Personal networking (i.e., getting out and meeting people and introducing yourself personally) may be the most important way for a business person to get clients. Print and electronic advertising and creation of a web site are all important factors, but may not lead to success by themselves. This is a mistake that many business owners make when trying to make their business known. The personal touch is the most critical.
The models that are effective for large businesses will not work for small-company professionals. These pros try to promote the company name through costly marketing pieces and a fancy web site. They may spend thousands of dollars on booths at trade shows, directory listings, and other advertisements. Such a small business marketing coach may not even include his own name in his marketing materials.
But people don’t buy internet marketing coach (professional) and their services from an anonymous company to get clients; they buy them from individual people they have learned to know, like, and trust. The more personal — or the more expensive — the service you offer is, the more likely this is to be true.
The following are five tried and true methods for professionals to attract clients: (a) Face to face meetings at an event or by appointment; (b) Cold-calling prospects; (c) Mailings and emails; (d) Personal follow-up after initial contact; (e) Attending meetings and conferences to speak to groups.
Clients need to get to know you as a person before they will accept your business. They need to learn to like you, and you need to earn their trust. In order to earn that trust, they will more than likely need to meet you in person. It will be much harder to earn a client’s business by calling them on the phone, or asking for their business in person before they’ve had a chance to get to know you. A personal relationship is what it takes. Like a pair of pliers, it takes a person holding them to make them work.
Clients generally want to know your personal details and how you actually are. They look at you or listen to you and to learn about you gradually. If you are not having confidence about talking to people personally, how is it possible that they will be ever eager to employ your services?
You’ll discover that with practice, it gets easier to meet clients in person, talk to them on the phone, and ask them for their business. It builds up your confidence, and it builds up the confidence your potential customer has in you, as well. If you make serving people your business, you can use your own voice as your best marketing tool. So, try it out, put it to the test, and strike up a conversation with potential clients.
Media advertising and web presence are not enough to get clients. The personal touch is essential. Trust is generated when potential customers have met you themselves. A small business marketing coach would encourage you to do personal, phone, or email networking with potential clients, and to become known by offering to speak at conferences. Don’t let the challenge of meeting strangers intimidate you. This is the keystone of building a business that clients trust. Your confidence in meeting people will equate to confidence in your business. You may have the savviest internet marketing coach, but without connecting in person you will not be successful.
- Travis Greenlee
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