058. How to Keep in Touch and Nurture Relationships

Well, hello. Hello, my friends. How are you? Hope you're having a fabulous day wherever you are, whatever time of day this finds you in. We're going rogue a little bit today. It is, let's see, the week after Thanksgiving and I am recording this kind of last minute before it goes live in a few days. And because of that, I am not really going to have the luxury of having an editor other than me to handle this episode. So we're going rogue a little bit. I have been sick for, I don't know, the past week or more since I got sick before Thanksgiving. As so many of you and so many people I've talked to, we're all like fighting this upper respiratory virus, whatever it is. It's all different things, I suppose, but I just haven't had the voice or the energy to be recording my podcast. So it hasn't happened. And you probably still hear a little congestion in my voice, so pardon that, but I wanted to record this podcast for you. I missed getting an episode out. I guess it was the week before last. And so I am back. And even if we have to go rogue and DIY this thing, I am here and I'm here to provide you with so much value today because we're going to talk about keeping in touch and nurturing relationships. And as I've been talking about this entire Q4, I want to just share all my best knowledge and practices and tools and tricks and tips and all the things to help you bring in more clients in Q4 and beyond. And so this episode, since I don't have an intro, I'm going to do my own little intro live. This episode is being brought to you by my live online event that's starting on Monday, December 5th. So it's not too late for you to join us. The event is attract and convert 2023. I'm going to be helping you to create a plan on how you're going to create all the clients and revenue that you want in 2023. We're going to come up with a plan that is focused and doable and something that will give you all that clarity. So you're always know what you should be doing. I know sometimes we get in this frame of mind like I don't know where the clients are coming from. I don't know what I should be focusing on. Well, we are going to. I'm going to walk you through my process for creating a super actionable, doable marketing plan that's going to take away all of that drama. It's going to have a plan you're going to be able to follow day by day, week by week, month by month, quarter by quarter to achieve your goals for next year. I am creating this plan for myself and my business as well. So it's going to be so exciting and so fun. And we've got a great group in there of small businesses, entrepreneurs that are great at the service they provide, the products they sell, but not as great with the marketing and the, the businessing of things. And so I'm going to help you to just really demystify all of that and create a plan for your marketing for 2023 that feels great for you and is doable and that you can actually follow. Like, let's not create a plan that we're gonna put on the shelf and never look at. Let's create a plan that we can actually follow and have fun with. So that's what we're doing. If you would like to join us, I would love to have you there. You can Visit my website, melissamkellog.com and sign up. There is a link right there on the home page for attract and convert and I hope to see you there. We're doing replays every day, so if you can't make it, we're meeting for 60 minutes in the morning at 9am Mountain Time, which is 11am Eastern Time. We'll be meeting each morning, Monday through Friday at that time for one hour. I'll be teaching and then we'll also be implementing and creating your plan right there on the spot. So there's no extensive homework or anything. Just come spend an hour with me. We're going to get your plan all created, get all your questions answered and have you all set for a fabulous 2023. Got it. Okay, so today we are going to be covering how to keep in touch and nurture relationships. So really, I have boiled down, I don't know, my 17 plus years of experience in marketing and sales, sales and growing a small business, to these two things that you always, always need to be thinking about and intentionally doing in your business in order to move the ball forward, in order to be achieving your goals. Number one is you always have to be bringing new people into your business, into your sphere, into your orbit. Right? And it's not that they have to be like people that are ready to buy today, it's just we always need to be bringing in new connections, new people. And then once we have all these people here, we need to be nurturing those relationships. And marketing is all about creating connections and relationships with other humans and letting them know what we do and how we do it so that when they need our service or when they know someone that does, then they are going to either work with us or refer us, right? So we talked last time in episode number 57 about bringing in the new people. Bringing in new people, always into your sphere. Even if you have a wonderful referral business, I still believe that you should always be bringing in new people. Even if it's your current clients that are introducing you to new people. That is a huge blessing. And so always to be thinking about, like, how can I encourage more of that, right? And how can I amplify that? And there's lots of ways to do that, but we always need to be bringing those new people in. And we talked about that last time. So if you haven't listened to that episode number 57, I recommend you go and listen to that one and then come back here. Because now that we've created all these connections, we've added these people to our network, whether we're meeting them online or in person, now what are