Talking with a potential client about a potential engagement, it was decided that we needed to postpone a little while longer for some cash to come in.  Understandable.  But that doesn’t mean you do NOTHING!

Have you heard of the “Marketing Hourglass” ?  Created by John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing, it is a simple illustration of the marketing process.

The Marketing Hourglass (tm) - by John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing and the Duct Tape Marketing Consulting Network

WATCH THIS 12 MIN SLIDECAST ABOUT THE MARKETING HOURGLASS (press “green arrow” button to play the audio – and click the “x” to take off the scrolling ads)

As well, ss I shared with this person, here are 3 things to do right now that cost nothing but move your potential customers (and your repeat clients) more toward KNOW-LIKE-TRUST-REPEAT-REFER:

  1. Get back to blogging! This is your best form of online “real estate” to educate, inform, inspire and compel. You can then repurpose a blog post on to your Facebook Page and your personal FB profile as well.
  2. Speaking of that – keep plugging away at Facebook. FB is a hotbed for word-of-mouth referrals. People can easily talk about you in their status updates (encourage . . . no, ASK/TELL your clients to do TAG you in their status . . .so that your FB Page shows up in your status).
  3. Do you have a email marketing system for regular communication? We use Constant Contact – about $15/month but a 2-month FREE TRIAL gets you using it through the holidays for NO COST!!! Periodic communication with your potential customer throughout the holiday remind them of your value (as long as you don’t constantly self-promote . . . use that blog as educational content to share in your emails).  This also keeps you top-of-mind at whatever time they are ready to move forward with you and pay you money.

So, there are no excuses today!  Get busy marketing . . . and enjoy the fact that it’s costing you nothing!

– Randy