What Drug Dealers Do That Can Help You Land More Clients
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 8:36AMDo you sell your knowledge, experience and expertise to others? If you generate income from speaking, teaching, or training, then you should read the following.
How do you convince people that you have what it takes to bring on the ruckus--you know, to really rock their world? What makes people want to be your customers? You might be inclined to say, "Well, I tell people what I do and how I'm different."
But everyone else does this.
It's not that special. When you listen to yourself describe your services, you hear valuable details and dynamism. To you, your words flow beautifully, are enticing, and smell as sweet as lavender.
You know what others hear?
"I'm so great. Buy from me. Blah. Blah. Blah." See, it becomes just a bunch of noise to them. They've heard it all before, and you need to take a different approach.
If you're as good as you say you are, and you've got what it takes, then prove it.
This is where my analogy of the sale of illicit substances comes into play.
If you're in the business of selling your knowledge, you have to give your market a free taste. Show them what you're made of. Prove that you're better than the rest of the riff raff out there. If you're so confident in what you offer, then lay a little on the line without any obligation or commitment from the other party.
This is not a gimmick. If you read on, I'll go over specific examples of how to inject that little bit of oomph into your marketing.
The Personal MBA
Making Ideas Happen
The Education of Millionaires
Brainfluence
The 4-Hour Body
These are five non-fiction books that I own. Before any of these books had been purchased, I had already listened to interviews with the authors. I had read articles or blog posts they had written. In most cases, I had seen a few videos of them speaking.
In the past several years, I've paid for online courses on Google Analytics, Adwords, Search Engine Optimization, and marketing strategies.
Guess what.
I knew exactly what I was getting into and had already been introduced to content from each of these providers beforehand.
I had sampled what they had to offer, and I wanted more.
There's a reason why Amazon lets you preview select content in books and why so many services give you a 30-day trial before committing to a subscription. Because it works!
What can you do to land more clients?
Suppose you have a range of info products for sale in a variety of formats: textbooks, ebooks, workbooks, DVDs, mp3s etc. You can easily take the free sample approach to either of these.
Allow people to view sample chapters or give them access to an introductory course lesson. Upload and share your slideshow presentation on your own website, Facebook page, or on slideshare.net
If you're trying to book speaking engagements, why not provide clips of yourself speaking right on your website? If you're not in a position where you have command of large groups of people yet, get plugged in to something like an Ignite event nearby, and get someone to record you (Incidentally, I found out about speaker and author, Scott Berkun, through a clip of an Ignite talk he gave. Now I own two of his books).
Does this guarantee success? Nope. Not at all.
But if you're as good as you say you are, it's a great way to get people hooked.
Go ahead. Give'em a taste.
Of course, implementing tactics without a plan isn't going to be good for business. It's not going to be good for anybody. A lot of time can be wasted flitting between this web tactic and that new platform. Leave a comment below, and let us know what approaches you have taken to get clients to want more.
Reader Comments (2)
Thank you for the insite, you have given me something to think about. And I can't wait to try implement this form of communication with my clients.
That's good to hear, Amanda. Thanks. Be sure to share your client experiences with us.