Get More

Clients:
16 Simple Marketing Tactics
to Bring in Business
Tactic 1:
Specialize Your Services to
Focus on a Smaller Market
If you arent getting enough clients, you might be casting your
marketing net too wide.

Narrowing your focus removes the pressure of having to be
everywhere.
It lets you hone in on exactly where your ideal clients are and build a
reputation as an expert in your niche.
This makes all of your other marketing efforts more effective.
How to Specialize
Start by asking yourself these questions:
1. What do I do well that separates me from my competitors?
2. Which areas of my industry feel underserved?
The best choices for narrowing your focus allow you to play to your
strengths and serve an overlooked group of clients.
Gregory Ciotti, content strategist at HelpScout and a regular writer on
the Bidsketch blog, used this strategy to build a successful services
business.
Instead of accepting a wide range of projects, he focused on what he
did best (content strategy) to serve a specic niche (software
startups).
Being selective lets Gregory keep a full book of clients willing to pay a
premium for his specialized knowledge.
These clients are also happy to refer him to other software startups
looking for similar solutions.
How to Find Your Ideal Clients Using Proles
After you narrow your focus, its easier to gure out where your ideal
clients are.
Creating an ideal client prole will help you do this.

Heres one Gregory created for HelpScout:
Source: Bidsketch
You can create your own client prole in 4 simple steps:
Step 1. Create a broad description of an ideal client
Imagine a client youd love to work with.
What type of business are they in? How large is their company? How
much money do they make? Write it all down.
Step 2. Identify your ideal clients end-goal wants and needs
The next step is to think about why your ideal client would hire you.
What are they trying to accomplish? Which aspects of your service
would they nd valuable? How can you help them reach their goals?
Step 3. Figure out where they spend time online
Now its time to nd out where your ideal clients hang out online.
What blogs do they read? Which podcasts do they listen to? Who are
the industry inuencers they follow?
Step 4. Focus your marketing in those channels
Once you nd your ideal clients online, its time to reach out to them.
Focus your efforts on getting the word out in those channels.
This puts you in the perfect position for the right people to see your
marketing messages.
Tactic 2:
Revamp Your Content Strategy
Content is king.
Its been repeated to the point of becoming a clich.
You know the importance of getting great information out and
feel the pressure to deliver.
But is your work paying off? Could you get more leads and top quality
clients out of your content investment?
How to Revamp Your Content Strategy
(Without More Time, Money, or Effort)
What if you took the same resources you put into content now and just
changed the variables? You could:

Post less

Write long articles (2,700 3,000 words each)

Link to other companies and industry inuencers

Include data and visuals to support all of your claims

Thats the blueprint Peep Laja followed when he started his blog
ConversionXL. Each post took him roughly 8 hours to write.
And the results?
Source: Think Trafc
Lajas rst post went public on October 31, 2011. By November 30,
2011, just one month later, his site had over 40,000 unique views!
Lajas results arent an anomaly. A university study found that longer
articles are shared far more often than others. Word count had a
closer positive correlation with sharing than any other variable
examined.
A Free Method to Promote Your Content
After Laja published a post on ConversionXL, he submitted it to social
media sites like Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Hacker News.
He also tweeted industry inuencers he mentioned and shared his
post with them. Many passed the link on to their followers, which
drove a ton of trafc to ConversionXL.
Tweeting or emailing amazing content to inuencers is crucial for
getting more exposure, but its often overlooked.
These strategies dont take much effort beyond content creation. But
just how effective they are will depend on the quality of your content.
You can also apply these strategies to promote your existing content.
Tactic 3:

