Do your clients get bored with what you offer? Our kitty has taught me this very important marketing principle.  Calvin is our rambunctious, playful, fun, energetic and big lovable (13 pound) kitty.  His nickname is Mr. Mischief for a reason.  He gets bored easily so we have to keep him entertained by playing with him.  If he gets too bored, he starts to look at Hobbes as a new toy to play with and she’s not usually up for play more than once a day, whereas he is up for it several times a day.  In order to keep the peace, we spend time playing with Calvin every day.

His favorite toys are these squishy foam golf balls that bounce.  We call them bouncy balls.  He absolutely loves these toys.  He creates his own games with them and we never know what the game is until half way through play time.  Sometimes, he’s playing catch, sometimes he chases them and then other times he’d rather hunt.  We give him the choice and just go with it.

However, there are times when the bouncy ball just isn’t the toy of the day.  It’s pretty easy to tell when Calvin doesn’t want to play with something.  He just sits there and does nothing.  So, we have to change it up and try new toys.  He loves his bouncy balls, but sometimes he just needs something new.

Say the same message over and over and clients get to know what you do.  However, if you become too repetitive, they are going to just skip on by and look for something new. So, make sure you change up your marketing.  Say something new, create something new, or offer something new.

Take a look at your marketing.

Are you using the same exact copy when you re-launch a product or program?

Are you repeatedly using the same questions to get people engaged in your marketing?

Are you using the same 30 second speech every week at your networking group?

Get creative!  Find multiple things you speak about and keep changing it up.  As long as you always make a connection back to your main marketing message, you can keep it interesting.

Don’t let potential clients get complacent.  Keep changing it up to get their attention in the midst of all the consistency. Consistency builds trust and a little something different every now and then keeps the attention.

I know I’ve learned a lot from my lovable kitties.  I hope they have taught you something as well.  What are you going to change?  Leave a comment and share it.

Did your head just spin reading that?  Are you thinking I’m going to tell to you start doing door-to-door sales?  Don’t worry.  Door-to-door sales is not the latest, greatest way to go about your marketing…although it can prove useful.  The story I share below is intended to be a way to choose marketing strategies that will work for you.

In August, I’ll be co-hosting an event locally with a business coach.  We’re combining our talents for a small workshop/seminar.  First off, we decided to do this event because we both wanted to grow our local lists.

Key #1 to a successful marketing strategy is to know exactly what outcome you want.

From there we decided what marketing strategies we would use to promote the event.  Knowing that personal relationships create the best conversion, we knew we’d have to go out and meet people.  So, of course networking events were part of our plan.  Our target market is wellness businesses and we know that most owners of wellness businesses are busy either running the business or taking care of clients…sometimes both!  So, they don’t attend many networking meetings.  We knew we’d have to reach them where they worked.  So, it made sense to knock on office doors and personally invite them to the event with a flyer (and if we could get it, a convo about what they would get from attending).

Key #2 to a successful marketing strategy is knowing who your target market is
AND how to best reach them.

So, a couple weeks ago I hopped in my car (on one of the few relatively cool days we’ve had this summer) and knocked on doors of wellness businesses.  I was nervous.  As a Singer/Actress I’m used to those kind of nerves.  I get them just before I step on stage and this was like opening night jitters which are always worse.  I couldn’t find the first couple of offices which made me even more nervous.  Then I stepped into one where they actually introduced me to the business manager.  He was hugely busy and said he couldn’t talk, so I quickly gave him the flyer, got his card and asked when would be a good time to call next week.  I was then ushered out the door.

Now for some people that would’ve been discouraging or it might’ve been a downer.   For me that just fired me up!  I got excited that I would get to call and talk to him the next week.   For some reason while I was visiting with this business owner I fell into a groove.  It was a familiar groove.  It was one where I felt comfortable.

So, I had some additional confidence moving on to other offices.  Again, more I couldn’t find.  Some with just a business card out front and no receptionist to greet me.  Others I got to talk to partnering business owners.

I had a personal conversation with a dance studio owners daughter about getting into some adult dance classes and finding a voice coach that was local.  She had some connections and we shared some stories of the professional world.  It was a great convo on a personal level.  At the end, the Mother mentioned the partnering business owner (for the fitness business next door) struggled with marketing and business operations.  She said she’d definitely recommend our workshop/seminar.  How fun!  A personal convo ended up turning into a recommendation.

By this point I was totally high.  Again, it was a familiar and comfortable high that I had been missing.  At the time I didn’t realize what was happening but now that I look back on it I get it.  It was just like performing for me.  Instead of being a character though, all I had to do was be me.  My infectious, bubbly personality along with my curiosity about businesses was getting me in the door.  I was just having fun meeting new people (which is a favorite pass time of mine)!  I needed to know what I wanted to get across (a script), be in the moment and let the convo (scene) take its course.  That recipe was a great one for acting and it works for marketing!

