Will Monday come again next week with the same number of clients, members, sessions and busy-ness?
Suggesting to you that you’re too busy to work on your marketing, or programming, to generate more business?
The challenge isn’t that you’re too busy. It’s that you’re too distracted.
If you take your eye off the marketing ball now, you will begin to suffer in about 6 months. In the case of today, right now, if you’re reading this in June, you will begin to suffer with the influx of fall clients.
You’ll have some. We always have some. But you will have less than you could have had. Someone else will have more.
Marketing isn’t a flashy show-me banner that results in immediate sales. Not, that is, unless you just discount your value to get it.
Marketing is a long term relationship of nurturing your next customer to buy, or your current customer to buy more.
How do you start to nurture?
1. List the most frequently asked questions by your prospective customers.
2. List the most frequently asked questions by your current customers.
3. List the most controversial question about your niche in the news right now.
What do you do with those answers:
1. Write a blog that answers each question. One question per post.
2. Ask yourself, what does my customer need to do next? Write that as the take away/action steps.
3. Ask yourself, what real life story or case study can I share that illustrates the importance of this point? Write that.
It starts with creating good content. Not just content. A blog is content. A blog that is shared, commented on, visited, and potentially subscribed to (few of us do that any more – we get alerted by emails and you should be alerting your customers with your emails that there is juicy content on your blog waiting for them too).
A newsletter that is seen by, given to, and full of special content for only your subscribers, coupons for only your subscribers, and that is opened, clicked on and responded to is good content.
The amount of new blogs and social activity is expected to explode in the next few years. There is going to be more noise, less time, and more competition for your customer’s attention.
You have to be good. Not just the only or just content. Anyone online can reach your customer today. And they do. You have to be original. The only way to do that is to know your customer. You have to answer your customer’s problems. Talk to one single customer every time at a consistent frequency. You need them to say, “I just found you! I’m so glad I did.” Comments like that don’t come from posting your mug shots of trainers, or your bootcamp schedule. They come from quality articles and blogs that feel like “you’re talking to me!” and make your customers say “I felt like you knew what I was thinking.”
Without that, you’re just extracurricular activity… that people simply don’t have time for. People don’t have time for family, friends, and loved ones in today’s fast paced world. They want rapid-fire answers…before they will listen to your philosophy.
Next up.. how do you create a funnel for sales this fall ( and do it now so you’re ready for customers?)