Here is the new normal for marketers and creative professionals.

Anyone with a phone or other digital device can start an online business now. Crazy low barriers to entry have exponentially increased the competition in your niche or industry.

The effect? Dramatically increased competition to be heard.

For social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, it’s Mission Accomplished for them. They’ve succeeded beyond their wildest dreams – we’re all marketers now.

We’re doing the bidding for the giants who, in turn, parlay the audiences we’ve created for them, into mega ad bucks.

We can promote anything we want on these platforms – ideas, political views, religion, products, and services. The list is endless.

But therein lies the problem. Everyone’s doing it.

Let’s say you promote yourself on social media platforms. And Facebook is your poison of choice.

Have you noticed a significant increase in the number of competitors in your space? The trend has been accelerating for some time, made worse by the COVID thing.

So many people at home, looking for something to do. More and more average Joe’s and Jills are saying to themselves, ‘Hey, I’ll do a course and become an instant expert on funnel building.’ Or whatever.

Your competition can be a guy working in a factory one day, and an instant expert the next. They set themselves up as life coaches, copywriters, marketing experts, and funnel builders.

I’ve even seen a few call themselves change agents, whilst still grinding it out in their dead-end day job. Go figure.

The point is that it makes it darn hard for prospects – the intending buyers in your space – to sort the wheat from the chaff.

How will they know if YOU are the right person for them? Short answer – they can’t, and they don’t.

To be clear, hoards of people are now pouring into the online world of coaching, ‘experting’, and marketing. It’s not a flood; it’s a tsunami.

And as competition intensifies here is what often happens:

People start shouting at each other. ‘Look at me, I’m da best’, they say. Example: marketers are replacing a family pic on their Facebook personal profile with aggressive sales banners.

More noise, less cut through.

Sooner or later, people turn off; they become impervious to your messaging. The shutters come down; end of game for you.

Or is it?

Too Much Shouting, Not Enough Nuance

Instead of shouting at people, try a different approach.

Think nuance, subtlety, and finesse.

But only after you’ve taken care of the basics. And Basic Principal Number 1 has to be this:

Less is more.

Less leads, not more.

Fewer low-value customers, not more.

Focus on getting more of your perfect lead, and by extension, great customers and clients. I’d rather get a handful of good leads a week than hundreds of crap ones. And one or two good clients are worth their weight in gold.

And no, you don’t need 20,000 people in your FB group. Heck, I made BIG money from one of my fledgling groups, when it only had 60 members.

How? I selected the best people to join it. Lo and behold, a few weeks later, a handful of them did business with me – another $25k payday, thank you very much.

The same thoughts apply to email lists.

Instead of stroking your ego with all these fake metrics, it’s better to focus on the only metric that counts:

Quality leads that convert into (obscenely profitable) clients.

The Right Way To Get Attention, Warm Leads and Hot Sales

Ok, so we’ve looked at the current problems, now it’s time to present a viable solution.

But first, you’ll need to embrace a new way of thinking. Without it, the failed methods of the past will grind you into the dirt.

To keep it simple, here is the basic process:

1. Target the Right People

Don’t target everyone. Narrow it down. Take off your rose-colored glasses and focus on the perfect prospect for you. Base it on money, location, personality, outlook, and more.

This is where a lot of people get it wrong – they think it’s ok to take a broader approach.  But here is what happens.  Just as quality begets quality, low quality does the same thing.  It spawns a cascade of negative outcomes, the polar opposite of what happens when you take a quality-first approach.

Quality leads align better with quality offerings; quality people have more money to spend; they have quality networks; they are more likely to refer other quality people to you.

2. Get Attention

You can’t demand attention; you have to earn it. So, with that thought in mind, here is what you must do. Create laser targetted content that hits the spot for your reader. You want them to think ‘she’s talking directly to me.’ There are different types of content you can create, here is one of them: write content that establishes you as a thought leader in your space.

There is more to this topic than I can cover here, but I want you to be crystal clear about one thing: without ongoing attention from clients and customers, you’ll find it difficult to build a business for the long term.

You’ll be constantly looking for new customers because your existing customers lose interest and stop sending money in your direction.

3. Get Leads

Some of your thought leadership and problem-solving content pieces will generate leads, even though it wasn’t your intention. People will ping you on Messenger and ask for help anyway. Give it time – it will happen.

But to give things a boost, you can also post specific lead-generating content too. For example, you could offer a cheat sheet or a free report on a topic that will resonate with your audience. One thing leads to another and presto! – they want to talk to you.

4. Make Sales

No more hard sell. Here is how we do it: we use conversational selling methods. I’ve been using these methods for 30 years, and whether used offline or online, they flat out work. Take the pressure off you and your leads – happy outcomes for all.

After being indoctrinated about using HARD SELL methods as a 20-year-old, I had a rethink a couple of years later.  That was the time when I grew a backbone and turned my back on this way of doing business.

I said NO to the hard sell methods being taught to me. Instead, I chose a different pathway.  How does it work? We build our sales process around helpful, meaningful conversations. My mantra is ‘I am Kim, how can I help?’

When you use this approach, your prospects will love you. They will ‘lock-in’ to every word you’re saying. They will elevate you to the point where your clients see you as an expert and trusted confidant. But more than this: you will become the leader they’ve been looking for.

Something else…….

The Problem With Marketing Coaches

Before I wrap this up, I want to talk about those who present themselves as marketing coaches.  Most of them don’t have the breadth of experience, to help you at a granular level.

Nor do they have the confidence, knowledge, or guts to help their clients INNOVATE.

Indeed, at least for some of them, the only thing they’ve ever sold is coaching or expensive courses.  How’s that going to work?  It can’t.

The Shift Is On – Up For It?

The preceding assumes that you have made the mental shift from the traditional way of thinking to the new.  

The old way is about quick fixes and instant gratification. Chasing fast bucks and eschewing substance and sustainability. And it’s ok; I get it. That was me – and I wrote about it in one of my blog posts.

I spent decades on the fast buck treadmill and only came to my senses after having an epiphany moment. 

This was thanks to the influence of a guy who was into sustainable income and asset accumulation. (After you make money in business, direct the surplus to investments.)

It worries me that so many inexperienced and manifestly unsuitable folks are jumping onto the make money online bandwagon.  

Whether it’s about making money from coaching, courses, funnel building, affiliate offers, it doesn’t matter. If they’re selling crap to customers, even if a few of them make money, sooner or later the gravy train will come to a shuddering halt.

I know because I’ve seen it happen hundreds of times before.  

And if they’re also behaving like the last of the big spenders, when the party ends.

Other than a mountain of credit card debt used to fund their lavish lifestyle and Facebook Ad campaigns, most of them will have little or nothing to show for their efforts.    

Are You One of My Five Percenters?

You’ll know it’s you because you will be nodding your head in agreement with most of the points I’ve been making.

And you’ll also be ready to leave the old world of instant fix behind.  If yes, read the next bit and do what you KNOW you must do.  Do it now.

Where To From Here?

If you LOVE what I’m saying, you can apply for  for a free 30 minute session with me.  Click here and complete my mini survey:

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With Kim Willis