Do you ever wonder, “How can i get more signups and sales for my online program?” We have a really unique way of looking at this. And it all goes back to our roots in the offline / face-to-face / brick-and-mortar world.
It turns out the things we did in creating successful businesses in the OFFLINE world, directly translate to how we were able to find success in the ONLINE world.
In the offline world, we knew a BUNCH of ways to get new customers. It’s one of those ‘essentials’ of business that is called ‘marketing’ (which is just “the actions you take to promote or sell your products or services.”)
But when we first moved to the online world, it seemed really intimidating. Somehow when “marketing” became “digital marketing”, there were new (unfamiliar) words for everything, so much so that we didn’t recognize it as the same things we were used to.
Until we learned how to translate what we already knew for the online world.
So in this training, we’ll be sharing the similarities that we found helped us to translate our brick-and-mortar marketing experience into a successful digital marketing strategy.
We’re calling it “How To Attract NEW Clients with a VIRTUAL ‘Open House’ ” because that’s ONE of those digital marketing strategies — and our FAVORITE! — but we’re also going to be sharing other options for you, so that you’ll have more options from which to choose YOUR favorite.
Click below to watch the show: (OR, if you prefer to LISTEN, you can CLICK HERE to jump to the bottom of the page to enjoy the audio only version)
Watch us implement our digital marketing strategy in real time!
You’ll not only get to watch the digital marketing strategies we share – AND see how effective they are… AS IT’S HAPPENING… but you’ll also get to join us on our 5 Day Energy Detox and Reboot Challenge.
It’s a 5 Day Virtual Event – focused on FAST & EASY ways to Clear Toxic Energy Blocks that Lead to Poor Health, Stiffness, Aches, Worry, Fear & Uncertainty!
PLUS, when you register, you’ll also get a free copy of “Qigong for Beginners.”
TAKING IT ALL IN…
There’s a lot of great information in this show – but if you want the “cliff notes” version of what we covered, here’s a quick recap:
We’ve found that those who really tend to resonate with us and the way we do things (healers, coaches, teachers, etc.) don’t want to spend a lot of time on the “business” aspect of their product or services. They want to spend time doing and sharing what they LOVE instead!
So first, it’s important to understand that marketing is just letting people know how you can help them to solve their problems or reach their goals.
That’s it – that’s Marketing 101 in a nutshell. Now we’re going to break it down and give you some options for HOW you can choose to do that – and how it can be as simple or as layered as YOU want!
#1 – Start With What Already Works For You!
If you’re starting immediately with online services or products, then you get to try on ALL the hats and figure out what is the perfect-fit for you.
But, if you’ve already started in the offline world, you probably already have some strategies that you’ve become comfortable with – that work for you in the way you like to do business – so start with those!
Find how those translate in the online world, and that gives you a great place to start (knowing that you can always CHANGE it because changes happen QUICKLY in the online world!)
For us, we loved having “open houses” to our fitness classes, martial arts classes and dance classes. At all our different businesses, that strategy seemed to work really well for us and our clients because it let them get an experience of working with us. They got to determine if they were comfortable… if they felt we were competent… and if they thought working with us made them feel hopeful about their own success!
But more on the specifics of how we translated that to a “virtual open house” later.
#2 – Get Their Attention
There are so many ways to get attention in the offline world. (And even more in the digital world – because then you’re talking GLOBAL instead of local.)
So, while in the offline world, you might have posters, postcards, flyers, business cards or yellow page ads (remember those?), the main focus is to get their attention and then establish a way to communicate with them. With a flyer, you might have tear-off strips at the bottom with your phone number or a service where they can leave their number to get a call back. With posters or business cards, you might have your phone number or business address. The main thing is that you establish a way to communicate with you and let you know they are interested.
In the digital world, you can run ads with this type of info, or have digital business pages (like on Facebook)… or an opt-in page.
OK, there’s one of those new terms. An opt-in page is like a digital version of that flyer with the tear off strips with your phone number on it. It’s a place where they can “opt in” for contact with you – for a specific purpose or product, and they leave you with their email (in the online world, often emails are used as a point of contact.)
An opt-in page is a higher tech solution, and there are tons of lower tech, easier, do-it-now options, but it’s all about establishing a point of communication. Once you have a way to contact them (and stay in touch with them) you can let them know of different ways you might be able to help them… send them a catalog of your services or products, or let them know of local events or lectures where you might be appearing, or where they can get in touch with you online.
It can move in any direction, but first, you need to have gotten their attention!
#3 – Incentivize Action! (Have a “thingie”)
One of the hardest parts of marketing is always getting them to take action NOW. That’s not new to the digital world. They can stick your business card or flyer on their fridge and have it there forever… waiting for the time to be right to call you.
