Gill Moakes (00:02.152)
Welcome, welcome to the Heads Together podcast. I'm your host, Jo Moakes. Thank you so much for joining me again this week. It is damn good to have you here. So this week, I'm diving into one of the most important topics for any coach or any entrepreneur who's really serious about growing their business and that is marketing. And
I don't think I actually do that many, I guess, like educationally type episodes about marketing, because it's such a bloody big topic. So it's almost a bit overwhelming to think, right, what can I really teach you in a 30 to 40 minute time slot that is going to help move the needle in your business, because I really want every episode of this podcast to actually
have something in it you can take away and use in your own business. But I suddenly thought, you know what, actually, maybe I've been trying to go a little too deep. And I think that there is one thing that a lot of entrepreneurs get a little confused over, and that is the marketing overview. So this week, I want to break down the three core strategies that you need.
so that you can have an effective marketing plan that actually works. These are the big three things that are going to take your business from where you are now, much closer to where you want it to be in terms of growth. And if you are someone who is struggling to consistently attract your clients, your ideal clients, then this episode is for you. Okay, let's dive in.
Alright, so what's the first strategy I want to talk about? Well, the first one is visibility. If no one knows you exist, they can't hire you. I know, groundbreaking announcement that one. But you know what, I know I'm being a bit facetious, but I feel like
Gill Moakes (02:19.746)
People sometimes think that there's some kind of mystical magic in business where people, even though they, you're doing nothing to put yourself out there and let people know about you, people are still going to find you. Bad news. It doesn't work that way. And this is where loads of coaches get really stuck. They are great coaches. do such incredible work with their clients.
But the problem is they're not showing up consistently in front of ideal future clients. So they're really, really like relying on referrals. And yes, referrals are the best kind of business, but but actually, that's not playing big, there's so much more available for you if you put together a really effective marketing strategy. And if you
really stop getting in your own way and actually learn how to increase your visibility because that's the first part of really attracting the right clients to you. So how do you increase your visibility? I think this is all about, you know, showing up. This is about showing up authentically, consistently, bravely.
And that can mean lots of different things to lots of different people. But the truth is that you need to show up wherever your ideal clients are likely to see you, hear you, watch you, consume what you've written, you know? So this isn't necessarily about your favorite places. This is about really understanding your ideal clients and knowing where they're hanging out. You know, is it LinkedIn?
Are they obsessed with Instagram? Is it YouTube? Is it like my clients or podcast? You're listening to this and probably the chances are that you would make a really great client for me, a business coaching client for me. So I'm consistently creating content that I hope I believe that you want to hear because this is my platform.
Gill Moakes (04:43.722)
And it's platform I enjoy. And it's where you are listening, right? Ticks all of the boxes. So for you, this is about thinking about the kind of clients you want to work with. And remember, our ideal clients are the clients that we love working with, the clients we get the best results with, and the clients who can afford to pay us, right? That beautiful golden trilogy.
It's about knowing them well enough to know where they are consuming content, because that is where you need to show up and serve them consistently. It's not about being everywhere. You don't have to be everywhere. And it's not necessarily about social media. A lot of people associate content marketing just with social media. I think about it a little differently. I don't actually see social media as a platform in its own right. I think YouTube is a platform.
I think a podcast is a platform. I think having your own blog, you know, is still a platform. think Substack actually is a platform. I see social media as really a place where you amplify the content that you put out on your own platform.
So if you think about this podcast, I create content in this podcast that I believe will be useful, that I hope will get you to, you know, trust me. I hopefully I showcase my own thought leadership, I share with you the things that I think you will find useful so that you want to hear more of it and maybe get to know me better. And then I share that content on LinkedIn.
and a little on Instagram and Facebook. But certainly they're not in any way priority platforms or channels for me. LinkedIn is the main channel that I use to share content on and to show up on. So I guess, you know, my visibility is all about podcasting. It's LinkedIn as a distribution method for that content, certainly and for
Gill Moakes (07:02.832)
building relationships on.
And that, like I say, that's going to look different for everyone. Your visibility strategy is about really understanding your ideal clients and knowing where they're hanging out and showing up consistently for them. Another way to boost your visibility is collaborating with others. So it's finding opportunities to maybe guest on other people's podcasts or to join live streams with other coaches.
or entrepreneurs. And maybe it's contributing to online publications, you know, there's lots of ways you can contribute and leverage other people's audiences, right, which gives you access to more eyes on your stuff. Also can build a bit of credibility by association as well, which, you know, is no bad thing. Aligning yourself with people who really serve the same kind of audience that you do.
As long as they do it well and you respect them, I think it's a great way to, like I say, leverage their audience and get new eyes that way.
