Become Seen & Heard…!
You know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have a great message and a great service, right? You know that your message has a transformative power to your clients, or else you wouldn’t waste your time trying to share it with the world…
The problem is, most of your prospective clients don’t even know you exist!
How Can We Change This…? How Can We Get Your Ideal Clients to See, Hear, and Take Action on Your Message…?
Fact is, no matter what your niche, or service, chances are GREAT that there are millions of people out there who want – and perhaps even NEED really badly what you have to offer…
The question is then, how do we get that message in front of those who need it; and how do we make an income by sharing our message…?
The “1000 True Fans” Concept
A gentleman named Kevin Kelly came up with the concept of building a following of 1000 true fans; the concept being that there anyone can build a following of 1, 10, 100, 1000 “true” fans – individuals who totally like what you are providing (your services, products, etc.) and one should be able to make a comfortable living by developing a relationship with the fans (through teleclasses, webinars, newsletter, mailings, etc.).
All it takes is to start attracting first your first true fans – someone who absolutely loves what you have to offer and wants anything and everything you have to offer. Then attract one more…than one more… and with the time you build up that list of “1000 True Followers” – and many of us grow it to 10,000s and even 100,000+.
Now, the original concept of 1000 True Fans was developed for artists, authors, etc.; but the same concept can be easily applied in business.
Seth Godin, the author of Tribes – We Need You to Lead Us, and mega-successful entrepreneur, embraced the idea of Growing a “Tribe of 1000 True Fans” and promotes it as a way to build a prosperous business… and I, as a solo-professional, hear what I want to hear :), meaning that we, speakers, coaches, internet marketers, and other solo professionals, all we need is 1000 people who believe in our message and who will be our champions… who will totally love our message and ultimately invest in our offers.
During the past more than a decade, I built a “small” following of 80,000+ subscribers to my various lists, who eagerly wait for my weekly tips on Effective Communication & Performance Management; and recently started a few courses on business-growth and marketing topics. Every year, members on my lists have purchased tens of thousands of dollars worth of assessments, trainers kits, and/or participated in my paid group coaching or other events; as well as many hire me regularly as their Performance Coach or Business-Growth Coach.
I’m not sharing this to impress anyone. I’m simply sharing this to show you the power of having a list of “True Fans”; and how once you have such a list, you will never have to chase clients, but rather you can pick the best clients who are the best fit for your coaching style.
Don’t be One of “those” Coaches…!
Almost weekly I speak to coaches, speakers, consultants, etc. who send me a link to their site and I do not see an opt-in list – no offers – no way to collect visitors’ contact info… or if there’s one, it says “Subscribe to My Newsletter*” – what the heck does that mean? What will the subscriber receive in this newsletter? Why should your ideal client sign up for this newsletter?
Not surprisingly, most of these coaches who have such “Subscribe to My Newsletter” type opt-in offers, “attract” 10 to 20 subscribers signing up every year. That’s very sad. With a good freebie – one that offers some real value to your Ideal Client – you should have that many subscribers every week… and after a while, every day(!).
So, if you don’t have an opt-in offer on your site, make it a goal to set one up this week. Ideally, it should show on every page: on the TOP of your home page; and in the side-bar on every other page. And for Pete’s sake, either be in control of your web design, or you’d better have enough finances to keep paying* your web guy to make changes to your site…
* – Let me know if you need help with Web Design services (or other Techno, Product-Development, or Copy-writing Services – even entire Sales-Funnel Building services). My team can provide you all types of services at an affordable fee. Click HERE to send in a message with your needs! (opens in new window)
Your Freebie – or Opt-in Offer – Helps Your Ideal Client Know that they Are on the Right Website!
Through your freebie* you have the “power” to attract your Ideal Clients into your world – or into your circle of influence. If your freebie says “7 Days to Improve Managers’ Productivity,” you know you’ll attract managers (AND other professionals) to join your list; and once they are on your list, now you can develop a relationship with them. You have the true power to stay in touch with these people and let them get to know you and your offers.
