Posted on Tuesday, 9th March 2010 by CopywritingCat
Image by Yachtfan
Do you want to be get lots of clients from your online marketing efforts? When I ask this question, most serv-preneurs (service business owners and independent professionals) say, “Absolutely!” After all, everybody wants to get great clients and nobody has time to run around to live events the way we used to.
As a service professional, you need to create a presence online, the way you would if you meet prospects at a live event. That’s what I’ve been saying all along.
But as a professional, you may not meet clients at a live event. What if you meet them in your office for the first time?
Let’s think about what they would see.
If you’re a lawyer, you’ll hang up your diplomas, with your JD or LLB center stage. You’ll usher prospects into a conference room. The room will be beautiful but it also communicates, “We mean business.”
My massage therapist has a big bookshelf stuffed with books on anatomy and physiology.
These offices communicate credibility but they’re also pleasant and accessible. That’s the goal of your online presence as well.
When prospects meet you online, they see your website - your virtual office. They might meet you first in your blog or on a social media page. Therefore your content needs to communicate credibility as well as a sense of your personality and style, without getting too personal or giving out TMI. After all, you wouldn’t be comfortable if your doctor’s or lawyer’s offices had pictures of them in…well, I leave that to your imagination.
It’s nice to have a way for prospects to bond. I once was interviewed for a job (a long time ago) when I noticed the interviewer was involved in one of those groups where pets get to visit hospitals and nursing homes. We connected immediately. What’s the online equivalent? Think “social media” and “about page.”
Live offices get created by furniture and layout. Online presences get created primarily by content. That’s what we’ll be talking about in my forthcoming workshop. Learn more here.
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