A few months ago, I wrote about the top things you need to be comfortable doing when you run your own business. Today I want to go more in depth into one of those things—marketing.

Many newly self-employed professionals don’t have a good grasp of just what is all involved in marketing. So today I want to take you through a common marketing method, one that is a staple of modern day business.

This marketing approach involves 6 main components or steps, as outlined in the following diagram.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s involved in each of those parts.

Step 1: Website

It all starts with your website. That’s where people go today to learn about you and your products/services. While it is still possible to run a business without an online presence, it’s typically much harder to do nowadays.

Your website should contain enough information to make the person reading it feel you have something they may need/want, and to make them feel comfortable about possibly doing business with you.

As a minimum, you ideally want at least the following 6 pages/sections.

· Homepage

· About page

· Privacy page

· Blog/Newsletter page

· Sales/Landing page

· Contact page

When someone reads your web pages, they are only at the beginning of their “learning about you” phase. They may no longer be a cold lead, but they aren’t hot yet either. But, if they like what they see on your site, you’ve warmed them up a bit.

Now you need a way to get that luke-warm lead to become warmer. That’s where the next step comes in.

Step 2: Squeeze page

A squeeze page is a page that has one purpose: to get a reader to give you their email address. You do that by giving them something free in exchange. It could be a free consultation, a training video, a checklist, a guidebook—whatever.

Most often, that freebie is a document that the reader can simply download and get instant access to. The trick is, however, to get the visitor’s email address in exchange. That’s typically done by telling the lead you will email them the document, rather than simply providing them with a download link. That means they have to give you their email address if they want the freebie.

Once a visitor is on your squeeze page, the next step is to get them to actually click the “download” button (which will first ask for their email). Getting them to click on that button depends on having a great freebie.

Step 3: Lead magnet

The freebie you offer on your squeeze page is called a lead magnet. That’s because it works like a magnet, attracting leads. As I mentioned, most lead magnets offered by businesses are e-documents. They can be e-books, checklists, guides, infographics, lists, workbooks, etc. Lead magnets are the standard way that businesses build their email list today, particularly for businesses that offer services as opposed to products.

A good lead magnet will accomplish the following.

- Convince your website visitor that your product/service may be right for them/that they need it

- Show them how knowledgeable/capable and helpful you are

- Give the reader a chance to see what you would be like to work with

All of the above items contribute to building what is known in marketing as the know, like, and trust factor. Your job, as a marketer, is to continually build that trust to the point that the lead eventually feels you are definitely the one they want to buy from. For services, that means you have shown them you are knowledgeable and capable and that they can be confident in your ability to solve their problems. For products, it means you have shown that your wares are of quality and are what the lead wants/needs.

Step 4: Email list

An email list is an essential part of modern marketing. One of the reasons it is so prized is that these are people that have already shown some interest in your products/services. You know that, because they’ve downloaded your lead magnet which, of course, is related to what you do in your business. Once you have someone’s email, you can regularly send them information to further show how great you are. Doing that is called nurturing the lead.

Step 5: Nurturing

Now that you have people on your email list, you need to nurture them. That means sending them information, over time, that further convinces them they need your product/service, and that you are the one they want to buy it from.

Nurturing is often accomplished by sending out regular newsletters or articles. You might send out a newsletter once a month with several articles in it. Or perhaps you send out one article every week. Whichever approach you take, nurturing usually takes time. It typically takes several months to a few years before someone buys, depending on what your product/service is and how expensive it is.

Step 6: Sales emails

Nurturing is great, but every now and then you have to actually ask your leads to buy something. This is known in sales as asking for the sale. You do this by periodically sending out sales emails. In these emails, you let them know about a specific product or service you offer, and how it would benefit them. You let them know how much it costs, why now is a good time to buy, and you include a call to action - a clickable button asking them to actually purchase. These buttons typically say something like “Buy now”, “Yes, I want it”, “Add to shopping cart”, etc.

Summary

Hopefully, after this 6 step process, some of the people—not all!—will end up buying. Others may decide they don’t need/want to buy from you after all, and they may even unsubscribe from your mailing list. Still others will remain on your list and may be buyers the next time you send out a sales email.

I also want to make one other important point before I finish today’s article: this is not a quick process. The 6 steps usually occur over a series of months. That’s because leads warm up slowly, not suddenly. It takes time to nurture them to the point that they feel comfortable doing business with you. There are several steps between the time someone first hears about you, to the point where they are ready to buy. In between, take the steps outlined in today’s article to make them more and more comfortable with you, increasing the chances they will eventually buy.

Cheers,

Tim

Helping you engineer the business of you

Information in this article is for general information and is not intended as professional advice.

A 6-step Marketing process (that actually works)