This month inside my signature group coaching program, the Heartfelt Brand Society, we are talking all things marketing. And over the course of the next few weeks, we’re really exploring how—through some practical marketing efforts—we can connect more consistently with our ideal clients and generate more inquiries. And I’m willing to bet, that you’re also wondering the same thing, friend.

Through your own marketing efforts—whether you’re a total pro or just getting your feet wet—there are so many different ways you can leverage your online and in-person presence to connect with your ideal clients. But today, I want to dive into three practical ways to connect with your ideal clients no matter what season of business you’re in.

Because ultimately, I believe that connecting with your dream clients shouldn’t be a process of trial and error and it shouldn’t feel like throwing spaghetti at the wall just to see what sticks.

So keep reading to discover my three steps to generating more inquiries from your ideal clients.

1. INVEST IN THE RELATIONSHIPS AROUND YOU

In this first step, I’m going to ask you to invest in the relationships around you.

Often times, especially when I’m looking at my own numbers and understanding where my most profitable inquiries are coming from, I’m discovering that word-of-mouth time and time again continues to be the top referral source to my services.

And as I chat with so many of my students inside the Heartfelt Brand Society, we also find the same thing to be true of their businesses.

Now, I know we spend a lot of our energy focused on more external efforts like building up our Instagram or perfecting the most professional Facebook Live, but I think if we turn down the volume a little bit on how loud we are online and focus instead on investing in the people around us, you would be amazed how word-of-mouth can continue to be your most valuable form of marketing.

By investing in the relationships around you, I don’t think you need to go through a disingenuous networking process where you throw business cards at everyone you meet or offer a referral reward if they send people your way. Instead, I think it can be as simple as showing up to local entrepreneurial groups like Tuesdays Together and giving freely of your time and energy to fellow entrepreneurs.

When serving others, we not only give ourselves the opportunity to build a genuine connection and friendship, but we also give ourselves the opportunity to showcase what we do in action.

And because of that, the next time someone comes to a friend of yours and asks, hey do you know anyone who does x, y, and z? You are top of mind and they can honestly say that they personally have benefitted with working or learning from you.

Investing in the people around you, especially as an entrepreneur, doesn’t have to be this awkward exchange where you’re constantly on the prowl for people who can send clients your way. I like to think of it this way: when moving through your business use the attitude that everything you do is done in a way of serving, not selling.

This mindset also applies to how I foster relationships with others. If I can show up for others in a simple and honest way—even if it’s with no expectation of ever getting a referral out of them—I will do it over and over because I want to be that person who can build genuine relationships. And I believe if we choose to show up for the entrepreneurs around us, we are better able to serve them or be served by them if an opportunity does come to refer a client.

I do believe word-of-mouth can and should be your most valuable form of marketing.

2. LEVERAGE PINTEREST

The second way you can generate more inquiries is by leveraging Pinterest to make your content go further.

Pinterest Marketing is something my team and I have seen dramatic success with and it doesn’t require us to go to crazy lengths to blog every single day or work like crazy people around the clock.

Instead, it looks like us leveraging some simple tools like our Pinterest scheduling tool, Tailwind, to make sure that our existing content is going further and working harder for us.

Some of my top performing pins are from years and years ago, which goes to show that Pinterest is an awesome slow burning source in the best way possible.

Let me explain. Say you wrote a blog post a year ago and it wasn’t super popular on Instagram or Facebook. That doesn’t mean that people aren’t still discovering it on Pinterest, clicking through to your post and reading about you and what you can offer them through your services.

Get your existing content working harder for you. If you have a blog that is packed with great content, be sure to put that content on Pinterest and continue to put it on Pinterest using refreshed graphics and copy in the months ahead. If you have really content-rich Instagram captions, put those photos and links to your Instagram post on Pinterest, also.

3. SHOW UP CONSISTENTLY

The third way to generate more inquiries is to show up wherever you are consistently.

If I’m being honest, inconsistency is the biggest form of self sabotage that I see. I get a lot of questions from people on Instagram who ask, how can I book more clients and generate more inquiries? I’ll hop on over to their Instagram account and see they haven’t posted in three weeks.

Friend, if you’re not showing up consistently on whatever platforms you choose to use, then you are unintentionally shooting yourself in the foot.

I don’t believe you have to be posting on Instagram every single day, but whatever platforms you are using, whether that’s Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, or wherever your chosen platform is, be there consistently.

If you are not dependable in the quality and quantity of content you put out, you make it really difficult for people to find you. So however often you choose to post—whether that’s once a week, three times a week or every single day—show up there.

HOW TO GENERATE MORE INQUIRIES IN THREE STEPS

Friends, I hope these three practical ways to generate more quality inquiries have helped you understand how client inquiry generation doesn’t have to be a process of trial and error and it doesn’t have to be this mystical process that everyone understands but you!

I think that generating inquiries from your ideal clients is as simple as providing quality, dependable content that they can benefit from, for free.

Once people begin to see the benefit of that through your social media presence, Pinterest and the way that you pour into the relationships around you—the more they can understand the clear benefit they can expect if they choose to hire you.

So friend, if you get excited about the idea of different ways you can grow your business, connect with your ideal client and elevate your brand, then I’d love to invite you to join the waitlist for my signature six-month group coaching program, the Heartfelt Brand Society.

Doors will reopen for this six-month mastermind experience in the Fall of 2019 and I’d love to have you learn more so you can apply when doors reopen.

Pop your name below to get added to the waitlist!