Whether you’re a writer, virtual assistant, business coach or any other type of service-based business provider, you know the importance of connecting with your target market online.
Those are the people you want to serve. They need exactly what you have and you love working with them.
But how do you talk with them online when you’ve never met them? What do you do to get them to notice the awesomeness that is you?
How do you get their attention without being salesy? Here are a couple of simple rules to follow to get you out of overwhelm and on the path to new clients.
Who Is It All About?
First and foremost, you have to remember that it’s about them—not you. How can you solve their problem? How can you help with their pain points? How can you save them time, make their lives easier, help them to save or make more money?
It’s all about your target audience and what you can do for them. Keep that number one rule in mind when you’re trying to connect with people.
Chat It Up
So, how do you get that conversation started through social media? Check out a person’s profile and latest posts or tweets. Besides recognizing that they are in your target market, look for things that you have in common.
Perhaps they mentioned their children and you have a child the same age. Maybe you share a favorite sports team, a love of dogs or a cross-stitching hobby.
Find those things that you have in common and make a connection that way. It’s so much easier to get a conversation started when you can relate to someone.
You can subscribe to their blogs. Leave insightful comments and share their posts via social media.
People love this and really appreciate it. You’re not only helping them reach a wider audience but you’re showing them that you are interested in what they do.
If you believe in their product or service, sign up to become an affiliate for them. You will be able to share their information with others while earning some passive income.
A word of caution here: Make sure that you are genuinely interested in their information. People will sense if the only reason you signed up for their list is that you want to sell something to them.
Don’t Sell, Sell, Sell
That leads us to our next point. The last thing you want to do is try to sell them on something right away. People often use a dating analogy to explain this.
Let’s say that you’re single. You’re out somewhere and someone catches your eye. Do you walk right up to them and say, “Hey, do you want to get married?”
No! They would probably run screaming in the other direction. There are so many steps that come between meeting someone for the first time and walking down the aisle together.
You need to get to know someone. There needs to be some reciprocity and you have to listen to them. Learn what you can about them.
You don’t want to jump into a conversation and say, “I provide XYZ services in my business. Is there something I can help you with?” You can certainly try that but I don’t think you’ll get the response you’re looking for.
Be a Helper
Remember to be helpful. You don’t always want to look at what angle you can jump in to get them to buy your services. Answer their questions.
Share helpful and interesting articles with your target market. Offer advice and free information. Everyone loves free stuff!
This is where the law of reciprocity comes into play. When you’ve helped someone with some great, free information, they want to do something for you in return.
Know, Trust, Like
You have to establish that know, like and trust factor. Yes, you hear it all the time but it’s true. People will buy from those they know.
They will get to know you because you are active on social media, you send out a newsletter, you blog and you interact with them in groups and forums.
They will get to like you because they get a sense of your personality through what you tweet or write on your blog. They will appreciate that you answer questions that they pose in forums and groups. They will notice that you don’t jump in and talk about yourself. You become helpful to them.
They will get to trust you because they see that you’re out there as a wonderful representative of your industry. You provide free and interesting information to them in your newsletter, blog and through social media.
Do you see how we just tried everything together in order to develop your “know, like and trust” factor? As I said, it’s not rocket science but it does take work.
Market Researchers presents different tactics to attach with target market from their studies. Mr. Pritam Nagrale is one of them from Mumbai. He expresses his opinions from his blog MoneyConnexion. His opinions is nothing but his own experiences. He and his blog has great followers.