Repurpose Your Existing Content
You can leverage your existing content to get more leads and clients.
Repackaging your content into different formats allows you to reach
new prospects across multiple media channels.
How to Repurpose Content
Approach #1: Turn your articles or blog posts into videos
You can convert written content into videos that can then be uploaded
to your website or YouTube.
Step 1. Purchase or download a screen recording software. This
software lets you create videos of your computers on-screen activity.
Camtasia is a common choice for Windows, and ScreenFlow is
popular among Mac users.
There are also free screen recorders available. However, many arent
capable of creating videos that can be uploaded to video hosting sites.
So make sure to check if you decide to go that route.
Step 2. Create a basic Microsoft PowerPoint slideshow based on the
important points of your written content.
Make a few slides that cover the meat of your post. On average,
videos 3 to 3.5 minutes long are the most watched on YouTube.
If you dont have PowerPoint, you can download OpenOfce for a free
equivalent.
Step 3. Run the screen recording software while you play back your
slideshow and narrate the slides.
Step 4. Target keywords with your videos to get the most trafc.
Just like with web pages on Googles search engine, optimizing your
videos to target keywords can get you more trafc and leads.
You can enter potential keyword ideas into YouTubes keyword tool to
check out monthly search volumes and generate suggestions.
Once you decide which keyword to target, its time to set up your
video to get the most trafc. This KISSmetrics article offers a great
overview on how to optimize YouTube videos, playlists, and channels.
Source: The SEM Blog
Step 5. Upload your videos to your website and/or YouTube channel.
Approach #2: Turn your videos into audio les
Now you can convert the videos you created into audio les.
Step 1. Export the audio from the video le you created. Both
Camtasia and ScreenFlow allow you to export the audio track.
Step 2. Upload your audio le to your website, as a short podcast on
iTunes, or to other audio hosting sites like Podbean and SoundCloud.
Approach #3: Turn related articles or blog posts into eBooks
If youve written a series of related articles, you can combine them to
create eBooks. Just select the articles you want to use, arrange them
in a logical order, and save them as a PDF le.
You can use your eBook as an incentive to get people to sign up
to your email list. Doing this (combined with the strategies in Tactic
10) can easily increase your signups 5 to 10x or more.
Source: Smart Passive Income
Another option is to run ads to a landing page featuring your eBook.
This makes new prospects aware of your business and offers them
free value at the same time.
Finally, you can give away your eBook as a gift to current and/or
past clients. This gesture strengthens relationships, and can help you
earn repeat business and referrals.
Tactic 4:
Use Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
To Get Free Publicity
You might think a mention from a top-tier news publication is out of
reach for your service business.
But thats not the case, thanks to Help a Reporter Out (HARO).
With HARO, you have plenty of chances to get free publicity. You can
use this publicity to build your credibility and get more clients.
HARO: What It Is and How to Use It
HARO is a website where reporters request quotes or opinions to use
in upcoming articles.
Its free to sign up. Once you do, youll receive daily emails pulling
together queries from reporters looking for input.
Source: Fluxe Digital Marketing
You can browse these emails to nd queries relevant to your industry.
Then its just a matter of submitting responses to the ones that appeal
to you.
If a reporter decides to use your response, you get a mention
(sometimes even a link) in their article when its published.
It might take some persistence, but you should eventually nd
reporters willing to mention you in their publications.
Leverage Your Publicity to Get More Clients
Everyone who visits your website should know when youre mentioned
in a publication; especially if its a well-known one.
Displaying your publicity is an instant way to build your
