The Ultimate Guide To Marketing For Small Business

The following is an entire chapter out of the book “Settle Your Side Hustle,” which is meant to help people launch side hustles/small businesses, and grow them to a full, stable, business. We wanted to make it accessible to everyone (even without paying for it), so we put the entire text here. Consider this your one-stop-shop for all things marketing. We’ve seen the strategies that are outlined below grow hundreds of businesses, and we are excited for you to be part of that statistic!

Here’s To Your Success!

Marketing Plan

Much credit is owed to Allen Dib and his book “The One Page Marketing Plan.” It’s a consequence of his book that I have a clear, 9 step framework for a good marketing plan (the exact9 steps that he outlines in the book). I don’t fully agree with his execution in all instances, but I find his general framework to be sound.

When starting out in business, there will inevitably be a time when you find yourself asking “what marketing strategy(ies) should I implement?” “Should I try Google ads or SEO?” Influencer marketing or Social Media ads?” Etc etc.

The answer to those question will almost always be “Yes, this can work… but is it aligned with my marketing plan?” Just like everything in your business should always come down to the question of “how does my client avatar feel about this,” everything in your marketing should be influenced by your marketing plan. The good news is that building a marketing plan doesn’t need to be some grand venture that requires thousands of dollars, months of work, and ends up with a 78 page document that you’ll never read again.. You can build a good marketing plan for free, in a few days, on a single sheet of paper. 

In fact, you’ve already done some of the work! Point 1 in our 9 point marketing plan is simply “identify your target market.” So that’s already taken care of! [Editors note, this will be added as a future article on The Daily Pulse, and then we will update this post to link to it]

Point 2: Messaging

I’ve seen entire, 1,000+ book libraries filled with books exclusively written on the topic of messaging in business… the industry term is “copywriting.” By definition, copywriting is “the activity or occupation of writing the text of advertisements or publicity material.” In other words, it’s writing things to sell things. Whether it is ads, emails, flyers, your website, or social media posts, everything you write in business is copywriting. Sometimes it is literally trying to sell your product or service, and other times it’s simply trying to sell people on the good old KLT metric (trying to help them get to Know, Like, and Trust your business).

Given how deep into the weeds we can go on this topic AND the fact that my goal with this book is to give you what you need to succeed, without overwhelming you… I’m going to limit this discussion to the nuts and bolts of copywriting. That is to say, this IS NOT your definitive guide on the subject, but it is a good starting point. 

The single most important thing to keep in mind when crafting your messaging, is that every word is intended for your target market, your client avatar. Everything should be written with the goal of persuading your target audience to do or feel something. When you’re struggling to know exactly what to say, here are a few guiding principles to keep you oriented: 

Guiding principle #1

When writing with the goal to persuade, you should focus on one of five primary motivators (and it’s a really good idea to orient your brand around no more than two of these). Your primary motivators are the core human desires: fear, love, guilt, greed, and pride. For example, when promoting my resources that are meant to help people build a business (like this book), and when targeting men, I tend to focus on language of “the respect you deserve.” That is an appeal to pride. If I were instead to use language of “the income you deserve,” that would be an appeal to greed. 

Guiding principle #2

There are certain words in marketing that are just known to yeild powerful results. When we are writing, knowing those words and using them responsibly is a necessity. Some of the best converting words in marketing are: free, results, proven, easy, discovery, you, health, money, safety, save, love, new, and guaranteed. That being said, when advertising, we need to make sure we are compliant with the rules of the platform (for example, at time of writing FB doesn’t like the word “you” and is likely to flag your account if you use it in your ad copy). 

Guiding principle #3

Us vs them (or an enemy in common). After hundreds of thousands of years of living in small tribes, tribalism is basically built into our DNA. Additionally, nobody likes to hear that things are their fault… since people only buy products and services when they perceive a solution to a problem they have, one of the best ways to speak to your target audience is to tell them that the problem they are facing is not their fault, but is actually the fault of some third party enemy that you and your target audience share. (Obviously, this needs to be true, but it’s usually the case that you can make this language true). 

