Want your next workshop to sell out?
Act like a rock star.
If you have ever tried to get tickets to your favorite band, you may have been astonished to find that all the seats were sold in just a few minutes. When well-known performers, like the Rolling Stones announce a new show, they are able to sell out scheduled performances in just a few minutes.
What’s their secret?
They have a huge fan base. When the word goes out, their fans already know them, like them, and are tuned in to consume their music and their life events.
How To Get Similar Results
You can stimulate the same kind of response for your products and services when you take these steps:
Build Your Fan base
If you have a blog you may have subscribers. But it is a common mistake that people can’t find out how to subscribe to your blog. You need to make it easy for people to subscribe to your blog. Where you place your subscribe button or form can make a huge difference in how many people take action and sign up.
If you have a Facebook page for yourself or your business, do you have have satisfied customers and supporters who like you on Facebook? Are you inviting people to “like” your page? What content are you providing to keep them engaged?
Perhaps you belong to online forums or groups. You might be posting questions or answering questions on LinkedIn.
You could upload videos, share slides, create podcasts or video casts, create a customized channel on YouTube, well, these are just a few of the social media opportunities out there. All of these channels have one thing in common, they are great places to engage in a conversation. Conversations are an exchange of ideas and through them, people connect. Connecting is just 1st step.
Grow your fan base
How can you have an ongoing relationship with your fans? You need to interact regularly. A small group of active fans is far more valuable than a big list where there is little loyalty, commitment or engagement. You need to nurture your relationships in cyberspace as well as those off line. Consistency, such as publishing new content on a regular, predictable basis can help people invest in you and build their trust in you as an expert and resource.
Capture Contact Information
Interruptive marketing (like paid commercials on radio or broadcast television, telemarketing calls) are perceived as annoying because they take you out of the experience of enjoying the story or music you were experiencing. Permission-based marketing is the new model for growing your business. It means that people who like what you have to offer, knowledge, services, or products, have given you permission to be in contact with them. On Facebook, we like people or their pages, on Twitter, we follow them, on YouTube, it is possible to subscribe a channel or to become a friend. I think you’re getting the idea. In each of these cases, there is an easy way for people to indicate that they want more of what they just consumed. There is a convenient way for them to opt in (join) your list.
Give It Away and They Will Come
Your opt in box should be prominently featured on your website. To incentivize people to opt in, you may offer something for free that is of value in exchange for their contact information. We have all willingly given our business cards away for a chance to win something valuable. The same idea works on line when you offer a free report or sample of your services in exchange for your visitors’ contact information.
“The Tim Ferris Effect”
I read a great post today on the forbes.com blog. It was about how to have a successful book launch. The author is a friend of Tim Ferriss (The 4 Hour Work Week, The 4 Hour Body). His book launch as tracked on Amazon was hugely successful because he posted as a guest on Tim’s blog. He went from being listed as 1,295 to an Amazon Best Seller at #45 on the day he posted to Tim’s blog. If you know someone with a very focused and loyal set of followers, you might consider strategies for getting to be mentioned on their blog or offering to create a “guest” post. The big guys do this all the time. When someone in the “Guerilla Marketing” stable publishes, they cross promote themselves on each others web site and email lists.
Start now to build your list and get growing!
btw – If you would like to create an action plan for building your list, see my special offer.
Here in the Wine Country, we have been experiencing an unseasonably warm and cold winter. This time of year, there is a lot to do in preparation for spring. Usually, the garden would be nearly devoid of flowers this month, but because it has been so warm, some color and bright spots are popping up already, like the first daffodils rising from their leafy bed. Oranges are nearly ripe and ready to eat.
