Marketing Professional Services: Speaking, Networking, Referring

Marketing professional services such as legal marketing, real estate marketing, or marketing health care or financial products can succeed or not succeed based on the strength of one person.

You market, or sell, your knowledge to benefit your clients. How can you market what you know to show others how to invest money, protect their estate and stay healthy?

Here are ways you can develop strategies to promote your services:

Speaking
Professionals can develop an effective speaking strategy to generate awareness and leads for the purpose of winning more clients. If you already have your print materials, a blog or website then start your own speaking circuit.

It shouldn't be costly. Every city and suburb has coffee shops or restaurants where 7 - 10 people can comfortably sit. Offer a topic of benefit to your listener. Remember, you're there to help them solve a problem or meet a pressing need. Do that well and you'll generate new business.

A regular speaking schedule - whether once a month or once a quarter - will also establish you as an authority in your local market. The more people in your local market who get to know your professional services the more solid business leads you will develop.

Internet Presence
Develop a presence on the Internet. Take your speaking notes from in public and write them into ezine articles, blog posts or comments in related forums.

Internet strategies have tremendous potential for professionals. The challenge is creating content takes consistent time and effort.

Make sure you can speak directly to your target audience whether that's a family with small children, an elderly investor, a small business owner, or a corporate CEO.

Build Your Core
Having professionals in similar or different disciplines can help build your own referral program. Make it a point to develop 7 - 10 people who will refer business leads to you. And make sure you refer business leads to them on a regular basis. Invite them to post on your blog or post content, too.

Visit with Others
I knew a man from my local chamber of commerce who was in the mortgage business. Each meeting, he made it a point to set appointments for the sole purpose of finding out what other people did. Then he introduced those people to others who could use their services. He acted as a "networking broker."

I asked him why he did it. He said, "how often do people refinance their house or buy a house that they're going to come back to me?"

He said he might as well be out visiting with other people instead of sitting in an office tying to thumb through phone lists to make calls. He offered a true and welcome service.

Try Craigslist
As a professional, you might figure it's a waste to post your service in Craigslist. But it depends on how you do it. Some chiropractors have found success posting on the site two times per week. If you're having a mini-event or get together then it could be a good place to develop a following.

Send thank you notes
If you can send thank you cards, birthday cards and other happy cards you'll be remembered. In time, you'll generate new referrals.

A podiatrist-turned-financial planner once told me that fewer than 1% of business professionals never send a thank you card after meeting someone at an event or even individually.

I'm not sure how true that is, but stand out of the crowd by saying thank you.

You need business, and you need to generate leads. But the way to do that is by seeing how many others you can help.