Okay, so you might be wondering what my point is here.  Here’s the deal.  Your personality, experience and things you enjoy are all HUGE assets in marketing.  Use them!  Stop listening to what strategies you’re “supposed” to do and start experimenting with things that sound interesting and will get you what you want.  Try something new and different.  You never know when it will pay off.  I’m still following up with some of the people I met via phone, but just getting out there and meeting people juiced me up so I had the confidence and energy to get on the phone and follow-up (which I dreaded before I did this little experiment).

Key #3 to a successful marketing strategy is choose a strategy that fits who you are.

Your turn!  What strategies are you going to try that fit who YOU are?

As a Professional, your potential clients (and current clients) rely on you to be the expert.  They rely on you to have a particular skill set and/or knowledge-base they don’t possess.  If they don’t posses the skills and knowledge you do, then they don’t know what they don’t know.  For most people, it’s a little scary to not know something.  It can make them feel out of control of their situation.  In order to get control, they look for someone they feel can definitely fill in the gaps where needed.  They need someone they can trust to be honest and look out for their best interests.

I bet YOU know you’re trustworthy.  Since you are trustworthy, I’m betting it just drips off you when you meet people in person.  There’s an instant connection with clients who are right for you.  They quickly get a sense that they know you and if they are looking for someone like you soon, they are most likely to use that business card you gave them.

The challenge comes when you need to convince someone in visuals and writing that you are trustworthy.  Think about your website, brochures, business cards and all the other printed marketing materials you have in the world.   Trustworthiness doesn’t drip off of the written word very easy.  The words “trust me” without inflection and presence mean nothing on a printed page.  How can you build trust in your marketing materials before you’ve ever met your prospective client?  Here are a few simple (not necessarily obvious) things you can look for to make sure you are building trust.

Differentiation - If you walked into a room filled only with dentists, would you know who to trust?  What if one of those dentists offered you something you’d never thought of or heard a dentist offer before?  Would you trust THAT dentist?  When people are determining who to buy from, they are most likely to go with the professional who stands out and offers something different.  There’s an instant level of trust built in…IF your differentiation is good.

Good differentiation is not something that was given to you by someone else.  Good differentiation comes from inside you.  Now, you may not be able to see it so you may need some help pulling it out.  When you differentiate based on something authentic to you, then you stand out even more and people can tell it’s genuine.  If you try to force  a differentiation that just “sounds good” it has no meaning and as the business owner, you are going to have a hard time explaining it.  When differentiation comes from who you are something specific to that, then it’s easy for you to explain it, talk about it and help people understand it.  Again, instant trust.

Brand Consistency - Do you use the same tag line everywhere?  Is your logo the same everywhere?  Are you using the same font and font color in all your marketing materials?  Is your branding consistent no matter where you place your marketing?  Is your overall message being conveyed the same in your printed materials and in person?  Do you use the same basic messaging all the time or are you constantly changing it?  Look closely at every detail.  Where can you improve your consistency?

Follow-Through and Setting Expectations - This is a biggie that I see missed a lot, especially in online marketing.  When you make a promise follow through on it, even if it’s just a little freebie report.  Make sure it matches what you promised it would be.  Make sure everyone can easily retrieve it.  If you change it, then let people know about that.

I have a report about Twitter that is completely outdated on the technology.  I charged for this report when I first put it out into the world, but because it’s outdated, I offer it for free now.  On the page where I offer this free report, I have made it VERY clear that the technology is a bit outdated.  That way they know what to expect.  Just setting this one little expectation goes a long way towards gaining trust.

If you promise to e-mail in 24 hours after your potential client fills in an automated form.  Make sure you know that automated form promises this kind of turn around.  Don’t forget!  That way, you can make sure to follow-through and get in contact with them quickly.  If you don’t want to promise 24 hours, then DON’T.  It’s up to you what promises you make.  Only make promises you know you can keep.

Transparency - With the invention of social networking, this term has gotten a little bit of extra use.  Be transparent.  Share your brilliant ideas, information you know will be helpful to people before they get to you, and make people think with your words.  First, PLEASE, check in with yourself.  Ask yourself; “Does sharing this promote the trustworthy expert my prospective clients need to meet?”

It’s almost as if your potential clients are vicariously getting in control by hiring someone who has what is needed to get what they want.  If you are consistent, follow-through, and share your brilliance with them, then trust is a natural outcome for all your marketing.

