Dani Louise Smith’s Post

Ever been ghosted by a client… but they keep paying you? 😶 Today, I saw a post from my client, it left me with a mix of surprise and frustration. After two years of managing his marketing, how could something like this slip by me? Here’s the story. I’ve been working with this client for two years now. It’s been a solid partnership with its ups and downs... Year over year, we’ve seen great growth. I met him twice at the start when he was launching his business. But after that -- we've hardly met! Despite that, he’s always been happy with my services —no complaints, no payment issues, smooth sailing. But about a year in something felt... off! I started noticing changes in the market that I wanted to address with him. So I reached out for a strategy session. And then... silence. For 2-3 months, I was completely ghosted. No emails, no calls, no responses. What frustrated me most was the missed opportunity to act on market changes. Could this disconnect affect the very growth we've worked so hard to achieve? It doesn't stop here.. you'll be amazed at what happens next. I see a post from him announcing the launch of a new product. And yes you guessed it right!!!! I WASN'T INFORMED ABOUT IT! As his marketing lead, I manage all his marketing activities (including his site). But this new product isn’t even mentioned anywhere. It made me question— "Am I failing to keep my clients engaged?" "Could I have communicated better?" "What should I really learn from this?" Has anyone else dealt with something like this? How did you handle it?

Ever heard this from Leads? "Can you do a test project for us?" Your best answer: No. Here's why: Test work costs you: ⏰ Time 💰 Money The big problem: You do lots of work upfront No guarantee of getting paid Instead, try this: 1️⃣ Show your process Tell them: "I have a careful planning stage before we start. We won't begin until we agree on everything." 2️⃣ Share your portfolio Show them: "Look at my past work. I can do great things for you too!" 3️⃣ Use testimonials Prove it: "Here's what other happy clients say about me." 4️⃣ Offer a small paid project Suggest: "Let's start with a small paid task to see how we work together." 5️⃣ Explain the benefits of starting right away Say: "We can save time and money by beginning now. Why wait?" Your skills are valuable. Don't give them away for free! Build trust, but protect your time and money. --------------------------------------------------------------- 🚀𝙒𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙? 𝙄'𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥𝙚𝙙 15+ 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙜𝙚𝙩: 200 𝙈𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣+ 𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙏𝙤𝙥 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙜𝙡𝙚 👀 𝘾𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚? 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥! 💬 𝙈𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙!

Yesterday I gave a CEO some advice that I wouldn’t recommend for everyone… But it’s how I more than doubled my revenue last year. The advice: ”I would stop pushing your service in your marketing” Yes, it sounds a little crazy. But here’s why that makes sense ↴ People don’t want to be sold to. They don’t care about your easter campaign. They don’t care that you’re the “UK’s No.1” X, Y or Z. They’re not too bothered about your claims to success. They care about what you can do for them ✅ And how you can guide them from where they are → Where they want to be. So here’s the 3-step process I recommended to the CEO: STEP #1️⃣: Clearly outline the problem you solve. Not the problem you THINK you solve. The problem your decision maker moans to their spouse about. STEP #2️⃣ Craft a solution to that problem to give away. Not something you WANT to give away. Something so valuable that it feels stupid not to download. STEP #3️⃣ Sell that free value. Now instead of marketing your main service, market that free value. Collect emails. Book calls. Show your value. The goal is to have people think: ”If that’s what I get for free, imagine if I paid 💭” A clear framework to successful marketing. That not only stops you from shilling your service every two minutes. But actually get's prospects through the door.

"My head is like spaghetti." 🤯 I've heard these exact words a few times when speaking to MSP owners about how they're feeling. So much going on in their heads. 👨 One was talking about all the ideas they had for marketing, but they couldn't work out how to untangle the ideas into actionable tasks and a roadmap. 👩 Another, it was the day to day running of the business that they were holding in their head and getting in a tangle with. Speaking to clients, reviewing processes, sending quotes, reading emails, finalising month end, signing off work with their marketing team, booking hotels for the next event... ...and then trying to hold on to new ideas of doing things better that would pop into their head at random times in the day. Sound familiar at all? If so, do you ever take a moment to just stop and take a moment? 📝 Do a brain dump, let it all out, write it all down and then start from there. PS - If you need a sounding board and someone to listen and help make sense of that tangle, I'm here. I love listening to people, helping them process it and then making a plan. This is where I geek out.

