057. How to Get in Front of More Potential Clients

Welcome. I am marketing expert and business coach Melissa Kellogg Lueck. And this is the Doing Business Like a Woman podcast where we are exploring and teaching you how women are reinventing the way business is done and money is made to help you create greater impact and financial freedom one business at a time. Well, hello there. How are you, my friend? I am so glad to be with you, so glad that you are here with me. And yeah, I've had a couple starts and stops to recording this episode. So I am all here now. Oh, it's like I start and then, you know, know my son comes home and I don't know, I end up recording. I feel like I end up recording these episodes in the latter part of the day. I don't know if that's when I feel chatty or what, but anyway, I tend to get interrupted. So we are all good now. I am all here. I got all of my correct technology hooked up. That was something I messed up before. So. Okay, let's get this party started. How are you? I hope you're having a fabulous day. I am recording this on a Monday after having a really fabulous weekend of great family time, celebrating my sister's baby shower and beautiful weather. Although it's been quite chilly here and I feel like if it's going to be chilly, it just needs to snow. But it's not doing that so it's not listening to me anywh. Who so what we are going to talk about today, we're going to continue our discussion market around marketing and specific specifically around helping you to bring in more clients, more opportunities in Q4. And so this has been my focus throughout this quarter and we are continuing that today. So what I want to talk to you specifically about today is really how to grow your pool of potential buyers and get in front of more people. And we always want to be doing this in our business, to be growing that revenue, to be expanding and to get to work with the clients that we want to work with rather than just taking whatever comes at us. It's so important to be continuing to expand your network to be bringing in these opportunities. And in order to do that, we need to be bringing in more people. More people is more opportunities for us. Right? And so that's what we're talking about today. So some of the biggest issues that I see with businesses and entrepreneurs that I talk to and I've even experienced this in my own business that we want to grow, but what we're doing is mainly one to one type of growth. Where we are, I do A lot of networking, right? So it's like going to a networking function and I'm meeting one person at a time. And I love that, and I will always do that. It's something that really lights me up and really fills my bucket. But if we think about wanting to scale that, we need to expand our efficiency, expand our reach. And so when we want to grow, oftentimes we're only doing one on one growth. We are trying to be everywhere and meet everyone. And it can be very exhausting on the one hand, and also be slow going. Right. Like, growth is slow if we are meeting people one at a time. So you can increase your reach and duplicate your efforts by creating more efficiency, such as marketing more online, inviting more people into your sphere and serving them really well. And then we're going to talk about keeping in touch and nurturing those relationships in the next episode. But really today, what I want to focus on is how we can create greater marketing efficiency and be bringing new people into our sphere continually. And so if you want to be making more, you need to be inviting more people, more new people into your business all the time. And so we need to be constantly building new relationships, and we are not going to be able to grow very quickly. It's slow growth. But if you feel like you're frustrated with your pace of growth, it might be because of this, because you're marketing to the same people over and over. And it's time to expand that. Right. So we always, I don't care how long you, you've been in business, how large or small your business is, how much money you're making, how big your email list is, it doesn't matter. We need to be always inviting new people into our orbit. And so how do we do this? There's. We can do this in person and we can do this online. Right. And so in person, we want to be very intentional about meeting more people and starting business relationships with them. Right. Creating that relationship where they can get to know you, get to know your expertise, they can learn to trust you and like the way you do business. So think about where are all the places that you meet new people? Like, for me, it's like networking meetings, speaking engagements, podcasting. Well, that's not necessarily in person, but any, any way that I go anywhere, that I go anywhere, anywhere I show up, whether it's like at a community function, maybe I'm hanging out with the neighbors or playing bunko with the ladies, which I haven't done in a long time. I have done that before. As you know, you probably know, I play hockey. So, like, I'm always meeting people and getting to know my teammates, and they're getting to know me and meeting other people in that community. So think about for you, like, where are all the places that you meet people? And it doesn't just have to be like business networking events. Like, it can be anywhere where you like to show up, where there are other humans that could potentially be clients. And so think about where you might want to expand or amplify what you're already doing with meeting new people. And then I want you to think about when you meet someone new, you need to have a way to follow up with them so often. And I've done this myself so many times. This is why I talk about this. But I hear this from clients, too. Like, we go and we meet people and