Ryan Jones lives in Colorado, USA. He doesn’t yet know that I exist or that I’m about to give him $97.
I live in Cambridge, England. I have a piano but was frustrated I couldn’t make progress with sheet music. Then I discovered Ryan’s awesome business Play Piano King and now feel enthusiastic about tinkling on the ivories.
But this blog post isn’t about music. It’s about how your business can be found by total strangers and it comes down to this:
Stop trying to find clients
“Huh? But aren’t I reading this to discover how to find clients?”
No. It might seem like semantics but there’s an important distinction between trying to find clients, and positioning yourself to be found by people who are already looking for you.
Out there, whether down the road or on the other side of the globe, are people who already know they want or need something that is an exact match for what you most love to offer.
These people are your “Tribe”. They are already looking for you. They’re asking their friends, they’re looking on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and on forums, and searching on Google. They’re eager to get their needs met, find relief or get their situation resolved and they’re prepared to take action and spend money to meet this end.
Your mission is to know who these people are and what they’re looking for.
What are they looking for?
The first websites I found promised to teach me classical piano: Beethoven, Mozart, Bach. I wasn’t looking for that.
Ryan stood out because he focuses on helping people who don’t want to play classical piano. His Tribe love him because he teaches popular modern songs by singers like Rihanna, Coldplay and Adele.
What are your Tribe really looking for? Here are some examples:
– “I want a massage but I hate the idea of stripping down to my underwear”
– “I want to learn yoga but I’m not sure if I can practise during pregnancy”
– “I’m in an unhappy same-sex marriage and feel alienated by opposite-sex relationship advice”
– “I’ve got Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) and want it to go away, not just ‘be managed’”
Pause and consider who is looking for you. And what specifically are they looking for?
Know how they search
Once you know what your Tribe are looking for, consider how they are looking.
I didn’t search for ‘piano teacher’ or ‘piano lessons’. Instead, here’s what I typed into Google:
how do you get good at piano
piano playing rusty
improve piano playing
playing contemporary piano
These aren’t the most obvious search terms but these were the words and phrases I automatically went for when thinking about my needs.
Likewise, your Tribe might not search for the “thing” you offer (like Pilates or coaching, or massage) but instead express their situation (for example: losing my fitness, hate my job, back ache).
Watch what you type when you do a Google search. It’s interesting to notice the words and phrases you instinctively go for.
Now, imagine being one of your Tribe. What would they type? It’ll make more sense to optimize your website for these words and phrases than for very popular search terms like “life coaching”.
Let them know they’ve reached the right place
When someone new reaches you or your website, make sure they realise they’ve found what they’re looking for – and that they can call off the search.
You can achieve this through a simple yet powerful marketing message. Check out Ryan’s to see how he uses empathy, (“I know it seems almost impossible to learn the piano”), offers hope (“You do not need to know how to read sheet music”) and fills his new visitor with excitement (“After you learn a song, you will be ready and able to play it anywhere”).
What could you say to a total stranger to reassure them they’ve found what they’ve been looking for?
And finally…
Once someone has found you, give them something. Always: give before you expect to receive.
I got hooked on Ryan thanks to his free online taster videos. (If I want more in-depth tutorials, that’s where the $97 comes in).
What could you give your new visitor? A free article, report or audio recording?
Choose something that will give a total stranger a taste of how you can help them – and make it easy for them to come back for more.
So:
– Know who is looking for you
– Know how they’re looking for you
– Reassure them they’ve reached the right place
– Give them a free taster so they come back for more
How have you already been found by total strangers? How would you like to be found? And how have you discovered other brilliant companies or service professionals? Leave a comment below, let us know…
Not sure who’s looking for you?
It’s frustrating to be unclear about your Tribe. If you’d like step-by-step support with gaining clarity and getting into action, check out the support options available > >
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© Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2012
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I just love your blog posts Corrina, they are always wonderfully relevant
Hi Corrina
Funny how untimely yr blogged hit the spot with my pending task, it makes perfect
Sence to stop trying so hard & simply look a little bit closer to the service that’s trailered to your tribes needs.