Some common enemies in common are: the economy, the government, taxes, someones upbringing, family/friends, lack of time, lack of money, lack of opportunity, lack of skills or education, and poor bosses. You can find the enemy in common that your messaging should focus on, simply by asking your target audience about their situation and listening to who/what they blame. 

There is so much more that can be said on a topic like this, but as I said, I don’t want anybody who reads this book to end up overwhelmed and defeated by “analysis paralysis,” AND if you can make a conscious effort towards utilizing each of these guiding principles everytime you write (or record a video) for your business, you’ll be miles ahead of your competitors. 

Point 3: “advertise” or “market.” 

“Finally! Some practical tactics I can implement in my business!” Is that what you thought when you saw this sub-heading? That’s the way I used to think when reading marketing books that only ever talked about theory. Since then I have learned two very important lessons: 1. The theory is the important part. If you understand the theory, the tactics will always come easy to you. 2. The tactics are always changing. Meaning that a book that trys to talk about tactics will be outdated before its published (or soon after). 

Don’t worry, that doesn’t mean I am not going to give you any practical tactics at all, but we are going to focus on the strategies that are universal and timeless. And again, understanding the philosophy is the most important part to being successful over decades (rather than being successful for a couple months at a time, before the algorithms change and you have to start over). So those tactics will come a bit later in this chapter. For now, I’m going to share what I have found to be the most important things to understand about advertising and marketing in a wholistic sense:

First and foremost, everything you do in marketing should be thought of as a “test” or an “experiment.” The reality is that nobody, no matter how much experience they have, knows what the market is going to do. As you get more experience in any specific field of marketing (FB ads, email marketing, etc) you develop a stronger and stronger intuition towards what to expect, but you never know what is actually going to happen until you promote the campaign. That being said, I can nearly guarantee that the marketing channel does work. So often small business owners will say things like “Facebook Ads don’t work,” “email marketing doesn’t work,” “direct mail doesn’t work” etc etc. The simple fact of the matter is that if they didn’t work NOBODY would pay for them. If you have large competitors who are using a marketing channel, then you know for a fact that, that marketing channel works. 

This brings me to the second philosophy we should rinternalize about marketing: there is a testing phase. Yes the marketing channel works, but no it probably doesn’t work right away. I always tell my DFY marketing clients that we need a 3-6 month testing period, where we don’t know what to expect. In industries I am very familiar with, I tend to know that the testing period will be closer to one month than six, but it’s still very unlikely that we are going to have a home run on the very first ad that we run (or email that we send, etc). I can count on one hand the number of times that my very first test was successful. So, when considering paid strategies, you should determine your initial budget based on how much you can afford to loose with no results.. Then once you start seeing results you should be intentional about scaling. (Of course the money side of this is only applicable to paid marketing strategies, but the time frame is a good rule of thumb for all marketing strategies).

And lastly, things change pretty quickly in the marketing world. You could spend six months building up your SEO on google, then one day they could change their algorithm and your primary source of new customers could disappear overnight. Or you could have a facebook ad dialed in and then facebook ban your ad account with no warning and no reason (this happened to me, and it took years to get my ad account back). Again, the result is that your business is dead in the water. The solution to these problems is quite simple: never rely on one marketing channel. Pick one to start, but as soon as it is converting well, start building another source. The more marketing channels you have figured out, the more stability your business has. Things are always changing, make sure you are prepared for it. We’ll talk more about actual, practical, tactics later in this chapter. For now, let’s continue our conversation about building your marketing plan.

Point 4: Lead capture system (lead magnet, tripwire, or some other way of getting their information) 

A lead is simply an individual (or organization) who has engaged with your company in a way that gives your their contact information. This could be through filling out a form asking for a quote, calling your office, downloading a free guide, messaging your company on social media, or just a million other ways.

