eBook contents
Introduction
Build trust. Research your competitors. Your website - DiY, paid or free?
Don't persuade or manipulate because it causes resistance, confusion and anxiety.
Instead make your service REALLY easy to understand and buy (quality)
then tell a lot of people (quantity).
Step 1
Be easy-to-understand
Niche to be understood in 10 seconds. Specialise in what you sell and who you sell it to.
Educate. Educating, does not mean 'explaining what you sell' - that's just selling.
Be easy-to-buy
Forget Pricing. Pick a price then focus on steps 1 to 4.
Build trust. Your face, location (country, city and suburb) phone and email.
Start with 'free'. Free content and chat.
Productize. Set a price for an outcome. Like selling a product.
Tiered Pricing for coaches, $0-quick. $50-Mini. $350-Full ...
Tiered Pricing for freelancers, "Websites $3000. Free consult, $300 to start then ..."
Now you're an 'expert' that's easy to understand and buy. Your competent and have started to build trust. Interested prospects should be 80% ready to buy.
Time to talk.
Step 2
Get clients. You contact them
"They won't remember what you said, but they'll never forget how you made them feel."
Maya Angelou.
Paid ads
Use your articles as Paid Ads to educate people. So you're helping, not selling.
Partner Marketing. Team-up with non-competing businesses that have same target market
with in-person events, blogs and newsletters. Example - writer and web designer. Then you can share advertising costs. Partnering is more difficult than it sounds because we live in a highly individualized, competitive society.
Business cards
Say something about your business in day-to-day conversations. Maybe they're interested.
Work for 'free', strategically, to start
Freelancers - for a 'your passion' business. Only if you get free advertising in return.
Coaches - To gather feedback, reviews and referrals.
Cold calls to local businesses
Why cold call? 2 reasons. 1) not heard of you = cannot buy from you.
2) now your email is not annoying spam because you've spoken.
Cold calling is the most cost-effective marketing on planet earth.
Do not cold email. It signals rip-off.
It's a 10 second phone call or visit (letter drop-off) to ONLY introduce yourself.
No selling, pitching or qualifying.
Call businesses close to you. This decreases 'stranger danger'.
Check their website for 30 seconds before the call.
Don’t raise your voice, sound formal or enthusiastic. Talk like you're at a friends party.
Do 18 phone calls in 2 weeks to break through the fear barrier.
Here's what to say.
How they react is irrelevant because it's out of your control.
"This is James pause calling from (your suburb) pause can you hear me ok?"
"I'm reading your website and I'm calling to introduce my business to your business."
Then email them.
If you get voicemail, drop the "can you hear me?" and end it with "I'll email now."
Step 3.
Get clients. They contact you
Know how to reply
to inquiries, comments and complaints
"The problem is we do not listen to understand. We listen to reply." Stephen Covey.
Nurture leads, don't just reply
Research them. Understand the question. If it's a digital lead move it to telephone.
Reply quickly. Don't run-your-mouth, talk-down or sound clinical. Reply 3-6 times.
Know what to say and how to say it
Interpersonal Skills.
Talk slowly. Have answers ready. Be slow to say "no". Don't be an 'order taker'. Be vulnerable not clinical. Build trust. Be curious and courteous - Ask questions to uncover problems.
Social media works best with conversations not "buy-my-stuff!".
If you have REALLY helped someone, for free, set up an email referral.
You don't have to sell something to ask for a referral. See next step.
You will get some type of value, from most of your leads if you do all of the above.
Step 4.
Grow clients
Get repeat sales, reviews and referrals
A sale is not the end, for solos, it's a new beginning. Because solos cannot survive by hunting for new sales every day.
Loyal clients will give you the 3 most important things for your small business.
1) repeat sales 2) reviews 3) referrals. If you don't get at least 1 of these, you're in Barney Rubble (trouble).
How to get repeat sales
'Thank you' calls. Courtesy calls. Follow-up calls. List all your services in calls / emails.
How to get a review and referrals without asking
Start by asking for feedback. Bad feedback = fix it. Average feedback = there's a problem, so get vulnerable and ask again. Good feedback = ask 6 questions, paste it together = review. For referrals, keep helping them, then forward them an email they can forward to friends.
Research says MOST businesses don't ask for referrals AND that MOST happy customers are happy to refer people.
Epilogue.
Confidence, curiosity, vulnerability and forgiveness