Market Like A Boss

When I first started getting on the phone with potential clients I was closing 15% to 20% of the calls. Now I close nearly 80% and there are several specific reasons why. The things I’m talking about today are all related to marketing, not sales. For more information on sales, you can check out the conversation I had with Ryann Dowdy on Podcast Episode 31. If you want to start closing discovery calls and landing clients with ease, you’ve got to make sure your marketing is doing some of the work for you up front. “If your marketing is not working hard enough, you are going to continue to struggle on these calls EVEN IF you have great sales tactics.” - Michelle Vroom Here are the 5 specific things I’ve done that have helped increase my close rate on discovery calls. 1.  I’ve gotten super clear on who my audience is and my messaging You have to know who you are targeting. You cannot get by marketing to everyone and trying to please everybody. The more you try to be everything to everyone, the less you are able

Today I want to talk about what to do when your marketing isn’t working. Because your success rests on how you handle yourself and the situation when things are not working the way that you want them to. “Marketing is not always rainbows and sunshine. There are going to be times where you feel like things aren’t working.” - Michelle Vroom When we feel like something’s not working, our instincts tell us to move into action/problem-solving mode. We start changing things, we shift gears, and we chase shiny objects. And then we never really know what was working and what wasn’t because we changed too many things at once. Too many times people don’t look at WHY something isn’t working, they just move on to the next thing. Instead of making a rash decision based on emotion or how you’re feeling, you need to make a decision based on facts. Our feelings lie to us and have us take action that we otherwise wouldn’t have taken. Work through the following questions to get a holistic view of your marketing and figu

Today we welcome special guest Ryann Dowdy to the show! Ryann is a sales coach, revenue mentor, and founder of Uncensored Consulting. She helps business owners overcome their negative mindset around sales and increase their revenue. During this episode, Ryann shares the top 3 sales myths she hears all the time: Sales is something we do to someone. Sales is about being convincing or persuasive. Sales has to be spammy. “We take someone through a journey and at the end of it we help them make a decision.” - Ryann Dowdy Ryann brought up a great point during our interview: no one should be surprised to find themselves in a sales conversation. When connecting with potential clients, you need to earn the right to ask for permission. Don’t sell to someone who doesn’t know that they are in a sales conversation. Other sales misconceptions we discussed: If someone wants to work with you, they’ll reach out. People are busy and distracted and follow up is so important! If you’re not following up with poten

There are many things that I’ve had to overcome in order to be successful in marketing and in order to bring in clients. A lot of people don’t give a behind the scenes look at the challenges they’ve faced and the things they’ve had to deal with to get where they are. But I always aim to be open and honest about my journey so here are the things that I have had to push past in order to get to where I am today. Today I am hitting new goals and bringing in more clients and more money than I ever have in my business. And I am on track to have a record year. But I want you to know that didn’t happen overnight. So, here are the things I’ve had to overcome to get clients: Fear of Success On a call with my coach two years ago, I realized that I was afraid of success because I didn’t truly believe that I could deliver the solution that my clients needed. As we talked about my fear, I realized all the ways I was self-sabotaging. Once I worked through this, it was much easier to put myself out there and get visible.

Flying blind doesn’t do anyone any favors when it comes to marketing. Many people are flying blind because they’re trying to do everything at once. But you need a system to get consistent clients. It’s not about doing everything. It’s about doing the right things at the right points. A good marketing roadmap should build upon itself. This roadmap will show you where you are in your journey, where you need to be, and maybe some steps that you skipped over that are super important. This is my proven method for helping my clients get clients. Mile Marker #1 Audience The roadmap starts with your audience. You need to know who your audience is and you need to commit to an audience. You can’t get visible and grow your audience if you don’t know who they are. Services/Offers Then you have to know what you’re offering. What are your services, what are your programs, what are your offers? You can’t figure out what you’re offering if you don’t know your audience and if you don’t know what they want. Market research is

If you are not sure why you’re bringing in people who just want free advice, just want to pick your brain, or don’t want to invest, I have a few tips to make this process a lot easier for you. Don’t worry; I’m not going to suggest you throw out everything you’ve been doing in your marketing. These are subtle shifts you can make to start bringing a better quality client your way. What can you do to make sure you’re attracting the right people? 1.     Be sure that you are reaching the people with the greatest need Not everyone who fits into your target audience has the greatest need for your services. You need to target people who have suffered enough that they are ready to make a change and they know that they need help doing it. Who has the greatest need for your service? It may not be the people that you think. You might be reaching pre-clients, people who will need what you have to offer but they’re not ready for it yet. “So stop trying to reach everybody who has a need, and focus on the people who have th

Today I’m talking about a topic that everyone deals with:  perfectionism. Whether you are starting your business or scaling your business, perfectionism can hurt your marketing if you let it get the best of you. I want you to feel empowered and encouraged to not worry about being perfect, and just worry about being real. “Marketing is not about being perfect. It’s about being real and authentic.” – Michelle Vroom  Here is what happens when perfectionism takes over: 1.     Perfectionism keeps you from getting visible In order to get clients, you need to get visible and put yourself out there. But many women think they have to have things perfect and so they don’t get visible at all. 2.    Perfectionism keeps your best content hidden How much time are you wasting updating and rewriting things? The time you waste could have been spent serving your audience. What information are you keeping hidden? Someone out there needs that information. 3.    Perfectionism causes you to censor yourself What parts of your lif

