Confused entrepreneurs…
They’re everywhere, in every nook and cranny of the internet, looking for the next strategy or tactic that’ll make them a million dollars.
Or the next system that will put their businesses on autopilot.
Or they’re combining a million and one tactics just to implement one strategy.
In the words of Master Yoda, “Confused people they are…getting good results they won’t”.
Now I’m not exempting myself from this crime (yes it is a crime). I know how confused I often get about some things I do.
But after looking at it deeply, I’ve realized that as wide and as complex running an online service business can get, there are always those key areas that make everything else work. There’s that 20% that brings 80% of the results, according to the Pareto principle.
So, what are these 4 parts?
1. Blogging
There are already millions of people doing this, and like it or not, you have to do this because this is what makes your audience know, like and trust you. But what you blog about and the kind of content you create is then dependent on you.
Blogging doesn’t always have to involve writing. There are different types of content that you could publish on your blog. It all depends on what you’re comfortable with. You could create great infographics that give that awesome visual appeal. Or make videos like Gary Vaynerchuk that’ll actually show your audience what you look like. John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur On Fire creates daily podcasts to educate his audience.
For designers, I always advice doing more of infographics than writing, especially if they hate to write.
For consultants and coaches, writing has to be part of it. But it depends on your business, the services you promote and what you’re comfortable with. With the podcast frenzy going on now, doing podcasts is another good one.
I love to write, but if you told me to do more infographics than writing, I’d probably hand the blog over to you.
Tactics: It is possible to combine two types of content on your blog. However, anything goes well with text based content. Just because videos convert better doesn’t mean you should jump into it- focus on what you’re comfortable with.
2. Social Media
Yes I know, I don’t like it too. But I just have to know how it works, and you need to as well. While social media tends to be a lot of work, it can also be a gold mine for leads, if done right. What’s important is to make sure you don’t get fooled by all the activity but that it leads to business objectives, which could be traffic to your site or sales of your services.
According to a study by Relevanza, 78% of small businesses attract new customers through social media. That means there’s something the other 12% aren’t doing right. While social media is good for brand awareness, that awareness has to result in specific figures for your business.
Tactics: There are different tactics you could employ to get results from social media. You could run contests, share content from your blog and link back, or content curation- share content from other relevant sites for your audience. Just ensure you follow a social media calendar and keep lead generation in mind. With social media, you can employ multiple tactics, but don’t lose focus.
3. Email Marketing
Apart from directly sending traffic to your services page, this is where the money comes from.
You’re probably not new to the statement, “the money is in the list”. Well, not in every list. The money is actually in how you market to your list and the kind of list you’re marketing to.
Email marketing has proven to be one of the most effective marketing systems in business. According to a study by iContact, customers who receive email newsletters spend 82% more when they buy from the company. This simply means that by sending valuable emails to your list, you increase the possibility of one lead buying your services multiple times.
Tactics: The key is to remain at the top of their minds. You could email every day and send an RSS campaign of your new blog posts. The good thing about email is that apart from the fact that you have to write, the rest is automated. So, you could combine RSS campaigns with daily emails and still look good :).
4. Striking Partnerships
This is what builds your authority and credibility.
Relying on just your audience may not give you that big break you’re looking for. You need to market your blog and your personality by connecting with other people in your field. But not just anyone- people who have your audience in large numbers.
One way to strike good partnerships is content marketing. According to Kapost, content marketing produces 3 times more leads per dollar. In other words, it triples your results. Content marketing is the primary method I use to generate leads for clients, and it’s what I blog about. The sweet spot about striking partnerships is when you have a product to promote. Being that your partners can testify of your credibility, they’ll be willing to help out in promoting it to their audience on your behalf.
Tactics: Guest blogging is a good way of striking partnerships and driving good traffic back to your site. Another tactic is doing joint ventures- promoting a product and sharing profits with your partners. The good thing is once you master one tactic and break even with it, you could take on another tactic. But for this one, take it one at a time.
Use a blog to educate your audience, engage your audience on social media to attract new clients, send frequent emails to encourage repeat sales and strike partnerships to build online authority and credibility for your service business.
It could take you 3 months, 6 months, or one year to master one tactic and make any of these 4 parts work for you. But as a mentor of mine once said, “It’s not how long, but how well.”
What do you think? What tactics do you use the most in your service business and why? Share your thoughts in the comments.