The hardest part of working out is walking through the door ~ Seen as a banner walking in the door at Gold’s Gym
If the hardest part of any training is actually showing up, it’s also part of your job to help people with that. So how can you incentivize them?
Offline, you can have a door prize, or raffle, that is only available during a certain time period. Or a special day or time when special gifts or “freebies” are available. And they never really had to make sense. Banks used to give a free toaster when you opened up a bank account. (I know! Weird, right? But it probably made sense at the time.)
Online, it’s the same thing. “Free gift when you sign up now!” That’s your “thingie.” You want it to whet their appetite and get them intrigued. Think about the samples they give out at Costco – they don’t just give out a ‘lick’ that would be frustrating, and they don’t give you a “buffet plate” of samples. In French, they use the term “amuse-bouche” – which is a little bit of food to stimulate the appetite.
The “digital marketing” word for this is sometimes called a “lead magnet.” Essentially, it’s attracting a sales lead for you… so it’s not an incorrect term. But if you’re not familiar with the term, it’s no more useful than calling it a “thingie.”
The whole idea behind your digital “thingie” is that you want to stimulate their desire to work with you – to have more of what the “sample” hints at.
#4 – Invite Them Back To Your Place
If you want to do business in the digital world, it’s important that you have a place you can invite potential clients or customers to deepen their relationship with you.
Offline, you might have a store or office. Or, if you’re an author, you might show up at a book signing or reading. You might be speaking at an event locally where they could come and hear you speak or teach. You might offer classes at other established business locations. And if they show up and like you, you might get applause or people asking about future appearances.
Online, this part actually becomes easier. You can have a digital business page or a presence on a social platform or an online group that people can join. If they like you, they can “like” your videos or posts that you publish (which is like applause) or “follow” you (which is like asking to keep informed about future appearances.)
Even if you create your own website, you should still pick at least one social platform where you can hang out or deliver your invitations. And if you have YOUR OWN PLACE (like your own website or business page) where you can invite them – you’re one step ahead of the curve!
Note: In the video training, we also share a few other related terms like “affiliate partners” (as well as the benefits to both sides of those partnerships) but understanding the importance of having your own virtual place online is a great place to get started.
#4 – Our Favorite “Thingie” (at the moment)
In the offline world, one of the marketing strategies we found that worked best for us was an “open house” where people could come to our classes for free and see if they wanted us to work with them.
So, we translated this online into our “5 Day Energy Event” – a sort of VIRTUAL “open house” that serves that same purpose. These days, these types of challenges are all the rage, but we’ve been doing them long before multiple day challenges became the “hot trend.“
The event is basically where we set aside time for 5 days where people can show up and work with us in some of the energy practices we teach. They get to see exactly what it’s like if they choose to continue to work with us (either in one of our home-study programs, or our ongoing classes, or our coaching programs.)
Unlike offline, we also make replays of these trainings available for a limited time before we turn them into a home-study program in our online Academy.
And our “thingie” for the current 5 Day Event is a limited time offer for those registering to get our new “Qigong for Beginners” program. Basically, it gives a jump-start for those attending the event, by doing a deep dive into what most people do WRONG when they practice Qigong and how they can start their own practice with a strong foundation!
So it will enhance their experience of the event and give them a jump start to let them get MORE out of the event — but not overwhelm them before they even get their feet wet.
That’s a great “thingie!” An incentive to register and an ‘amuse-bouche’ to actually show up.
We also offer raffle prizes for those that join us LIVE on Facebook as an extra incentive to join us LIVE. (We have chosen Facebook for our preferred platform for a number of reasons – things that they provide that really make doing business easier and less expensive than other options we investigated. But you can choose any platform that works best for YOU!)
And all of this was based on starting with something that worked for us in the brick-and-mortar world and then just translating it into the digital world.
That’s why we call this training, “How To Attract NEW Clients with a VIRTUAL ‘Open House’ ” It’s a peek into the decision making process of our digital marketing strategy and its roots in regular (offline) or local marketing strategy.
Now that you know the things that went into OUR decision making process, you can use this same method to find what works best for YOU.
For us, simplifying it into this down-to-earth approach really works, because it takes it to the roots of marketing – marketing tactics FOR SURE, but no salezyness or sneakiness. Just finding what works for you and leading with love!
Remember that you can register for our 5 Day Energy Event yourself and watch how it unfolds — watch exactly what we do and how we do it. You’ll see a lot of what we shared with you in this training and maybe it’ll give you ideas of what YOU can do in your own digital marketing strategy. Plus, the event itself is going to be AWESOME!!
BTW, if you’re on Facebook and you’d like to join the conversation from this episode, you can find that Show post here. We’d love to know if you heard something you liked or if you were inspired and got an idea of something you’re going to implement! Come say hi and feel free to share your thoughts with everyone in the chat!
