7 Highly Effective Promotional Strategies For Expert Brands

As a business and marketing coach for expert brand owners one thing i hear all the time is... "Ya, i've heard that before, i KNOW that..."

My reply is always a subtle; "ok, very good, and how did that pan out for you? what were the results?"

And almost always, there is some excuse for why they "didn't do it right," or they haven't "actually tried it..."

So folks, i wish to remind you of the fact that there is no shortage of knowledge, tips, strategies, tutorials... Etc. The only thing that is separating someone who has better results, is simply that they have more experience, and you only get more experience by going and doing.  So pick one or two of these, and go out and TRY them. Analyze the results, and then either keep, make adjustments, or try something new!

The following list is some of the best lead generation methods you can use to help you grow your client-list and grow your business. They are great for all "expert brands," and professional service organizations which are locally marketed. For businesses which are not constrained by geographic location, these strategies can be duplicated and scaled exponentially.

They are in no particular order because they are all creme of the crop techniques. Here are 7 Highly Effective Promotional Strategies For Expert Brands.

1. The Power of Word of Mouth Referrals.

Word of mouth referrals are, in almost every case, the best leads and easiest sales to make. Look… You love your clients. They love and appreciate you… Let them show it!

Start with those you’ve already served, ask your satisfied customers for referrals. I’ve repeated that so that you build that into your automatic subconscious processes. Remember; people work with people they know, like, and trust.

2. Educational Training Events.

Educate, Position Properly, & Sales will Close Themselves.

Offer to give a seminar to a local business or consumer group. Host an event/conference/seminar where you can educate those who you would market your services to.

Find a unique approach.

You are there to create awareness… Don’t hard sell, or format your presentation like they NEED you and what you have to offer.

GIVE away VALUE, explain the underlying frustrations, the causes, where most people go wrong and why… Explain the situation and case studies and then unveil what the solution is…

Now you’ve just positioned yourself as the expert and just happen to have that solution you were talking about, they will come to you. This is probably your BIGGEST source of pre-qualified prospects.

DON’T be bland…

Seriously just a little creative thought into your positioning, your angle, your materials, the refreshments, etc. can set you so far above the monotone powerpoint guy with free cookies and milk.

3. Local SEO & Google Places

This is probably the biggest pool of targeted new leads in you local area, period. The search engines offer relevant local business listings within a geographical area through targeted search phrases and specific key phrases.

By finding out what those keywords are, and optimizing your local search platform for them, you can drive hundreds to thousands of VERY targeted new leads to your website, your front door, and into a phone conversation with you or your staff.

4. Local Networking

Again… People work with people they know, like, and trust.

Join a local networking group like bni, join your local chamber of commerce, create mastermind group of local business owners and pass referrals to each other.

Go to events in your industry and keep up with the latest progressive changes, talk to other professionals to see whats working for them, and learn whats not.

5. Get involved In Your Community Organizations

Again… People work with people they know, like, and trust.

Any local organizations (like churches, schools, universities) that you are currently involved with, is a great place to advertise or position yourself as the go-to guy for your area of expertise.

You don’t have to put your business cards in the collection at church to spread the word about your services…

Take out an an in the bulletin, if you can leave brochures at the back on a community board, do it.

Be prepared ready.

Get your elevator pitch down. When someone asks you what you do, don’t reply with a rhetorical closed ended answer. Come up with a creative, descriptive, and interesting short commercial for what EXACTLY you do. I help “audience” with “problem” by doing “what you do.”

This is a great conversation starter, and a great way to stand out in the mind of the new friend you’ve met when someone they know runs into THAT problem.

And always have business cards on you.

6. Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the very best ways to follow up with those who are interested enough to check you out online, and our interested in what you offer.

Many people who come to your website are not going to be ready to call or purchase right away.

This is your chance to build a relationship with them, educate them, and prove that you are the service provider they should give their business to.

So start a newsletter. Offer a free gift to entice people to subscribe to it… Don’t call it FREE REPORT… Call it “Benefits of what you’re going to give them, for free.”

7. Tracking and Analysis

Anything you are doing to generate leads should be measured for its effectiveness. A trial and error testing process will yield the best results if you have a mindful attention on what is converting, and a willingness to continually improve these marketing channels to refine your lead generation systems.

If you aren’t sure that you have google analytics installed on your website, make sure you check with whoever would know, and ask for reports… If you aren’t at least tracking that, and your web guy isn’t either, you are probably leaving money on the table.

So there you have it, 7 of the very best lead generation and marketing strategies for professional services.

If you have aren’t satisfied with the amount of leads you are getting on a consistent basic, or have any questions about developing better marketing strategies for you business, we should chat.

How many of these are you using, which ones have produced the best results for you?

For daily tips on leveraging your content, building your expert brand,  and developing your web platform.... Follow me on Twitter @jamieleger

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Best Regards,

Jamie