At the core of every business is it’s lead capture system: how do you consistently and sustainably get more people who are interested in your product or service? In general, the lead capture system that typically works best with your business is going to come down to your business model. If you have a software as a service (SaaS) like my funnel builder, then the most classic lead capture system is simply offering a free trial (where everyone who signs up gives you all the information you want about them). If you are a local brick and motar business, giving coupons or special deals in exchange for their contact information is a pretty classic route. If you’re a local blue collar service provider (like a roofing company), then you can simply 

If you’re trying to sell a digital service, you might want to build a lead magnet. A lead magnet is something that you can give your ideal customer (client avatar) in exchange for their contact information (name, phone, email). It can be an eBook, a checklist, a video course, a quiz, or just about anything else you can come up with. The important thing is that it is something that actually solves a problem they have and prepares them for your corse service.

A similar option is a tripwire offer. This has the same function as a leadmagnet, but you actually charge for it. Your tripwire product can be completely digital, or it can be something physical that you mail, or it can be a combination of the two. For example, I sell this book on Amazon, but I also give it away for free through my sales funnel that I run ads too. When I do that, I ask my customers to cover shipping and handling ($9 at time of writing) and then I give them a signed copy of the book for free. That payment of $9 legitimately covers my printing, shipping, and handling costs… meaning I don’t make any money off of the sale. In fact, if the customer doesn’t buy the order bump or any of the upsells, then I loose money in advertising costs. I also give these customers a digital copy instantly (since the shipping times are slower for my autographed version than they are on Amazon), making this a tripwire product with a digital and a physical component. And again, the goal of this is to get people into my world, solve a problem they have, and prepare them for my other services (in my case those other services are the Funnel Builder Bundle and 1:1 coaching). 

Once you have the lead, what you do with it is crucial. That brings us to point 5…

Point 5: Lead nurturing system (I like giftology, but anything is better than nothing)

It’s been said a million times before, and it will be said a million more: The fortune is in the follow up. When you get a lead, no matter which way you got that lead, it is someone raising their hand and saying’ “Yes! I am interested in what you have to offer!” So it’s important that you have a plan on exactly how you plan on following up with each and every lead. 

If you offer a service and someone requested information, you should have someone from your team call them within 5 minutes. Then you should continue following up with them, via phonecalls, text messages, and emails, until they move forward or ask you to stop following up with them. 

When someone takes you up on your leadmagnet or tripwire offers, you should have an automated email and text message sequence (via your ESP) that continues reaching out to them for at least 30 days, welcoming them to your world, giving them more value, making sure they can’t forget about you, and hopefully converting them into customers. If you got their phone number, you should also have a team member call them. A good way to do this without seeming like a telemarketer, is call to ask them how about their experience with the leadmagnet/tripwire and invite them to something else that is free. That’s just world class customer service, and it makes them like you/your company more! 

Eventually, every well constructed lead nurturing system should move your leads towards making a buying decision. Which means it leads them to… 

Point 6: Closing the sale

I’ve dedicated the entire next chapter to closing the sale, so for now I will simply say this:

[Editors note, this will be added as a future article on The Daily Pulse, and then we will update this post to link to it]

Most people think that this is where marketing ends… but it isn’t. For a healthy company, 80% or more of it’s revenue is on the other side of the first sale. That means the majority of your revenue isn’t going to come from new customers; it’s going to come from repeat customers, customers on retainer, customers upgrading to larger purchases, and people that your existing customers refer to you.

Since most of our money is on the other side of the first sale, we should be consciously and intentionally marketing to our existing and past customers. In fact, one could argue that, since 80% of our revenue is on the “backend” it might be reasonable to spend 80% of our marketing efforts (and budget) on the “backend” as well. 

There are still 3 points left in our marketing plan. So let’s move on to point 7.

Point 7: Deliver a world class experience (yes, this is marketing)

To be perfectly clear, when I say “deliver a world class experience,” I am not saying “Be good at what you do.” Being good at what you do is a given. But you can be the literal best in the world at what you do and still not deliver a world class experience. Why? 

Because delivering a world class experience has nothing to do with your product or service! The experience is everything that is above and beyond the technical promise of your good or service. It’s the things that they never expected but surprise and delight them. It’s “the theater” that you put around your product or service. So here’s a simple framework that you can use to make sure you’re giving a better experience than most of your competitors.

