The Savvy Entrepreneur

In my last article, I helped you identify where you’re stuck in the marketing cycle. Now that you know what area you need to concentrate on (filling the pipeline, following up, getting presentations or closing sales), you’re ready to select and implement marketing strategies to get you closer to your goal of getting more paying clients.

You’ve often heard me share the first ‘secret’ of marketing: Choose a set of simple, effective things to do and do them consistently (easy, right?).

Here’s the second marketing secret: Gain the Know, Like and Trust Factor. Remember, marketing a service is NOT the same as marketing a product. A service is intangible; your clients can’t see the results until they are demonstrated. They have no idea how it will turn out for them, whether they’ll like it, whether you’re the right person for them, or whether it’ll work for their unique situation.

People need to know that you’re a “real” person with specific knowledge and experience of their unique problems. They need to hear your opinions and see your personality, in order to decide that they like you. As well, they need to trust that you have the solutions that will help them, that you work with professionalism and integrity and that you’ll do what you say you’re going to do.

Once they know, like and trust you, people will be far more ready and willing to shell out their hard earned money to acquire your services.

The most effective marketing strategies that service professionals can use to gain the know, like and trust factor are outlined in CJ Hayden‘s book, Get Clients Now! They are listed in order of most effective to least effective:

1. Direct Contact & Follow-up (o)
2. Networking & Referral Building (o)
3. Public Speaking (c)
4. Writing & Publicity (c)
5. Promotional Events (v)
6. Advertising (v)

The good news is you only need to choose 2-4 of these strategies in order to get more clients. Here are a few things to consider:

1. Comfort – Choose strategies that you feel drawn to and excited about (even a little bit frightened, which is often excitement in disguise). Consider your skills, talents, experience and personality.
2. Effectiveness – Remember that the farther down the list, the less effective the strategy, so try to spread out your choices.
3. Impact – Each strategy creates a specific impact – outreach (o), credibility (c) or visibility (v). Aim for balance so you achieve the highest level of impact for your efforts.

Take a look at what you’re doing now, both online and offline, and notice where they rate in terms of comfort, effectiveness and impact. From this perspective, commit to a new list of strategies.

As a service professional, you need to gain the know, like and trust factor in order to get more paying clients. If you choose a set of strategies that fit your needs and apply them consistently, you WILL see results!

Copyright. Cristina Favreau. All rights reserved.

ABOUT CRISTINA
Cristina Favreau specializes in teaching independent service professionals who struggle with marketing, so they get more visibility, build their credibility and increase their self-confidence. Get her complimentary “12 Mistakes To Avoid in Your 30-Second Intro” ecourse at http://www.cristinafavreau.com/index.htm

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