Monday: Grab your partners. When I was first starting out, I went to this huge group run gathering for a half marathon training run. There must have been 200 people crammed in this building all there to train for the Seattle half marathon. The organizer came up to the front of the room and gave the house keeping notes, and then turned the meeting over this young charismatic guy names Ty. He was the manager of the local running store in town, and he talked about getting the proper running shoes and how their store is there to help them out and get them set up, running wise. Being a new coach, I was like, “I gotta meet this guy!”
I shyly went up to him and asked, “hi, I am a brand new running coach for beginner runners and wondering if it’d be ok if I could put some business cards up at your store and have you talk to my group? I would love to recommend your store to my new people who are new to the sport, and need help getting outfitted.”
I paused and waited for him to laugh at me, cause I felt like an impostor and didn’t think he would take me seriously. Instead, he smiled and said, ‘Of course! That sounds perfect, and we love new runners.” (Cause why wouldn’t they, they love new customers!) That exchange happened 12 years ago, and we are still a tight knit business buddies. I am so grateful for a reliable place to send my new runners to, and they love taking care do them, and helping them get fitted.
Monday Action: Partner up with a local, like minded company. You can cross promote each others businesses.
Name 3 business that you admire, and think you would be a good match to cross promote each others services or goods.
Think about the kind of people that shop at these places and if they are the same kind of people would be interested in your business.
Can you make it a priority to call or visit one of the above places and chat them up and see if you could help each other out?
Tuesday: Ask your current (happy) clients to recommend you to their network
“I love you so much” “You completely changed my life” “I would never be where I am today without you” “You look amazing in those pants.”
This is just a touch of things I hear on a daily basis. Well, maybe not daily, but I do hear now and then, and it sure feels good. Like, really good. I when I get that kind of feedback, I am so humbled and grateful to hear it. It just makes me feel like this is what I was meant to do. I also do a little thing when people say nice things, I say thank you and all of that, of course, but I also through in, please tell your friends. Or if I get an e-mail with nice things included, I ask if I can use this as a testimonial. Another extra points thing I do is ask them if they are part of a group or club where they can share my information. I have a pastor in my running group right now, and she loves me, and people listen to her. I asked if there was a way she can share my information with her church. She was happy to, and I got 3 clients out of that, and I think I also get some points in for getting into heaven. (Lawd knows I need it 😉 But it was a natural and easy exchange and it paid off.
Another example is my lawyer clients. They literally love to talk and convince people that they are right about stuff. I had one happy lawyer client who told or convinced 2 of her lawyer friends, and they told two friends, and so on, and so on. It was awesome.
Tuesday Action Item. Write down 5 of your happiest clients and send them a little note, saying hi, and if they wouldn’t mind sharing your information with other colleagues, partners, club members, congregation. People are happy to help, and want you to do good.
Wednesday: Are you a member of a club? When I first started my business, I had also just had my baby, and was a part of this new moms support group cause we were all so tired and needed adult human interaction club. It was great. Every mom except for 1 had joined my group, because they wanted to support me, and be around each other on another non-baby related experience.
Wednesday action item: If you are a member of a group, announce to your group what you are up to, that you are looking for new members. Or if you don’t belong to a group, sign up for one. You can find a lot of like minded groups on Meetup.com or small business groups.
Thursday: You are standing in line to use the bathrooms at your local coffee shop and you eyes meet a wall of business cards for local small businesses. Or if you go to a yoga or spin class, you might see a small pile of postcards for local small businesses. It’s a nice way for people to actually take away your information and it can be done on the cheap. Another good strategy is to put them in places where you think your future clients might be, like chiropractors office, physical therapist, or beer halls. (these are usual places I hang out as a runner)
Thursday action item: Create a postcard with what you do, where you are located, (or like to meet people) and hot to contact you. Also think about putting a picture of you in your element or a picture with some of your happy clients (with their permission of course). One of my favorite online free tools for design is Canva, and it’s super easy to use. The print them out yourself or at your local print store and go out to 2-3 places and leave a stack. Print and repeat.
Friday: Happy Hour Run! In Seattle we have a plethora of breweries. In one square mile in one part of Seattle called Ballard, there are 15 breweries. And do you know who gets thirsty? Runners! So we use to do a end your week with a run and a pint on a monthly basis. It was a great way for the runners get to know each other and Host a post work happy hour run once a month and make it recurring every month. You can end at a brewery or a place with a good happy hour. You can give tips, and make it inclusive and fun. Make sure you let people know that you are sponsoring it, and that you are looking for new clients and offer them a happy hour special on your services.
Friday action Item: Ask 3-5 of your friends, clients or both to join you the first Friday for a post work run and keep it recurring every week. You can also do a Sunday morning bRunch group with a run and a post run brunch option.