In last week’s blog, we looked at the need to grow your business and what could be stopping you. Click here for a revisit to that blog. We looked at three reasons that might be preventing you from growing your business – not knowing how to do it, not understanding marketing, or just not wanting to do any marketing! In this blog, I’m going to give you some tips on how to deal with the first two issues.

“I don’t know how to do marketing.” If you’ve been in business for a while, or you have at least one client, the good news is that you’re already doing some marketing – probably without even realising! How can this be? Well, if you have at least one client, then you must have done something to attract that client to you – even if you did it unconsciously.

There are certain marketing activities that are proven to work extremely well for service businesses. If you’re a coach, a consultant or a trainer, then marketing tools that involve sharing your knowledge and experience with potential clients will always work better than just trying to sell your services to someone who has never heard of you. A prospect needs to trust you, before they will buy from you. This is why recommendations also work well if you run a service business.

My first rule of marketing is to find out what works best for you and to do more of it. So, look at each of the clients you currently have. How did they hear about you? If you don’t know – ask them! Get into the habit of always asking a prospect how they heard of your business and then record that information somewhere. My database shows me that 36% of our current clients came from recommendations and a massive 54% came from networking or me speaking at events.

Where have your current clients come from? What marketing did it involve and how can you do more of it?

“I don’t understand marketing!” Considering how many marketing tools are available to you, this is completely understandable. However, if you run a service business, where people pay you for your coaching time or your consulting expertise, then the marketing that will work for you should focus on sharing your knowledge with a wider audience. I know that I don’t get any new clients directly from writing this blog, sending out my email newsletter or sharing tips @TopMarketingTip on Twitter. However, I know that using regular marketing tools such as these allow me to keep in touch with prospects who might first have met me at a networking event or have been referred to me.

My second rule of marketing is that that ad hoc marketing does not work. You need to keep doing whatever works in order to build up trust with your prospects.

What marketing can you do to keep in touch with an ever expanding audience of prospects?

In next week’s blog we’ll look at one of the best marketing tools that you can use to reach a wider audience and promote your coaching, consulting or training business to more potential clients. It’s one that is actually quite easy to understand and one that, once you know how to do it, won’t take up too much of your precious time! If you can’t wait until next week, get in touch by calling me on 01635 578 500 or by clicking here to email me.