As a small business owner, you have many roles that you’re responsible for. One of these roles includes promoting your own services. Your book, online course, retreat, training, or group programme is finally done and you’re ready to share it with the world. But where do you start? Reaching out to people directly is effective and it’s something you have control over. And, of course, it’s smart to invite others to help you get the word out as well.
“Marketing is really just about sharing your passion” ~ Michael Hyatt
In this article, I will cover how you can be proactive and personally share your offer to prospective clients. I will also discuss how to ask other people to share your services and spread the word.
1. Share your offer one-on-one
Taking action to share your offers is one of the most powerful ways to make sure the right people know about your offer. Remember that promoting your new thing is not “showing off”. You can reach out to people you already know (not strangers) and people in your network that you have relationships with.
What to ask a prospective client
If you think the person you’re reaching out to might benefit from your offer, let them know. In addition, you can also ask if they know another person for whom your offer might be a match for. Especially if you know that it’s not an interesting offer for the person you’re asking directly, you can still reach out and ask in case they know someone would be interested.
How to reach out to people about your offer
Here are some of the best ways to contact people about your services:
- Pick up the phone
- Leave a voice message
- Send a text message
- Send an email
- Go analogue and send a postcard
2. Pursue one-to-many opportunities
Leveraging your time to reach more people at the same time is always a smart strategy. One example of this could be through mediums that reach a lot of people like podcasts or blogs. Do some research and make a list of all of the podcasts and blogs where you could be a guest or write a guest post.
Make sure that you provide value on your topic and that it’s not a giant pitch fest. You should also make an agreement with the host or website manager beforehand about sharing your offer at the end of your interview or post.
3. Ask people to share your offer on social media
If you ask people to share something for you, make it easy for them to do it. Give clear instructions and always share the link to your offer.
Provide shareable text for social media
The other person can also write their own text but go ahead and write some options they can choose from so it doesn’t take too much time for them. For example, you can share a post with instructions that they can simply copy and paste and share on the platform of choice. You can also create specific texts for different social media platforms.
Below are a few examples of sample text about an offer that will work on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
Social media text sample #1
My friend, John Smith, created the online course [Course name] for small business owners who want to connect with more of their ideal clients in a human way. Get the details here [Insert link to offer].
Social media text sample #2
Want more of your ideal clients? Check out this online course, [Course name], for small business owners. If you’d like to connect with more of your ideal clients in a human way, this online course might be a perfect fit for you. Find out more here: [Insert link to offer].
Invite people to comment on or share an existing post
Not everyone will want to create their own social media post in order to support you and share your offer, however. That’s why it’s smart to also share links to posts that you have already shared yourself (or that have been shared by others) so that they can: like, comment, and / or share.
Get out there and don’t be afraid to promote your business
I hope you’re feeling inspired to share your offer(s) with people you know and to ask people who support you to spread the word as well. Remember, people can’t buy what you have if they don’t know about it. There are people who want and need what you are offering, so don’t be shy. Sharing is caring.