The days of buying ad space on a website and expecting clients to magically appear are over. The last few years we've seen an uptick in the importance of content marketing and from 2015 on, we're going to see even more human interaction needed in order to make sales.
As we all become more connected through social media, and the internet as a whole, we see the growth of human marketing - the ability to market your business without coming off like a suit & tie asshole pushing for the sale.
You're not knocking on doors and begging for sales. Instead, you're meeting potential clients on their own turf and chatting them up. Becoming friends with them, and gaining their attention without actually trying to sell anything.
Marketing is a contest for people's attention. - Seth Godin
If the quote is true, that means you're fighting for potential clients attention every day with hundreds of other advertisements and marketing efforts. Are you really sure your current methods are standing out enough to land you the sale?
Interaction - the pull
Think about the last time a friend of yours mentioned a product or service they used. If they badmouthed it, odds are you checked a box in your brain to stay away from that company and never give them your business.
On the other hand, if they talked up the company, your trust in them instantly jumped up and you became more likely to buy the same product or similar service.
That's the power of the interaction. By having a human conversation, without coming off cheesy like some of the larger companies (Ford, Samsung, etc), you're getting your foot in the door and building up a level of trust. You're adding weight to what you say, without even having to say a word about your service.
Freelancing already gives you an advantage because you're not tied down to the mundane lifestyle of the corporate stooges, so you've already got more going for you than most do. You are able to leverage social media and spend time interacting with your potential clients, building a rapport with them and never even mentioning your services.
By building up a solid relationship with people, you're putting yourself - and your business - on a different level in their mind, when they compare you to other businesses.
Selling - the push
But when do you sell? When is the right time to give that push for your service? The short answer is, you'll know when you know. But it goes deeper than that. You might not even push yourself in a direct manner like you would normally.
The push can happen by you just casually mentioning to your new friend that you'd like their opinion on a new project you just completed. You're putting your skills in front of their face, dangling it like a carrot in front of a donkey, and you don't even have to ask for the sale.
Pick a project that's close in niche to what your new friends business is in, and let them connect the dots themselves by seeing the awesome work you do.
Subconsciously, they're taking in your skills, your ability to do work directly related to what their needs are, and they're beginning to look to you for advice and a helping hand on their next project.
By doing this, you've gained their trust and let them know that you value their opinion enough to ask for their thoughts on a project of yours. To them, this means that you see them as intelligent, and they're going to feel a boost of confidence from that.
And once they start feeling good about themselves because of something you've done, they're wired to want to return the favor somehow - which means you've just landed yourself a new client, all without even having to ask for it.
Learning what works best for you
Staying still in the water is the surest way to drown. So today, make your first goal one that you know will help your business. Test a new marketing method. Try a different approach to getting peoples attention. Spend some time interacting with your potential clients via social media. Answer their questions if they post any.
Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving. - David Ogilvy
Be human. Interact. Pull them in, and push the sale.