Knowpreneur

Most knowledge and professional businesses have long relied almost exclusively on referrals as their primary lead-generation vehicle. The reasoning goes that because a referral is the most trusted method of marketing, referred leads are already qualified and so are “hotter”.

If anything, some operators of expert based businesses, such as consultants, coaches, agents, and other professionals, also understand that this referral process can be extended by speaking, or pitching services to prospects at networking events.

Referral marketing is a good process. In fact it should be the first method professionals use to sell their services.

However, traditional referral marketing uses up scarce time and resources. While you’re speaking or networking, you’re not producing or delivering your service, which means you’re caught in the time vs revenue trap.

But you can increase revenue by building a marketing system that constantly creates referrals while you are producing, delivering your service, or even while you’re sleeping.

You can set up this continual referral process by converting your special knowledge into educational or informational content on your website. This content:

• displays your expertise to the world
• continuously earns income
• seamlessly moves prospects through the sales funnel to the most highly-paid services

Caveat One: We’re talking about educational content here, not just content for content’s sake, as in frequent posting on social media, or blogging several times a day about whatever comes into your mind. That’s more of a branding exercise, which rarely produces much in the way of immediate revenue for small expertise-based businesses.

However, prospects will pay for specialized skills and knowledge that helps them solve their problems.

This is educational content that comes in the form of books, e-books, articles, presentations, and case studies. If organized correctly, this useful information moves prospects and clients through the sales funnel to the most lucrative and highly paid services.

There is a sequence to any content marketing campaign. Generally it goes like this:

• Offer free information that supplies a “taste” of your expertise and builds awareness.

• To those who have accessed the free information, offer deeper and more thorough information in other (paid) formats.

• Move people on your list farther into the consulting process with higher priced training or group consulting.

• Finally, offer personal consulting or coaching — at your usual price — to those who have responded most to your particular expertise.

Caveat Two: You can’t fake expertise. What you sell has to be of value to your prospects. You will see many out there who hold themselves out to be experts, but really aren’t. They’re simply online marketers, and they’re usually selling freely available, low-end, information that’s been packaged nicely.

However, if you borrow techniques used by these people and truly offer useful analysis and solutions to typical customer problems, you’ll be among a very distinct group.

Your revenue will grow accordingly. And you’ll be able to continue performing the work that occupies you now.