we going to do with them? Right? We want to be showing up for them and building those relationships, allowing them to get to know us, allowing them to see our expertise and experience our expertise. And so that's what we're going to talk about today of how we do that. So I am going to move forward here in my notes. And the way that we do that is by providing value. And so relationships need three things to grow. They need, number one, consistency, number two, frequency, and number three, they need value, right? So we always need to be. We need to have a plan to be consistent, consistently, frequently showing up for our audience, for our network with value. These can also be our greatest challenges, right? So we're going to talk about that today, like how we create this plan and continue growing these relationships. And so, first of all, as you know, I always am talking about the mindset behind all of this, right? So the first way we can set ourselves up for success in nurturing these relationships is to remember why it's important, right? People will buy from us because they know us, like us, trust us, and that is all the point of nurturing, right? So if we want to be growing our business, growing our revenue, we need to be nurturing these relationships. And then next we need to create a plan. Okay? We have the desire, we've made a decision, we're going to be nurturing these relationships. Now, what's our plan? And so that's what we're going to talk about as well, and then putting a system in place to set ourselves up for success. So whether that's using technology, whether that's creating, you know, putting these things on the calendar, whatever it is that we can do to create a system and set ourselves up for success, let's consider that. So first of all, let's talk about why we create content. Content is one way to offer value, right? And so it's also part of creating and building the relationship. So we want to be offering value to show our expertise. We want to be creating value in order to grow the relationship, to serve our audience, our network. Because once they experience our expertise and our value, then they're going to want to pay us, right? They're going to want to hire us and work with us. So creating content is part of that building that relationship and showing our expertise. And it's also like continuing the conversation. So if you meet someone in person at a networking event and they subscribe to your email list, you want it to be like you're continuing the conversation that you had at the networking meeting, right? It's not just about selling and pushing your stuff on people. It's about continuing that conversation. And, and what that takes is really knowing and getting into the heads of your best fit clients. And we're going to talk about that and how we do that. And so then when they receive content from us or see a post, receive an email, watch a video, it's like we're continuing that conversation like we're in their head. We know and understand them. And so valuable content is very focused on who we're creating it for. It's not focused on us and talking about us, us, us. It's thinking about them and talking to them and helping them solve their problems, right? So to that end, valuable content, what is valuable content? It is that value is determined by the client, right? It's determined by what they need, what they want, and what is delightful or beneficial to them. And so we always want to be like, I was just saying, thinking about them, getting into their head, what are they thinking, what are they feeling, what are the situations they're finding themselves in that I can help them solve for, right? Invaluable content is also defined and determined by you. You are going to create your own unique brand of valuable and a value. And that all is as a product of your why? Your personality, your business value and your personal value, right? And what you bring to the table, all of your experiences, your knowledge, your education, it all comes together in this beautiful package of value that we get to offer to our best fit clients. And you may hear me pausing, I have to apologize because I have to pause the recording so I can cough. But thankfully I'm not coughing on the recording. So just a little P.S. there. If you notice some weird pauses, that might be because I'm pausing the recording. So bear with me. Okay, so how do I use content? So we're thinking about serving our audience, the people in our network, and what are all the ways that I can use it? Right. So any ideas that we come up with today, you can use these in many different places. For example, in conversations. So if you're talking to people at networking events or if you get to do like a, you know, 30, 30 second commercial or like a, you know, elevator speech or a little introduction when you're in a group, this is any of this content that we develop and that we think about can be used in arenas like that, in email, of course, as I think I've talked to you before, I'm a huge proponent of email marketing and using email as a vehicle to keep in touch. And so you can use content and this value that we're creating in your email outreach and also on social media, any content, you can always repurpose and adapt it for your social media, for posts, for videos. Even if you're thinking about getting involved in Facebook groups. I know we've talked about that in episode 57. You can use some of the work that we're doing today in Facebook group searches because there's going to be certain words and phrases and feelings or issues that your ideal clients are having and that will help you to find them, find those people and find those posts within Facebook groups. So consider that. So next is how do we create great, and I put in parentheses