Ep 121: Bring in New Leads without Social Media

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Explore effective ways to attract new clients without relying on social media. The episode presents actionable strategies such as enhancing referral programs, forming strategic partnerships, and engaging in niche communities to create a steady flow of clients.

• Discussing the benefits of direct referrals 
• Techniques for maximizing referral effectiveness 
• Importance of incentivizing and consistently asking for referrals 
• Exploring the concept of strategic partnerships 
• Steps to build and formalize partnerships for mutual growth 
• Engaging with niche communities for client acquisition 
• Strategies for providing value and establishing trust 
• Encouragement to take immediate action on learned strategies

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Chapters

• 0:00 Client Pipeline Without Social Media
• 16:54 Effective Marketing Strategies for B2B Businesses

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:47

Welcome to Tiny Marketing. This is Sarah Norrblatt, and this is a podcast that helps B2B service businesses do more with less. Learn lean, actionable, organic marketing strategies you can implement today. No fluff, just powerful growth tactics that work. Ready to scale smarter, hit that subscribe button and start growing your business with Tiny Marketing growing your business with tiny marketing.

Speaker 2: 1:15

Hey there, and welcome to another episode of tiny marketing. This is episode 121. I'm Sarah Noelle Block and today we're diving into something I know a lot of you have been craving, especially with all this fuckery going on how to consistently bring in new clients without relying on social media. We're all a little over social media, so today I'm talking about how to bring in new clients without it. Yep, you heard that right. No doom scrolling, no algorithm stress and no constant content creation just to stay visible, just to appease the algorithm gods. If you've been feeling as burned out as I have about the endless grind of social media and just the propaganda that is thrown at us regularly, or you just want more stability and predictability in your business, you're in the right place. Today, we're going to explore three actionable strategies to keep your client pipeline full, including one of my personal favorites, which will be a free masterclass in a couple of weeks leveraging niche communities.

Speaker 2: 2:26

So grab your coffee, your tea or whatever fuels your creativity and let's get into it your coffee, your tea or whatever fuels your creativity, and let's get into it. So, number one we're going to talk about the power of direct referrals. I do not like relying on referrals, but I like having it as something in my back pocket. So let's start with the bread and butter of most service businesses, and that's referrals. So while I don't like relying on them I know so many of you do so let's talk about how to do it better. This is a strategy that works, no matter what industry you're in or your audience size. In fact, referrals are often the highest converting leads because they already trust you. They were recommended to you by someone they trust, so obviously they're going to trust you a little bit more. It's transference the trust that they felt for the person who referred you in the first place is transferred to you. It's just psychology, like all the rest of the things I talk about on this show.

Speaker 2: 3:34

Here's how you can maximize your referral strategy. So one make it easy to refer you. You can set up right in Gmail a template that can go out to your clients on a semi-regular basis. I like to send it right after I've wrapped up a successful project or after they send me a message saying how what I did for them impacted their business. That's a great time to send it, because you're hot on their mind on the benefits that you provide from your offer. Some other easy ways to do it is let's say, you have a referral link because your offer is maybe it's a course or it's a program, so you have an affiliate program with it. Then anytime they send someone their referral link, they get a little bonus sent directly to them. Even something really intimate like a handwritten note with a little reminder about your services and maybe your referral program is another great way to make it easy to refer you.

Speaker 2: 4:42

Number two is to incentivize referrals. So offer something valuable in return for a referral. For example, you could give clients a discount on their next project if they send a client your way, or you can give them a bonus, free consultation whenever they send you a new client. You can also send them affiliate income. I have a contract with a few strategic partners where they get a 10% kickback every time I close a client that they send my way. It's a little thank you Same. I appreciate them trusting me enough to send someone that they care about. They value their relationship to me.

