Don’t make the same marketing mistake as Leanne
Nick Bendel
Professional writer for property and finance industries | Writes content for mortgage brokers, buyer's agents, accountants, financial advisers & more | Websites, blogs, social media posts, emails, media releases & more
Earlier today, I had a marketing strategy session with Leanne, a fitness professional who lives in London. Like many people, Leanne was worried. Due to the COVID crisis, her gym has closed for the foreseeable future, which means her income has disappeared.
(Leanne is a real person, but I’ve changed her name to protect her privacy.)
So Leanne wanted to know – what marketing tactics can she use to attract personal training clients?
I gave Leanne one short-term suggestion and one long-term suggestion.
Short-term marketing
I advised Leanne to contact every person in her network and ask if they want to do online personal training sessions.
That sort of one-to-one marketing might generate some business, although probably not a lot.
Long-term marketing
I also advised Leanne to start publishing one educational video per day, on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
That won't bring in any business in the short-term. It probably won't generate business in the medium-term either.
But over the long-term, it will differentiate Leanne from 95% of her rivals and turn her into a trusted authority figure – and people want to do business with trusted authority figures.
More content = more trust
Right now, Leanne is not a trusted authority figure.
That's not because she's not a good person (she is) or because she doesn’t know what she’s talking about (she does).
It’s because people haven’t heard of Leanne, so when she does appear on their radar, they don’t know if they can trust her and they don't know if she's knowledgeable.
Why haven’t people heard of Leanne? Because she hasn't been doing content marketing.
Leanne now realises that was a mistake; she now realises she should’ve been using content to build an audience and prove her expertise, and she wishes she could go back in time and fix that mistake.
Today’s marketing will generate tomorrow’s sales
To quote the Chinese proverb: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."
So Leanne has promised to immediately begin planting seeds.
Over the short-term, she won't notice anything. But over the long-term, some of those seeds will grow into big, beautiful trees.
When the next economic downturn hits, Leanne will be in a much better position than she is now.
Need marketing advice? Contact me at [email protected]
??Chief People Builder | Communication Specialist?? Helping Individuals, Teams & Organisations Harness the Power of ?? Common Language to Flourish Relationally & Drive Better Outcomes ??
4 年“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.". Love this quote! Thanks Nick.
Energy Therapist enhancing health and wellbeing using Reiki and Massage Techniques | Helping small businesses solving their administrative challenges
4 年Thank you for this important message it is well worth reading. Nick Bendel
Director – Lightbent Images & Photography ? Corporate Headshot & Portrait Photographer Perth
4 年Brilliant article Nick Bendel
Business Coach | Business Growth Strategist | I Specialise in Scaling Businesses In Both Sales and Profits.
4 年What we do today will return in the future Nick Bendel
Life Coach at Holistic Health & Anxiety Coaching
4 年Nick Bendel enjoyed the read . Let’s plant those trees again .. ????