valuable content? So we're going to talk a little bit about that now. It really is all about focusing on your best fit client, like really getting into their head, knowing what they're thinking, feeling, experiencing and speaking to that, letting them know that you understand where they're coming from. You understand their issues, their desires, what they want, what they most want. And then you speak to that because you can help them get there. Right? And so one of the exercises that I love to do myself and with my clients is all about getting into the head of your best fit client by thinking about three things. Number one, I want you to think about and even write down. Obviously not if you're driving, but if you're not driving or at another time, write down what does your client Most want in regards obviously, to the service or product that you provide. Right. And just state it in one simple sentence like, my best fit client most wants to have a profitable, successful business. And obviously depends on how they define that without sacrificing their health and their relationships. I can say for certain, I don't know, 100% of my clients, I would think, want that. Right. And so that's what my clients most want. Okay, so state that. And then number two, you want to think where they are now before they work with you. Like, what are all the situations, what are the thoughts they're having, the situations they're in, what feelings are they having about the situation before they work with you? And state it in their words. Right? So maybe they're feeling frustrated or feeling overwhelmed or. Or the situation they find themselves in is trying a lot of different solutions and none of them are really working. And they're thinking, maybe I am not good at this, I don't know how to do this. There's no hope for me. But maybe they're also determined, maybe they're also willing to find a solution. They're also motivated, like all the different thoughts, feelings and, and situations that they're finding themselves experiencing. Right. And use their words. And then number three, I want you to think about what are all the thoughts, feelings, places they're going to be after having worked with you, after having hired you, after having bought your solution or having hired you to help them solve their problem or get them what they want. Right? So after having worked with you, maybe they're feeling like there's hope for them or they're feeling like the weight is off their shoulders. They can trust that you are going to lead them and advise them, and maybe they're relieved that they have a guide to help them on this journey. What are all the situations, thoughts and feelings they're having after working with you? Okay. And this is such a great exercise, like I said, to really get into a place where you're really thinking about your best fit client. So after you've answered those three questions, then I want you to think about what are all the. So you think about a bridge, right? You and your business, the way you do business is their bridge. It's their bridge from before they worked with you to the after they work with you or after they hire you. Right? Your solution, the way you provide it, is that bridge. So think about all the planks or steps on that bridge. And I love a picture of like one of those, you know, park bridges that are really, you Know, footbridge where it has all the planks in it. And like, each one of those planks is part of the solution that you provide, part of the service that you provide. And so what are all of those steps along that way, along that bridge that gets them from that before picture to that after picture? Okay. And so these planks in this bridge and as well as all the before parts and all the after parts, those are all pieces of content that you can develop, right? And really take your reader, your listener, your viewer, however you are speaking or communicating this value, you can take them into this picture of what they're feeling, experiencing, thinking, before they hire you, the process that you take your clients through and then how they're feeling in this on the other side. Right? So that can all be ideas of content. And we're going to talk more specifically about how you can use that, for example. Okay, so actually, I'm getting ahead of myself. So that's the first step, right in, in really creating valuable content is, number one, getting into the head of your best fit client, really understanding who they are, what they're thinking, what they're feeling, what they're going through, and speaking to them there in that place and talking to them about the steps that you take them through to get them to the other side. All right? And then step two in creating value is really allowing others to know, to get to know you, to learn how to trust you. And this is a really important piece in this modern. In our modern economy. There's so much distrust and you know, of businesses, of professionals that we really, in order to overcome that really want to allow others to get to know us. And we may not be for everyone, and that's okay, right? Some people might not like me or my approach, and I'm fine with that. Right. There's plenty of other people that will that do. And those are the ones I want to focus on. I want to allow those that do want to be here to know me and to learn to trust me. And so the ways that you can do that. There's four ways that I have thought of. Number one is to think about three things that you really enjoy talking about, writing about, and that you could, like, talk about all day long, right. Maybe it's your hobbies or your interests or your family. So for me, like things outside of work, right? I mean, obviously we can talk about our work, and we're great about that, but in addition to