marketing - Inner Firewalking

Developing Marketing Engines

The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.

It’s one thing to have filled your practice by getting on the phone and offering lots of free or discounted sessions or consultations. But we don’t want you to be calling people for the rest of your life! We just recommend this to ramp everything up quickly — to build your confidence, expertise, public profile, and testimonials.

What you need now are Marketing Engines, which send you a steady stream of clients. In the next three chapters we’ll cover the most fun and productive strategies:

How To Get Clients Via The Internet

How To Get Clients Via Alliances

How To Get Clients Via Public Speaking

Caution: Don’t use all of these strategies. Doing a little of each will usually be a waste of time. You want to pick one or two, and go deep. Use them consistently for six months or preferably twelve — and you should see some great results. Once you are getting results from one or two engines, only then should you consider adding a third.

Where to Look For Domain Names

The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.

You can search for names and variations at www.MyDomainFriend.com — a very powerful free tool.

But don’t register the domain there as it’s a bit expensive. Once you know the domain(s) you want, go to www.godaddy.com and register a name for only US$9 per year.

You’ll also want to check the name is not trademarked in the country where you’ll do business.

Don’t get discouraged if even the first twenty names you want are taken. This is just the way it is. Keep being creative and you’ll soon have your perfect domain name.

You Have So Much To Share

The following is an excerpt from the book Get Paid For Who You Are.

Your passion, hobby, skill or life experience is valuable — literally. Whether it’s being married, or getting divorced. Whether having a child, or losing someone dear to you — it’s valuable. Whether you like stamp collecting, investing, riding horses, parenting or catering. Maybe you created a million dollar business, or failed at three start-ups. Perhaps you simply found a way to stick to your diet, or handle an angry spouse or upset child, or make pottery, or can help people find a fishing guide, or any of a myriad of skills, interests, or abilities — it’s all valuable.

If you already have a business, you’ll be happy to know this process is powerful for anyone with a product or service: professionals, small business owners, chiropractors, dentists, florists, potters, inventors. You can make more revenue and work less.

Now, i’m not promising you’ll make internet millions. it took hard work for me to reach $40,000 a month. I also won’t promise you a “4-Hour Work Week”. The author of that book and i work many more hours than that, although it’s entirely by choice. While it is completely possible to make a fortune and never work again by following the steps in this book, it’s also normal if you have some healthy skepticism. and i know not everyone wants to aim that high.

So let’s take a look at more down to earth goals that are easier to wrap the mind around.

How would your life be enhanced if you made an extra $3,000 per month while keeping your day job?

How would it feel to cut back to a job working only two or three days a week because your “how to” Cd or book is starting to sell really well?

What would it be worth to you to transition to doing something you really care about and receive five testimonials a week from people you have helped?

Marketing for a Professional Practice

The following is an excerpt of one of David’s coaching sessions in Top Coaching Techniques.

David: Well it’s not quite a plan but it’s the beginning of a plan.

Client: Yeah.

David: Awesome. You got a pen?

Client: Yeah. I’m taking notes.

David: All right, you’re going to love this. Lots of stuff to soak up, so actually I might even send you a copy of the recording because I think there’ll be a lot here. Okay. To start, the writing of the article, I would suggest if you do this you don’t just do one. Writing articles, in fact everything you do here, should be part of a long-term plan. If you’re going to do the article approach, great. Work out when every single month you’re going to sit down and write your article. Have your list of journals or magazines that you’re going to send it to, and cultivate a relationship with them, and get yourself published every month.

Client: Every month?

David: Well, or every quarter or whatever it is, but it’s a system rather than – because it’s so easy to come up with 20 good ideas and try and do them all, but you may not get any impact out of it until the sixth month, when people start to know who you are and they’ve read your second article. So, if you are going to do this one.

Bob Davies On Finding New Clients

The following is taken from David’s interview with Bob Davies in 10 Super Coaches.

What top three methods, in order, did you use to get your clients in the first 2 years?

My belief is that it is vital that coaches become public speakers. Find your passion in the field and book yourself to speak as the “expert” in the field. Coaching clients will seek you out.

You could also align yourself with other speakers, like myself, who are not looking for more coaching clients, but want the speaking engagement. Leverage your client relationships to bring in “speakers” who will create “buy-in” for coaching and position you as the ongoing follow up live coach.

Did you coach your friends and colleagues?

My fees are too high to coach my friends, plus my friends would not listen to me as their coach. Many clients have become friends as well although I do maintain the professional relationship first. I won’t sacrifice my impact with the client in the name of friendship.

The Three R’s of Business Success #3: Relevance

The following is an excerpt from Judy Feld’s Three R’s of Business Success, as part of 10 Super Coaches.

Relevance: Have you targeted your message to your best customers, and is it clear how you serve them and meet their needs?

Have you identified the niche or market segment that is most likely to buy your product or service? Does your message resonate with these people, and do you know them well?
What are you an expert in? What is your specialty? Make sure your marketing materials clearly indicate what is unique about your offerings.
Do you publish testimonials from your most satisfied clients or customers?
Have you documented some client/customer success stories? Are they relevant to the market you are trying to reach?
Do you have confidence in your own ability to serve your customer well, and can you articulate the specific benefits to a potential buyer? Confidence is key.