Speaker 2: 5:25

And three ask consistently. So don't just send them one reminder that you have a referral program or that you're available for referrals. Send it semi-regularly. I like to send it after I wrap projects with them, and then maybe I'll send a newsletter with referral opportunities once a quarter. I have a mix of my offers, if I'm going to use myself as an example. So I do have some clients with execution. So I'm doing one-on-one execution for them. And I have other clients where they are part of the tiny marketing club. So I do one-to-one strategy sessions with them and feedback sessions with them. But a good chunk of it is within the tiny marketing club, so they have referral programs there. There's individual courses that they can send out if they really liked them, things like that but do it on a semi-regular basis.

Speaker 2: 6:28

When you wrap up a project with a happy client, it's a perfect time. If you know anyone who could benefit from this, I'd love an introduction so you can make it low-key like that. Just ask for introductions. Think of it like your connection calls. When I'm on a connection call with someone, it's just a 15-minute conversation where they tell me about their business, I tell them about my business and then we talk about how we can help each other out. And it's similar when you're asking for a referral from somebody who's already worked with you. Hey, I love that. You loved what I delivered for you. Do you know anybody within the same industry as you that could benefit from the same offer? I'd love an introduction. So just make it part of your process and remember people love to help, but they need a nudge and a clear path to do so. They need reminders that you're accepting help. It's not easy to offer help when you don't know that someone's going to accept it.

Speaker 2: 7:32

Strategy number two is strategic partnerships. So next up, let's talk about building those strategic partnerships. This is where you collaborate with complementary businesses or professionals who share your target audience, but they aren't direct competitors. So here's how to do it Identify your perfect fit partners. Think about businesses that serve the same audience as you but in a different way. For example, if you're a graphic designer or a web developer, a brand consultant could be a perfect fit for you. Maybe you like doing the development part, but you don't like doing the visual. Maybe you like doing the development part but you don't like doing the visual strategy for it. Or maybe you design websites, so a partner would be a good copywriter, for example.

Speaker 2: 8:21

Reach out with value. So when approaching potential partners, don't just ask for referrals. Offer something valuable first. This could be sharing their services with your network, like with a newsletter swap. It could be co-hosting a workshop or creating a joint offer. I always recommend to my tiny marketing club members to own a stage that you can leverage for business development opportunities like strategic partnerships. That's why having a podcast is great. That's why turning your active lead generator into a signature series is awesome. That's why having newsletter is great, because you have this stage that you've built, you own, that you can leverage and invite people in so those strategic partnerships are built organically through value exchange and then last, formalize the partnership. So, once you've established a relationship, consider making it official with a referral agreement or a shared marketing plan, like I was talking about.

Speaker 2: 9:31

With the referrals, I have a contract with people who consistently bring me new clients because I want them to feel like they're getting something big out of it. They get a little kickback, they get a bonus for it. This creates consistency and clarity, ensuring both parties benefit from the collaboration and clarity ensuring both parties benefit from the collaboration. I have partners where I receive PayPal notifications every single month because I sent them a client and, in return, I get a percentage of their monthly income from it. Strategic partnerships can quickly expand your reach and help you tap into warm audiences without spending a dime on ads or battling that algorithm, and you're building relationships.

Speaker 2: 10:18

At the end of the day, pretty much everybody who listens to the show is in the service business. You are either executing a service you are consulting, so you're working with a business. You're a a service you are consulting, so you're working with a business. You're a fractional, and when it comes to that, it's all about building relationships. People aren't going to work with a service provider unless they know, like and trust you, and this is a way to do that without the social media algorithm taking over your life. All right. Three, and also the last one I'm talking about today is niche communities. So this is my favorite strategy Niche communities. Joining and actively participating in the right communities can be a goldmine for new clients.

Speaker 2: 11:17

I've talked about this in my Everyday Profit Habits Masterclass. I've talked about this in a few of my podcast episodes Hold on, I'm going to pause this so I can tell you exactly which ones I talked about it in. So I can tell you exactly which ones I talked about it in. I'm back. I talked about it in at least episode 115 and 116 and in my Everyday Profit Habits Masterclass. So there you go.

