “stay in touch” program
• Email marketing
• Blogging
• Social media marketing
• Video marketing

This list has several different options – some of which may be new or “out of the box” for you. Or perhaps strategies you’ve used in the past but have allowed to fall by the wayside. NOW is a great time to revisit which marketing strategies fit your goals and are most appealing to your ideal prospects.

How do you determine what works best?

1. First – you need to be in tune with your target market. You need to discover exactly which problems they are facing right now. What are they struggling with? What are they searching for? What do they want to learn from you?

2. By pinpointing their most pressing  problems, you’ll be able to choose the marketing strategy that speaks to their needs and best fits the solution that you will provide. For example, most solo service professionals excel when it comes to providing hands on, personalized service. If this describes you, you can benefit from reaching out and asking for referrals from current and past clients.

You would use the following steps to market your services to new clients through referrals:

• Get clear on how you provide specific solutions to problems. Write a brief description of the problems that you solve and emphasize the benefits of personalized service.
• Reach out to current and past clients with a personalized note. Let them know you are accepting new clients and would love to be introduced to anyone that they may know who is looking for the particular solutions you offer. Use your brief description of your problem solving skills so that they know who to look for.
• Reach out to old leads to touch base, inquire as to their current needs and extend an offer to help. Remind them of the problems that you solve and let them know that you’re available to assist them.

3. Consider HOW your audience wants your message delivered to them. In addition to reaching out personally for referrals, you’ll want to choose other methods that you can use regularly to promote your services that will appeal to your audience. Are they active in social media? Do they prefer live workshops to virtual learning? Would they rather read what you have to say than listen? If you don’t know – ask! Do your market research and ask your ideal prospects what they prefer.

4. Finally, consider what you want your prospects to do once they’ve read your message. Do you want them to contact you for a free consultation? Sign up for a training event? Enroll in a program? Tailor your message so that it gives your audience a compelling reason to take that action.

With these four steps, you can market your business consistently and find the right clients who need the solutions that you offer.

What have you found to be the most successful marketing strategies for your business?  Share your brilliance in a comment below!

YOUR ACTION PLAN FOR THIS WEEK:

1. Get familiar with your ideal prospects’ problems and struggles. Conduct a survey of your target market and/or ask past & present clients. What do they want to learn from you? How can your solutions help?
2. Do market research to determine the best way to reach your ideal prospects. What strategies will allow you to easily connect with them and present your solutions?
3. Choose a FEW strategies to focus your attention on. Not 10. Focus on 2-3. You can’t, nor do you need to, do them all.
4. Tailor your message so it fits the steps that you’d like your prospects to take. For example, if you’d like your prospects to contact you for a free consultation be sure to include a specific call to action to invite them to contact you at the end of your marketing message.