Do you get your customers locally?
Unless you’re a local small business, honestly, most people don’t do it at all. But it’s the fastest way to really grow and test out your business. And that’s why we’re talking all about how to get clients in your own backyard today.
So before we dive into some strategies to think about when diving into the local pool, I want to give you a few reasons why I love local marketing and growing your business locally so much.
Going local allows you to test the waters and see #1 if your offers are getting any bites #2 – if your messaging is attracting your true ideal clients.
I love to invite the clients that I work with to try this because it forces you to jump into your business with both feet and forces you to take action a whole lot faster than you would if you’re like, “Well, let me build this funnel first, and create this opt in and then write the sequence and then do the job. That’s about great and well.
But if you don’t even know IF works and if ONE person is interested, and you might be wasting a whole bunch of time and/or money.
#3 – It speeds up the know, like, trust factor. Being face to face and meeting someone is a huge differentiator you have someone right in front of you looking for your skill set versus searching online and googling and a million results come up and sorting through it for the next six months. When you are in person or in proximity to each other, you AND the potential customer decide in the first conversation if they like you, could they potentially hire you, and should they find out more.
How to get started with finding clients in your own backyard:
Okay, so first one is to collaborate with local businesses that have the same audiences but do different things.
This is the exact same thing you would say to someone with an online business, right? Ask yourself questions like:
– Who would you collaborate with?
– Who could you do something like a summit with, but locally?
– Who could you either connect with or who can connect you to more ideal clients?
So think about local businesses that come to mind where you both serve the same type of audience or there’s some kind of crossover, that’s a great place to start.
Start connecting in places where can you find your ideal clients.
Ask yourself: Where can I find influencers in my city? Where can I find ideal clients? Those are the two places that I hang out: where influencers are or where my ideal peeps are.
So I either 1) create my own group or 2) go to networking groups where my ideal clients are.
A quote that keeps coming up lately for me that rings true for this episode is:
“Your net worth is your network… which is 100% accurate for local marketing.”
We all know we have friends and acquaintances locally who know everyone. You want to know these people. Become friends of them. Cheer them on. Get on their radar!
*Also, here’s permission for you that it doesn’t and won’t happen overnight, and that’s OK. Making these key connections and relationships takes time — so know you’re doing it right if you’re building a real relationship.
One thing I know will come up in your heads if you’re introverted and/or hate mingling is: That sounds really, really hard. I don’t know where or how to show up at an event with strangers.
First, pick an event you actually want to go to and talk to someone you would like to meet in person, like real life and then just be yourself and talk to people you would want to be friends with.
I think about it like this: I see that woman over there… Would I invite her over to my messy house so we could drink wine out of plastic cups? That’s a good filter for me, because if I feel comfortable doing that, then I know she’s likely not going to judge me and we both probably have some similar interests — which are two stumbling blocks we often run into.
I love that I have the freedom and flexibility as an entrepreneur to not only work when and where I want but with whomever, I want to. I get to choose.
And so yeah, if I don’t feel like that things are going well, or it’s not resonating, or I don’t like the person, I don’t have to keep having the conversation. It’s OK to not follow up with someone. It’s OK to throw away their business card. Trust your gut.
Meeting people in-person locally can be the start of a fruitful and exponentially charged business that skyrockets over time.
Get the word out in print — either flyers or even consider postcards to your area.
Despite what people would have you believe, mailers are NOT dead.
You still get mail. I still get mail. We both probably look through it — except for the giant fast-food flyers that are 100x bigger than they should be and go straight to trash.
People still open mail and look at it — so it’s a great visibility piece, especially if you have a local market. You can get super targeted on neighborhoods, zip codes, etc. so that your efforts go a long way. Just know that most print advertising is going to be a visibility game, rather than a great lead gen activity.
Does your inner circle know exactly what you do?
I go over this over and over and over again with all clients across the board who say: I need my clients. I’m like, you should start with your warm list. Does anybody know what you do close to you? Does your husband even know what you do?
Even for myself, there are so many people that likely can’t answer that question as well as I would want them too — even my best friends cannot tell you what I do! So pick five friends and ask them: What do you think I do?
So how do you use that locally? Well, you have to legit have people understand what it is you do so when they meet somebody, they can be like, Oh, you need my best friend Mallory or my sister Catherine because she does that exact thing. So that’s really easy. It’s just like prepping people like, Oh, that’s what you think I do. Oh my gosh, this is what I actually do. Or I was helping so and so do this the other day.
Tell a story and it will stick in their mind forever. For example I help women get more traffic to their website. I had this girl who teaches people to work out who wanted more people to come see her workouts online, so we figured out how to get 10x more people showing up. That will stick more than I am a conversion specialist or web designer.
Ask for referrals right after getting results. Especially locally, it’s even more important because it spreads like wildfire. Once you know one person, they tell somebody then they tell the next three people. And that’s I think how I get traction so quickly locally, it’s because people talk, everybody knows each other. Even though it’s a big town, it’s a lot smaller than you think it is.
An easy way to ask for a referral is to say: Don’t forget about me or don’t keep me a secret or I’m would love to find more people exactly like you… all of those phrases help people be spurred on to help.
It does not ever hurt to ask ever because people forget! We’re just so crazy busy in our brains that we can’t remember all the things. We may have had the best intentions to shout your name from the rooftop, but if you don’t catch us at the exact moment that you have our attention, we’re like gone like SQUIRREL!
Make sure you’re listed correctly in local directories online. Some directories to make sure your details are showing up right for are: Google My Business, Yahoo local, Bing, Yellow Pages, Yelp, Manta…. And there are probably others that may be unique to your industry.
Go in for free and make sure the most important details are correct so people searching for you locally can find and fall in love with you.
Collect Google reviews for happy clients as well, especially if you have a local presence and you have a local business.
That also helps in search, which we’re basically doing in Google every 18 seconds.
Promote other local businesses!
It’s the best way to help organically grow and be seen as an influencer. Find complementary businesses, any local businesses, etc. Supporting other businesses makes the world go round locally, If you can help other people grow, they just feel compelled to help you as well and reach out and it does not hurt you to you know, lend a hand to go promote someone else’s business, because they’re going to reciprocate it in some shape, form or fashion, and you just never know what’s gonna happen.
How I Work With Clients:
#GirlBoss Mastermind – 1:1 program provides coaching, accountability and proven strategies for helping you double your clients, get known locally and building a business you love.
I’m currently taking new members RIGHT NOW for the Mastermind. Connect with me on LinkedIn and tell me you heard me on the podcast, or let’s talk for 15 minutes about your business and if this is what you need to significantly grow over the next six months at https://divimallory.wpengine.com/connect
Marketing Strategy Sessions – 60-minute session where we deep dive into the steps to take immediately to find, attract, convert and nurture leads into customers.
Marketing Magic Academy – group experience on how to kick start your marketing even if you have no time, have tried everything and hate marketing that combines DIY lessons on everything you need to launch anything with live laser coaching and group workshops.
About Marketing Magic:
The Marketing Magic podcast is where women entrepreneurs trying to do all the things come to get inspiration, business strategy, and on-air coaching on how to get their business noticed and growing. If you have a business that people need to know about in order for it to grow, you’re in the right place. This is the place to uncomplicate your marketing. Be sure to listen, subscribe, and leave a review! Join the conversation of other unapologetically successful women in her Facebook community, The #girlboss Club.
