Get on The Discovery Channel...

If you're in Business then you're in the Marketing and Sales Business...

You have a great service, programme or course. It's amazing just like you and you want others to experience the benefits of working with you. You want some Prospects, some Leads and some Enquiries. Then you'll want to Convert them, Close them and sign 'em up...

The market is saturated with other "Accountants", "Trainers", "Designers", "Manufacturers" and "Wholesalers" however, so you need to dominate your market and crush it when it comes to getting out of that red water frenzy.

(Cliches courtesy of Master Wizard Guru's everywhere...)

Sounds so simple; the challenge, of course, is not in the WHAT but in the HOW.

How do we attract Prospects and Leads and How do we Convert and Close them...?

Well here's what most people do.

Get all excited about SEO, being on the first page of Google, "sponsoring" their site so it pops up at the top of the page when the "keywords" are typed in. How many of us simply avoid the sponsored pages and scroll down to the first one that looks like a human is actually involved...?

Get Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter all fired up with blogs and comments - YouTube and Instagram will follow and if they like Cats and Dogs even give Pinterest a shot.

Then they sit back and wait - checking Analytics every 10 minutes, checking Outlook just in case an enquiry pops up and scanning all the social media sites in the hope that someone - anyone - will request a meeting, call back or conversation.

When you see people in airports checking their 'phones - this is what 92% of them are doing; the other 8% are playing Solitaire.

And...

Nothing happens - even their husband hasn't seen their post and shared it, their wife has not commented on the cut and pasted quote from Thomas Edison that was put up 3 days ago.

Then they quit Marketing because...

Marketing doesn't work in their business; their business is special.

And so they end up sitting in some bar complaining that they used to be in Sales; it's a tough racket...

(Thanks to, Alec Baldwin here...)

So why doesn't it work...?

Why aren't people flooding to your door begging you to take them on as clients...?

Discovery is the key...

Some time ago I was delivering a Conference in Portugal at the Penha Longa Resort - just next to the Estoril circuit for those that are interested.

We decided to head south along the coast and do some exploring. at around 12.00 we found a small restaurant overlooking the Atlantic and decided to stop for lunch.

The food available was simply what had been caught that day - so ordering was easy...

Before the main course turned up, the waiter arrived with a basket of fresh bread and two small tins, with ring pulls on the top. We had no idea what they contained and were a little sceptical.

So we gently opened our individual tins, peeled back the lid and sniffed the contents - Fish Paste...

We looked at each other and smiled - we weren't expecting this. Living in France we have had some "interesting" food from time to time, but an individual tin of fish paste was a new one.

So we tried it spread on the bread...

It tasted fabulous - sitting on a sunny balcony overlooking the Atlantic, with the smell of fresh food being grilled, along with the sound of the boats clinking in the harbour all conspired to make the fish paste something special...

Now - if someone had emailed me suggesting we have a tin of fish paste for starters, done a sponsored post on social media raving about fish paste and how I could get one FREE - I would have ignored them...

And I certainly would never have Googled "Tinned Fish Paste for Starters" and contacted any sellers - sponsored or otherwise.

The difference was - Discovery and Context...

Discovery

We came across it and discovered it - so we had "ownership" of the event.

Context

The environment and timing were perfect - in that situation, even fish paste tasted amazing.

Same works in Business - rather than forcing ourselves on people in the hope that through attrition and repetition they will miraculously become our best ever client - we have to enable ourselves to be "discovered" by people in the appropriate "context"...

How can this be achieved...?

Here's a checklist.

#1 Differentiation. How do you stand out from the crowd - what is it that makes you attractive..?

#2 Value. Are you any good...?

#3 Visible. Are you "discoverable" or hidden away behind all the marketing hype...?

For example...

I publish articles, posts and blogs - I don't pay for them to be promoted I simply put them out there for people to see and "discover", then I will do an evening Seminar on a contemporary subject and I'll invite people who've connected with me to come along and bring their friends.

In the room, I deliver what I hope is a fun and engaging event - the equivalent of the unexpectedly pleasant "Fish Paste" - we hold the events in cool places so the environment supports the product.

In April, I'm delivering a Business Growth Workshop in Luxembourg and I'll be using a full Acoustic Drum Kit on stage to emphasise the points - if you'd like to come along on Thursday 19th April and "discover" what I'm talking about, then click on the link and see if there are any places left...

At these events - people "discover" what we do, they have ownership of the discovery are much more likely to engage in a conversation as a consequence.

Providing the event is good - word spreads - last time we had 60 people with standing room only as I talked about overcoming FEAR in Sales by smashing my index finger with a tin of vegetable soup - you had to be there...

So your job is to be unique and different - but not too pushy. Be active and visible in all that you do, but allow people to find their own way to you and discover you for themselves rather than have your marketing rammed down their throat.

Be attractive to people, allow your prospects to hear about you, be referred to and come along and meet with you on their own terms; once they make the discovery for themselves and decide that actually Fish Paste for starters is amazing - you don't need to close, convert or sign 'em up either - they will simply say to you "when can we get started..."

Get on stage, showcase what you do - run workshops, seminars and events - do them for free, just be attractive enough that you can get people to come along. It doesn't matter what you do - make it engaging and fun.

People like exploring, they like the prospect of something new and exciting - give them a reason to come to your event...

Get on the Discovery Channel...

PS - Don't be the person who thinks, let alone comments "that won't work in my business..."