You know to show up “everywhere your ideal clients are”. It’s nothing new and yet at the same time, it’s tough.
Whether you’re hiring it out and a team is doing the work for you or you’re doing it yourself, it takes planning and effort to do it and do it well.
What if we looked at the other side of the coin?
Rather than “be everywhere your ideal clients are”, how about “be everywhere your ideal clients are and your competitors aren’t”.
Here’s what I mean. . .
Flip to the back of magazines like Entrepreneur and you’ll see ad after ad for franchise opportunities. It’s a cluttered landscape.
Recently, while reading The Robb Report and saw, for the first time, a three-quarter page ad for a burger franchise. The Robb Report is targeted to the affluent reader.
Rather than put themselves in with everyone else (which they may also have done and I just didn’t see), this burger franchise chose to show up:
- Where none of their competitors are
- Where people have the money to invest in a franchise
Where are your ideal clients, customers and patients hanging out as part of their life that your competitors haven’t yet discovered?
Someplace very few choose to show up? Mailboxes with handwritten cards.
It sounds so basic and yet so few business owners actually do it or any form of direct mail.
Here’s my process to regularly show up: I keep a stack of cards within reach (stamps in one of the card envelopes) and do not leave the office each day until I’ve written at least one card.
Usually it’s easy…birthday cards (most people put their birthdays on Facebook).
No birthdays in sight? Send a “thank you”, “loved your article” or “thinking of you” to someone.
This is one of the places all your ideal clients (and prospects) are and 99.5% of your competitors are not.
Only question is “What theme, if any, will your cards have?”
What out-of-the-usual locations have you seen businesses appear? Please comment below.