Getting your business in front of high-quality prospects can be tricky. The other night, while stuffing my face with tacos, I came across a company that found a clever way to get their name out there. I wanted to share it quickly.
Imagine for a second you run a taxi company. You just changed your name so nobody really knows about you. How would you get your name in front of people?
Buy Facebook/Adwords ads? Put up some billboards? Take out ads in local paper and magazines?
All fine ideas. The last two would be pretty expensive, though. And FB/Adwords probably won’t get you much ROI for this particular service. (FB is better for social/lifestyle products.)
That’s why I like what zTrip did.
So the other night, I’m at this cool taco bar with a few friends. It’s in the collegey part of town and is the kind of place where you walk in thinking “I’ll just have a quick drink” then an hour later find yourself 7 tacos deep with your 4th margarita on its way.
When the bills came, they gave us pens that said “Need a ride? Get the App. Ztrip”
Smart. Pens are cheap and they’re putting their service directly in front of people who need it.
Now there’s one small tweak I’d make to make these marketing pens more effective.
Most people, especially in a restaurant full of college kids, already have Uber or Lyft on their phone. And those services work just fine.
What would be great here is a compelling reason why the person who had 3 margaritas too many should download this new app when they have a perfectly good option already on their phone.
For example, they could:
1) Offer a promotion “Get $5 off your first ride”
Or
2) Or position themselves against the competition (and show how they’re better): They could add a line like: “The safest driving service in Colorado” or “Same flat rate no matter what time it is”
I totally made up the “safety” part. But that could be a strong selling point. The “same flat rate” is true and would probably be even stronger. After all, one of the biggest pains with Uber is how they jack the prices during peak hours. With this positioning, they’re basically saying “It’s like Uber but without that one thing you hate about Uber.” That’s compelling.
So here’s the point. You don’t have to spend a ton of money on advertising to get clients. Not if you know where your audience congregates and can put yourself in front of them at the moment they need you most.
If you’re a dating coach, that could mean running FB ads at 2AM on Friday with a headline: “Never spend another night alone again” and a picture of a girl and guy laying in bed or warmly staring into each other’s eyes.
If you’re a yoga instructor, maybe partner with some local doctors who treat back pain and offer pens/pamphlets. Use a line like “Rehab yoga: Overcome pain and injury and feel good as new”. (Side note: My dad’s a doctor and recommends yoga all the time. No local teachers have ever reached out to partner with him.)
If you’re a marriage therapist, think, where do women go when they’re having relationship issues? Perhaps to talk to their friends during brunch? Any way you could weasel your way into the local brunch spot and get your name out there?
It may be tricky to think of great places to reach new clients from a cold brainstorm. But keep an eye open for opportunities and they’ll start popping up.
Real quick, I’m going to ask you to do the exact thing I just said was hard because it can be super valuable 🙂
Where might your client be when they are at their lowest point and need you most? And how could you reach them?
I’ll go first:
As a copywriter, one place I’d look is local meetups/seminars geared towards small business owners. They’ll be filled with people who are serious about their business but know they need help. Maybe I could write a quick-and-dirty guide on “How to get more sales with copywriting” and send it to whoever is running the program as a free gift to give away. Then put my name/contact info on the bottom. Boom.
How about you? This could dramatically change your business so it’s worth taking a few seconds to think about. Share your idea in the comments below (remember, this is just a brainstorming session, there’s no wrong answers). If you can’t think of anything, share what’s blocking you.
Happy client hunting.
