How to Avoid Desperation Marketing – How to Get Clients Now
Have you ever done this? Looked at the bank account, looked at the bills, looked at your upcoming schedule and then just went into a major panic? What are you doing to do? The bills are coming in, the clients are heading out, and you are stuck right dab in the middle with what seems like no solution in sight? The last few months might have been great, but now, for some reason times are tough and the clients just don’t see to be there. What next?
Believe me, many think they are alone in this scenario, but they aren’t. At one time or another I bet most businesses have faced this dilemma— Lack of Clients, which quickly lead to Desperation Marketing. They desperately needed to get clients. ASAP. Pronto. FAST! But can they?
So what is desperation marketing? It’s marketing when you are so desperate for clients that you work at Superman Speed and throw everything you have out there, with no general direction. The worst part is clients and potential clients can feel this, and it backfires, often having them lose confidence in your professionalism and services. These tips should help.
The cure for Desperation marketing – And Ways to Get Clients Now
Plan your marketing. When you are desperate (oh how I so don’t like that word), often times the fight or flights scenario comes into play. You sit in front of your computer screen frozen. What can you do? The desperate twinge in your stomach tells you that no matter what you do you have to do it fast. Now instead of going out there and manically tweeting, and sending out terribly written content to make your presence known, come up with a plan. Create a simple marketing plan that will help you secure the right clients, at the right pay, for the right reasons. Now I’m not saying to spend weeks on this plan (remember you do need that $$$). But do write down exactly who you want to target and what services you want to provide. Believe me it just feels better writing it down.
Get to Work – Get Marketing – In your plan include how you can best get those clients. Review first, how did you get your other clients? Definitely do more of those things. What you will often discover is that you have quit doing those things and that is what has happened to lead you to where you are today. Get crack’n again! We recommend you do the following:
- Write more articles to show your expertise (this is an example);
- Host a teleseminar;
Get active on your social networks with great valuable tips and mention that special you are having);
- Consider a paid Facebook ad or promotions or a Google ad (with the right keywords of course);
- Network online and offline and anything else you think can make it happen.
- And anything else you feel would get you front and center in front of your ideal client.
Now what’s important here is that even after you get those clients to get you out of your crunch, you continue to do these steps so you don’t get back here again.
Review Your Pricing. Now don’t go lowering your rates, but can you offer these services to those potential clients at a special rate just to jumpstart your efforts. Review your rate structure and see if there might be ways to do that. Remember you don’t want to come off as desperate; you want to come off as “Hey, let’s work together and I have this great special going on now.”
Connect with Your Current Clients, Potential Clients, Associates, and More – Now is a perfect time to connect with them and tell them about this fabulous special you have. And yes, it’s okay to mention that you are looking for new clients. What happens here is many aren’t aware that you need the work and once they are, they might have the perfect connections.
Get Your Head in the Game – It might not seem like it, but your mindset plays a big part in getting and keeping your clients. Clients can feel fear as much as they can feel confidence. You always need to portray that confidence to them.
Set Realistic Goals – It’s important to get down in writing what you hope to accomplish and be honest here. You probably won’t be able to find 10 clients by noon, but can you find two clients by the end of the week. YES! That’s doable. Write it down and do all you can to make it happen.
Hire Help – What? Didn’t you hear me? I’m desperate. That might be true, but it also might be time to hire someone to review what you are doing and give you some recommendations. Perhaps your marketing isn’t working, because you are doing it wrong and with a little tweak or two, you can turn it all around. Perhaps you are doing it right, but just not connecting in the right places. That’s why hiring a PR pro or a PR Coach can often get you on the right track.
We know it’s no fun to have that stress of needing to make money NOW, but hopefully these tips will help you turn it around. And remember if you ever need help, we are here.
Diana Ennen is the President of Virtual Word Publishing, https://virtualwordpublishing.com offering PR and marketing services. She has been featured on Fox Business News, CBS, CNN Radio, USA Today, Woman’s World, Entrepreneur Magazine, Home Business Magazine and so many more. She’s also the author of six books on starting your own business including the best-selling VA the Series: Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA, and So You Want to be a Work-at-Home Mom: A Christian’s Guide to Starting a Home-Based Business. Contact her at Qvnan@iveghnyjbeqchoyvfuvat.pbz or @dianaennen for a free PR Informational Package.