that, that allow people to get to know us a little better. So for me, it's like hockey Like, I could talk about hockey all day long. You're lucky. This is not a hockey podcast, so I won't start. But hockey, my family, you know, I know you all have. If you follow me on social media, which I highly recommend, connecting with me there, you'll see pictures of my dog, of my kids, and that's a huge part of my life, of my family. I have a lot of family here in town, locally, and I spend a lot of time with them. And so that's a big part of my life. And so let's see, what else is a big part of my life. I do a lot of, like, social events, like networking and going out and meeting people, and I post a lot about that because I really love meeting new people and. And being part of our business community, our local community. So those are just, like, some things that come to me off the top of my head that allow others to get to know me as a person. Right. Number two to. In allowing others to get to know you is tell stories. Like, whether you're telling stories about the work that you're doing or telling stories about experiences you've had in your life, maybe that have fed into the work that you do or the expertise that you have. Stories, the. I don't know where the quote comes from, but I just love it. Like, a picture speaks a thousand words and a story speaks a thousand pictures. So anytime you can tell stories, I think it's just such a great way to connect with people, whether you're in person or, you know, connecting with people through email or online. Just be a collector and teller of stories. And number three, another great way to allow others to get to know you is to teach something. If you think about whether it's through social media or even in your emails, you could teach others how to do something that maybe is super easy for you and comes naturally to you, but it's hard for others. For example, I guess this is probably another interest I have that I didn't talk about earlier, but I'm really. I am really interested in makeup and fashion for myself, especially as I get older and, like, fashions and makeup changes. But during the pandemic, I had a friend of mine ask me for a makeup tutorial. I don't do this often, but I did. It just brought that to mind. I do. And so I recorded a makeup tutorial for her for doing Zoom calls. Because she's like, yeah, in person, in the office, like, I don't think about it. But when I'm on Zoom and I have to look at myself. You know, it's like, you notice it might be nice to put on a little makeup. And so she asked me for that, and so I did that. So. And I posted that on social media. And so maybe there's something you might like to teach. Whether it's, I don't know, a recipe, something with food. That's what I always think about because I love cooking. But just something that allows other people to get to know you, where it's not like this awkward thing where you're trying to talk about yourself or talk about your work. You can teach people something that has nothing to do with the work that you do. Or maybe it does. Like, I was just talking to a realtor client of mine about decorating, and she's going to do some work, some create some content around decorating, and it obviously ties into the work that she does as a real estate agent. But it's not like, directly related to Buy My Stuff. Buy My Stuff. Like, it's a way for people to get to know her in a much more friendly, kind of fun way. And then number four in allowing others to get to know you is to show your face. And I know that a lot of us have resistance to showing our face on social media, but maybe it just takes a little change of thinking. I was talking to a client yesterday who said this thing to me, like, I don't like showing my face on social media. I don't want to put a whole bunch of pictures of myself up on my social media. And I was like, fine. That's totally fine. You don't have to do that. But if you walk into the grocery store and this person, their work is in a local area, so it's very possible this could happen. That you walk into a grocery store and you run into five clients while you're in the grocery store. Are you gonna, like, put a. Put a bag over your head and not show your face? Like, of course not. Of course you're going to show your face. You're in the grocery store. You might not be all dressed up for work, but you're just being a regular human out in the world and letting other humans see you and you're interacting with them, Right? And so being able to, you know, if you had a bag on your head, it would be very awkward if you never were to show your face. Right? And of course you're not going to do that. But I just thought of that as kind of an interesting comparison. Like, why are we so afraid of people seeing us online when, if we walked into the grocery store and saw 20 of our clients. We wouldn't cover our face. We would just, like, walk through the store and be like, hey, how are you? Oh, it's so nice to see you. How are you doing? How's your kids? You know, whatever. You would be interacting and enjoying those interactions and not even thinking twice about that. People were actually looking at your face. So just something to think about. Okay, so another way that you can develop content, could develop value is to think about using content pillars. And content pillars are just a nice guide, a way of thinking about creating value and creating content that kind of brings together what we've been talking about. And so if it helps you to organize your content and, like, have some more guidance, this might be useful to you. So I have clients that really respond to this type of planning. Like, if I say, you know, we're going to develop content around these three things, then that's very easy for them. But