Whether you’ve been in business for one month or ten years, there are basic marketing strategies that ALWAYS work, but that are easy to overlook. As you look to meet your goals of generating a certain amount of revenue, working with a certain number of clients, or breaking into a certain market, you want to be strategic with your marketing efforts, but also keep your campaigns as simple as possible.
The key to doing this is focusing on developing relationships. As you know, people do business with professionals that they know, like and trust. So no matter what type of business you’re in, developing and maintaining strong relationships is key to having a successful business.
These are my top-three favorite, relationship focused, profit generating, OFFLINE (aka non-techy) marketing strategies:
1. Engage in strategic networking and speaking.
If you’re in business for yourself, it’s particularly important to get out there and talk to people about what you do – and there’s no better place than in your local community. Meetup.com and other locally focused websites make it easy to find and connect with prospects in your area. Connect with trade organizations, groups and networks in your city that cater to your ideal clients. Be sure to stay focused – not every networking group deserves your time and expertise. Select those that relate directly to what you do and offer to give a presentation to the group.
2. Ask for referrals.
Marketing studies have shown that when someone likes a service, they tend to tell fewer people about it than when they don’t like it. You can combat this problem by asking your satisfied clients to tell others about your work. You should regularly reach out to current and former clients to ask for referrals. Especially when they compliment you on your work, talk about how working with you has changed their life or business, or accomplish a specific milestone they’ve been working towards. Ask them who they know that is looking for similar results and would benefit from a no-obligation conversation with you.
3. Create power partnerships.
Connecting with other service professionals that help your ideal clients in different ways is a great way to create visibility for the solutions you offer. For example, if you’re an accountant who works with small business owners you can partner with a virtual assistant who serves the same market. You’ll be able to refer clients to one another – which is good for your business and good for your clients as well! You’ll often be able to find potential partners while you’re networking and speaking locally – so keep your eyes peeled for partnership opportunities, not just new client leads.
These tried and true marketing strategies can help you get more clients offline and build better relationships that will grow your business. What non-techie methods do you rely on when you’re unplugged? Let me know in a comment below!
YOUR ACTION PLAN FOR THIS WEEK:
- Take advantage of all of the opportunities in your local community or region. Search regularly for events that offer opportunities to network with potential referral partners and clients. Stay proactive and strategically network with groups and organizations that your ideal clients are participating in. Be sure to schedule time on your calendar to follow-up!
- Once you’ve made a connection with a few key groups and developed a relationship with the members, offer to deliver a presentation about a topic that is important to them (and that showcases your expertise). Create a simple handout that allows the audience to stay engaged as well as provides them with an opportunity to learn more from/work with you.
- Ask your current and former clients for referrals regularly. Remind them that you will care for their friends, family and colleagues just as you’ve cared for them, and ask them who they know that is looking for the solutions/results you offer.
- Be deliberate about creating partnerships with other service professionals. Focus on those that offer complimentary services to your ideal clients. Approach them with their specific goals in mind and let them know about the mutual benefits of partnering together.
