Have you ever felt that you wasted valuable time and money on marketing strategies that do nothing to bring in ideal, pre-qualified prospects? The sad thing is that many self-employed professionals don’t even realize just how much money and time they waste each day on outdated strategies. Even though these strategies don’t get results, they keep throwing their hard-earned cash at outdated approaches that no longer work in today’s marketplace.
If the strategies don’t get you directly in front of your ideal clients and you lack a clear way for your ideal prospects to work with you, then you will continue to work really hard at trying to get clients and struggle with making ends meet.
One of my clients used to spend thousands of dollars on advertisements each month. For many years, this worked for him. Because the hard-copy resource he was advertising with had a circulation of over 450,000 people, he thought his chances were pretty good that his ideal prospects would see his advertisement. After he became crystal clear on his ideal client and mapped out his sales funnel, he realized why his advertisement strategy no longer worked.
Out of the 450,000 hard copy readers, less than a quarter were a spot on match to his ideal client profile. Out of that percentage, he estimated how many actually read the advertisement. Out of those who read the advertisement, he estimated how many had an immediate need for his services. Out of the ones who actually had a need, he determined how many would remember his advertisement and contact him cold. As it turned out, nobody was contacting him. His pipeline dried up not to mention, the strategy was outdated because fewer people were reading the advertisements and taking action. They were getting their information in other ways.
Further, he had no way to collect a prospect’s information, no system to pre-qualify the prospect, and no way to cultivate that relationship. If they were interested, he had no way to connect with them and nurture that relationship until the prospect was ready to buy.
Right then and there, he realized the major disconnect between his current marketing strategy and sales funnel (or system). He had an immediate light bulb moment. He said that it was as if his mindset about marketing in today’s marketplace suddenly turned on.
He realized that his marketing strategy was more of a continuous system. He also understood that consumer behavior changed. When many of today’s consumers seek a solution, they pay a visit to a search engine. When they put in a problem or a solution (that you provide) you want them to find you making it even more important that you not only have a presence but that you have systems that draw people in to your offerings. When they find you, you want to have a system that provides high content and high value. You also want to have an ongoing process to nurture that relationship.
Many business owners don’t consider the system, process or way they bring in prospects. They end up spending their money in the wrong places and end up with dismal results. This is an error small business owners repeatedly make and why taking a systems approach; that is, looking at the entire business, is so important. Not only do you need to make sure that the strategy will get you noticed by your ideal client, but that your marketing messages speak directly to them and you have a system to pull in your prospects so that you can bond with them further. Each strategy connects to the other systems and processes in your business.
The next time you’re working through your strategies, ask yourself these marketing system questions:
· Who precisely is my ideal client?
· Does the strategy pre-qualify my prospects?
· Is the strategy getting me directly in front of my ideal prospects?
Is this strategy pulling in my ideal prospects in large numbers?
· Is there a systematic way to acquire their information so that I may develop an ongoing relationship with my prospects?
· Do I have a clear sales funnel and systematic way to cultivate that relationship so that when they are ready to buy, I’m top of mind?
· If they are ready to buy, is my call to action clear?
In the end, make sure that your marketing strategies and systems are integrated so that you get in front of your ideal prospects and have ways to cultivate that relationship with them. When you take a systems approach and shift the way you market, you will notice immediately how effortless it is to pull in your ideal clients.
Lisa Mininni is Best-Selling Author and President of Excellerate Associates, home of the Entrepreneurial Edge System, showing small business owners how their clients find them, choose them, and buy from them. To learn more about Lisa’s Preferred Client ProfileTM which shows you how to target your ideal client and is part of her sought-after Entrepreneurial Edge System Biz Boost Self-Study ProgramTM visit http://www.getmoreclientsnowvideos.com.
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