then other people, like myself, I have to admit, I don't like having guides. Like, I just want to let inspiration drive me. And if I feel like posting on, you know, doing five days of post just on my, you know, allowing people to get to know me and fun stuff and no posts about the work that I do, you know, that's fine. So you have to have some discernment and some understanding of what works best for you. And I have tried it all the different ways. And so what I found for me is to, I don't have guides. I just post based on what I want to talk about that day. And that works for me. Right? And so because it's not about the content that you're creating, it's about the value. And I have had people tell me that, you know, the content, you know, what I create, if I write something, write an email, write a post, that that's valuable to them. I've also had people tell me that just hearing my voice is valuable to them. Like, they didn't even care what I was saying necessarily. But just hearing my voice is so soothing to them that that's the value. They get value from that, right? So it's not one thing or one way that is going to, that is going to create value. It's all the ways, right? It's all the parts of you all brought together that are valuable to your best fit client. So. So that's the caveat. You don't have to use content pillars, but I'm going to just offer it because it might just give you some guidance and some Structure that will be helpful for you, but if it doesn't work for you, just throw it in the trash and move on. Right? So you can create content in these three spheres. These are, would be the three content pillars I would suggest for you. The first one is elements of you. So think about that, allowing people to get to know you and those three things, you know, that, that you're interested in talking about. So that would be say one third of your posts. The second third would be elements of your expertise. So thinking about all the ways that you do business that are unique to you. And unique meaning not the only way, you know, the only person in the entire planet, but just like you have specific ways that you do business that your clients absolutely love. And just talking about that, talking about the, the specific knowledge or experience that you have, you can do some content around that. And then thirdly, elements of your company. And so, you know, if you have, if you're part of a more, you know, corporate head, like for example, as think about a real estate agent, right? A real estate agent does work and in their own particular way. Like they buy and sell homes, whether it's in a particular area or they work with investors, or maybe they only work with new home buyers. Like, you know, they have elements of their expertise, but then they are part of like this larger real estate company, for example, like whether, whether it was Berkshire Hathaway or I don't know why, that's the only one that's coming to my head right now. Keller Williams, you know, so there's elements of that corporate head that you could talk about. So those are just three examples of content pillars that you could use. I mean, you could switch yours out for, you know, elements of you, elements of your expertise and then elements of your industry. Right? You could talk about your industry, what's going on. Maybe if you're in real estate, you're talking about the housing market or you know, just pick like three major things that you can always easily be developing content around and those could be your pillars. And then it gives you a little bit of structure. But like I said before, you don't have to do that. It's just I find it to be helpful to some people. And then when we're thinking about marketing topic ideas, now I have a. See, I'm just looking back to find which episode. Oh, it's episode number 36 of this podcast is 12 brilliant marketing topic ideas. So you can refer back to that also for really great content ideas and how to create value. And I'll just Go over a couple of the. Couple of those right now because it's kind of fun. But that is another great resource for ideas to create value. So you can think about things like what are all the questions you hear most often from your clients or potential clients about the work that you do, or even about friends and family. You know, what are the most often asked questions and create content around those. Right. Or another idea might be list the most common problems that your clients are experiencing before they work with you. And this kind of goes back to that exercise we talked about earlier. And you can use all of those as content ideas. You could also list the top objections that you hear during sales conversations. So all the objections, list them. Those are all ideas for pieces of content. You don't have to do one piece of content that lists all the objections. Right. But you can break it up into whether it's categories or specific, specific objections and talk about those, discuss those in your content. And then also, telling client stories is always a great piece of value. Like I said before that pictures speak a thousand words and stories speak a thousand pictures. So if you're telling stories about your clients, it really helps others and potential clients to put themselves in that story and to really see themselves there in your solution. And that can be very compelling and very valuable and helpful to, for people to understand how you can help them. So what I would Recommend, I have 5 pro tips for you in creating value and nurturing relationships. Number one is to remember in your content, and this is part of being valuable, is knowing how to keep it simple and keep the most complex ideas simple and state the obvious. I think a lot of times we're so deep in our