So this visibility is really about showing up and positioning yourself as someone that your ideal clients can trust.
Gill Moakes (08:27.606)
This isn't about selling anything to anyone. And it's actually not, it's not even about...
sorry, I've got a bit of peace there. This isn't about selling to anyone at this stage. This is just a strategy to get visible. So this is where you're thinking, what are my content pillars? What are the things I'm going to be talking about? What is my own thought leadership? Where do I want to show up? What's my platform? Where am I going to create consistent original content every week? So that's your first strategy to
to kind of note down and flesh out. The second strategy, once you know what you're doing with your visibility, is to move to lead generation. So once you've got visibility working for you, you're growing an audience, you're getting more eyes on your stuff, it's time to get those people to take the next step. We're asking for a show of hands here, right?
And we're asking for a show of the right hands. So the next thing we want to do is turn the right people in your audience into potential clients.
and that means getting them on your email list.
Gill Moakes (09:55.452)
I am a massive proponent of growing an email list and I have something coming down the pipeline for you that I haven't talked about anywhere yet outside of my email list. So if you're listening to this and you're on my email list, you're going to know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm being a bit mean here and sometimes I really hate it when people do this, but I am going to tease you a bit because
Only the people on my email list know what's coming down the pipeline in terms of a brand spanking new offer.
And I want to tell you, I'm going to be completely honest with you. I have filled my beta cohort. I wanted 10 people to sign up for a beta test of it because I really believe, I don't believe in creating something and then testing it. want to, you know, I want to have the interest. want to validate the offer by having the show of hands of interest before I do it. I've had 10 people, the 10 people I wanted to sign up have signed up.
as a result of two emails to my email list.
So I'm going to say that again, I've filled the first cohort of a new offer just by sending two emails to my email list. I haven't spoken about this offer anywhere else yet. I haven't mentioned it on this podcast and I haven't, I haven't talked about it on LinkedIn. That's the power of a really engaged email list.
Gill Moakes (11:38.198)
That is what it means to be growing a list full of potential clients, really good leads, ideal clients. And this is what I want you to really hone in on. What do your ideal clients need from you to raise their hand and say, okay, I'm interested in taking this relationship one step further. This isn't about the sale.
not selling to them again at this stage. This is about a show of hands that yeah, I'm one of your people. I'm interested. And there's a couple of ways we can do that in terms of strategy. So
Sorry, Lena, I had a hiccup. Let me just go back. Take out, there's a couple of ways we could do that. this is all about growing your list. And we can do that in a couple of ways. Lead magnets, first of all.
So lead magnet, something that you're going to offer for free in return for someone's email address. So we've all done it. We've all opted into a lead magnet. I know, I know you already know what this is. So this is something like a checklist. It's a downloadable ebook. It's perhaps a workbook. It's something that has an opt-in page and your ideal client is going to really resonate with the messaging.
on that page and think to themselves, brilliant, I need that. That's going to really help me where I am right now. And they can pop in their email address, they're going to end up on your email list. And suddenly you've got this opportunity where they are a captivated audience. And they are going to be happy to hear from you because you made your lead magnet so beautifully enticing to the right people.
Gill Moakes (13:43.734)
that you now know how to serve them.
Lead magnets can be other things too. mean, they can be quizzes, right? They can be a mini course. They can actually also be like a masterclass or a webinar. You know, so there's a real spectrum of the amount of value you can deliver in a lead magnet. And in the beginning, if you're just building out your market, your overall marketing strategy, don't get too tied up.
with which option you go for. If you want to just go for the easiest option, but do it really well. So if you're going to create a PDF checklist, make sure it is a checklist that is super useful to the people who you want to serve. Make sure it's really aligned to the kind of service you offer. So there needs to be a real connection between what you offer for free and what you then go on to offer as a paid offer.
Right? So make sure it's very specific to your ideal client's needs. Be generous with the value you provide. So don't go scarcity minded and think, my God, if I give this away for free, no one's going to work with me. At the same time, you do need to leave them wanting more and to be excited about taking the next step with you.
So take your time over thinking about that. That's something a lot of clients will come to me for coaching around this because I think this is a really important thing to get right is what is the best way to grow my email list? It's a really good question. You if you have a coach already, that's a great question. I really want a robust strategy to grow my email list. Okay. It's absolutely something I can help you with.
Gill Moakes (15:39.666)
Lead generation is it's past the grabbing attention stage. Building your email list and nurturing your leads is really about nurturing that relationship with each person that's on your email list and and having an email is the best way to do it. Honestly, the social social media and this podcast, all of those things are brilliant for visibility. But really,
getting people onto your email list so that you can consistently serve them and landing their inbox every week. It's so in your control. And you do get to, I it just feels different when I'm writing an email to my email list, I know the kind of person I'm writing to. Because I know the kind of people who raise their hand and say that they want to hear more from me. It's just that next step of refining
who you're speaking to.
