Most consultants (especially newbies!) ignore this. But not you. Not you today.
During these times when infopreneurship IS a thing, Managing a consulting business can be challenging. More people are joining the bandwagon of selling their expertise in certain industries or niche.
As a consultant or a consulting business owner, you are faced daily with the challenge of reaching out to more potential clients. Your marketing strategy is in place, but you’re still not hitting your numbers. You wonder what you’re doing wrong and what you’re missing.
With FREE digital media on the rise, you know the best that would work for you is to make the most out of your social media presence and connections, right? But then you don’t have that digital presence you need. So you’ve grown tired of doing everything you’ve read online. If there’s a simpler way of doing this, you’re all for it.
The way to your potential clients’ minds and hearts is not just by boosting your credibility or social proof through social media. You need to take the steps not taken by your competitors. And sometimes, these steps are the most obvious but often disregarded by many.
In this article, I’ve listed down 5 simple ways on how you can reach more people and improve your digital presence. Just because it is simple doesn’t mean it won’t work. These are even easier than picking up the phone and calling a friend.
1. Create content about the person you want to work with.
If you’re a great writer, this is an easy and subtle way to increase your reach to potential clients. You basically write or create something for your content and mention the people you’re eager to work with.
After publishing, reach out to let them know that you’ve featured them in a post or in an article. See, you’re hitting two birds with one stone here. Not only you’ve created a great content for them, but you’ve also reached out to their network, creating more opportunities for potential clients.
As a blogger, I’ve used this strategy a few times, featuring bloggers in my niche and writing about their story and how they inspired me. After publishing my content, I tagged them in my post detailing the reasons why I featured their story. Did I get a response? You bet I did! It also became my most read blog posts because I was able to reach a bigger network.
2. Use the basic features of Facebook.
This is not just about creating a social media account to help boost your credibility or for advertising purposes. You utilize the one feature that’s obvious but most people tend to ignore. Facebook Search.
It’s one of the most helpful but underused features. Doing a basic search for things relevant to your business is easier than creating an ad. Not that an ad won’t give you results, but creating an ad on Facebook requires some knowledge in certain areas, and money, too.
If you are a website developer, you can do a search for ” I need help with my website” and you’ll get hundreds of search results of posts on public groups. Interact with them and offer your services.
3. Offline Networking
We might be in an era of doing everything online, but nothing beats a face to face interaction. This is one of the biggest secrets to success in the consulting industry. Who else could represent your company better than yourself?
You are your biggest brand ambassador so go out there and talk to people. Be involved in your industry by attending conferences, workshops or local meet-ups. But when you go there, arm yourself with business cards, an elevator pitch and a winning attitude.
4. Ask for Referrals
Your past and present clients can be your best “marketing buddy”. Word of mouth marketing is still very much alive. Take advantage of your existing connections. Be bold enough to ask for recommendations from clients you have established strong connections with.
Tell them you had a great time helping them and how you want to maximize the impact you make. Then ask for the referral. Don’t dangle the commission in front of them, but tell them they will be “appropriately appreciated”.
5. Create a simple referral program and offer incentives
Now, this may sound a bit complicated but I am not talking about creating a fully online course here. It can be as simple as creating a program that aims to offer a certain percentage to anybody who can refer clients to you.
People love additional incomes and being an affiliate of your consultancy business or your program can do just that. Everyone loves a good challenge especially if you’re giving them both value and money. Pick people with a complimentary service and you’re good to go.
6. Get people to write something about you
Another secret to the success of a consulting business is when you have people talking about you or your business. People communicating positively about you boosts your credibility a hundred times more. This is why PR firms exist.
They have the experience and knowledge of knowing when, how and whom to pitch your business to. They have an extensive network of bloggers, influencers, and media people. It’s always a good idea to invest in a good PR firm.
In Conclusion:
Sometimes, the simplest things are the ones that tend to be helpful to you. But many cast their eyes on things that are beyond their reach. Before you start looking over the horizon for complicated ways to reach potential clients, explore what you have at hand.
Try these simple steps before you spend thousand dollars on strategies that you’re not even sure would work for you. You will save a lot of time and money.
