8 Biggest Mistakes I Made Marketing My Service-Based Business Online. (So you don't have to)
Dear Friend and Subscriber,
Before we get started, Allow me to provide a little context to share this part of my journey.
In 2015 I’ve started my own marketing agency which mainly focuses on creative production. From B2b Exhibition Stands, Corporate Videography to Producing Branding Assets like Presentations, Brochures and so on.
I enjoyed it for many years cause it allowed me to work with corporate brands and big name companies while working for yourself without a boss breathing down your neck.
I felt thrilled and delighted everytime I signed a new client but in reality it is really tough.
Because the downside is, It’s a service-based business.
In order to deliver and succeed you’ve got to have a pool of talented individuals and contractors ready to take on the job which fully satisfies you and your client’s standards.
If you think about it…
All I did is prospect, pitch, onboard, delegate, deliver, collect the payment and act as a a project manager throughout the whole process.
It’s easy right?
Well, the answer is Yes AND No.
Yes, because as long as you know how to prospect, market and sell.
You can basically write your own paycheck cause you know where to get that profit-margins from and reduce cost.
No, because you’re only good as your last project you delivered, last money you collected, the last client you work with.
Without the right systems and processes in place, As a solopreneur, founder, business owner you’ll always be stuck in outbound activities chasing and cold calling clients.
Now I know what you’re thinking, you’ll probaly say ‘Danielle I get my clients from cold calling.’
I’m not saying cold calling don’t work as a matter of fact that’s how I got started and I still make cold calls. but that’s for a different newsletter.
For the sake of time let’s get into it shall we?
Mistake #1 - Lots of Awareness but Not Focusing on Conversions.
When I started marketing my business online I produced lots and lots of content, talking about me, how special I am, how many speaking engagements or podcast that I’ve been invited to guest to.
While these activities are all good to drive awareness, If you’re running a business you know how it’s important to turn that awareness into paying clients.
If you have no clients, you simply don’t have a business. period.
Mistake #2 - Following advice from guru’s and celebrities which don’t have a stake in your business.
Let’s face it, there’s a lot of advice online from social guru’s and celebrities.
Some will say post on Instagram, Start TikTok, a YouTube Channel, Podcast, LinkedIn and the list goes on. Yes some of these tools might work, most of them are purely subjective it all boils down on how well you execute and how is it relevant to your business.
And let’s be honest for a second, Even though there’s a lot of content out there and teach you how to. Most of them are low-quality advice, lack of context, recycled and regurgitated.
Which leads me to…
Mistake #3 - Relying on Intuition Instead of Using Data and Analytics.
I’m sure some of you can relate, Everytime you post content it feels like it goes into a massive black hole where it just sucks all the time, energy, effort you’ve put into producing this one piece of content.
Again,
Awareness right?
But what if people who follows you online like reacted with a like, a heart, or shared it, suddenly you feel the surge of dopamine and you feel this tingling sensation which changes your emotional state.
Dangerous.
Why?
Because this tricks your mind that you’ve accomplished something, Letting you think that your prospects and target customers actually have read it.
When in reality they haven’t.
That’s why it’s important to gather and study proven data to know
‘What Content to Produce Versus What your Prospects Wants to Consume,’
Mistake #4- Not Mapping Out Buyer’s Journey.
If you’ve known me for a quite a while or happen to do a simple ‘Google Search’, I definitely had my fair share of earned links from my podcast, social channels, guest appearances and more.
While it generates traffic for awareness and I can say I’m pretty much out there,
I’m not just getting the right traffic to turn it into paying clients.
Being a sales person first and marketer second.
I fail to realize how important it is to map out your customer journey from the intial contact either from DMs to single piece of content and hand holding them towards conversion.
It’s kinda like the AIDA Funnel which the same to your Sales Process.
-Attention
-Interest
-Decision
-Action
Now everything changes when you’re into B2b or B2G industry with contracts ranges from $10,000 USD to $1,000,000 USD or a Tech Startup who’s in the upward trajectory of doing $100,000 USD MRR (monthly recuring revenue) the customer journey becomes more complex.
Here’s an illustration to give you an example from Gartner.
Mistake #5 - Not Getting Clear on Persona’s.
When you try to market to everyone you reach no one. As someone who wears a lot of hats, as a marketer I often confuse Strategy with Tactics.
Strategy — Why VS. Tactics — How to.
Which explains the lack of results I’m getting, The lack of personalization and distributing the same message over and over to everyone instead of jumping from generalized content to specific-niche content.
This is where the importance of Persona’s comes in because you are giving them the right reason to listen to you which brings in the right traffic, leads, and revenue.
Getting clear on the Who, Why, When and the How really makes a huge difference.
Mistake #6 - Building an income stream instead of a traffic stream.
In the beginning I was super obsessed in making a profit and this reflects on my activities online. From prospecting, to sending direct messages, to being just overly salesy which in return alienated my audience online and people I wanted to build a relationship and do business with.
When I look back I cringe on the type of content, and the messages I’ve sent or responded to.
It was a major turn-off!
Why?
Because I buy-in to the belief that the X amount of time = X amount of results right? or if we’re talking about buying ads $1 = $5
But the truth is marketing and building your business online is all about TRAFFIC. Without the right traffic, You’ll simply get no to mediocre results.
Mistake #7 - Using Business Tools You Don’t Need
Do I really need this?
Listen, there are a lot of tools business owners can use From CRM to Email Marketing Software, Social Media Marketing Tool, Funnels and Automations, Payment Gateway, E-invoice, E-signature and the list goes on.
While this tools can help you scale for growth.
But what if you only have 5-10 transactions in a month or only have less than 30 customers in a year? Well if you’re into B2b or Tech it may vary.
But still my point is.
If you invest in these tools requires a subscription of $29, $99, $249 per month it all adds up to your bottom line.
And Yes! I learned the hard way, so think logically before making purchasing decisions based on your current and future plan business operation.
Mistake #8 - Platform Focused Instead of Messaging Focused.
How many of you love trends? chasing the next shiny object and investing time, effort and energy to try and build an audience.
Let’s be honest.
Going viral is hard!
Plus if you consider platforms who are in the business of making money, they’ll probably tighter up their algorithm so you’ll be forced to spend ads and drive more eyeballs towards your product or service.
Different platform, different audience, different skills and ways to market.
What I realised was people whom we follow online have different starting points. Thus their success, their processes in place although can be modeled there’s just a lot of variables that you cannot see, unless you went in inside their funnels, systems in place.
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Thank You! I hope you got your time’s worth.
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PS. If you’re a B2b Founder, C-suite and You’re Ready to Drive Leads, Digitize your Reputation and Drive Revenue using LinkedIn.
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Speak soon!
Many thanks!
Danielle