Michael Clark, a former teacher now helping NDIS providers with marketing and operations, says directors need predictable client pipelines to sleep at night. He recommends testing five marketing tactics: personal outreach, LinkedIn messaging, modest ad spend, and a website with real photos. His think tanks help leaders break isolation and solve problems together.
Welcome to another Conversation in Care with Con Sotidis, Head of Growth and Partnerships at 365 Care.
Hello everyone, here we are, Conversations in Care here today in Sydney at Innovate in Care Forum with Tanya Gomez. And guess who I come across today? The one and only Michael Clarke.
So good to see you, Con.
Okay, Michael. So this is a bit of a series we do, Michael, at the moment in relation to just interviewing people In the sector. So what I'm going to try to do now, Michael, is I'm going to try to turn it around. We'll pause it here a bit and then I'll just turn the camera around. We'll do a bit of an interview. So Michael, tell us what you do, what your business is, and more importantly, what got you involved in NDIS?
Well, for me, I used to be a school teacher and then from there I went to helping kids with autism learn people skills and social skills and how to handle their own internal emotions on a really hard day. And then that business really thrived and I loved it. And then I actually wrapped that up because NDIS shifted the goalposts like it always does. And then from there I ended up just helping other directors to be able to not spend all their time at work, to be able to not worry about their marketing.
So you moved into sort of marketing, you moved into, I know you do website development, you do social media marketing, you do digital marketing as well, Michael.
Yep.
Yeah.
So Tell us why is it important for an NDIS provider, whether they're starting up or whether they've been around for 2 or 3 years, why is it important for them to focus on some marketing? What do you see?
Yeah, I think the most important thing for a director of any NDIS sort of business is that you need to know that there's work for you in a month from now, in 3 months from now, in 12 months from now, because otherwise you can't sleep at night. You don't know if you're building something that's just going to disappear. So you must build systems that enable you to know that we'll have new clients coming in the front door. So my job now is just helping directors do that and making smart decisions with how they spend their time, how they allocate resources with their teams, because you don't want to be worried about where your business is going. You want to be spending time at home with your wife and kids and not worried.
Now, Michael, you also do the Think Tank. We all know the Think Tanks, very, very popular around the country. They're on the NDIS directory too, so people can join in from there. So give me a bit of an understanding of the The background of the think tanks, why you brought them up, and what do you see those think tanks— what value do they add?
Yeah, it's like isolated business owners make really bad decisions, and we might make bad decisions with money, or we might make bad life decisions because we're so stressed out by trying to handle our business. So leaders, leaders need leaders, Con. Yeah. And as soon as you don't have other people in your life speaking sense into you and reminding you of what's real and what's true, you start to believe your own marketing. Okay. So, uh, I'm lucky I have a wife and 2 kids who help me not believe my own marketing about myself. Like my kids will bring me down pretty quick if they think I'm, I'm not accurate about something.
Some of the videos, they worry you.
That's right. They don't like dad jokes. I do, but I'm outvoted because my market doesn't like dad jokes, you know? So, so the whole purpose of a, of a think tank is you get together with other leaders and you're not isolated. You can explore ideas and people aren't out to extract from you. They're just out to help you. That's a, that's a positive.
Okay. Last question, Michael. What is, you think, the trendiest thing at the moment that will help? So if I was a new provider and if I'm looking for something, hey Michael, what is something that I can do tomorrow that's gonna help my business get some traction, some exposure, some branding? What is the one thing you think they should do?
Yeah, the one thing you should do is not just do one thing. Okay. The one thing you should do is do like 5 things and see what works. And then drop the other 4. So if I was a new provider right now, test and measure. Good. So let's imagine right now I was going to start a support worker business. So, you know, I'd test out sending messages to everyone who knows me and letting them know what I'm doing, because I would assume my reputation would carry a bit of weight. I would use LinkedIn. I would throw a little bit of money at Facebook ads. And then if I'm in a rural area, I would throw a little bit of money at Google ads.
Good.
I'd make sure my website had real photos of me. If I don't, If I don't have participants who want to be on a website, I don't blame them. Just, just get my uncles and aunties and cousins. Okay.
Or—
Like real people, like human images.
Yeah. Not stock images with people at the beach with their hands in the air. So, but try 5 things and, and then see what works and then do more of that. But number one is don't hide behind a screen. Don't hide behind a text message or an email. Actually get out there and, and let good people know who already trust you. What you're doing so they can they can refer to you.
And Michael, last one: Where can people find you? Where can they find you? Say if I'm looking for you tomorrow, LinkedIn, email. Where can I find you?
Well, the first thing you do is you message Con and say, "Hey Con, what's Michael's details?" Otherwise, you'll find me on LinkedIn or athletickoala.com.au. And by the way, I can't believe it. This is my first time hanging out.
We're together for the first time in the real world. Yes, that's right. Michael and I've been known for a while. So. There you are, folks. Some great advice there from Michael. Pick up those tips that he's given you. Do 5 things, test and measure like he says. I love that word, test and measure. Connect with Michael. He's on LinkedIn. He's on— find his website. He's everywhere. Also, if you can, look at the NDIS Directory and join one of Michael's think tanks. The best thing you'll do for yourself, trust me, is join one of those think tanks. Some great leaders there sharing information and some great interaction. That's it. That's Con out from today's Innovating Care Forum. More later.
We hope you enjoyed this Conversation in Care with Con Sotidis. Please follow Con on LinkedIn for more Conversations in Care.
