Patrick is a family counselor that was struggling to keep his business afloat. He asked me to coach him on how to expand his business. We strategized by looking at all of the various pillars of his business to ensure that his systems were functioning correctly.
I noticed that he had a website, but he wasn’t getting much traffic on his site, and he wasn’t making any passive income from it either. We set out to use that website to build his business.
Patrick and I created a three-pronged approach to maximizing his Internet presence. First, we built a well-defined marketing funnel on his website. The marketing funnel is essential to allowing people to get to know Patrick and to “taste” his wares over time without making a big commitment to him at the outset.
At the top of the marketing funnel, Patrick created a valuable information-based ebook that people could download for free. The ebook contained critical information on how parents can deal with a rebellious teenager that is sneaking out of the house at night, skipping school and not doing their homework (my suggestion of military school was not among the tips he gave. Pity.).
Next, I coached Patrick through creating several CD and DVD products of increasing value and price. People could purchase something in the $20 to $40 range, the $150 to $200 range, and the $500 range. Lastly, we created a curriculum of premium live events where people could meet Patrick in person and benefit from his expertise by asking him questions directly that pertained to their particular family issues. The live events sold for $800 to $1,500.
The second prong of our approach required Patrick to write articles on family issues containing his website address, and to publish those articles far and wide on the Internet. The third step was for Patrick to use his social media to drive traffic to the website. His products began to sell like hotcakes.
Patrick then created a personal one-on-one coaching curriculum where an entire family would spend the day with him so that he could give them intense, personal attention. This VIP day cost around $5,000, and was extremely valuable to his clients. Their family dynamics improved, and things quickly got back on track for them. He got so much VIP business that he quickly raised his VIP day price to over $8,000.
At first, Patrick was amazed that people would pay him that much for a VIP day. It’s something that he never considered doing. However, he was sure glad he did it! Patrick’s business increased by more than 200 percent in one year.
If you are struggling to keep or expand your business, I suggest that you look at all of the ways that you interact with the public. Like Patrick, consider how you can add more value to your clientele. Giving away valuable information may seem counterintuitive at first. However, in this Internet age, people are looking for as much information as they can get for free. Don’t be afraid to give them all the information you have, because this is how strangers on the Internet will begin to know, like and trust you . . . and people do business with people they know like and trust.
Giving them valuable information will create a psychological debt in their mind that they must repay by purchasing your products and services. When people purchase your products and services, and attend your live events, they are really purchasing the experience of you. So give ’em all you’ve got! You won’t regret it.
