AKA two little ducks!
Do you ever worry that you’re scaring off prospective clients - or not doing the right things to attract them?
Here’s a simple analogy to help you understand EXACTLY how to approach getting leads in the right way. You’re not going to forget this one in a hurry!
This is Leonie Dawson's fab course as mentioned in today's episode Marketing Without Social Media*
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I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old and we took them camping this weekend, to a beautiful site in Somerset where they have a duck pond and free food so kids can feed the ducks.
Now I love a good analogy, and watching my kids, believe it or not I realised that there are massive parallels between duck feeding and getting clients into your world! So I just had to share, because I think this will really help you get more leads in your business.
Now when I started my business I think I was a lot like my 2 year old. Pointing at the ducks and shouting, waving my arms and basically scaring off all the clients. Loud and proud, and desperate for the ducks to notice me.
“I’m here!! Pick me, pick me!!” Posting in all the promo threads in groups, hoping people would just buy my services because - why wouldn’t they? They’re awesome! Jumping on every comment to talk about my services and how I could help them.
Putting out loads of offers without really doing the research and getting to know what they wanted (like my toddler trying to feed the ducks the grass).
And as soon as someone asked a question, going ‘I can help you with that if you book a call with me’.
Overenthusiastic.
Too in your face.
SO visible it’s actually a bit scary and off-putting to your prospects.
Result? No ducks.
On the other hand, some of us are much more like my 4 year old.
I know! I’ll just stand here quietly with my bag of delicious duck food and assume the ducks will come to me. I’ve got something amazing. I don’t need to shout about it and I can’t really be bothered, I don’t feel like giving anything away or wasting my energy until they come and show me they want it.
If we extend that analogy a bit to what many of us tend to do in business:
Maybe they’re not that hungry. Maybe they won’t really like the food I’ve got.
Then, getting desperate and realising that no ducks were coming, he eventually tipped the WHOLE bag of duck food into the water in one go.
Without any ducks being nearby at all.
I see the 4 year old strategy playing out all the time too.
I’ll just keep my cards close to my chest and wait for the clients to approach me. I feel silly putting things out there and I can’t really be bothered.
Then… nothing happens for a while… and all of a sudden we panic and start creating random content with no thought as to a long-term strategy, just chucking things out there in the hope someone will see them.
Giving far too much away to the wrong audience at the wrong time.
Or, in the case of chatting to someone in the DMs and trying to get them on a call, or booking in free strategy calls - actually giving them far too much help up front so they have no further need for your services and can feed themselves.
Result = no ducks.
So, what IS the perfect duck- and client-getting strategy?
How do you attract them to you and get them eating out of your hand?
The trick is to remain calm, casual, controlled and that phrase you probably hear all the time - detached from the outcome.
Keep scattering little bits of food even when it looks like the ducks aren’t really interested - or they’re taking a bit and swimming away.
Catch their eye - but don’t scare them off by enthusiastically screaming ‘duckeeeeee!!!’ at them (i.e. don’t just offer your services constantly without proving you’ve got something of value to give).
Equally don’t just sit there and pretend you don’t have anything to give! Clients aren’t mind-readers - they DO need to know about your services and the sort of help you can offer them before they’ll go anywhere near booking you.
You need to keep scattering tempting treats in the general direction of those ducks and trust that they will come. So put out valuable, consistent content that is really going to resonate with and tempt your ideal clients to want more from you.
Be there. Be an obvious, go-to person when they decide they DO want more of the same.
And when they start to approach you, stay calm and unflappable.
Feed them a little more genuinely helpful information - but not too much.
Speak to them in a soothing voice without shouting about your services.
And when they ask for more than their fair share… or when you think you can genuinely help them further by spending some dedicated time on their specific concerns - that’s the time to offer to hop on that call or direct them to your services.
So spend some time thinking about what your clients really need and what they’re looking for right now.
That’s your duck food! That’s your secret weapon.
It could be advice in many, many different forms. It could be support through a community. It could be just a bit of empathy, understanding and a new perspective on something they’ve been struggling with.
So 3 questions to ask yourself, just to finish things off today:
What’s the best way for you to get that out there, consistently and easily?
What feels least stressful and most authentic for you?
How can you really connect and create a safe space for them to trust you?
I would love to know if that’s given you some new insights! If it has then please come and share in my free Facebook group, Unblock Your Business.
Finally today I have one VERY exciting piece of news to share with you, which is about my very first podcast guest.
I couldn’t quite believe it when, last week, I opened my emails up to find a pitch from the one and only Leonie Dawson asking to come and talk to you about how she’s created an $11 million business on just 10 hours of work per week!
You might remember I talked about Leonie’s amazing course ‘Marketing Without Social Media’* on the podcast a couple of episodes ago.
So yes, she’s coming to talk to us and share her secrets.
That episode will be landing in November so if you haven’t already, do make sure you hit subscribe!
And if you’d like to check out her course, just take a look at the link in the show notes.
That’s all from me this week, see you soon!
(P.S. Links with an * are affiliate links, for which I will receive a small commission. Just so you know!).