How to connect to more customers:
If you want to make more sales using social media, you need to do more than just posting your latest blog post on Pinterest or creating beautiful pictures for Instagram. You need to learn how to really truly put yourself out there to connect to more customers.
Putting yourself out there is not the latest buzz phrase that people say when they’re talking about promoting your business or blog.
It’s about doing the hard work and making it a priority in your week instead of something that you’ll ‘just get to when I have time.’ Just having an Instagram account or posting in a couple of Facebook groups isn’t putting yourself out there.
It’s about making the time to work through your content, being open to new ideas, no matter whether you think that’s not me or ‘I can’t do that’ – it’s about taking a deep breath and doing the steps to share your message.
Putting yourself ‘out there’ simply means being open and honest about who you are and how you can help others.
This is the first step to creating more meaningful connections with your customers.
To really do this, you need to communicate where you really are and not try to sugar coat your work to make your business or blog look better than it really is. I realize that this can be uncomfortable but it’ll be one of the bravest things you’ve ever done for your business!
Sharing your work in this way is a rewarding challenge and a necessary step towards building stronger connections to your community.
It’s time to write a better story
One of the best ways to take a small step out of your comfort box is to start sharing your story about who you are and what you do. And the easiest way to share your story is with the people you’re closest to in the social site where you spend the most of your time online.
I’m not talking about sharing what you had for breakfast { unless you’re a food blogger! } or how long you’ve been waiting for the repairman to show up. I mean sharing what you do and who you help with your family, friends, friends of friends and even people who you’ve already worked with that you’re still connected to online.
Don’t be shy about telling people what you do and that you’re looking to connect with more customers. We’ve all been there and most of the people close to you want nothing more than to see you succeed.
To get started sharing your story, I want you to pretend that you’re writing a letter to a close friend.
To give you some ideas, try using these prompts. And remember, you’re sharing your story – you’re NOT selling. This is not a sales pitch.
You’re telling people close to you what you do and how you can help your community.
- What I really want to tell you about me is ….
- Why I do what I do { and no, it’s not just to make money! } …
- I solve these kinds of problems …
- My dream customers are ….
- Think about your call-to-action. When people go to my website, I want them to do this …
The main purpose of working through your story and sharing it is to help you feel comfortable talking about your business. Remember, sharing your story isn’t a place to promote your latest program or downloadable product.
It’s a way for you to share what you do and how you can help others.
Time to start sharing your story!
So let’s get to work on setting the foundation of sharing your story with people that you already know. If you’re anything like me, it’s always easier to talk to people that you already know versus some random person in a Facebook group.
Take the letter you wrote and create a post where you can share in the social site where you spend most of your PERSONAL time.
Type it up, write it out, whatever you have to do so you can organize your thoughts. Then read it out loud to yourself to make sure that it sounds like your voice.
AND speaking of your voice … for those of you who are really ready to push forward with putting yourself out there – take your post copy and hit the Go Live button on Facebook Live or an Instagram Story and record a video to post on your personal profile.
As you’re moving through this process, I want you to remember this — to make stronger connections with more customers, you have to spend time where your customers hang out.
Whether it’s engaging more on your personal Instagram account with the business friends you’ve connected to OR engaging more in the Facebook groups you’re a member of, IF you’re not already involved by posting consistently, no one is going to see your posts when you’re ready to promote your programs.
The thing about social media folks is that it works when you’re SOCIAL. It does work when you work it.
It does work when you start sharing from a deeper more meaningful place about why you love what you do and how you’re able to help others.
If you’ve been looking for the missing piece about why your marketing plan isn’t working, you need to subscribe to the Marketing Strategy Collective!
At the end of 2020, my frustration level hit its peak when I realized that I had ended another year making the same amount of money that I did the year before. And the year before that one.
And the year before that one.
I was slowly becoming the true definition of insanity, “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” And yes, it was literally driving me crazy!
I knew that couldn’t control the Facebook algorithm or the next feature Pinterest change that would shake up their program again. But I could make changes to myself as an entrepreneur.
I could change my behavior and the tools I was using. I could change my mindset and how I thought about connecting to my customers.
I could change my fear about getting myself out there to really truly engage with my community.
So that’s what I did.
I went on a journey of change. I learned how to have a better plan to be more visible and to create more meaningful connections.
I started with small steps outside of my comfort box. I journaled about what worked, what didn’t and why I was feeling the resistance to not do something simple as being consistent with my visibility plan.
When I came out on the other side, I experienced:
- Confidence for setting a goal for myself and actually getting it done.
- I felt more efficient with my time – I developed a plan where I knew what to post, what to say and where to go.
- I accepted the fact that not everyone was going to get me. That my products were not for everyone and I’d much rather spend my valuable time connecting to the people who want to buy my programs.
- I learned not to take this stuff so serious! Being an entrepreneur is meant to be fun and it was exciting to hit that Go Live button to share what I love with my community.
And most of all I learned this important thing:
When you focus on results, nothing changes. When you focus on changes, you’ll see results.
To see the results you’ve been looking for, join the Marketing Strategy Collective.
Join the Marketing Strategy Collective program and you’ll get access to a strategy group marketing program to help you improve your sales revenue in a collaborative group online experience.
The steps you’ll work through in our supportive group online space will be filled with action-packed content and the space to work through your ideas to help you learn how to show up in your online space. You’ll develop meaningful connections that lead to deeper relationships and create easy sales conversations.
The marketing tips and strategies will help you address common hurdles that small business owners face, such as writer’s block, time management and maintaining a consistent posting schedule. By incorporating these actionable steps into your routine, you’ll not only stay motivated but also enhance the quality and impact of your content.
