Fast Fourteen Marketing Ideas You Can Do Today

Authors: Elaine Biech and Halelly Azulay, creators of the Building Your Successful Consulting Business online course and The Consultant Quarantine Quick Start Hustle.

Probably more books have been written about marketing than most business topics. And there is so much to know: marketing plans, research, creating your brand, clarifying your niche, marketing’s 4 Ps, and a hundred other details. If you are a solopreneur, you may find all the details overwhelming. And sometimes you might just be saying, “I need to do something today!”

The truth is you should have a marketing mindset all the time. But, if you are not marketing and need to do something today, any one of the items from the “Fast Fourteen” list will get you started. Most of these fourteen ideas will require less than eight hours of your time. Most of them cost little or no money.

So, here’s a list of fourteen things you can do that will definitely move your marketing efforts forward. Select one and do it today.

1. Print mailing labels for fourteen of your best clients then purchase fourteen appropriate (funny, thank you, thinking of you) cards from your local card shop. Write a sentence or two in each and mail them off.
2. Find a great article in a recent business magazine. Purchase fourteen copies of the magazine and mark the article with a post it and a note from you. Send it to fourteen potential clients.
3. Call people you know and ask them to suggest others whom you might help. Do not stop until you have fourteen names and phone numbers.
4. Call the fourteen names provided to you in the previous idea. Ask for time on their calendars to chat with you about how you might be able to help them.
5. Increase your presence on LinkedIn or another social media by engaging in fourteen actions such as: sharing a few posts; requesting connections; responding to questions in your groups; congratulating or endorsing others; updating your profile; or giving a few recommendations.
6. Identify fourteen dormant (clients you have not spoken to in two years) and call them to see what they have been doing and how you can help them.
7. Read a good book? Seen a great web site? Email the title and author or the web site address with fourteen words about why you liked it to fourteen people who could refer you to new clients.
8. Write a fourteen-paragraph (or less) blog post. Then contact fourteen clients and ask them to read it and provide you with feedback.
9. Review all the ways you connect with potential clients: LinkedIn, Facebook, telephone messages, Twitter, or others. Identify fourteen things you could do to improve and align your marketing message. Then implement the ideas.
10. Go to your local bookstore. Scan at least fourteen of the newest books that focus on your area of expertise. Identify phrases, concepts, and thoughts you could use in your next prospecting letter.
11. Identify fourteen events, e.g., conferences, meetings, social gatherings, in the next year, that allow you to touch base with potential clients. Add all fourteen to your annual calendar.
12. Identify fourteen strangers to whom you would like to sell your services. Now contact your network to determine if they can introduce you.
13. Identify fourteen journals, magazines, blogs, and newspapers where you could submit an article or a press release.
14. (And when the lockdowns are lifted,) attend your next professional or service organization meeting. Select fourteen people and give each person two business cards—one to keep and one to pass on.

You noticed many of the fourteen ideas focus on concrete actions and tangible items such as cards, books, or magazines. Why? There are two reasons. First, it gives your clients a break from the screens most look at all day. Second, it creates a physical reminder—something that will be left lying on their desks or in their briefcases to remind them of you. We’ve experienced dozens of times when we received a call from a client who said, “I was just about to hire someone for xyz project, when I received your note in the mail. Can you stop by to discuss this project?”

We’re not saying that you don’t need a marketing plan—not at all. You do need a marketing plan. But in the meantime, selecting one of these items will keep give you a jump start if you need it. Finally, be sure to follow up with a call or another next step that keeps you in contact with your future clients.

About the Authors

Elaine Biech and Halelly Azulay are successful consultants with a combined 50 years of experience. Both are leaders in the talent development field, volunteers for ATD, and mentors and coaches for new consultants. They are the creators of the online course: Building Your Successful Consulting Business. Elaine has published 85 books, including The New Business of Consulting and Halelly produces and hosts The TalentGrow Show podcast where she interviews legends such as Daniel Pink, Beverly Kaye, Dorie Clark, and others.

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Is this you? ? Thinking about starting your own talent development consulting business but not sure where to begin? ? Researching what you need to do or how to make it work? ? Preparing for a career change and it’s finally the right time to take the leap to go solo? ? Started your business recently and feel overwhelmed or confused about how to make it all work to replace your day-job income?

We want to help. Join our next cohort when we open our online course titled Building Your Successful Consulting Business for enrollment. This limited-enrollment course gives you a chance to learn our time-tested, experience-based information. You’ll receive hands-on guidance to build the successful consulting business you've been dreaming of. If you already started your consulting business, we can help you finally get your business to take flight.

More info and to join our course, visit us at https://yourconsultingbiz.com.

“In Elaine and Halelly you've got two of the smartest women in the business. Draw on their experience and years of success practicing what they preach to build your own successful consulting or training business.” ~ Michael Bungay Stanier, Author of the WSJ-bestsellers, The Coaching Habit and The Advice Trap

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