expertise that we forget that most of the rest of the world, and certainly a lot of times our best fit clients are not that deep in. So we have to pull ourselves out of that deepness and really connect back to the simplicity of the work that we do. And when you do that, it makes you so much more approachable. People aren't intimidated by your knowledge and expertise. And so if you can use words that your people use rather than using, you know, I'm sorry, your people, meaning your best fit clients, rather than using words that your industry uses, it makes you so much more approachable. So that's pro tip number one. Number two is make creating content and creating value easy for yourself. Set yourself up for success. So that is creating goals for yourself. Like I want to, you know, have one email a week and three social media posts like, set those goals for yourself. And then Create a system that's going to work for you to get that done. And if the goal is too daunting, dial it back. If three social media posts a week is too much for you, it's okay, don't worry about it. Dial it back to one and set yourself up for success so that you can experience multiple weeks of success. And once you do that, you build your confidence and you're like, wait, I probably could do two posts a week. Like, it's not a big deal, right? And then you will get up to that 3, 7 posts, whatever you want, ultimately, you'll get there. But when we set ourselves up for success, rather than setting ourselves up for failure, we get so much more traction on our goals. Okay, so number three is to remember that done is better than perfect. And perfectionism for me has been such a stumbling block. It has been something I've been working on for decades and decades, and I feel like I'm finally getting traction on it because of this thought that done is better than perfect. Like, no one out there is going to know that whatever I created isn't perfect. They might notice some spelling errors or like on this podcast, I might say, or cough or whatever, but that's okay. Like, I'm a human. The value is not found in the perfection. The value is in the actual content that I have created. Right? Yes, we want to do our best, and yes, we want to think through what we want to say. We don't want to provide misinformation. But I think there is a line there between doing our best and putting it out there and waiting until perfection is present. Because really, people, perfection is unattainable. So we're always going to have to be accepting things that aren't perfect, because it's not. Perfection is not attainable. So find your place where. And I've had to do this myself, where I constrain myself and the amount of time that I spend on something, and I instead just create it. I, you know, give myself one edit, two edit, three edits, whatever it is, and then I put it out. So, like, when I record a video, I give myself three takes and that's it. Like, I get to try it three times and then pick the best one. And usually when I go back and watch all three takes, I'm like, oh, they're all pretty good. Like, they're fine. They would have been fine with the first one. Or if it's writing an email or a post, like, give yourself a specific amount of time and then let it be. Just put it out there because done is always better than perfect. Because perfection is unattainable, right? So the next one, number four, is to always be posting, creating, thinking about your client and writing, speaking to your best fit client. Not to your critics, to your boss, if you have one, to your competitors, to the industry insiders. Those are not the people that we're posting for. We're posting for our best fit client and helping and serving and loving them. And the critics and the competitors, they can all go fly a kite, right? We're not posting for their benefit, we're posting for the benefit and for the value and for the service of our client. So just keep that in mind. Anytime you're creating value, it's for them. Think about who it's for, right? And then fifth, most of all, have fun. Like really pick things and create value in ways that it's fun for you, okay? Because that's the energy you're going to bring to it. And that energy is so much more attractive than this energy of, oh my gosh, I just hate doing this. Right? So find the fun and the money will follow, I promise. It works every time. So this, my friends, is my little masterclass for you and how to keep in touch and nurture relationships and create great, valuable content. And so I'm going to, next time we're going to be talking about creating irresistible offers and then following that, I really want to talk with you about how to bring all of this together and create an executable plan. And furthermore, I'm going to, this will be my little outro, remind you that if you want to bring this all together in a really great executable plan that you can follow day by day, week by week, I want you to join me in the attract and convert 2023 live online event. Starting December 5th, replays are available. You will be receiving a replay on email every day. So if you can't make it or can't stay the whole time, no worries. I want to make sure you, you get all of the learning, all of the coaching. We're going to be working together to put your completely doable, simple marketing plan together for 20. So I invite you to join me for that. The link to register is on my website, melissamkellog.com and hopefully it'll be in the show notes too. And that's what I have for you today. So I wish you a fabulous day. Thank you for putting up with my raspy voice as I recover from being sick. And thank you for putting up with us going rogue on this podcast today. It's kind of fun. All right, you have a great day. Have a great week. I'll talk to you next time. Bye.