credibility. It will help you convert more leads into clients.
You can do this by creating a Featured In or As Seen In section
on your website, like this:
Source: Sidekicker
You can add to your publicity section as you get more exposure over
time. Keeping it above the fold will let everyone see it right when
they land on your website.
The HARO website is full of success stories of businesses that took
off thanks to publicity they got through HARO.
Tactic 5:
Use Share to Get to Promote
Your Business on Social Media
Using share to get is a creative way to drive trafc to your website and
bring in more leads.
Share to get technology offers someone the chance to download
a le in exchange for promoting your business on social media.
A variety of share to get options are available, but all serve a similar
purpose: to entice others to promote you and create viral trafc.
How to Set Up Share to Get
The rst thing you need is a digital le to offer for download.
This could be a free report, audio or video course, etc.
(If you dont have anything to offer, consider using Tactic 3 to
repurpose some existing content).
Next, you need to download a share to get script or plugin. There
are numerous free and paid options to choose from. You can nd an
excellent list of whats available here.
The nal step is to link your downloadable le to your share to
get script or plugin. The script or plugin you choose should include
instructions on how to do this.
Make Your Offer
Once everything is set up, its time to offer your le in exchange for
your visitors promotion.
Using your share to get offer, as an upsell to an existing offer, can be
very effective.
Many new email subscribers wouldnt mind sharing a link on social
media if you offered to provide them with even more value in return.
Glen Allsopp, an afliate marketer and blogger, used a share to get
strategy in the form of a one-time-only upsell to new email
subscribers.
Source: Viper Chill
He was able to get over 700 additional email subscribers this way.
Tactic 6:
Connect With Industry Inuencers
There are a handful of inuencers in your industry that stand out in
peoples minds.
Theyre the ones with hundreds of thousands of website hits, articles
with hundreds of comments, and faces you recognize.
Connect with them in the right way, and youll enjoy a huge inux
of new leads and top quality clients.
The Wrong Way to Connect With Inuencers
Most people get approaching industry inuencers all wrong. They try
to start a relationship, but its completely one-sided.
They ask for favors. Free publicity. Guest post spots. Ask, ask,
ask all without providing anything of value in return.
This approach doesnt pay off. Their requests blend in with hundreds
(or thousands) of other similar emails and tweets that go unread.
The Right Way to Connect With Inuencers
The best way to stand out is to use the resources you have to
help inuencers gain even more inuence.
For every inuencer you want to connect with, ask yourself: how can I
help this person? What can I do to make them even more
successful?
It could be something small, like sharing an article theyd nd useful.
Or offering to introduce them to someone you know who can help
them in some way.
You can use an analytics tool like FollowerWonk to identify more
inuencers in your niche and reach out to them on social media.
A World of Opportunities to Grow Your Business
James Altucher, jack-of-all-trades blogger and serial entrepreneur,
sent a list of 10 article ideas to Jim Cramer.
Cramer responded to James suggestions with a suggestion of his
own: James should write the articles!
This started James nancial writing career.
It doesnt even have to be something high prole to produce fantastic
results.
When you approach inuencers by adding value, you gain their trust.
With that trust comes tremendous opportunities to grow your
business.
Opportunities like this one:
Source: Bidsketch
Tactic 7:
Make Regular Link Love Posts and
Post Them on Your Website
If you arent using them already, you should consider adding link love
posts to your content marketing strategy.
This tactic is one of the most straightforward ways to build credibility
with your leads and get the attention of industry inuencers.
What Are Link Love Posts?
Link love posts are just short posts that contain:

Links to valuable information within your industry; and

A brief description of what you like about each link.

Thats it. Heres what a link love post might look like:
Source: Duct Tape Marketing
How Do I Make Them?
Youre already following the latest developments in your industry. That
makes creating link love posts pretty simple.
Just take note of any useful articles, blogs, podcasts, etc. you
encounter while keeping up with your industry.
Pick a specic day each week. The end of the week is great because
youll have a lot of material by then.
On that day, paste links to your sources, write a short explanation why
you like each one, and publish your post. Then youre done.
How Do Link Love Posts Help Me?
When you point people to useful information even if it doesnt come
from you you send them a signal that youre genuinely interested in
helping them. Its a great way to build trust.
If your link love posts link out to inuencers regularly, you have a
good chance of getting their attention. This increases the chances
they share your post or link to your content in the future.
Mark Sisson, a well-known blogger and author in the tness
community, publishes a link love post every weekend.
Source: Mark's Daily Apple
These posts are still able to spark great discussions and comments
because of the value they provide.
Tactic 8:
Bundle Your Services into Packages
You can probably help prospective clients in many different ways.
This is great, but it also creates a risk of paralyzing your leads.
Offering too many choices confuses people and can keep them from
becoming your clients.
Convert More Leads With Service Packages
An easy tactic to convert more leads into clients is to bundle
your services into packages.
15-20 different service options is overwhelming, but not if theyre
bundled into 3 or 4 packages.
Another benet: clients are also more willing to approve your fees
when theyre bundled instead of itemized.
Source: Bidsketch
Heres how you can bundle your services:
First, consider all of the different outcomes your clients might want to
achieve. Those outcomes should guide how you split up your
services.
Second, frame your packages in terms of the results each will deliver
for the client. This helps your leads choose the right package
because the language is in terms they can understand.
Third, if your services wont t into 3 or 4 different packages, you can
add a custom package to cover leads with specialized needs.
A great example of a company who understands these principles is
37signals. If you go to their homepage, youll see this:
Source: 37signals
Visitors have to sift through only 3 options. They dont even have to
scroll down the page to nd them. And each is framed in terms of
their desired outcome (in language they understand.)
Tactic 9:
Segment Leads With Landing Pages
Most service businesses use poorly designed homepages.
They bombard visitors with everything they have to offer without
attempting to differentiate between different types of leads.
Finding out what your leads need before trying to persuade them to
become clients makes them feel understood on a deeper level. This
helps you convert more of them into clients.
How to Segment Your Leads With Landing Pages
Linking to landing pages on your homepage allows you to segment
different types of leads.
These links act as lters. Leads identify their specic need by the link
they choose. Then, after they reach the corresponding landing page,
you deliver a tailored sales message based on that need.
Source: Shatterboxx
Set up your landing pages with the same logic you used to bundle
your services in Tactic 8.
Each landing page should represent a potential result your leads could
be looking for.
Remember to frame the links to your landing pages in terms your
leads will understand. SEO services might not get the right peoples
attention. I need more trafc to my website would.
Source: Mashery
Optimize Your Landing Pages to Get More Clients
You can tailor the copy on your landing pages to focus on different
needs. Personalized sales messages let you connect with your leads
in ways a generic homepage doesnt.
Then, you can support your tailored copy with testimonials from the
same type of clients. Your leads will relate to those testimonials
because the results described will be exactly what theyre looking for.
Finally, you can optimize each landing page to target a different
keyword for search engines. Ranking well for single keywords could
be easier than targeting multiple keywords on your homepage.
A list of 101 ways to optimize your landing pages to convert more
leads can be found here.
Tactic 10:
Add Email Opt-In Forms and
Optimize Them for Conversion
If you collect email addresses, you could be getting more leads at your
current trafc level.
You get more leads by adding more opt-in forms and optimizing them.
Adding More Opt-in Forms
Where should you use opt-in forms on your website?
You have plenty of options. You could add forms to any of these
places:

A feature box

At the top of your sidebar

Right after each post or article

In your website footer

On your About Us page

A hello bar across the top of your website

Lightbox pop ups (depends on your niche)

Derek Halpern used forms in all of those places to build a following of
over 100,000 readers a month and 30,000 Twitter followers.
Source: Social Triggers
You might not want to use forms in every place listed. If your potential
clients are tech-savvy, youre probably better off with a less
aggressive approach.
The only way to nd the best combination for you is to test.
Testing and Optimization
Once your opt-in forms are set up, you can optimize them to get the
most leads.
A simple way to do this is to run A/B split tests.
A/B split tests display two versions of your opt-in forms and track
which version performs best. Typically, half of your visitors will see the
rst version and the other half will see the second.
The winning version becomes your new control (the version to run
your next test against.)
Source: Quicksprout
AWeber has built-in functionality to run split tests for your opt-in forms.
You can nd instructions how to set them up here.
Some email services might not include this feature, so be sure to
check with customer support. If thats the case, you can use a tool
like Visual Website Optimizer to run your tests.
Rob Walling is set to release an email marketing platform called Drip,
which is designed to maximize conversions. You can sign up to get
notied when it launches here.
Running a split test requires you to change only one element of
your form at a time.
Here are form elements you should consider testing:

Headline of the form

Font size of the forms text

Color of your opt-in button

Content of your opt-in button

Social proof

Privacy language

Your image (if youre using one)