we have a connection with someone that, you know, we'd like to stay in touch with. And then we part and I don't have their information. Maybe they took my business card, but I have no way of following up with them. And I'm like, oh, shoot, I totally didn't even think about that. So make sure you intentionally have always have a way to be following up with people, whether that is collecting their business card or saying, oh, let's connect with each other on social media, and then doing that right then and there. So you find each other. Maybe it's exchanging texts. So I'll do that too. Like, it's, oh, I'll text you a link to my calendar. And so then I have their phone number, right? And then you've probably seen or heard all these. The mobile business cards going around. You could have that on your phone or a QR code, you know, on your phone as well, where people can scan or you can scan and get their information. So just always thinking about having a way to follow up with people. So then once you have that way of following up with them, I want you to actually follow up with them. And I see this happen so many times. And so you might relate. I have met with clients where they've showed me their stack of business cards that's on their desk or in a Ziploc bag in their purse or in a, you know, the glove box of their car or whatever. Like, we all collect these business cards and then do nothing with them, right? And that's not serving us. So if we want to be bringing in more opportunities, we have. Those are all potential opportunities, potential relationships, Right? So we need to treat them as such. Even if the person didn't say to us, oh, I need to talk to you right now. I'm going to buy from you. That's not necessarily what we are looking for. We are just looking for a connection. And so once we have that connection, we need to follow up with them and start that relationship going, right? And so I always send a follow up email or a social media message if we didn't, if I don't have their email or didn't collect their email address, if we just connected on, on social media and I always send a followup that says, you know, it was great to meet you, let's get together for coffee or a virtual coffee or whatever. I'd like to learn more about you and your business and how I can support you and you can put that in your own voice, your own style, but I just make it very short, very informal. I do also include my social media links on there, a link to my podcast, nothing where I'm asking anything from them other than, you know, I'd love to get together with you. Here's a link to my calendar if you want to schedule something. And just very informal that way and friendly. And then I leave it up to them to take that next step. And nine times out of 10 people will schedule that virtual coffee. And that's how we get to start getting to know each other. And that's the opportunity where I get to hear about them and their business, they get to hear about me and my business and it starts that relationship. And that's really all that we're doing at this stage, right? And I know this sounds so basic and we're like, oh, I totally know all of this. But it's, that's not the question. The question is, are we doing it? And I would say the majority of entrepreneurs I talk to are doing bits and pieces of this. But if we just tidy this up and are create a system where we're, we are capturing and honoring all of these relationships and these people that we meet, we will be bringing in more business, right? We will be identifying more opportunities. And so that's the next step here is to make sure you're creating that nurture plan where you, you know, meet up with them and you have the virtual coffee and then you have next steps, like, oh, you know, I just thought of a couple people that I should definitely put you in touch with. That's the next step. Or oh, you know, we should, you should come to this networking function with me. It would be a really great place to connect with your ideal clients. Some Sort of value that you're offering to them. Right. And that gets that relationship going and that's what we want to be thinking about. And then also you can nurture them, nurture those relationships with regular emails. And that's what I do. I have weekly emails that go out that are relationship building emails. And so I use an email service provider and like mailchimp. I don't use mailchimp now, but I used to, I started out with that. Or constant contact is another one. And so you can write one really valuable email and send it out to all the people in your network. Right. And so rather than doing one on one phone calls all the time or one on one meetings all the time to stay in touch, you can write one email and send it out and 50 people read it. Right. And so that's where you're going to gain that marketing efficiency. So that's for like in person connecting and relationship building. Now let's talk about online, because a lot of us are also networking online, myself included. I do networking online as well. And I got really good at this during the pandemic when I couldn't be networking in person and I was really mad. So I got over being mad about it and throwing my tantrum and I just decided to get on board and start networking online. So the nice part about networking online is that you don't have to get dressed up, you don't have to drive over to the event, you don't have to do it in the middle of a work day. You can be networking online any time of day or night from your couch. And so it really is a nice opportunity to connect with people in a way that is convenient, especially for parents and caregivers that maybe don't have the flexibility of going to a networking luncheon in the middle of the day. So I like to think of social media as a networking event. And