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Need More Clients? 3 Marketing Realities and Resources
“My directory listing doesn’t attract enough clients. What am I doing wrong?”“I get calls, but we hang up the phone without a contract! What am I doing wrong?”“I finished working with my client and don’t have anyone else to help. Now what?”These are questions I am asked frequently and repeatedly. Maybe you have the same ones!The answer to each one relates to marketing.“My directory listing doesn’t attract enough clients. What am I doing wrong?”I most often hear this from newbie advocates who have one common WRONG idea. That is – they think that once they are listed in the directory, then they don’t need to do any more promotion. They just wait for their phones to ring.Nothing could be further from the truth! Successful marketing is a combination of things, never just one thing. Being listed in a directory is only one tactic. It can be a very useful one, and yes, will attract some people, but all advocates and care managers must also work diligently to create more general awareness. In total, creating that awareness is called “marketing.”Marketing might be online or offline. It might be a website, or a listing in a directory. It might be getting quoted in the media, or it might be doing public speaking. It might be writing a blog, or running an ad in your local community newspaper. It might be a result of your own efforts, or someone else’s. It might be all of those – or it might be something else.Smart business owners create a marketing plan which outlines their marketing goals, a marketing strategy, and the tactics needed to make them successful. It’s a step too many new advocates skip because they think it should be so simple. But you know what they say: “If it was that easy, everyone would do it!”Do not believe for a moment that simply listing yourself in a directory will lead to a successful business. It will not. Build and implement a marketing plan – in effect a road map to a successful practice – and then your phone will begin to ring.(Find resources…