Let’s talk about 3 reasons why your audience may not be taking action. It is easy to feel discouraged if your audience is not taking action. But this is just one part of marketing that people don’t like talking about. It isn’t always fun to go back and look at why things aren’t working. There are 3 specific things that can help you identify why your audience isn’t doing what you want them to do. 1.     You don’t really want them to take action Often people don’t want a client. They don’t want the audience to engage because there’s some type of fear there. Fear of success Sometimes we are afraid of being successful. We’re afraid because we don’t believe we can truly deliver for the client. Or maybe we have a negative view of success. We think if we’re successful we’ll be working 24/7 or forced to do things we don’t want to do. Not all in on what you’re putting out there You need to find your superpower, the skill that comes naturally to you and when you’re doing it you love it and time flies. If you do

Today we welcome special guest Janelle Lara to the show! Janelle is a former teacher turned multi 6 figure business owner and she is known as the part time CEO. She teaches women entrepreneurs how to build a 6 figure company in 20 hours per week. Janelle and I talk about the myth that you need a massive audience to land clients and run a successful business. Janelle shares that when she hit 6 figures in business (in her first 12 months!) she had about 200 people on her email list and around 300 people in her Facebook group. That was so powerful because it really validated the fact that building relationships and showing up authentically online is our bread and butter as online service-based entrepreneurs. “I actually encourage people to seek out these micro-celebrities online because that is where they are going to get so much more bang for their buck in terms of custom one-to-one support and advice.” - Janelle Lara The most valuable lesson that Janelle has learned from everything is the importance of relat

Being able to bring in a consistent income is not something that happens overnight. This is something that you need to do intentionally. I’m all about strategy and I’m also all about sharing a behind the scenes look at my business and how I do things. So these are the actual things I’m doing to make bringing in clients consistently a reality. “Marketing should not be overwhelming. Getting clients should not be overwhelming. If it feels overwhelming it’s probably because you’re trying to do too much.” - Michelle Vroom I want to challenge you to do fewer things, but make them super impactful. Look at your to do list and ask yourself: Is this going to land me a client? Is this actually going to bring money into my business? If not, then you shouldn’t be doing that stuff. Here are the 4 categories of things I do everyday to bring in clients: Connect with people I connect with the right people. And this connection usually doesn’t happen in my own world, I have to go connect with people outside of my worl

Today I’m talking about how to attract clients who can actually afford you. It is extremely frustrating to talk to potential clients and hear them say, “I can’t afford it.” It’s frustrating, it’s discouraging, and it’s easy to feel like a failure. So let me share some shifts you can make in your marketing to start attracting people who can actually afford you! First, I want you to know that when people say they can’t afford something, what they really mean is they don’t see the value and it is not something they want to spend money on. People prefer to say they can’t afford something because it feels less direct than saying you’re not a good fit for them. It is easier for them to try to not hurt your feelings. “That’s not something you need to take personally. That just means that they are not your people.” – Michelle Vroom Here are some very specific things you can do in your marketing to begin attracting a higher caliber of client: 1. Target the right people with the greatest need The first step is to go

Today I’m going to help you with something that many women struggle with, embracing your value. Do you know the value that you provide? Are you truly convinced of the value that you provide? If the answer is “no” or “I’m not sure,” then that is what is causing your audience not to recognize your value either. They can’t see your value if you don’t see it first! This is an exercise to help you recognize and embrace your value. It’s also going to help you with your messaging. Way too many of us focus on the features and benefits of what we provide. But our audience really cares about the outcome and transformation. For this exercise, we’re going to focus on one result or outcome that you provide. You can go back though and do this exercise for as many results or outcomes as you offer. Action - Think of 1 result that your audience receives from working with you. What do you help your clients do? Example: I help my clients grow their audience. If you promote this response alone your audience will not fu

Let’s talk about 3 ways you can land consistent dream clients. I’m all about consistency AND making sure you have the right clients. We need to have both of these. You can only be successful with these 3 things if you know who your audience is. If you don’t know who your audience is, or you haven’t committed to truly targeting them, you have to go back and do that first. This doesn’t mean you can’t work with other people. It just means you need to prioritize your time and resources to reach a particular group of people. So, here are the 3 steps that I take in my business to bring in the consistent dream clients: 1.     Know where you’re showing up Where is your audience showing up? Maybe it’s Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or a local networking group. Pick one place to focus on and map out a plan to start engaging with your audience there. Build time into your calendar to show up in some capacity to have conversations with your audience. Do not propose on the first date! – Michelle Vroom Take time to

