After getting all the training and credentialing they need, too often new businesses and professionals simply throw up a shingle and wait for clients to come flooding in. When that doesn’t work, they go to workshops telling them to “sell yourself” to get business (which makes most of us cringe, right?). Well, I’m going to ask you to stop that. Just stop it! What you want to do instead is “serve, don’t sell.”.
Though I wish I had invented this concept, I didn’t. The “serve, don’t sell” philosophy is used by many business giants you know, like Whole Foods, Apple, and Ikea. Business gurus call it “relationship marketing” or “content marketing.” I call it “engagement marketing” because the focus is on engaging your community. (You may not even know who “your community is just yet but hang in with me.)
You don’t have to take my word for it. Do your research.
This type of marketing is the new “new” of best practices. Down the road, someone will undoubtedly come up with another best practice. My goal is to be the first in my area to adopt these best practices and apply them. It’s your job too if you want to have consistent income and clients flocking to you. Right now, that best practice is engagement marketing.
Engaging people, creating a relationship with them doesn’t happen just by sending out postcards or a newsletter every month. It doesn’t happen by putting an ad in the local paper with a discount coupon. To establish true connections and relationships and to engage people in your community, you need to go deeper, get more creative, and offer more value than that.
In the good old days, real estate agents used to hit the golf course to schmooze and “build relationships.” I’ve seen financial planners and business consultants trolling networking events with the specific purpose of giving out zillions of business cards to anyone they could corner. I’ve seen chiropractors give “wellness seminars” that just turn out to be sales pitches for their own services.
The practice of engagement marketing is nothing like that.
As a Community Market Leader®, you’re going to engage people and build relationships by offering your knowledge and outstanding service. And you’re going to do it in a way that reaches zillions of people yet still has a very personal touch.
I know this works because I’ve done it and people I’ve trained have done it. When I show up to a listing appointment, people act like they’ve known me for years. Even if I’ve never met them, they treat me as a good, trustworthy friend just because I’ve offered tons of information and service through social media and other marketing avenues.
When I do a phone interview with a prospective coaching client, sometimes the only question they ask is, “How soon can we start?” They’ve read my books or watched my free videos and already feel like I’ve already contributed to their success. They’re fully engaged with me before I even open my mouth!
Wouldn’t you prefer to have a client show up to their first appointment with you totally trusting you and committed to working with you?
When they already know the value you can give, that’s what happens.
You can be the nicest person in the world, but the person your community will flock to is the one who has the expertise and who they see as the authority in your field. We all do that. We want to work with people we like, but when it comes down to it, we pick a dentist, a surgeon, even a manicurist based on their expertise, not just their personality, right?
You have to become an expert, so you have valuable knowledge to share with your clients and community. Engagement marketing is a part of developing trust from your community. People will want to work with you because they like you and trust you even before they meet you face to face. You’ve given them a lot without asking for anything in return. You’re their go-to authority.