Speaker 2: 11:42

I love it. It's where I find the majority of my clients, the keys to be genuinely helpful and present, not salesy. This is the thing. So I talk about this sales a lot for somebody who hates selling, but I go with the sales approach of soft sales, right, non-sales sales. I focus on value above anything else in relationships and then they turn into sales. Consensual sales is something that I've talked about before too. I never start the sales conversation. I am always the one who is approached with wanting to convert that conversation into a sales conversation. I want you to feel fully comfortable with it before we start talking about that. I'm never going to assume that you want to be a client of mine. You bring it up, and I think that approach pairs well with niche communities, because it's all about building those relationships, building that value, and as you're telling people about your offer, they're going to naturally say, hey, I'm interested in that or I'm not. Let's talk about something else. So here are some ways to leverage niche communities effectively.

Speaker 2: 13:10

First, find the right communities. Look for spaces where your ideal clients hang out. This could be industry-specific forums, it could be Slack channels, it could be local meetups, it could be online groups. Don't forget about virtual summits and online courses. They usually have some sort of active community attached to them. Show up and provide value. So when you join a community, don't just lurk. Please don't just lurk. Share your expertise, answer questions, provide resources. For example, if someone is struggling with email marketing, you could offer a quick tip or a link to a free resource you've created, or you could even offer a connection call to walk them through something they're dealing with. One way I do this is I set up keyword alerts in all of the communities I'm part of, so I'm only notified when someone is asking a question within a category that I'm an expert, so I can be the first person to answer that question for them and we can start a conversation that way. So do not sleep on setting up keyword specific notifications. It saves you a ton of time. All of these communities can get really overwhelming if you don't have a strategy around it.

Speaker 2: 14:32

Next, position yourself as the go-to expert. So over time, your helpfulness will naturally build trust. People will start thinking of you as the go-to person in that area of expertise and when they need help, guess who they're going to reach out to guess who they're going to tag. When someone asks a question within your category, it's going to reach out to guess who they're going to tag. When someone asks a question within your category, it's going to be you. Then use soft calls to action when appropriate. Invite people to connect outside of the group. For instance, you might say if you want a deeper dive on this topic, feel free to DM me or check out this resource or use my scheduling link and we can have a quick chat.

Speaker 2: 15:16

Niche communities are powerful because they're filled with engaged, like-minded individuals who are likely in need of your offer. It is being the big fish a tiny pond. I love that strategy. If you're interested, you can go down to the show notes page and go to the link for the anti-social media approach to generating hot leads so you can learn all about my strategies and systems for niche communities. It is powerful and it is how I made the majority of my income last year, which also happened to be my highest income year in the last five years. So yes, it works. So there you have it Three proven strategies to consistently get new clients without relying on social media. By focusing on referrals, strategic partnerships and niche communities. You can build a steady stream of leads without the endless scrolling, the algorithm all that that goes along with social media.

Speaker 2: 16:22

If you're ready to take action, I challenge you to pick one of these strategies and implement it today. Fine this week, fine this month. Take one of these strategies and implement it this month. Start small, whether that's sending a referral request, reaching out to a potential partner or joining a new community. Progress beats perfection every single time, and if you found this episode helpful, I'd love to hear about it. Leave a review, send me a DM. I spend my time on LinkedIn, which is funny to talk about since I'm all about limiting my social media access, but LinkedIn is one that stayed. Or share this with someone who could use this tip. Until next time, keep building your tiny but mighty marketing empire, and thanks for listening to Tiny Marketing. I will see you next week.

Speaker 1: 17:18

Goodbye you love all things tiny marketing. Head down to the show notes page and sign up for the wait list to join the Tiny Marketing Club, where you get to work one-on-one with me with trainings, feedback and pop-up coaching that will help you scale your marketing as a B2B service business. So I'll see you over in the club.