so whatever social media platform you like, and I suggest you use whichever one you like because I'm not going to tell you to try to be on all of them because I don't think that's a great idea. It's we spread ourselves too thin and then we end up doing nothing. Or I'm not going to tell you there's one where you have to be because all of them work, there's people on all of them. And so if you feel at home in one on one of those platforms, I say just lean into that and enjoy that. And so if we think of I'm just going to use Facebook as an example okay, so think of Facebook as just like a huge networking event. And so you log in, you've got your feed there, and you, you know, can scroll through your feed and see what people are doing. And it's almost like walking up to them at a networking function and saying, hey, how are you? What are you doing? And you know, you see what they're doing and then you make comments on it. Oh, that's so amazing. I love to see this. You know, vacation pictures are so fun, or congratulations on the baby or I'm so sorry for the loss of your pet or whatever it is, Right? So I, I like to scroll through my feed and comment and just engage with people, have conversations. It doesn't have to be about business and it's not about selling anything. Right. It's just about engaging as a human with other humans. I hear people say to me, well, I can't. I'm not going to be posting about my business on my personal page. And that's completely fine. You don't ever have to post about your business on your personal page if you don't want to. But remember that your business and your work is part of who you are. It is probably either a third to a half of your waking hours of your days of your life are spent doing what you love in your business. So why not just talk about it? In that way you can talk about your business and about the work you do without selling. Right? People are so afraid of being salesy. Don't sell. Just talk about your, you know, what you love doing. You don't have to be selling it. And so just engage in conversation in your feed. I also, you can also follow your clients and connections and prospects and comment on their things. Right? Keep the conversation going. And that is, that builds relationships. If you think about the people that you see on social media, maybe they're, you know, I know for me, it's like people that I graduated high school with and really people, that was a lot. I graduated a long time ago. And the people that I see on social media, I feel like we're still friends. Like, even if I haven't seen them and, you know, I don't know how long it's been, 30 years or something. Like, I still feel like we're friends because I see them on social media. I see what their children are doing, I see the vacations they're taking. Like, I'm connected with them just by interacting with them on social media. And so some of them, I know what kind of work they do. Some I don't I personally am always interested in what my connections on social media are doing for work. I'm always fascinated, even with people like that I play hockey with. Like, I love sitting down with them and hearing about their work and they tell me. And I'm just fascinated by the kinds of jobs that people do, the kinds of businesses that people start. It's always fascinating to me and, and so I love reading about that on social media and your friends and connections might also. So just consider that. Anyway, so just think of that, of social media as a networking event and you can even post sometimes, right? I know a lot of us just like to scroll through and comment and not really post and that's fine, but you can post also. I also do a lot of networking in Facebook groups and once again, I do not do any selling in Facebook groups. I only do networking and value creation. I like to think of myself and the work I do in the Facebook groups as a resource. So if there's a question about marketing or a question about business building, I, I'll answer it. Even if there's 329 other comments in the last hour, I don't care. I like to think of myself as showing up there to offer value and maybe the one thing I have to say will be super helpful. And so sometimes that, you know, people will reach out to me from that and sometimes they won't and it doesn't matter. I'm still going to show up and offer value wherever I go and think of myself as a resource and a help to somebody. And so the beauty of doing that in Facebook groups is, yeah, you are answering a question for the person that posted the question, but also you are speaking to everyone that comes after that person that reads that string of responses. And so it is a way to meet new people and to bring new people in and you don't have to sell at all. Because what happens when someone reads what I have to say and they find it valuable? Guess what they do? They come and check me out on my profile. And on my profile I say very clearly what I do, who I am. And so from there they can, you know, find my podcast, podcast, find my website, check me out even more. And so that's how the relationship gets started online. And I have multiple, multiple, multiple times gotten clients this way. And just by showing up and networking online, you can also use hashtags when you're posting on say, LinkedIn or Instagram. If you're using hashtags that will give you a greater reach where you are Accessing and post your posts and your content that you're creating will be seen by people that don't already know you, that aren't following you, that aren't your friends on social media. So that's a great way to meet new people. And so what I want you to do about that with that is just to think about hashtags that your best fit client might use when they are on social media. And so for example, what I think about, so I obviously