First, maintain excellent communication with your clients/customers. This includes telling them everything that is going on in as close to real time as possible (not oversharing, but sharing efficiently and in a timely manner). It also means following up with them 3, 6, 12 months later and seeing how the product or service is working out for them. The better your communication is, the easier it will be to outshine your competition. 

Second, consistently go “out of your way” to provide exceptional value to your customers. One of the easiest ways to do this is to constantly share information with them that is actually helpful to them (and in your realm of expertise). You can also do this by remembering their birthdays and sending them cards, asking about their kid’s sports events (because you remember), and finding other fun ways to show your appreciation for them. 

Third, tell them all the trouble you go through. Don’t do this in a complaining way, but in a “I’m so excited to show you behind the hood” way. If you sell a physical product, shoot a video of the warehouse it is made in, walking through the process, and email the link to your audience. If you sell a service, do the same exact thing, but about your process. The more they see how much goes into what they are paying for (and the more they see your passion) the more they are going to appreciate your service.

Fourth, assume every single one of your competitors read the last three paragraphs and find a unique way to stand out. Good luck 😉 

Point 8: Increase your customer lifetime value 

There are at least five ways that you can increased your customer lifetime value (LTV) and if you do it right this is where you will find most of your revenue.

First, and perhaps most obviously, you can raise your prices. When raising your prices, a good way to handle it is simply to tell your existing customer that your prices are going up and they are being grandfathered in on their current price for the next X number of months, but after that they will have to pay the new price as well. When this is done well, it makes existing customers grateful for you instead of mad, and they end up staying longer at a higher price point. This isn’t the only way to handle raising your prices, but in most cases it is the strategy that I recommend.

Second, introduce an upsell when they make their purchase. This is the classic “do you wnat fries with that” move. And my favorite way to think about it is allowing customers to customize their order. I mentioned earlier how I am running ads to give this book away for free, and if people don’t buy the upsells, I end up loosing money. So one of the ways that I account for that is by letting people customize their order. Right there on the checkout page I give them the ability to add the Settle Your Side Hustle Journal and the Settle Your Side Hustle Workbook to their order. Then, whether they take that or not, the very next page asks them if they would like to customize their order by adding the Funnel Builder Bundle to it. Most people don’t take these upsells, but some do. And that makes a big difference in my bottom line AND the longevity of my business.

Third, ascending up your value ladder. I mentioned value ladders back in chapter 3, and if you recall I suggested only keeping one core offer in your business when starting out. But I also talked about how you can build more offers for your audience if you do it correctly. In my case, you’re probably part of my Funnel Builder Bundle (and if you aren’t, you should be… just saying). So I will probably reach out to you at some point and see if you’re ready for 1:1 coaching. And if you’re not there yet, that’s fine… I’ll keep helping you inside the Funnel Builder Bundle, keep sending value to you via email, and keep making fire content to help you grow… then I’ll follow up with you a bit later and talk about 1:1 coaghing again. If you have a value ladder, inviting your customers to take the next step is an easy way to increase their LTV. 

Fourth, you can increase the frequency that they pay you. My high ticket coaching clients pay a one-time payment for 3 months of coaching (and a bunch of other goodies). As a one-time payment, it’s obvious that I would make more money, personally, if they paid me for that every 3 months, instead of just once. I actually modified this a bit, because most of my clients don’t need that high level of attention after 3 months, so instead I have a special offer that is only valid for those who have graduated from my 1:1 coaching program, and increases the frequency of payment (those who take it end up paying monthly). 

Fith, you can get someone who paid you in the past to pay you again. At time of writing, I just finished up a “reactivation campaign,” where I reached out to all my past clients and made them a special, one-time-only, offer if they wanted to do more work together. For established businesses, these types of campaigns are the most guaranteed way to increase your revenue (at least for a month) for one simple fact: The most likely person to give you money is someone who already has.

Those are the big ways to increase your customer LTV, but there is still one more way to get more money out of each client and it’s the heart of point 9 – referrals. 

Point 9: An intentional referral system.