The more specific your offer, the more you can control who you are attracting into your world!
* – “Freebie” does NOT mean FREE Download! In the sense that they can download your content through a direct link. It is crucial that your freebie is available to your site visitor in exchange for their contact info.
Explore our List Building Made Easy & Email Marketing Made Easy courses to learn how to grow a list of your ideal clients and how to sell your services to them. OR if you'd rather have our team implement this for you, Click Here to send us a message!
You might be getting 1000s of website views per month (or per day, for some), BUT if you don’t have a “mechanism” in place to allow people to share their contact info with you, they navigate away, and 99.99% of them will never see you again (nor will you see them again!). And while that 99.99% is not a research-based number, trust me, it’s really really close to the real number.
So…, don’t lose prospective clients! Give them a way to connect with you! Offer them something that they’d really love, in exchange for their contact info.
NO LEADS = NO CLIENTS!
To get someone to pay for your services, you need to have someone in front of you who is interested and ready to listen (or read about) what you have to offer. Growing a list is one of the most effective ways to generate a large list of Warm Leads, who you can convert into paying clients. And the good news is, once you have a list, you don’t even feel like you are selling. When you develop a good relationship with your list, you just let them know of what services you have and invite them to invest in them… Business becomes almost effortless… and, yes, almost on Auto-Pilot.
Start Growing Your List One Step at a Time…
That is, ONE PERSON at a Time!
HERE ARE THE 9 STEPS TO START GROWING A TRIBE OF 1000 FOLLOWERS
Start out small, keeping in mind at all times that all of your marketing efforts ought to focus on building your list – on getting your ideal clients' contact info. Make sure through each of these means, you have a CTA – a Call to Action – to encourage people to sign up for your list – for your freebie you are offering on your website or landing page!
1. Collect your Ideal Clients' Contact Info when they are Visiting Your Website
- Have a Highly Visible Irresistible Opt-in Offer and make sure this offer is on the top of the page, instantly seen by your ideal client website visitor. It can be on the right side-bar; or on the left; or middle of the page – it doesn’t really matter, as long as it’s on the top and highly visible. It should be the first thing that attracts your website visitor’s eyes.
- Your Irresistible Opt-in Offer should be worded in a way that it addresses your ideal client’s main frustration, challenge, or burning desire. Ask yourself: “What keeps my ideal client up at night? What solution is my ideal client searching for…?” And offer a possible solution, such as 7-Part eCourse [to solve your problem]; 10-Days to…; Join the 5-Day Challenge…; etc.)
More often than not, your irresistible offer is in some way a “tweak” of your headline. For example, if the headline is “Do You Feel Overwhelmed and Unproductive…” — your irresistible/opt-in offer could be:
Double Your Productivity in 15 Days
Enter Your Name and eMail Address Below
to Sign up for the 15-Day eCourse!
2. Collect your Ideal Clients’ Contact Info During Face-to-Face Meetings
Whenever meeting in person, or whenever presenting at live events, collect your audience members’ business cards, then stay in touch with them, providing them with relevant and valuable information… As you communicate with them, make sure to direct them to your landing page where they can sign up for your freebie(!!!)
* When I present to groups, I pass a form around so people can add their contact info. I also have a column there that says “Put an ‘X’ in this column, if you DON’T WANT to receive valuable tips on How to Grow Your Business!” – as well as I say it out loud, to make sure that no one feels that I’m spamming them. (If you did a good job in your presentation, it’ll be really rare that people put an “X” in there? )
3. At networking events, make sure to hand out business cards that have an irresistible offer on the back of the card – an offer that will make your ideal client go to your site and leave their contact info there…
Check out the Local Marketing course for more ideas on how to grow your tribe right in your "backyard" - Click Here!