Continual split testing will optimize your forms to bring in the
most new leads.
Tactic 11:
Send Personal Thank You Messages to
New Email Subscribers
When people join your list, they probably expect a generic welcome
email and not much else. Thats what theyre used to.
A personal thank you email sets the tone early that youre
someone who exceeds expectations.
Source: AWeber
This simple gesture builds goodwill and boosts your leads
engagement. Both of these make it easier to turn them into clients
later on.
How to Follow Up With New Email Subscribers
Sending an effective thank you email to new subscribers is pretty
straightforward.
First things rst: thank them for signing up! Thats the heart of your
message, and acknowledgment of their trust in you not to abuse their
personal information.
Then, ask them a thought-provoking question. One great option:
what are you struggling with the most in your business right now?
Encourage them to respond. If they do, its a chance to educate
them and show them how your business can help.
You can also link back to your website. Direct your new subscriber
to the sections that offer them the most value (your most popular
articles, FAQ section, etc.)
Another thing you can do is to add links to your social media
accounts in your email signature. This lets new subscribers
connect with you on those platforms without any hassle.
You should send your thank you email as soon as possible. That way
your subscribers will get it while youre still fresh on their minds.
You can make your thank you email the rst follow-up message in an
autoresponder series. This automates the process for every new
subscriber.

Tactic 12:
Survey Your Website Visitors
If youre unclear on what your market wants, nows the time to ask!
Surveying website visitors generates valuable feedback from clients
and the people you want to become clients.
You can use that feedback to get more clients going forward.
How to Set Up a Website Survey
Your survey doesnt need to be long to be effective. A simple, 1-2
question setup is enough to generate quality feedback.
You can set up a survey through Survey Monkey (free option
available) or Formstack (free trial). Both companies websites have
instructions showing you how to create a survey in just a few minutes.
Source: Formstack
Qualaroo Insights lets you survey users as they navigate your website
with targeted questions and intelligent question branching.
Survey Monkeys best practices guide shows you how to structure
questions for the most meaningful response. You can download it for
free here.
You can always ask your visitors what theyre struggling with in
their businesses.
That way you can create content showing them how your services can
address those frustrations.
The Value of Visitor Feedback
CrazyEgg, an analytics company that generates heat map data,
decided to overhaul their dated website design.
There was a problem, though. CrazyEgg didnt know how to update
the site to make it the most appealing to their customers. So they
turned to email and website surveys to guide their design changes.

Source: Marketing Sherpa
The new website design converted 21.6% more customers than
the old one.
All of this protable insight was collected for free. Survey feedback
can help make your website more valuable, too.
Tactic 13:
Make Your Website Content
Easier to Read
Valuable content can get you leads, build credibility, and establish
your authority in your niche.
But your content is wasted if no one sticks around to read it.
6 Ways to Make Your Content Easier to Read
A few adjustments can revitalize your content to make it more
attractive to readers.
Tip #1: Use a basic font scheme
A basic scheme of 2-3 font families lets readers know what content
serves what purpose and allows for easy navigation. You should
reserve one font for headings and another for body text.
Pairing a serif font with a sans-serif font helps readers distinguish
between different types of content.
Source: Web Design Tuts+
You can preview how font pairings will look together by entering them
into the free web font combinator tool.
Tip #2: Use subheadings
79% of web users scan content instead of reading it straight through.
When scanners come across walls of text, they wont read them.

Subheads are great tools to capture scanners attention. They act as
guideposts to draw people in and get them engaged in your content.
Great subheads summarize the content that comes next and make
readers curious to read more.
Tip #3: Use short paragraphs and sentences
You should keep your paragraphs and sentences short. And, unless
youre giving a technical explanation, use simple words as well.
Dont be afraid to use a lot of white space to give readers eyes a rest.
If youre covering a complex topic, consider breaking it up into a series
of multiple articles.
Tip #4: Use Bullet points
Bullet points highlight digestible information, break up walls of text,
and draw in scanners.
Source: Harvard CSCI
People might not read all of your content, but they cant resist bullet
points. This article will show you how to write good ones.
Tip #5: Use images
Images offer clues as to what your content is about and pique
readers curiosity.
Theyre also great ways to illustrate a complex point or break up
dense content.
Tip #6: Outline rst
Outlining your ideas rst, and referring back often as you create your
content, helps you stay on topic.
There are a million other things competing for your leads attention;
youll lose people if you go on tangents.
Tactic 14:
Write Compelling Headlines for Your
Homepage, Landing Pages, and Content
Even with great, easy to read content, you wont get far with weak
headlines.
Compelling headlines can help you get more clients.
What Makes a Good Headline?
A headlines purpose is to get people to read what you have to
say next. Thats it.
When people try to entertain or be clever, it usually doesnt translate
into more conversions.
Successful magazines the ones that ght for your attention on
crowded newsstands stick to classic headline principles.
There are three. Here they are, along with a classic example of each:
1.Appeal to the readers self-interest How to Win Friends and
Inuence People
2.Bring up something new and noteworthy How a New
Discovery Made a Plain Girl Beautiful
3.Arouse curiosity They Laughed When I Sat Down at the
Piano But When I Started to Play!
These principles can be combined within a single headline.
How to Write Great Headlines
Now you know what the principles are, but how do you apply them?
Here are some useful resources to get you going:
Copyblogger put together a series of free articles about creating
magnetic headlines. You can nd the articles here.
Jon Morrow has a great ebook that offers headline templates you can
adapt for your own use. Its free, but youll need to join his email list to
download a copy.
Finally, consider Copy Hackers ebook on headlines. Its available at a
modest cost, and well worth the investment.
You Have to Test
The only way to know how well a headline will perform is to test it
and track the results.
37signals tested multiple headlines on the signup page for their
software Highrise. The difference between the worst performer and
the winner was a whopping 30% better conversion!


