One of my biggest marketing strategies for people who are new in business is to send a “Warm Letter.” This is a letter that lets your contacts, family and friends know what you are up to. In this letter you explain:
• The service or products you offer
• Who your ideal client is
• Examples of customer successes with your offering
• How they can send you referrals
In the Warm Letter, you can also share testimonials for happy customers and clients, announce new offerings and share news with your list of contacts. The idea is to stay top-of-mind. Warm Letter campaigns can help you drum up business and increase your client base. These are people who already know and like you, so they feel safe referring others who could benefit from what you do.
Number one reason people don’t send Warm Letters
Surprisingly, you might think business owners don’t use this powerful referral tool for these reasons:
• They don’t feel comfortable with their writing skills
• They don’t know what to write about
• They don’t get to it on their list of to-dos
• They can’t afford the postage
• They feel the list of contacts is too small to bother with
However, these fears can be, not one is the main reason business owners don’t send a Warm Letter. The main reason business owners don’t send the letter is a fear of criticism, pushback, humiliation or rejection.
What is the opportunity cost of not sending the letters?
This fear of what other people will think and the risk of feeling humiliated can be almost crippling. It can keep you from building your business and hold you back from putting yourself out there. When you let the fear take over, you might not offer your amazing products or service to those who could really benefit.
The good news? You can get past this fear and move forward. Here are two empowering suggestions to overcome your concerns.
1. More people will like you than dislike you. Yes, a few people might not like what you have to say. I say, “So what?” Not everyone will approve of everything you do 100 percent of the time. Don’t hold back while worrying about a few naysayers who don’t get you.
2. Keep the people you can help in mind. Think about the people who will really grow and improve their situations based on what you have to offer. Don’t hold back due to fear, because you will be letting people down. They need your solution, so push yourself to share openly.
It‘s your duty to send your Warm Letter and share your brilliance with others. The more people who know about what you do, the more who will benefit. There is a point in life when you have to face the fear and do it anyway.
Your Client Attraction Assignment
It’s time to get over the fear of self-promotion. Ask yourself, “What is the worst thing that can happen?” Your feelings might be hurt? Yes, that is possible. But, if you’re speaking the truth in your letter and it can help a handful of people, then you must do it.
This is just one of the many best practices we dive deep into with the students of The Client Attraction Business School, the premier training school for growth-minded entrepreneurs looking to quickly attract more clients and make more money. If you’re interested in finding out more, visit www.ClientAttractionBusinessSchool.com for more details. To speak to an enrollment coach, click here.
“How LOW can you go?” is what you think about when you do the limbo. Since we’re talking about marketing, I’ll ask you this: How BOLD can you go, in describing what you do?
I was coaching a private client this week about how to turn his Kitchen Designer elevator speech into a conversation that elicits a prospective client meeting, right there at the networking event and in less than 5 minutes! The key? Come up with a claim for what you do that is the BOLDEST thing you can think of (while still being legal, of course).
Your claim should be so bold that the person listening to you will say “Wow, really? How do you do that??” This gives you permission to go into what you do and how you do it (preferably talking about your proprietary system). Now, whenever I talk to clients about this and we start working on this exercise, often the stuff they come up with is kinda bland, stuff we’ve heard before, and that doesn’t elicit that WOW we’re looking for. So, again, I stress, “What’s the BOLDEST THING you can say?” and then the good stuff comes out.
Use, the words below for some inspiration:
- Double in half the time
- A ___% increase over last year
- In less than 10 weeks
- Etc.
Here’s an example of a script I put together for my client:
Stranger: Hi, I’m Jane, we haven’t met yet.
John: Hi, I’m John Smith, founder of Amazing Kitchens.
Stranger: Hi, John, nice to meet you. So, what do you do?
John: I help homeowners increase their home’s value by up to 110% in less than 6 months. (BOLD CLAIM)
Stranger: Really?? How do you do that?
John: Well, you know how some homeowners… (insert CONVERSATIONALLY WRITTEN elevator speech, focus on struggles of the ideal client, and results and benefits they receive after working with you). Would you like to know more?
Stranger: Yes, please!
John: Great…what we can do is set up a complimentary meeting to talk about the approximate current value of your home, your kitchen “lifestyle,” and what we could do to increase your current living experience in your kitchen. We’ll then give you an estimate as to how much your home’s value would increase at resale time. Shall we chat briefly tomorrow to set up a time?
Stranger: Absolutely, let’s do that. Here’s my card.
John: Fantastic. (handshake) Nice, to meet you Jane. I’ll call you tomorrow to set that up, promise. (John made a date, now he’ll circulate and meet more people and do the same thing.)
CHACHING!
Now, granted, this is just a made-up example, but you get the point.
With a bold enough claim, you have permission to start a really compelling conversation, with an invitation to tell them your elevator speech. Not bad for 5 minutes, right?
Your Client Attraction Assignment:
Your turn. What is the boldest claim you can make in the marketplace? If you put your creative hat on, how can you take what you do and transform it into something that prospective clients will be literally WOWED by and will want to know more about, eagerly? Take a pad of paper and brainstorm. Once you figure this out, I guarantee you’ll turn those ‘eyes-that-glaze-over’ into a lot more prospects in your pipeline.
Not sure how to get started with your compelling elevator speech or proprietary system to begin with? You’ll want to get a copy of the Client Attraction Home Study System™ for attracting all the clients you need with proven, systematic processes that will help you fill your practice quickly and consistently, guaranteed. Here’s where you can grab yours: www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.
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No problem! But here’s what you MUST include:
Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System , the proven step-by-step program that shows you exactly how to attract more clients, in record time…guaranteed. To get your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and receive her weekly marketing & success mindset articles on attracting more high-paying clients and dramatically increasing your income, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.
Have you ever felt strange about marketing your services for fear of people thinking you weren’t successful enough or good enough at what you do? I was reading a transcript of marketer Dan Kennedy’s Coaching and Consulting Business Boot Camp this past week at the beach and I came across a section about the fine line between the need for marketing and not wanting to look like you NEED business.
It struck a cord with me because I remember being stumped a few years ago, when a photographer I met at a networking function asked me, “So, if you’re such a marketing expert and you help people attract all the clients they need, what are you doing here at a networking group each week?” I didn’t know what to say at first. Never had it been posed to me that way.