Great topic – looking toward to your follow up
Warm wishes
Loukas Morley
This came when I was feeling particularly low about possibilities and has really helped. Thank you Corinna
Great post Corinna, it reinforces 2 points I can never hear enough:
1. Look at your buying process, see how you became other people’s clients.
2. Positioning yourself to be found. In the book “Attracting Perfect Customers” an analogy of being like a lighthouse is given that has stayed with me since. You can either be the lighthouse standing firm on the rocks stopping the ships THAT NEED YOU from crashing into the rocks or you can be a lighthouse running up and down the shore trying to get the attention of every passing ship.
X x x
Lola Fayemi´s last [type] ..5 Easy-to-Spot Signs You’re Not in Your Personal Power
Lola – Great analogy!
Corrina Gordon-Barnes´s last [type] ..How To Be Found By Total Strangers
It inspires me, I am going to try to find out how to make a blog.
Jytte
Hi Corrina, this came just at the right time for me as I am configuring and working on my new website. It helped to focus my efforts, I was getting lost in a sea of SEO anxiety. Looking forward to our group call on Monday xx
Ani – Delighted. And happy birthday
Corrina Gordon-Barnes´s last [type] ..How To Be Found By Total Strangers
This is surely one of the most perfect posts ever! At least, for me, right now it is!
Thank you Corrina, for hitting the spot every time. And keep up with the piano playing – music is great to listen to, but even more fun to play!
Corrina, this is brilliant! I have had a conversation with a marketing professional who was trying to explain that concept to me but it wasn’t until now (4years later) reading your post and half awake that I’m truly understanding the idea of responding to the needs of your potential clients.
With my healthy ethical and green cleaning service – there is a lot of needs we could meet so I only need to think of the best way to meta communicate.
So a very helpful post!
Hi Corrina,
A really great post, Corrina. Can’t agree more about making yourself visible to those already looking for you. As a massage therapist now working solely from home (so no “shop window” of a high street clinic to help clients find me as in the past) the best money I spent last year was on a local professional SEO company who optimised my website properly. They achieved in less than 2 weeks what I’d been struggling to do for months and, truth be told, would never actually have managed to do myself no matter how long I’d dedicated to it – I just don’t have their expert knowledge, nor the interest or inclination to try and acquire that knowledge. A real lesson in playing to my strengths and getting the help I need from experts who are playing to theirs, rather than thinking I have to do it all myself. And being a small, local company they were not too expensive and extremely good value for money and I was delighted to support another local business person.
When the phone isn’t ringing it’s so very easy to start listening to our gremlins telling us we’re obviously not good enough, there are no clients out there, our prices are too high, the state of the economy means no one has money to spend on themselves …… You know the kind of thing. Well, turns out there are lots of people in my area looking for massage and more than happy to pay my fees; it’s just that before they couldn’t find me. My lovely shiny website was the equivalent of a whole stack of glossy brochures languishing at the back of a drawer somewhere rather than being out in plain view of all the local people who were actively looking for treatments.
I still have a lot more I can do SEO wise – blogging, social media, viideos etc, but just getting basic optimisation sorted has made more difference than I would ever have dreamed and freed me up to do massages (well), rather than marketing (badly!!!).
Thanks for this Corrina! It immediately makes my entire body relax when I look at gaining clients in this way, and allows me to create my marketing materials from an energy that feels good and attracts, vs. energy that feels closed down and probably repels
. Very helpful!
This was very helpful and useful information. Marketing has never been my thing, but you helped me to see more clearly how I can do a better job of attracting new clients to my coaching practice by changing the verbiage that I use.
Nea | Self Improvement Saga´s last [type] ..How Your Relationship with Money Can Make You Rich (Or Keep You Broke)