Most entrepreneurs I speak to dream of attracting clients effortlessly—posting content, watching the likes roll in, and having customers line up.
They'll point to big names who have done exactly this and say "if they can do it, why can't I?".
And yeah, you can do it.
But, there's a couple of things you should think about before relying on this approach to launch offers.
The people they're looking at usually have either...
- Been doing it for ages and spent a long time creating a following before seeing financial success
- Had a weird stroke of luck that helped them leapfrog several steps (they're often the exception to the rule)
Usually, they have a combination of the two.
I'm not saying it's not possible, I'm just saying this pull approach to marketing - where you dangle your expertise and hope it draws the right people in - is a long-term game that a lot of other people are trying.
You're going up against all sorts of mitigating elements like...
- Algorithms
- Competitors
- Low attention spans
So, what's the alternative?
Push marketing.
With push marketing, you get to take more control.
You're not throwing stuff out and hoping it hits, you're pushing your offer and message in front of the ideal audience to test their response.
You're removing things like algorithms and noisy feeds of other organic content from the mix, thus increasing the chances that your offer gets seen.
There are 2 primary methods of push marketing I recommend to people depending on a couple of things.
For people with little budget and/or a brand new, not yet validated offer
Cold outreach like...
- Cold calls
- Cold emails
- Cold DMs
Basically, you identify your ICP and take the time to reach out to them individually.
The first time I broke 6-figures this is exactly what I did.
I created a list of attributes of my ICP and built a list of them (around 200 people per month).
Then I emailed each one individually.
I'd end up with around 4 high-ticket clients per month from that approach.
Doing this you have to be prepared for low success rates and you've gotta build a thick skin to deal with the rejection.
But it works.
For people with a budget and/or a proven offer
If you have a little cash to spend and a proven offer, I'd recommend using ads to get prime placement in front of your ideal audience.
Doesn't matter if it's through a social platform, search platform, or some form of sponsorship.
Throw a little money at pushing your message in front of the right people and you'll get better results in a faster timeline than organic pull marketing.
Be certain you know about the economics of your offer and the payback period here though. Otherwise, you could get yourself in some trouble.
Whether you do outreach or ads, you'll get faster success than trying to grow a new audience from scratch with pull marketing.
You'll have much shorter timelines on things like...
- Landing your next client
- Understanding what offers your ICP wants
- knowing how to promote and position those offers
So, if you wanna bring in some new business, or just increase pipeline before year end, get to pushing that message out in front of as many people as possible.
And if you're reading this and saying "but Pete, I don't want to do cold outreach or cold calling, but I need more clilents".
Then you've got a decision to make.
Get over your fear, do some push marketing, and get valuable feedback...
...or...
Continue to struggle with pull marketing.
Push marketing is a great way to get fast results and quickly understand what people want.
Have a good weekend.
Pete
