Locating the places where prospects congregate is key to making contact with them. These places may be online, offline or both. It is worth creating new places for your prospects too.
Online or Offline?
Look for prospects online and offline, especially if your offer is B2B. If your offer is mainly Internet-related or to a global market, explore online media first. Sections of the population who do not use online resources may be solely offline, eg elderly groups, although this is less true year by year.
Social Media
Suggestions about how to contact Facebook and Linked-In prospects are in the circuit questionnaire. If you find a group likely to interest your prospects, join it. The next step is to take part in group discussions and start your own. Try not to sell to these groups. Once group members recognise and trust you, invite them to visit your website.
Publish lead magnets on your timelines. Encourage people to share them or pass them to others who may be interested. Twitter is another candidate and there are new media worth exploring, eg Instagram or Pinterest.
Don’t forget blogs! If you find blogs published by competitors, read them to find out what they write about. Can you improve on their posts? They may inform your own blog posts or your website content. Avoid copying directly; respect copyright and remember anyone interested may read your rival’s blogs as well as yours.
Take their topic and prepare a better post. You could write your post as a response to your rival’s. Say their post inspired you and then write something that builds on and transforms it.
Your rival may aim for different prospects to yours and so if you comment constructively on their blog, there may in time be an opportunity to write a guest post for them. Some blogs actively seek guest writers and so long as your prospects read their blog, an article by you may be fruitful.
Network Groups and Events
In real life seek groups your prospects are likely to attend. There may be many networks and events in any town or city.
Network groups usually meet regularly, often fortnightly, and they are opportunities to share your elevator pitch, make contacts and occasionally speak at length. Usually these groups meet over a meal and charge a small fee (about £10-15) for the food and other costs. Some have membership fees and associated privileges, eg only members may deliver longer talks. Others are specialist groups, eg WordPress users or social enterprise that attract people with specific interests. Such groups may actively seek speakers.
Events are one-off activities, usually around a theme. You can find them online through sites such as Eventbrite and Meetup. These are almost always network opportunities and may be organised by people with offers complementary to yours.
Publications
Are there publications your prospects read? If so, can you write for them? Published articles can be powerful ways to raise your profile. Bear in mind though, they are likely to be current for only a short time, so you may need to think carefully about how you build on a one-off article.
Reading a publication you know your prospects read may help you find topics of interest to them as well as events they are likely to attend.
Organising Your Own Events
Online or offline, if you organise your own events, this will raise your profile.
Online publish your ideas through a blog or webinars. Video and audio recordings are popular too. If you have online products, a product launch is a great way to promote your business.
Offline, organise your own events, workshops or network groups. You may find the market crowded and so you need to find an angle that does not duplicate what is already happening.
The biggest problem you have, both online and offline, is marketing new activities. Most people put a lot of time into designing events and relatively little time promoting them. Try writing marketing copy first, promote it and see if you get a response. Put in the time to design the event in detail if you do get a response. If you get very few people, offer them a downsized alternative and close down the main event.
If you are interested in more detail about the possibilities listed here, let me know. What related topics would you like me to cover?