Most companies recognize the value of referrals, but don’t do anything to initiate them. When you simply hope that your customers refer their friends and family, the truth is that some of them will… but most of them wont. Having an intentional referral system in place will have a huge impact on the number of referrals you get on an annual basis (and referrals are the easiest sales to make, meaning it will have a direct impact on your bottom line). 

The first and most important step in a referral system is conceptually simple… but nobody does it: Ask. Make it a standard operating procedure to ask each and every one of your clients for a referral. If you’re not sure what that looks like, here’s a “script” that Alan Dib recommends on exactly how to ask for referrals: 

“Mr. Customer, it’s been such a pleasure working with you. If you know anyone who’s in a similar situation to yourself, we’d love you to give them one of these gift cards which entitles them to $100 off their first consultation with us. One of the reasons we’re able to keep the cost of our service down is because we get a lot of our business through referrals from people like you.” 

(The 1 Page Marketing Plan, Allan Dib, pg. 205)

This also introduces the next step in a good referral system: incentivise them. In this case the incentive was a discount for their friend (making them a good friend). Personally, I like telling people that I pay for referrals. So one addition this example could use is the introduction of a giftcard for the referrer. Something to the effect of, “If they end up working with us, I’ll also send you a $100 giftcard to xyz as a token of appreciation.” In my case, I offer a percentage of the sale as a “referal fee” when people refer their friends to my coaching services.. Which turns into a pretty notable payday for the person who does the referring. 

Then the last thing you could add to this is managing expectations. Before you start work with your client, tell them how great of a job you are going to do for them because referrals are a huge part of your business and you want them to tell their friends about you and your services. This gets them thinking about referrals sooner in the process, then when you remind them at the end it’s much more likely that they’ve actually thought of someone who can use your services. 

That’s going to wrap up our conversation on building out a 9 point marketing plan. I highly recommend you take the time to do this before you start attempting to implement any specific marketing strategies or tactics. Now, the rest of this chapter will be dedicated to some of those tactics (specifically the ones that can be done with no marketing budget). And next chapter will talk about closing the sale.

Free Marketing Strategies (point 6) 

Despite my adversity to focusing on tactics, the following strategies are entirely focused on human behavior, and are therefore effectively timeless. That also makes them two of the most robust strategies that you can learn for growing your business. You might notice that they are both free marketing strategies. I’ve made the decision to exclude paid marketing strategies from this book for two reasons; first, there really aren’t timeless paid strategies as they all rely on current platforms. That means there is no real way to write about them and make sure it stays relevant (unless we focus on copywriting and the psychology around ads). 

The second reason is because 100% of my readers will be able to implement these strategies. The whole purpose of this book is to help you grow, no matter where you are currently. If you happen to be in a position where you can’t afford paid strategies (yet!) then they won’t be helpful to you. On the other hand, no matter how big a company is, the following strategies work. So let’s get into it! 

Networking

Most people won’t take action on this. I don’t know why that’s the case, but I have learned that it is the case… most people wan’t to stay behind a computer as much as possible… but it happens to be the case that going to networking events and industry expo’s is one of the most likely ways to start making money quickly in your business. Nothing sells faster than having real conversations with real people, face to face. And at these events, all of your target audience is there to have conversations with strangers. 

You want to go to trade shows, expos, and networking groups. Events like expo’s and trade shows are where you will find your target market, and networking groups are where you will find power partners (referal partners). If you can commit to going to one trade show/expo per month AND going to one networking group consistently, the impact it will have in your business will absolutely blow your mind. But how do you find these events? Simply google “Networking events near me” and “[industry] expo.” You’ll find a plethora of events you can attend this way. Some of them will cost money (which will be worth it) and some of them will be free. *Note: I would include more about how to find them, but any more specific tactics are not likely to withstand the test of time and this is enough to get you started. 

