Now, I am not saying you can’t find customers online (you can, of course) but, depending on your Thing and your business model, you don’t need to think this is the **only** place you can find some ideal clients.
If you have a business that doesn’t need 100s (or 1000s) of customers, it might be a lot easier to look for them offline (with maybe some online ‘assistance’). A well-placed direct mail shot, or a well thought out Joint Venture with a perfectly positioned partner, could deliver all the leads you need.
I spend a LOT of time when I’m working with people on their Thing telling them not to get ‘carried away’ with the magic powers of the internet (or be obsessed with ‘big numbers’). Yes, of course there are oodles of people hanging out online every day who may well want your Thing and, yes, of course there are very targeted ways of showing up right in front of them (Facebook Ads are fab for this for a start). But don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater if you already have some great ‘real life’ contacts. You might already know people who are connected to your ideal clients–you may want to ‘help’ this along with social media or you may want to rely on simpler methods, sending letters or co-hosting some in person events.
First things first: you need to know always when thinking what marketing to do is a) who your ideal clients are, and b) how many of them you need. THEN (and only then) decide if you need to go look for them on the ‘magic internet’ (or pick a simpler, more targeted approach). Sometimes the magic you are looking for is already right in front of you.
Want to talk more about this?
I love this post Lucy – just popped up at the right time too 🙏❤️ Having just started my new thing this is super relevant thank you x