Business isn't easy, and anyone who tells you it is is a big silly liar. I think we're all pretty fed up of the false promises The talk of 10k months and 2 hour work days 🫠 So to be able to offer my clients real, practical marketing advice and support, brings me so much joy 🧡 And new testimonials like this are an excellent way to get me doing a little happy dance! In just a couple of hours, this Marketing Kickstarter package will: ➡️ Answer all your niggling marketing questions ➡️ Give the boost of energy you've been waiting for ➡️ Lay out a clear plan to take action and see results in 2025 Basically you rock up, pick my brain, and leave feeling buzzed. Sound good? 🕺 ______ Here's how it works: ➡️ Step # One We'll dive into a 60 minute zoom call to pinpoint 1-2 of your core marketing hold ups, and find actionable solutions. ➡️ Step # Two A one-page action plan after the call will push you into implementing the changes that will drive results. ➡️ Step # Three A 30 minute follow up call will ensure you’re on track and seeing results. We’ll run through any questions that have come up since we first spoke, and banish any doubts that have snuck in. 👀 All for only £395 if you pay a deposit this month. (£495 in the new year) AND you'll get the new 2025 bonus of 3 months access to monthly group coaching thrown in to help you totally SMASH your marketing, and stay accountable 😎 There's nothing scarier than thinking "I have to speak to Meg next week" to kick you into action! I joke... I don't bite. ______ So many of you are doing amazing work. Helping people transform their lives but not appearing as the authority you are. And therefore not winning clients. If you're ready to say hell yeah to the business of your dreams, it's time to slide into my DMs. Sound good? You know where I am.

Everything got easier once I started to ask for help … and let me tell you why. When I started The Social Collective I honestly thought I had to be the expert in all the things. You know, those magical marketing unicorns people talk about but never see. But the reason you can’t see them is because they don’t exist. It took me a long time to (and a lot of courage) to eventually reach out for help. When I did, one of the first things I outsourced was a business coach. I knew I had an idea, I knew where I wanted to go, but I’d never been there before, so I needed help to get there. Sure enough, when I brought my first coach on, she gave me the guidance and support to reach those goals … and with my brain power freed up to think about other things, the business doubled in size within it’s first year (and has done so for the last 3 years). Without that support I’d probably still be sitting at home, on the coach, working 10-14 hour days alone, charging next-to-nothing an hour and feeling overwhelmed. Instead, I’m an expert in my zone of genius (Holistic Marketing) with an incredible team behind me, we’re working with clients all over the globe AND we’ve got so much more growth to come. I know what it’s like to feel overwhelmed and not know where to start, and that’s why I created the Marketing Toolkit - 3 Starter Kits (Social Media, Advertising and Email Marketing) to make sure you’ve got the support needed otherwise plug the current gaps in your marketing, giving you the head start to bring in more sales while you double-down on growing your business. If you’re sick of being stuck and are ready to step into your power of rocking it on social media, drop me a “POWER” in the comments!!

I just said to a colleague: 'I hope I'm not shooting myself in the foot by sharing this' ... After I'd shared publicly that I generated £8.6k in digital product sales this week - half of which I've been stuck in bed with sinusitis, with my chin broken out in cold sores and feeling v. sorry for myself indeed (if you missed my post about it - link in comments). The crazy thing is ... I'm in an industry where there is so much bulls**t that having the experience and skills to execute this kind of launch. And generate £8.6k from sales of a new digital product ... is not considered good. 🤣 Even though only a small number of people achieve this (and not through lack of skill/aptitude!). Even crazier still ... achieving 5 or 6 times this kind of revenue - with no paid advertising/affiliates - which I have also achieved many many times, is not considered ‘good’ either. Which leads to unrealistic expectations and people thinking they’re doing it ‘wrong’. When the truth is … they just need more realistic short term goals. So perhaps you can see how/why I got so tired of all the bull**t about making 6 or 7 figures overnight yada yada. And kind of went to ground (and have stayed there for a couple of years). But all the time I kept thinking: 'What can I DO to make people aware that this IS achievable for them too - without spending thousands to get there?' Or people like me charging ridiculous prices for online education ... just because we can. Then I thought ... just be honest, Janet. It's that simple. I know it will take time .... but I'm rebuilding my online business in the way I should have built it in the first place (without all the 💩). I've already shared lots of free content on online courses/recurring revenue -which people are saying they're finding really refreshing. And have lots more to say/share I think will be valuable. I hope you will join me on the journey ....