For some of you, the idea of going to live events and having conversations with strangers is exciting (we like to call you extroverts). For others, it’s very intimidating. If you’re reading this and thinking “I have no idea how to have a conversation with a stranger” then I have a simple framework that you can use to have those conversations naturally: 

The Conversation Wheel

Step 1: Compliment

One thing I have learned in business is that one of the easiest ways to make a huge, dramatic, potentially industry changing, innovation is to simply take something from another industry and apply it to yours. For example, the drive through is something that we all associate with fastfood, but it was actually something that McDonalds took from the banking industry. Similarly, the conversation wheel that I am sharing with you is something that I actually took from my Church. They call it their missional living wheel, and it’s a tool that they use to teach how to have effective gospel conversations with the people in your life. Obviously, there are some modifications that I needed to make, in order to make it applicable to business networking… but that also means you are not likely to learn about this anywhere else. 

But don’t worry, I’m not just sharing an untested idea with you here! After I ironed it out, I have been implementing the philosophy of the conversation wheel in my business for about 6 months (at time of writing), and as an extreme introvert, I can tell you that this framework makes networking significantly easier. 

Step 1: Intro conversation.This is generic small talk. At times it can be as easy as walking up to someone and saying “I’m [insert your name here], what’s your name?” If that is intimidating too you, we cna make it even easier. First, observe something about the person you want to connect with (keep these simple, something they are wearing, something that is with them, or some other external/inpersonal detail). Then, compliment them on it (they will say thank you). Finally, ask them a question (what brings you here? What do you do? etc.) Which naturally moves us, very quickly from the first quadrant of the conversation wheel to the second…

Step 2: Career/Business conversation. Now simply ask them “what do you do?” or an equivalent question. From there, showcase earnest interest. You do that by continuing to ask questions, actually listening to the answers, and asking follow up questions based on what they said. (It’s really good if you can take time to take a few notes after the conversation is over. This shows that you cared enough to remember what they said). Here, I tend to ask consultative close questions as well, which we will discuss in the next chapter. There are two natural ways that this will transition to the next step. Either you will have built up enough social collateral for them to feel compelled to ask you “what do you do” OR they will say something about their business that you can give earnest advice on.  Either way that moves us into step 3.

Step 3: Our Speciatly. If they asked “what do you do,” you simply answer the question, share what you do (ideally in a way that showcases who you help, the problem you solve, and the result of solving it). If they didn’t ask you what you do, but they said something that you can give advice on then I would recommend asking a few more questions around that detail and simply giving them the free advice. Then you can tell them that this is actually something that you specialize in and that you would be happy to help them with. This leads us to step 4.

Step 4: Schedule a call. If they are interested, you still want to be respectful of their time (and you want to network with more people). So rather than finding a table, sitting down, and having your sales call right there, invite them to schedule a time to talk more. Get the time locked in before walking away.

And Step 5 is the Close. Once they are on that scheduled call, you go through your sales process and get the sale. And there we have it, the conversation wheel has just moved a complete stranger to a customer (in two conversations). 

The next strategy is similar, but instead of trying to sell a single person at a time, it’s selling other business owners in your space on teaming up for a joint venture (JV) deal, so you can get their audience, multiply your reach, and multiply your sales.

Impact Circles

Here’s a simple truth you’ll never be able to avoid: No matter how good you are, you are not as good as 15, 25, or 50 other people doing the same thing. Which means your highest leverage moves will always be teaming up with other people. This might look like hiring VA’s or a sales team, but there is an even bigger way to leverage other people. 

When you get other business owners to team up with you, you get the ability to leverage their time, their team and most importantly, their audience. While you might be able to build up a following on a social media platform over time (at time of writing I am very proud to have hit 5k followers on FB), the faster path will be leveraging the audiences of those bigger than you (I’ve got friends on FB who have 10k, 20k and 33k followers, teaming up with them is a faster path than building my own following). In addition to that, there are many more people in my space with much larger audiences! The top tier influencers in my space have followings on FB over 6 million strong. Imagine how many copies of this book I could sell, if I did a team up live webinar on their feed! 

