Day 28: Marketing Gems

I recently listed myself on a coach directory service named Noomii.  I bid for a couple of opportunities and quickly learned a couple of things.  First I shouldn't bid such large amounts so that I whittle away my credits early in the month.  I should only bid on those clients that I am really serious about helping.  Second I think I have some work to do on my profile based on the review I had today with one of the founders.  It was very insightful and gave me several things to think about.  Namely,

• On average prospective clients spend about 10 seconds on your page, that is all the time you have to sell them.
• When approaching marketing look at it from the aspirin vs. vitamin perspective.  Aspirin is designed to relieve pain and is something you really need.  Vitamins on the other hand are a supplement and a nice to have.  You want to position the aspirin or pain you are looking to relieve; the vitamin is what they will get out of the coaching experience.
• Utilize tools like UserTesting to validate your website layout, content, and navigation.  This will help you structure it in a way that most appeals to your target audience.
• Create different landing pages that appeal to your target audience.  For example, if you are targeting executives are they the ones actually looking or is it their assistant? Or perhaps a resource in HR.  Some may respond better to a telephone number while others are more inclined to utilize your appointment system.

While these concepts may seem elementary to a seasoned marketer, for me as a small business owner they are novel and new.  I have to find a better way to get more subscribers to my newsletter and convert them into paying clients.  Little by little the pieces of the puzzle are coming together.  I will get this thing down soon and I can only imagine that working with my coach will help cement these ideas into concrete actions that will result in new business.

Each day is a new adventure and full of learning for me.