Picture this. You had a beautiful logo created that reflects your brand exactly. Then you created sizzle reels, had a photo shoot, and created the perfect copy for your website. You create your signature course, or product. Then you launch it.
And… You get crickets.
Nada. Zip.
In fact, it’s like people are actively avoiding you. You start to wonder what’s wrong. Sometimes people will tell you it’s a mindset problem. That’s a favorite with coaches when they run into this type of situation. You’ll come across coaches who will tell you to fix your mindset, and do X,Y,Z, to start making 10K months consistently, but it’s not that formulaic.
The other advice they’ll give is to tell you to go start engaging with people. Start posting in groups, and see what happens. I can tell you what will happen- it’s what happened to me. Nothing. I posted. I got nothing out of it. It was the most frustrating thing I think I’ve ever tried. I mean, I posted everywhere all the time, and was ONLINE all over the place.
You wonder why you can’t do it, and if you’re cut out for this whole doing business online thing. It seems soul-sucking and exhausting. This wasn’t what you had in mind.
So how the heck are you actually supposed to get clients?
When you’re launching to a cold audience, it takes them a little while to warm up to you, to get to know you. As a friend of mine has said, “All things being equal, people buy from those they know, like, and trust. All things being unequal, people buy from those they know, like, and trust.”
So, maybe the solution is to go get to know everyone in sight? Start a podcast, a Facebook Group, a Blog, and post on every platform known to man, while setting up a killer sales funnel? You could approach it that way. Of course, you could just sign up for a nervous breakdown, in addition to all of your social media posts, podcasts, blog posts, and more.
Overwhelming yourself isn’t the way to go for sure, because no-one wants to start something and have it fail miserably.
Trying everything at once is NOT the way to go. (Except to go crazy)
So what do you do?
Pick 1 thing. And do it very well. Seriously. Pick one strategy for marketing and work it consistently, day after day, for at least 90 days. You can do a podcast, or Facebook, Instagram, networking groups, building your email list, or any other main strategy that you decide to choose. In fact, I have a list of 33 different options in this article linked here.
It’s simple, and it’s easy. But I can guarantee that it will be the hardest thing you’ve ever done.
Why? The reason it’s so hard despite the sheer simplicity is that your head is going to mess with you. The world will likely mess with your head too. You’ll get prospects who will come to you and tell you that they can’t afford to work with you, or that they need more time to think about it.
I can practically guarantee that for every doubt you have, you will have a prospect who tells you that they can’t become a client for that exact reason. It will mess with your head, but don’t fall for it. Say what?
Don’t let the doubts in your head override the certainty of knowing that you WILL be successful if you simply stick with the program.
If you have these things:
- You know who your ideal client is,
- You know what services you provide,
- And you know what price you need to charge
And they are all in line with normal standards ( I.e. you’re not trying to charge a vast amount more or less than the going market rate for a service) then you WILL find customers just by being consistent and showing up and doing the same thing consistently.
Most people I know in business keep trying different things, because they suffer from Shiny Object Syndrome. That is, they come in, and they want to be successful, only they keep getting caught by proverbial squirrels or shiny objects every few minutes. Yes, Entrepreneurs are really prone to chasing squirrels, much like your average border collie wants to chase sheep. It is a well documented phenomenon. We entrepreneurs tend to be easily distracted, and there’s lots to be distracted by.
Show up, do the marketing work, even when you’re not feeling like it, not feeling inspired, and just not feeling moved, and you’ll be successful beyond your wildest dreams.
On the other hand, if you don’t show up consistently, you’ll probably struggle with success, and it will be as inconsistent as you’re being.
It’s like my friend Leslie Flowers said: “What you desire is moving towards you at the same velocity with which you are moving towards it. If you are running towards it, then it’s running towards you. If you’re sitting on the couch, it’s also sitting on the couch.” So, don’t allow it to sit on the couch too often, because you’re not being consistent in your marketing efforts because it’s uncomfortable, makes you uneasy, or it’s just plain WORK.