Gill Moakes (16:42.002)
Serving them regularly, sending regular emails to your list so that people really do get to know you is very powerful. Just going back to the cohort that I've just filled just from these two emails, every call I had with a potential client for the cohort felt like I knew that person already and I know they felt like they knew me.
Partly that's hearing my voice on this podcast, think. Definitely gets people feeling like they know me already, but it was lovely. was, you know, getting on the calls just felt so natural. And it just, it was really, very, very easy to form relationships already with these incredible women that are going to be joining me. So yeah, really, really important this one, lead generation.
How are you going to get people to raise their hand? How are you going to move people from awareness to interest? Yeah.
Okay, so what's the third part, the third strategy? Well, once you have this growing ever growing list of strong leads, then we're on to the third part and that is sales. And this is where lots of you feel the pressure, I get it, because you don't want to feel pushy or salesy. But honestly, this is the really beautiful thing.
If you've done the work in terms of your visibility, and in terms of your lead generation, and then in terms of nurturing those leads, once they're on your email list, sales is just like a next natural step, it's not a big thing. You know, it has nothing to do with convincing someone to work with you. It's actually about inviting them into the transformation they already know they want.
Gill Moakes (18:53.868)
Your potential clients already have a problem that they want to solve. And that is why they have followed you through the visibility stage. It's why they've raised their hand and moved into the lead gen phase. So then when you, when the time is right, invite them into conversation, invite them to a call or onto a webinar or whatever your sales vehicle is.
They're ready. They're ready to know more about how you could actually solve their problem. So actually, you know, in the sales conversations that you have this these enrollment calls, I want you to really focus on listening. You know, if you're a coach, this should come very naturally to you ask the right questions, help them see that working with you is what they need next. Right?
And I think, you know, when you get to this stage, the offer, sorry, Luna, I think when you get to this stage, the value that you've already delivered to them.
when they were in the visibility phase, when they were in the lead gen phase, you know, when they've before they experience your lead magnet, after they've experienced the beautiful value you provided with your lead magnet, you know, once people have experienced your expertise firsthand, they're way more inclined to invest in working with you. Because they trust you already. You've already demonstrated to them your style, your way of working, they know what they can expect from you.
Gill Moakes (20:41.996)
Just one thing with regard to your sales strategy that's so important that I feel like a hell of a lot of people do miss and that is follow up. Not everyone is the kind of person that makes a decision quickly. I'm probably one of those people. don't think I, I don't know. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. But I think, you know, if someone has experienced an enrollment call with you,
and they haven't made a decision straight away and don't forget I always recommend that you give them plenty of space and time to make the decision. Then make sure you do follow up with them when the time is right. Now there's a difference between hounding them for a decision and leaving it a week or so and then perhaps a gentle hey just wondering if you had a chance to think it over and whether you'd like to take the next step with me.
Right? Something gentle like that. Because a silence isn't always a no. Sometimes it's a life got busy. Sometimes it's sometimes it's a not right now. Sometimes it's a I need more time. Right? So, you know, really get comfortable with just following up after the call, but without, like I say without
pressurizing without trying to manipulate or convince. This is just asking the question.
Gill Moakes (22:18.43)
Okay, so I hope that has brought a bit of clarity to those three strategies that you need. How are you going to get visible? How are you going to generate leads and how are you going to take those leads and convert them into sales, into revenue, into your business? Because those are the three core strategies that form the absolute foundational pieces of a really effective marketing plan. All three of those things need to work together in harmony.
Gill Moakes (22:50.94)
If you're feeling like, okay, Jill, that all makes beautiful, perfect sense, but I still don't actually know how to do that. I don't know how to create my own platform. I don't know how to podcast. don't know how to create a PDF. You know, I am, sorry, Lena, stuttering. You might have lots of questions around the how and that's absolutely fine. You know, that's why business coaches like me exist. So I'll pop a link.
into the show notes in case you would like to just book a call with me. Or I will also put a link to one of my lead generation opt-ins because what I want you to do is I want you to see how this works in practice. So in other words, what happens when you opt into my email list? What are the emails you get in response to that?
what do you get to hear about that other people don't get to hear about because they're not on the list. So this is a little bit meta, but absolutely. And you know, I'm going to put a link in the show notes, have a click, join the email list, you will then have raised your hand to say, you know what, Joe, I like what you're talking about. And I want to understand it even better. So I hope this has been helpful. And I will see you next week for more. Sorry, Nina.
And I will see you next week, same time, same place with more stuff about building your business. Bye for now.