I work with women growing their businesses. I am located in Colorado, in Northern Colorado. And so some of the clients that you know, my best fit clients might use hashtags like Mom Life hashtag Mom Life or hashtag Northern Colorado or hashtag Support small business. Like those are just three off the top of my head that I think of. But think about what your best fit client might be using as hashtags and you can experiment with those, right? So also to meet new people online, you can offer a freebie or it's also called a lead magnet, which is basically some sort of free thing that you give away to people in exchange for their name and email address. And you can give something that is very gives them a quick win that is valuable to them, that is of value to your best fit client. So for example, you could do like a checklist if you were a, say you're in real estate, a realtor, you could do like a How to buy a home in Northern Colorado checklist. I mean I'm just off the top of my head, I don't know if that one would be relevant. But you know your clients. So like a checklist or you've seen lots of personality tests maybe online like the Disc Profile or the Myers Briggs or the Enneagram, you can find free personality tests all over and those are freebies. So you take the personality test and then you have to give your name and email address in order to receive the results. Right? So that's a freebie. Or you could do a free trial. So if you have like a membership or a program or a software or a book or something, not a book actually wouldn't work for a book, but maybe like if you did a free chapter or something. But you can always do like a free preview or a free trial and there's lots of different ideas, but you can use that to bring new people in to onto your email list and build your list. And so that is an amazing way because if you think about this is this is how you gain marketing efficiency when you're meeting new people Online. So even if you're like going into Facebook groups and things, you can offer your freebie to people that it might help. So for example, I have a freebie that is the 12 brilliant marketing content ideas. And so if I was in a Facebook group and someone was like, how do you generate ideas for your content? I could say, well, I have, you know, a free guide for that. Let me know if, if you want it and I'd be happy to send it to you. So, but also back to what I was saying about efficiency. This is a great way to create efficiency because I have a freebie that I attract close to a hundred new people a month onto my email list with this freebie. And so that's like three people, say approximately three people a day, right? But there's no way, I guess there is a way, but I, I wouldn't be able to do the rest of my work to add three new people into my network doing networking functions or doing one on one networking. Right, that would be a lot of networking. So I can be meeting people in person and doing the one on one networking and really enjoying that, but not expecting that I have to do like three a day and then also have this freebie going where I'm attracting like a hundred new people a month on my email list. And so that is a really great opportunity for marketing efficiency. So you're reaching more people, you're increasing your reach and then creating more opportunities for yourself and your business. And so if you have any questions about that, what all of that requires, let me know. And also I would recommend that you join me for my upcoming Attract and Convert event in December. It's an online five day. Well, it's just an hour a day. Five days. Five days during a week in the December 5th through 9th. And I'm going to be teaching about all of this and exactly how to do it. So I would recommend you do that because I'm not going to go into all the details of that now. Plus it would be really helpful to see it in action. And you can't see me. So, so yeah, that, those are really, that's what I wanted to talk to you today about is really how to bring new people into your spher and that if you want to be growing your business faster than it's growing now, we need to be bringing new people in. And so those are some ways both online and in person that you can be growing your network, growing your sphere of connections, growing your opportunities, growing your potential clients. And once you have connections with these people you can build relationships, they learn to trust you and. And then they want to buy from you. Right? So next week, next time on the Next Episode, we will be talking all about how to nurture and grow these relationships and what you need to be doing with all of these people once they're in your network, on your email list, you know, connections with you on social media. I'm going to talk about how you can nurture and grow those relationships so that they eventually want to become your clients, the ones that are the best fit for you. So that's what I have for you today, my friends. I hope this has been helpful and of course, please reach out to me on social media if you have questions about this. This is something I'm very passionate about, each and every one of you really learning and taking to heart because it will help you to grow your business and grow the amount of clients that you're bringing in. So let's get going. Okay? And I hope you have a great rest of your day, a fabulous week. And I will talk to you again next time. Bye. If you like this podcast, then you have got to sign up for my free on demand video training, Grow youw Sales Doing what yout Love. Where I Teach in depth. My simple process that you can implement right away to harness your mindset and your skills to grow your sales to whatever level you want. So go grab that now. The link is in the show notes and I'll see you next time.