Are You Making this BIG Marketing Mistake?
It’s the holiday season and, in the last week, I’ve personally seen about a dozen people make a big marketing mistake. It’s a common mistake that is most often observed this time of year. It can have a BIG affect on your revenue, bigger than you may realize.
If you want to make more money next year than you did this year, then start by fixing this one little mistake.
The one little mistake is: reaching out to your center of influence (COI) just once or twice a year.
You are filling my inbox with generic, holiday message that took you 15 minutes to create, after a whole year of radio silence. I want to feel special, and you may think you are adding value to my life. But, actually, your rarefied card indicates that I’m NOT special to you, and that you’re NOT adding value to my life. You’re just cluttering up my Inbox because you think you should at least say something once a year.
If you’re guilty of doing this, or something similar, here’s how to fix it:
Get in the spirit of giving value, and stay there.
- Give regularly: Communicate with your COI often. Give the gift of communication once per month, at minimum, ideally once per week.
- Give gifts: Provide value. Give helpful tips & resources, interesting information & statistics, special discounts, and so on. Gifts give value.
- Give yourself: Come on. Who wants to see a generic holiday photo with a generic message? Show me a photo of your family, or your staff, and say something funny, or heartfelt. Put some thought into it.
People want to do business with people that they know, like, and trust. People want to work with businesses that give value. If you want more people to do business with you, give more people a chance to get to know you, to like you, and to trust you. Find ways to make their life better by providing them value. A gift gives value without asking for value in return. Paradoxically, you will see returns.
If you want a step-by-step plan on how to do this effectively, grab my brand new program – Email Marketing that WORKS! Click here for details.
I will take you through a simple, doable plan that will generate amazing results for you.
In the comments below, share with me some ideas and ways that you are providing value to your Center of Influence.
I LOVE this…you are so right on the money. I would rather be overcommunicated with and have the option to opt out than to only hear from someone, which makes it feel like an obligation on their part.
Perfect.
Hi Nichi,
That’s a great way to put it “like an obligation on their part”.
Heidi – you are absolutely right. The first thing I do when I get a holiday card in the mail is to check to see if someone actually signed it or if there is just an imprint of their name. When I see the ones with an imprint I think – what a waste of time and money – you can’t even sign the card?
I always have my clients in mind when browsing the web. In fact, once a month I specifically look for interesting business ideas for clients. Even if they don’t use them you gain valuable bonus points for being the one to try to help.
Hi Doug,
That’s a great way to provide value. Like you said, even if your clients don’t use all of the ideas you send to them, they know that you care about their business and about them.