Kristen Beireis of Coaches’ Marketing Source helps coaches and other personal transformation professionals establish trust through marketing.  First, she establishes a foundation that’s rooted in your authentic differentiation. Then she follows up with solutions that bring consistency to everything that has your name on it — from your newsletter to your business card to your social media pages. And while she’s happy to teach you how to do all this yourself, many of her clients love the way her team reduces their workload and overwhelm.

Greater trust means a shorter sales cycle, more of the right clients, and the confidence that comes from knowing your sales and marketing are in integrity with who you are as a person.

I recently read an article on the Huffington Post website about what people will pay for online.  It’s based on a survey of adult internet users.  There are some interesting results I’d like to point out that will help coaches determine what will be most profitable this year when it comes to online content.

1)  People are paying for media, but reading materials fall short.  When it comes to “newspaper, magazine or journal articles…18 percent” of  people are willing to pay for access.  One can surmise that informational articles are going to be in that category or even less.  It’s time that coaches realize, charging for information is not something people are going to flock to.  It’s not something to be left out of a marketing plan, but it’s also not something to rely on for a large portion of your income.  It’s important to think about any plans of a membership site that is written content driven.  It’s a huge investment of time, energy and money to get it off the ground and promote it.  You’re going to have to promote really hard if only 18 percent of internet users are going to be interested.  Weigh this with the investment.  It may not make much sense.

2)  “The typical user spent about $10 a month.  However, there are some extremely high-end users…who have paid for content [at] about $47 a month.”  So, if you are going to sell content online, this is what people are willing to pay.  Most people who fall into the category of a coach’s ideal client will be high-end users.  Coaching offers a very personal service.  If people are willing to invest in themselves, they are usually willing to drop more than $10 a month.  Given coaches usually charge hundreds of dollars a month for one-on-one coaching, $47 is not a lot to ask for information that will get someone started.  If you are going to charge for content, make it life-changing content.  You’ll increase your income and you’ll get more subscribers.    You’ll also create lifelong clients who will trust you to follow through on your promises.

If you are thinking about adding more paid content to your marketing plan this year, I highly recommend you weigh out the percentage of people on the internet who are willing to pay for it and how much they are willing to pay.  Invest wisely and don’t count on this being the ultimate “get rich quick” idea.

How do you think this information applies to the coaching industry?  How will it influence your marketing plans?

Coaches are extremely passionate people.  It’s the training, the life change that comes along with the choice to be a coach, and that passion for helping others is why coaches usually get into the business in the first place.  Most coaches I know love all humans and believe everyone should be happy with themselves and their lives.  I’ve heard coaches say they believe deep down everyone knows they are worthy.  I know most coaches want the world to be a happy, peaceful place.  It’s what makes them so great at what they do!

The challenge is containing that passion and those beliefs while marketing.  I know, it’s not easy but if you want your potential clients to trust you, you have to remember where they are.  Think back to your innocent days.  The days before you knew coaching existed.  Close your eyes for just a minute and remember what that was like….

Now, what would your reaction have been if someone had sent you some writing that said;  “You are a talented human being who deserves to get everything she wants.”?  Would you have believed that?  I know I wouldn’t have!

I specifically remember an instance in the first month of coaching where my coach blurted “You are so talented.”  Oh boy did I challenge that one!!  It started with “You don’t even know me, how do you know what talents I have?”.  I wasn’t ready to accept that I was talented, lovable, or worthy yet.  I hadn’t explored myself enough to know that I was.  I hadn’t worked with my coach long enough to get there.  (Thankfully, my coach was awesome and in the next few months I changed my thinking on that.)

So, can you imagine what would’ve happened, had I come across a piece of marketing where someone tried to tell me I was lovable?  Um, circular file anyone?! In fact, it’s repelling.  It’s gremlin fodder.  They eat that stuff alive and convince people to run away…FAST!

I bring this topic up because I see it all the time.  I see coaches putting marketing materials out that assume the reader can comprehend an affirmation for themselves.  Now, I’m not saying that EVERY person is going to be revolted by that kind of statement, but you need to think about where your potential client is before they have worked with you.  If your typical client goes through a process with you that brings them to loving themselves, don’t try and convince them to go there now.  They haven’t had the benefit of the process yet.  If they have, then they wouldn’t be an ideal client.  So why speak to them?

There is a difference between flat out saying “You can have anything you want” or “You are alive, therefore you are worthy” and asking someone to imagine what life would be like should they overcome challenges you help them get over.  There is a thin line, but by challenging your potential clients with powerful questions that get them to see possibility, they become attracted to you.  Now that’s marketing!

The next time you want to boost someones self-esteem or help them understand that there’s more than where they are, ask yourself if your statement might feed the gremlin of a past client before they got to you.  If the answer is yes, then rephrase to create possibility.

What kind of questions might you use to create possibility?

Kristen Beireis, Trust Marketing Expert