Once you understand what your clients actually need, value and are willing to pay you for, and you have identified where you can specialize to become competition-proof, it’s time to start marketing!
If you think that entails cold-calling, take a deep breath (and read my white paper, Friends Don’t Let Friends Cold-Call.) The most effective marketing approach for solopreneurs is generating word-of-mouth referrals. And that means that you have to be the first mouth. Watch the screencast for the five elements of word-of-mouth marketing.
Slide deck is HERE
MP3 (audio-only) file is HERE
HOMEWORK
Review the four key concerns of your client base. How can you address these concerns in the following activities? What would be seen as insightful and valuable by your market?
- Write 3 blog posts
- Line up 1 presentation with a group of your propective clients
- Go to 2 meetings of your clients’ groups & make 5 contacts
- Volunteer for a strategic job with your clients’ key organization
- Develop and update 3 social media profiles
RESOURCES
For lots more on word-of-mouth marketing, see John Jantsch’s book, The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself. While some of it is more relevant to organizations with employees, there is plenty of value for the solopreneur.