Part 3 – Summer Pitfalls – Ramp Up Your Marketing
(Continued from Part I and Part 2)
In the first two parts of this article, I talked about getting your business ready for the pitfalls of summer. One of those pitfalls is your client’s distraction from working with you as they turn their attention to summer activities that soak up their time and attention.
=> => => But that’s not the only issue…<= <= <=
Equally important is another pitfall, and that’s the challenge of getting new clients interested in engaging your services when vacation, outdoor activities and family visits are on their mind.
Summer isn’t usually thought of as a time for starting big projects, and working with you might be perceived in that way…leading potential clients to want to put it off until Fall.
A hidden danger with this pitfall is that you are subject to feeling that way, too. It’s tempting to just wait until after everyone is back at work and more focused to really ramp up your marketing.
However, like anything else, putting off working with you – or in your case, putting off marketing your practice – is putting off taking an important step in achieving your goals.
Today’s tip will help you shift the thinking of your potential new clients by shifting your own thinking about marketing your practice:
Stop waiting for the perfect marketing plan, the perfect website or the perfect opportunity and start taking action to get on the radar screen of your target market so they can choose you to work with and become your clients.
If you have been putting off marketing for whatever reason, it’s time to step over that obstacle and get going. Here are just a few of the reasons I hear people use to avoid taking action:
* You don’t know what to do or where to start and you’ve felt this way for several months.
* You are still perfecting your marketing materials or studying articles for tips on how to do it.
* Your last effort didn’t work the way you expected, so you are hesitating about doing the next
thing until ___________ (you fill in the blank).
* No one else seems to be doing the idea you have, so you don’t know if it’s a good idea.
* You don’t have your website up yet, or you are still perfecting the one you have.
* Yada, yada, yada…
Whatever the reason you’ve been putting it off – (and that’s what not doing it is…”putting it off”) – now is the time to be actively marketing your practice.
Summer is an opportune time for marketing your practice because even though everyone’s primary focus can seem to be summer fun, the problems they have been experiencing still exist.
Just like your problem of not having the number of clients that you want still exists.
The distraction of summer may temporarily ease the concern, but it can’t hide, cover or erase the issue. Unfortunately, for some of your potential clients, vacation can actually exacerbate or heighten their problem area, which means that your marketing message coming now could be more timely than ever.
When you reach out with confidence about what you have to offer and the value it will bring to your client’s life, those who are ready will respond…and that’s who you most want to work with, isn’t it?
If you have been putting off marketing for any reason, including the ones I’ve listed, you aren’t alone. But don’t linger in that spot because your practice will eventually suffer, if it hasn’t already. Feeling stuck could be a sign. Maybe it’s time to shift your perspective so you can get going, before you miss this summer opportunity.