Marketing is a marathon, not a sprint.... 🏃♀️ ...but sometimes you need to do some sprinting, amirite? 👟 If you know me at all, you'll know how much I proclaim that with marketing the right way is the long way, it's like making good whisky which takes time, etc. 🥃 All true. And also, sometimes you need to make some f*cken progress. 💪 You're getting referrals and word of mouth but it's drying up a little. People are taking a lot longer to decide. More meetings, fewer leads. You'd like to be clearer about the type of clients you take (and don't). 👀 You have ideas. You'll blog more. Write more LinkedIn posts! Maybe an email newsletter. An event. TikTok?! 📽 And then you wonder, but which ones to do in which order? 🧐 Plus you've got emails and work and team and clients and life so..maybe you'll do marketing later. 😴 *snooze* *snooze again* 6 weeks later... 6 months later.... and nothing has changed. 😭 Well. At We are PF we've decided to help you out with a 6 week marketing sprint. 💪 🗓 💎 This is 6 weeks of coaching from yours truly (that's me) plus other creative members of the PF team. We'll use the Accountant Marketer principles to make sure you're clear on the fundamentals, but every week you'll discuss with me and your fellow accountants what you can start doing, now. And since the meets come up every week (with other people) there's less chance you will snooze them. You'll get stuff DONE. Plus, anything you create during this 6 weeks - a blog post, a video, a website page, an entire website, whatever - will be reviewed by me and the team also. We'll give you pointers ...or we might just say it's great, get the damn thing out there. 🥇 It starts on 7th November. You in?? Let's gooooo 💪 ➡ 🏆 p.s. all the details in the comments. But send me a linkedin voice note if you want to ask whether you think it's right for you & what it might do for you! happy to help! ❤️

You don’t need to fake it to make it (to sign more clients) I’m about to tell you why. I’ve spent months working with executive coaches and consultants, and I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. It’s not just about pushing strategies that are ‘popular’ or following the latest trend. It’s about staying true to who you are and showing up as you are. While others might tell you to hustle hard or sell in ways that feel inauthentic, I stand by this approach: 📌 build a personal brand that attracts the right clients, and then use simple, effective strategies to bring them in. Why? Because people want to work with you for YOU, not for some overly polished persona. It’s about connecting with the right clients in a way that feels natural. So I've been hinting about my Booked & Thriving Program and here's the deal: I've packed it with, ▪️Strategies that will help you attract high-value clients without feeling overwhelmed. ▪️Authentic marketing methods that make you stand out without having to “sell” in the traditional sense. ▪️Practical tools like post templates, outreach scripts, follow-up calls, etc so you don't feel left alone after participating. And you know what you won’t find? ❌ The pressure to be someone you’re not. ❌ A generic approach that leaves you confused and inconsistent. Because I believe in simplicity, clarity, and working smarter, not harder. This is exactly what we cover in the Booked & Thriving Program. If you’re ready to take the next step, DM me ‘Program’ so you'll be the first to know when it's ready.

Holding my hands up… March was a slow month for me. I had 2 sales calls, 1 which converted - but a lot less calls than usual. My profile and content views were down and so were my warm leads. And I knew exactly why. I hadn’t been practising what I preach and put my own marketing on the back burner. As long as all clients are looked after, it’s easy to put your own projects on tomorrow’s to do list… but tomorrow's list never ends up being tomorrow 😂 And that’s the NUMBER ONE thing I always say to clients and potential on-boarders – you need to make sure you don’t neglect your own marketing. I slacked on: > Brainstorming new ideas > Executing our proven process > Planning and structuring posts for each week > Turning ideas into well written engaging content But since getting back into it this month, I’ve had 4 qualified inbound leads. Four recruitment owners wanting to jump on calls to discuss how I can help their agency. There’s a direct link between my activity online and how it affects my monthly results. When I’m posting 3 - 5 times a week (consistently) the difference is huge. And there would be for you too, because our process is backed by psychology. So, if like me, you know that you need to do more for your marketing (but you just don’t have the time or expertise!) then just shoot me a message :) Each month without marketing is costing you new clients. 🙏🏼