Where to focus your marketing efforts online

“There are countless ways of achieving greatness, but any road to achieving one’s maximum potential must be built on a bedrock of respect for the individual, a commitment to excellence, and a rejection of mediocrity.”
– Buck Rodgers
I wrote last week about NOT being a slave to your business. We all hate that.
But how do you do that? Well, it starts NOW… that’s why I gave you a tool to evaluate where you really are (with your staff), so you can start with the truth.
However, here in May, you might be tempted to be one of those tax/accounting professionals who takes it easy for a while, and then sort of start to work on your new marketing plans come September (or even December).
That’s the “normal” route for so many. But do you really want a “normal” firm?
No, the very fact that you requested one of my White Papers, videos, reports or came to one of my events means that you do NOT want to accept the status quo! At least that was the case at one time.
So you’re already “ahead” of your competitors. But so many tax professionals fail after a while because they don’t know WHERE to focus their effort, especially in this “online marketing” age.
So, over the next few weeks, I’ll be breaking down some KEY elements to ensuring you succeed. No geek-speak allowed, just unvarnished, simple Internet marketing TRUTH.
Your Intense Focus on Growth
Online Marketing Made Simple
Figuring out what to do to market your business online can be a confusing morass of “gurus” (many of whom have never really done anything significant online), geek-speak and expensive programs.
But it really comes down to THREE key elements:
1) “Lead Magnet” /Capturing information.
2) Follow-Up /Conversion to client.
3) Traffic /Sending prospects to your site.
That’s it. Truly … all of the other “junk” out there is just details. Even Social Media–for which I continually bang the drum–is BEST used as a mechanism for all three. The best way to “win” with Social Media is to get users OFF of Social Media…and into your doors!
But I digress.
Each of these subjects could be (and are) the subject of multi-day seminars, but we’ll cover the broad strokes so you’ve got the right framework. Let’s start with the “Lead Magnet” for today…
“Subscribe To Our Email Newsletter” Doesn’t Cut It.
Wondering why your website is nothing but a glorified brochure online? Simple…website visitors (when you get them) have no real incentive to actually begin a relationship. So, they slide/click on by.
Really…is anyone out there looking to clutter their inbox with more “newsletters”?
Frankly, many tax & accounting firms don’t even have THAT element on their site…which really negates the effectiveness of your site.
Internet marketing millionaires understand that the real power for ANY small business resides in The List.
So, you must give your website visitors a compelling reason to hand over their valuable information, which speaks to what they REALLY want. This is called your “Lead Magnet”.
Where It All Starts
The primary reason I’m addressing this topic FIRST is that you can have droves of visitors, and a great follow-up system in place…but without the right strategy to start the relationship you’ve got nothing.
Really, marketing is, at its core, about building a relationship.
When I was on staff with Young Life (a non-profit mentorship/ministry organization working with public high school kids), our credo was “Earn the right to be heard.” High school kids don’t give a dang about how great your “solution” is for their problems…until you demonstrate that you care about them in a way they respect. So, I coached football and lacrosse, I went to community events, I played backyard football with ’em.
I built a relationship. (And it wasn’t some cynical ploy–many of these guys, now older, are still some of my dearest friends). THEN, when the relationship was solid, we could talk about “real” things. I didn’t walk onto campus with a megaphone shouting about how great my “thing” was.
And marketing for your firm is most effective when you follow the same model.
So, you’ve first gotta have some reason for your prospects to start that relationship. Otherwise, you’re just another barker at the convention shouting out your wares.
So, What Do Your Prospects WANT?
Simple. They want no-nonsense, real-world guidance through the chaos of their lives.
You’ve already got a tremendous advantage, as a financial professional, to garner respect with your authority. So create something which will make them see YOU as their “port in the storm”.
We’ve created specifc Lead Magnets for our Email Marketing system, designed to suck in the prospects on your behalf.
But you can do this yourself, if you’d like, as well.
Just remember: You Must “Give Them A Reason.” Then, the keys to the online kingdom will be yours.