Back Door Access to Hard to Find Clients
Online marketing is a little different for coaches and consultants than it is for businesses selling products. Because of this, many service professionals don’t know how to find clients online. And the usual methods being promoted don’t work well for them.
If you think ranking in the search engines is your only option for getting people to your site, think again. Yes, I’m a big believer in SEO (search engine optimization). And I use lots of cool SEO techniques on my sites.
But what do you do if people aren’t searching for your services online? What if your ideal client desperately needs your service, but they don’t even know that you exist?
If that describes your coaching or consulting service, I’ve got great news. What you need is a “back door” entrance into your niche. And I’m going to show you how to find it.
The back door entrance
Computer hackers use a term called the “back door” to hack into systems. It means you gain easy access to what you want without having to go through the traditional security measures in place.
In Internet marketing, the “front door” could mean ranking well in the search engines for obvious keywords, like “professional organizer” or “health coach” or “how to stop smoking”.
In traditional marketing, the “front door” could mean the long process of submitting your writing to magazine publishers in the hopes of getting free publicity.
Getting back door access to clients
Usually, the most obvious keywords for your service will already be dominated in the search engines by well-established businesses. And trying to outrank them in the search engines would take more time and money than you probably want to invest.
One back door method I use for ranking well in the search engines is to use related keywords that only someone in a niche would know about and search for. For instance, I may try to rank for the name of a best selling author in that niche. Or I may use an industry term or name of a product for that particular niche. My research has shown that these keywords usually have huge amounts of traffic and very little competition.
Want a back door to offline clients? Look for groups where your ideal client is likely to be found and find out how to connect with them. Think “outside the box,” instead of the obvious.
For instance, when I was involved in showing pedigree cats in CFA, I noticed that many of the exhibitors were women over 50 years old. Many were retired. You may not immediately associate this group with cats and cat shows, but there they are.
What other organizations, groups, and associations include a large number of your ideal clients? Can you join in at live meetings or network online with them?
Online Marketing for Coaches and Consultants
The more I work with coaches and consultants, the more I’m convinced that service professionals have a definite edge in online marketing. And I help many of my clients to find that marketing edge when they don’t know where to find clients.
While most Internet marketers are selling products only and fighting for ranking in the search engines and Pay-Per-Click ads, service professionals have many more options open to them. And online marketing definitely allows you to take your marketing efforts to the next level.
If you need help to find clients, email me for a complimentary consultation. I’d love to help you find your back door access to more clients and more sales more often.