Source: 37signals
You can run A/B split tests (as discussed in Tactic 10) to compare
multiple headlines and see which one converts best.
Tactic 15:
Improve Your Websites Load Time
People are impatient online. This includes the ones you want to
become your clients.
If your site takes too long to load, they wont nd you. Theyll click
away and nd one of your competitors instead.
Why Website Speed Matters
Site speed is an acknowledged factor in the Google search engine
algorithm.
A fast site will improve your rankings, which drives more trafc (and
leads) to your website. But slow sites suffer ranking penalties.
Long load times also have a negative effect on conversion rates.
Source: Web Performance Today
Data from Wal-Mart (above) and TagMans (below) websites reveal
conversions were highest when the visitor waited 2-3 seconds. They
dropped off dramatically after that.
Source: TagMan
Speed is more important now than ever before in generating new
leads and converting them into clients.
How to Speed Up Your Website
The steps you can take to speed up your website depend on your
content management system, current webhost, and other factors.
If youre running your site on WordPress, install and activate a plugin
like Quick Cache or W3 Total Cache. These plugins use caching to
cut down load times.
You can nd a comprehensive list of tips to speed up WordPress sites
here. Moz also put out some tips of their own here.
Finally, you can enter your website URL into Googles PageSpeed
Insights tool. This tool analyzes your site and generates suggestions
to make it run faster.
If you still cant get your load speed down, consider investing in a
dedicated hosting service.
Tactic 16:
Drop Your Homepage Image Slider
Image sliders are popping up on more and more business websites
these days.
Thats bad news. Using them wastes valuable above the fold space
on the homepage for a minimal (or nonexistent) payoff.
Plain and simple: image sliders might look nice, but they dont turn
website visitors into paying clients.
Whats Wrong With Image Sliders?
Because the images on sliders move, users automatically assume that
they might be banner ads. This makes people more likely to ignore
them.
Sliders also take control of the viewing experience. Users dont get to
choose what they read or when they read it. This can frustrate them
and lead to them missing valuable information.
Notre Dame University tested a slider on its homepage. Only 1% of
visitors clicked on any of the slider images.
What Should I Do Instead?
If youre using an image slider, its time to drop it from your homepage.
You can replace it with a static offer and a simple explanation of
your services.
Thats what a lot of large companies are doing. After extensive
conversion testing, many have abandoned sliders and gone back to
static homepages.
Source: Gap
Another option is to replace your slider with a feature box to collect
leads email addresses.

Source: Sparring Mind
This simple design change will convert more of your website visitors
into leads and clients.
Are You Ready to
Get More Clients?
If youre ready to grow your business, you can use these marketing
tactics to build a pipeline of new leads and convince many of them to
become paying clients.
These tactics are straightforward and cost-effective, and theyll help
you keep a full book of clients over the long term.
You dont have to use all of the tactics to see signicant improvements
to your business. However, many of the tactics build on one another.
So the more of them you use, the more effective each one becomes.
To nd out how Bidsketch can help you land 18% more clients
while earning 32% more on each project, visit the link below:
http://www.bidsketch.com