4. Put on regular Webinars and let people “fall in love” with you and your great content. And if it’s not a sales webinar, at the end of each class (and in the middle of the presentation too) make sure to offer them something of value that will make them hop over to your site and sign up to your list
Watch the Webinar Marketing Made Easy course for more ideas on how to grow your tribe with your webinars - Click Here!
5. Upload YouTube videos
.
Make sure to put your site’s link in the video description, right to the beginning of the description of the video. Also, make sure to add a Call to Action to each description; such as, "To get more such tips, hop over to www.myCoolSite.com for my “7-Days to More Sex” eCourse - or some other similarly exciting irresistible offer.
To implement this tip, watch the YouTube Marketing 2.0 course - Click Here!
6. Publish Articles
.
Make sure to add your irresistible offer in the bio at the end of your articles. Publish your articles to LinkedIn and to one or two article submission sites as well, such as www.ArticlesBase.com or www.eZineArticles.com .
7. Social Media
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Study your favorite social media. Find out how you can generate leads and grow your business through that social media. Just make sure you don’t get lost in endless social media posts reading and chatting. Use it for business… and only a little for “chit-chat.” Though… that “chit-chat” can be productive when you use it to develop relationships with your ideal clients.
Explore the Social Media Marketing courses that you'd like to implement:
* most of these courses are a beginner to intermediate level *
| Instagram Marketing Made Easy | LinkedIn Marketing 2.0 |
8. Start Your Own "Radio Show" or Podcast
Podcasting is one of the most effective ways to grow your tribe of followers in the shortest time. You can use your own content, or you can invite other professionals, authors, etc.; and interestingly enough, about 3 to 5 out of 10 people you invite to your show, will say YES! OR you can have a combination of the two - at times present your own content, and sometimes invite a "celebrity" guest (who in turn will also promote the show to his or her followers, further growing your tribe of subscribers!).
Check out the Marketing Made Easy with iTunes course - Click HERE; as well as our Host Your Own Interview Show course - Click Here!
9. Create Mutually Beneficial “Joint-Venture” Relationships
Connect with other business owners, who already have a large “tribe” (list) of clients; such as coaches, consultants, health practitioners, etc. – who serve the same audience as you do, and explore ways to cooperate. A very common way to capitalize on these relationships is to have your new “partner” promote one of your offers to their list, and you share the profits. Usually, if what you are offering is digitally accessible, the revenue split is 50/50 and at times even higher (the partner gets a higher percentage – it’s all up to you). If, however, you are promoting a service, such as a Group Coaching Program, Retreat, etc., then the split can be 75% for you and 25% for your promoting partner.
REMEMBER, the more you are willing to pay your new partner, the more likely it is that they’ll agree to promote you. After all, all you’ll do is provide the promo email, and they’ll help you make those 10 to 20 (or way more) sales. It is them who bring in the “dough” – make sure you make it worthwhile for them.
This is a very powerful strategy - make sure to watch our Grow Your Business through Influencer & Collaboration Marketing course for ideas on how to implement this most effectively!
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Capitalize On Your Strengths!
The ways you can grow the numbers of your true fans are countless – use them! Though, don’t get lost in trying to implement all of the ways. Find 3 to 5 that capitalize on your strengths and focus on those. Once you get good at them, you can “fan-out” to implement more lead-generation strategies.
It also helps if you automate many of these! Use the free version of HootSuite or other social media management platforms. Or install the free NextScripts Social Media AutoPoster WordPress Plugin, this way all your blog posts are automatically shared on your FaceBook (Fan) Page, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and a few other platforms.
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E.G. Sebastian, a veteran entrepreneur of 20+ years, is the founder of ClientsEnrollmentFunnels.com and an international speaker (speaks 6 languages.) E.G. specializes primarily in helping coaches, consultants, speakers, authors, and service-business owners put in place crucial elements to business success; help clients get massive visibility for their business and convert that visibility into paying clients.
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