The Best Weapon For Your New Business: Non-Scalable Marketing

I’m sure you are familiar with this scenario:

Non-scalable marketing is the missing link if this feels like you: You have a great idea for a new business, create your website, and immediately start freaking out on how to get those subscriber’s numbers to go up. You try every strategy and tactic under the sun because you just know that without a huge following you won’t get anywhere, right? Well, not exactly…Non-scalable marketing is the missing link. List envy is a very real thing for many entrepreneurs, especially when they are just starting. New businesses get crazy about numbers and metrics, and overlook the great advantage they have above the big names in the market: they are in the sweet spot to do non-scalable things for growing their business. What is non-scalable marketing? It’s pretty self-explanatory: all those actions you can take that can’t be reproduced in large scale, and won’t bring thousands and thousands of new customers at your door. Oh no. They will bring the customers that matter.

Why you should do non-scalable marketing

There is a myth that somehow a business either has immediate success, or is just another failure. In reality, overnight success doesn’t just happen: you, the business owner, is who makes it happen. All those tactics the big companies use do work and move the needle, but only in stages where your clients are in the thousands, where 1% growth equals millions in revenue. But when you are just starting, focusing on just growing your numbers no matter what is misplaced effort. You just need to focus just on getting those first, very real clients. Business growth is not linear. There are a lot of variables in place that have direct incidence on the people that chooses to follow you. And while they may not be as glamorous as a great marketing campaign with bells and whistles, there are a lot of valuable things that you can do in early stages that will not work once you grow. The catch? If you don’t “play small” at the beginning, there won’t be a later. So, let’s talk about what you can do to get those first clients, and start growing a healthy follower base.  

The mailing list

Oh, the untapped power of the mailing list! I see business owners that don’t know what to do with it, that are too scared to send an email to people who already said they wanted to hear from you. Bloggers that only send blog updates and paid courses offerings… Everybody knows they need to have a mailing list, but few know how to use it to its full potential: creating relationships with your readers. Each time you send an email, it’s a chance to create a conversation with the real person on the other side of the screen. Automation tools make it seem very impersonal, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Try to send an email just asking your followers to tell you a little more about themselves: what they struggle with, what their goals are. Make it as personal as you can, and invite them to write you back. The key here is that you also need to respond to those emails. Be genuinely interested in them, and be sure to show it. People like being acknowledged. They like to feel special. And when you are just starting, small numbers make it very easy to connect with your followers in a level that most great companies can’t. Wondering what to write in your newsletters? Click here to get free Newsletter Engagement Scripts  

Getting your first clients

There is one thing that all startups have in common: in the beginning, the founders themselves went out to get those very valuable first clients. Many business owners think that having a website and a blog is enough for people to throw money at them for whatever service they provide. In reality (unless you have a product or service that solve a very, very pressing need) that doesn’t happen. Is up to you to establish contacts and relationships with those that you consider your ideal clients, and prove the value of your business to them. Get them through the process of becoming your clients by the hand: show them exactly what you want them to do. Keep in mind that customers are not stupid: don’t go to them just with the intention of closing your first sale; focus on providing value and making their life easier. The money comes afterward.

Going above and beyond

Making your clients feel special is something that should be a company policy. You ALWAYS should provide more than what they sign up for, is just good business (and key to get lifelong fans of what you do). However, there are certain things you can do with those very first customers that are hard to replicate when you grow.