So the natural question becomes: How do I get people like that to be willing to team up with me? The unique strategy that I implore for this purpose is something that I call building an impact circle. So let’s break that down:

Step 1: Build something worth while. For me, I decided to build a podcast and promote it on YouTube. The distribution channel isn’t that important, but consistency towards that channel is. I’ll be honest, I haven’t been perfect with consistency, but I am diligent and focused on a daily podcast (5 days a week). At the end of one year of consistency, I should end up with 260ish episodes… and while I wont hit that perfectly, at the end of the first year, I will have over 200 episodes. This is valuable for at least three reasons; 1. Though slow, it will inevitably build you an audience over time, 2. It becomes a library of resources you can always share with your prospects and clients, and 3. It shows your ideal JV partners that you are the type of person who actually sticks to something (which is quite rare). Seth Godin has publicly said that the most important thing he considers when invited to a podcast is that it has had at least 100 episodes. So start building your “show” now, so that you have more to offer to your ideal JV partners.

Step 2: Identify who your ideal JV partners are (your ideal impact circle). Make a list of each and every one of them, and how big their following is on each platform (in general, you’ll want to engage them on the platform they are biggest on). Then go out and follow all of them everywhere and start studying the content they create. Set 15 minute blocks in your calendar to simply study your ideal impact circles content. Make sure that while you do this, you are also engaging with their posts (positively). This will help you in the next step. Do this, and only this, for 2 weeks.

Step 3: Connect with your ideal impact circle. After a few weeks of engaging with their content, adding value, thanking them for their thought, etc. it’s time to reach out to them personally. Do this via DM (or whatever is the platform equivalent on the platform with their largest following). This is not a template, but a personal message from you to them. It also is not a sales pitch, it is not your life story, and it is not asking anything of them. Instead, it is simply meant to show them that you pay attention to them and appreciate them. So simply compliment them on something they care about, tell them how great they are and how much you appreciate them, and include anything that you know they care about that you can relate too (for me it would probably be martial arts). These types of friendly conversations should be your focus for another 2 weeks.

Step 4: Make them like you. Now that they recognize you, have had positive experiences with you, and know you like them, it is time to make them like you. Do this by offering them things of value, for free. For example, I will be giving everyone in my ideal impact circle a free copy of this book when it is done… as long as I can get a shipping address out of them. This step could end up taking as long as 1 month and as much as $10k depending on just how much you want to show them love. But the more love you show them, the better the results. 

Step 5: Ask them for a mutually beneficial team up. I’ll use this book as an example again. If I send this book to every member of my ideal impact circle, and then ask them if they liked it, here’s the best case scenario possible outcome: They like the book, and I can ask them how they feel about doing a live webinar on their platform where we talk about the book, I’ll go through the 6 steps, and then we offer the book to their audience afterwards. At the end, we will promote an affiliate link for the book, and for each copy I give away to their audience, I will send them $20… then I’ll also give them a 50% affiliate commission for every upsell bought through the whole funnel… 

Now they have a no-brainer offer… All they need to do is give me a bit of their time and talk about a book that they already love. Then, as payment for doing that, they get $20/book (which I am giving away for free, with $9 shipping and handling, so I am definitely loosing money here). And with each copy given away they stand to make as much as 2.5k AND monthly recurring revenue… 

But this is also a no-brainer offer for me. I’m offering to pay them what I would already be paying in ad spend and I am getting WAY larger reach WAY faster than I could with ads. And I am making a new friend… and we will likely prove to be valuable assets to each other for years to come.

Make sure that the first ask you make of your ideal impact circle is that much of a no-brainer for them. Since we live in the real world, most of them will still say no… so our ideal impact circle list needs to be very long. Our actual impact circle will consist of those who actually say yes.

Step 6: Maintain the relationship. Keep giving your impact circle things for free (things of real value). Keep telling them how great they are (put it in a CRM so it doesn’t fall through the cracks). And always try to say ‘yes’ whenever they ask anything of you. They will always prove to be your most valuable asset. 

When using these strategies, whether you are promoting a lead magnet or trip wire, your end goal will probably be trying to get people to book an appointment with you to talk about your core offer. In the next chapter we will talk all about how to structure that sales call to maximize your success (note, this is a framework, not a sales script).

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