On this week's episode, we are talking about how to be authentic in your marketing. I have gotten where I am in my business because I've been authentic, because I show up real and raw, and I lay it all out there. And if that's something that scares you, let me assure you that I'm not going to tell you to air all of your dirty laundry! That would feel unnatural, which is the opposite of authentic. What I am hoping you'll start to see today is the importance of being who you are. I’m going to share seven ways to be more authentic in your marketing. But you don't have to put all of these things into action if it doesn't feel right for you. What works for one person may not work for another. Authenticity looks different for every single entrepreneur, but I hope that this list is going to just give you some ideas. I'm not just going to tell you that you need to be authentic in your marketing. I'm going to explain how that can look and I'm going to share some personal examples from my own journey with you. Here are

Today I’m talking about 5 things your audience does not care about. How many times do we get inside our own heads, get in our own way, and look at every little thing we do and pick it apart? As women, especially high achieving women, we do that all the time. But your audience doesn’t care about most of the stuff you care about. They really don’t! Here is a list of 5 things that your audience doesn’t care about: 1.     How much experience you have. We think our audience cares about our credentials. I hear women say they just need to learn more, or take another course, or get some credentials so people will take them seriously. And my question is, “why aren’t YOU taking yourself seriously?” Your audience is not worried about your experience. They want to know that you’ve served clients and helped people get results. But they don’t care about what college you went to or whether or not you have your masters or if you’re certified. They care about if you can get them from point A to point B. They care about themse

  Today I’m talking about the lie that all female entrepreneurs tell themselves: “I need to do it all on my own!” Or “I should be able to do it all on my own.” I can’t tell you how many times I hear this from other women. How many times have you said this lie to yourself? How many times have you wondered why you can’t figure this all out on your own? We put so much pressure on ourselves to know everything there is to know about everything. This belief that we have to know everything keeps so many amazing and talented women from truly being successful in their business because they’re stuck. Maybe you feel like you’ve exhausted all of your options and you’re not sure why your marketing isn’t working. You know you need help but you don’t think you deserve to get it. You won’t allow yourself to even consider how support could change your business. You keep spinning your wheels trying to figure things out on your own, but Google can only get you so far. For the record: I’m not talking about getting free support.

  Chances are you’ve struggled (or are struggling) with this in your marketing – the need to please everyone. This topic came up for me recently when I saw a plaque that read, “You can’t please everyone, you’re not pizza!” It is so true, isn’t it?  How many of us in business are trying to please everyone? How many of us are trying to be pizza? When you’re trying to be pizza you’re casting a wide net, trying to reach anyone and everyone. Trying to be pizza can look like a lot of different things. Maybe you’re not setting boundaries with your current clients. Maybe you are spending all of your time trying to be everywhere and anywhere. Maybe you’re afraid to really say what you want to say because you don’t want anyone to not like you or stop following you.  It comes from a good place. I’m willing to bet you truly want to help everyone. You don’t want anyone to have a bad experience with you. That’s a great quality to have, but it can also be the reason why you’re not getting clients. Before you can make a shif

In this episode we’re talking about 3 things you need to market your business and get clients. These are NOT the things that you would expect. There are a lot of lies out there and we’re told we need lots of different things to land the clients we want. Chances are you’re spending way too much time behind the scenes doing “busy” work. You think you’re being productive and making progress, but you’re not any closer to getting clients. That’s because you’re focused on all the wrong things. I’m all about doing less and focusing on things that have a higher impact. That’s how you avoid the endless cycle of working all the time and having nothing to show for it. “Fewer things, more impact!” – Michelle Vroom With the “less is more” theme in mind, here are the 3 things you REALLY need to land dream clients: 1.     An audience A lot of people spend time making their website pretty, but they have no idea who their audience is. You should spend that time focused on who your audience is instead! You need to know wh

I recently ran a free challenge in my Facebook Group, Market Like a Boss, and I landed 5 new clients and made over $10k. This was the most successful challenge that I’ve ever run! I’m all about transparency so I want to share why it was so successful. I want you to know what it takes so you can replicate this type of success in your business. Here are 10 reasons why I was able to make $10k from one challenge: I got a lot of people signed up 140 people signed up for the challenge, the biggest number I have had yet. Before you start beating yourself up for running a challenge and only getting 5 people in, know that I have done a LOT of challenges before this one and they did not start out this way! For my first challenge, I hustled for an entire month or more to get 100 people. Other challenges have only netted me 30 or 40 people. With this challenge, I promoted it for one week and got 140 people. The reason I got so many people signed up in such a short period of time is because I’ve focused my marketing on

These are things that I see so many women doing, but it’s time to stop. They are killing your marketing!   You might realize you’re doing these things consciously, but you’re oblivious to the fact that you’re actually doing them on a day-to-day basis.   Stop doing these 6 things:   Trying to please everyone   Maybe you’re trying to show up the way you think you should. Maybe you’re putting messages out there that are cookie cutter or you’re afraid to show people what you’re all about. Maybe you’re trying to reach everybody because you don’t want to risk not getting that client.   “Your desire to please everyone is actually keeping you hidden from your dream client.” – Michelle Vroom   Your dream client can’t find you because you’re so consumed and worried about pleasing the wrong people.   To work through this, reflect on these questions:   Why are you trying to please everyone? Where does the desire to please everyone come from? How is it manifesting itself in your business? What do you need to do to shif