What are you currently offering your potential clients for free? Do you have at least one irresistible offer that will make your ideal clients feel like they need to sign up (i.e. opt in) right away so that they can access this great information?
If not, then you are doing your business a great disservice. Giving at least one killer offer to your potential clients for free is the surest (and easiest) way to turn them into actual paying clients.
Your irresistible free offer should be just that... something your ideal clients can't NOT sign up for. You need to be sure that you've hit their "hot button" issue: something for free that solves a problem for them and alleviates their pain. And the more urgent the problem you can solve for them, the better!
Your free offer will work in your favor in many ways. First, you position yourself as an expert. When a person is on your list, it gives you a chance to show off your expertise. And people buy from people whom they perceive as an expert-someone who is skilled at something that they themselves need to learn to move forward.
The second part of the puzzle is that you start to create a relationship with your potential clients. And in this modern age of marketing, this is the name of the game!
Entrepreneur=Relationship-Builder
You now know that the best thing you can do as a business owner is to have a great, core free offer. But the key is to KEEP giving your potential clients great free information until they turn into actual paying clients.
Why does this work?
Because while you are giving away these great freebies, you are building a relationship and creating trust with your potential clients while simultaneously cementing your expert status.
Let's face it: everyone is bombarded with advertisements from companies wanting them to part with their money. The surest way to get and hold a potential client's attention is to create and cultivate this all-important relationship.
Would you rather buy from a friend (someone you trust), or someone you don't know from Adam?
It is your number one job as an entrepreneur to create and cultivate this all-important relationship, so that you become that someone your potential clients come to trust.
Now, it's important to remember that some people may become purchase a product or service of yours after receiving your first freebie offer. Some may be on your list for a little while and because or your relationship with them, purchase later on. Some will take longer still (some even years!), and others (let's face it) will never buy (but hey, you can't win them all).
Keep that in mind as you move along with your email marketing efforts. Don't get discouraged when most people don't buy from your right away. Keep give these people great information (from a place of not expecting anything in return) and building the relationship and you will see your efforts really pay off!
It's important to keep in mind that often times it's the accumulation of free information that forms a that sought-after relationship with your potential clients.
You will quickly see that once you have created and nurtured this relationship, your potential clients will be more than happy to open their wallets and pay for what you have to offer.
It's all in the List
As I stated above, the number one thing you can do for your business is to build your list. And what's the number one way to build your list? To give potential clients that irresistible free offer!
With the advent of the internet, people have become accustomed to finding free information online. Give them something that they can't say no to. Get them on your list and then keep giving them great freebies and offering them great service.
When you give people your free offer, you need to set it up in such a way that the only way they can access the free offer is by signing up for it (opting-in) either on your website, your blog, or facebook page. This is non-negotiable!
In order to have your opt-in forms, autoresponders, and your email marketing campaigns set up properly, you need to use a reputable email marketing company. I use Aweber, but there are other companies out there to use as well.
If you don't currently have an email marketing company, you need to run, not walk over to Google (or at least your fingers do) and sign up for one. Most offer a free trial period (their free offer!) and you can start out paying as little as ten to twenty dollars per month. Since this is a necessity for your marketing efforts, it's an expense that's well worth the money.
After the Opt-in
Once your potential clients are on your list, the key is to make them an integral part of your list through email marketing. The most successful entrepreneurs (especially those of us in a service business) send emails to their lists on a daily basis. If you feel more comfortable sending emails twice weekly instead of daily, go ahead and do so, but I don't recommend doing it less often than that to be truly effective.
These emails should include: free offers, current discounts, current products or services you are offering, a weekly newsletter, and you can even send an email containing your weekly blog post.
Now, it's important to remember that some people may become purchase a product or service of yours after receiving your first freebie offer. Some may be on your list for a little while and because or your relationship with them, will eventually make a purchase. Some will take longer still (some even years!), and others (let's face it) will never buy (but hey, you can't win them all).
Keep that in mind as you move along with your email marketing efforts. Don't get discouraged when most people don't buy from your right away. Keep give these people great information (and come from a place of not expecting anything in return) and building the relationship and you will see your efforts really pay off!
It's important to keep in mind that often times it's the accumulation of free information that forms a that sought-after relationship with your potential clients.
What To Offer
With the advent of the internet, people have become accustomed to finding free information online. Give them something that they can't say no to. Get them on your list and then keep giving them great freebies and offering them great service.
Here's a list of what your potential offer could be:
Ebook
Live Teleseminar or Webinar
A Recording of a Teleseminar or Webinar
Private Coaching
Trial Offer
Free CD
Worksheet
This is a list of the most commonly used forms, but really any great free information that a potential clients finds irresistible will work.
Other Free Offers
If you are doing your marketing properly, then you shouldn't be just offering one freebie. Rather, you need to be offering your potential clients other great free information as well.
This should also include (at minimum) marketing basic such as blog posts and a weekly email newsletter.You should also be adding great information daily to your Facebook page and on Twitter (even if it's a post to another great blog post you happened to find).
For more free marketing tips for your business visit me at: http://emmatylor.com.
Widely known as "The Marketing Ace" Emma Tylor is a successful entrepreneur and premier business coach. She is at the forefront of empowering business owners from around the world to achieve both their business and personal goals.
To learn how to get more clients, visit Emma at: http://getclientsprogram.com.