George Kao's Blog, page 10
February 4, 2022
5 Ideas to Help You Get New Clients
You would love to do marketing authentically rather than succumb to short-term pressure, deceptive tactics, or hype.
And… you need to fill your next course, program, or get some clients soon.
So how do we get clients without resorting to conventional strategies that don’t feel right?
Here are 5 ways to consider:
1. Personal Invitation
Several clients of mine successfully fill their group programs every year.
They do it partly with personal invitations. They thoughtfully email or message some of ...
January 28, 2022
Why buy — or sell — online courses?
Why buy online courses, when all the information is available for free, if you only knew where to look?
Or if you're an aspiring Course Creator, and consumed with self-doubt about selling information that “wants to be free”, this post is for you too.Information is Valuable when Organized
Even if all information is freely available and the Course Creator is simply curating and organizing it, it took them a lot of time to do so. Don’t they deserve to be compensated for their efforts?
The structurin...
January 21, 2022
Sliding Scale Pricing: Why I Don’t Recommend It
I have several colleagues and clients who offer sliding-scale pricing. Some of them advocate for it, so it’s touchy for me to disagree with that strategy, but I feel it’s important to share my point of view about it. I don’t feel that sliding scale and pay-what-you-can is supportive for most businesses, and it puts too much burden on customers. Even if there are a few people who are doing it effectively, I think they are exceptions. Most of us would have a more sustainable business if we have s...
January 20, 2022
Sliding Scale Pricing -- Why I Don’t Recommend It
Over the years I’ve noticed many solopreneurs experiment with sliding scale pricing or pay-what-you-can (PWYC).
I respect their compassionate intentions!
However, I don’t feel it’s a good method for most soulpreneurs.
While seemingly generous, these pricing schemes can create more problems than they solve.
While there might be exceptions, I believe most of us would build more sustainable businesses and serve our clients better with simpler, more transparent pricing structures.
The Burden...
January 14, 2022
Word of mouth marketing: what's the most reliable way to get client referrals?
I often hear people say – "The #1 way I get clients is through word-of-mouth."
Yet, that’s true for everyone. All of us get most of our clients through word of mouth – at first – before our marketing engine takes off. Our initial batch of clients are likely to arise from our personal network, if we have done a good job of telling them about it.
However, if after tapping into your personal network you still don't have plenty of clients, then the answer is simple: you need to do more marketing! Thi...
January 7, 2022
Why we dislike marketing, and how to renew our relationship to it (Marketing Metaphors)
In order to be able to do marketing and selling consciously (with awareness of how our actions impact others’ emotions, as well as our own psyche), let’s look at the foundational metaphors we use in marketing.
Notice the language of the typical marketing metaphors:Marketing as War
You are waging a campaign to crush the competition… undercut them with lower prices if possible… and dominate market share.
Many corporations use this metaphor. In fact, the idea of a marketing “war room” is quite common...
December 29, 2021
Announcing the Joyful Productivity Coaching Program
This is hands-down my favorite program to facilitate. I’m inspired by the vision of helping solopreneurs be joyfully productive, organized, better at boundaries and self-care, and excellent at daily prioritizing their time and energy. All of our businesses could thrive and our personal lives be far more balanced and joyful.
In this post, I’ll give an outline of what will be covered in the 2022 program. The abbreviation for this program is "TLC" -- which stands for “Thoughtful Life Calendar” or...
December 17, 2021
Instead of Persuasion, Work on Alignment with Prospective Clients
In selling, it is typically assumed that you must learn persuasion tactics.
Persuasion strategies do work… but only for the short-term.
Do you enjoy having to convince or persuade people to buy from you?The idea of “persuasion” sets up an arms-folded, you vs. me dynamic.
When a buyer has to be persuaded, they often regret the purchase later. As the seller, you lose a long-term customer, and probably get some negative word-of-mouth, whether you become aware of it or not.
As consumers, all of us hav...
December 10, 2021
Towards a Clear, Understandable Message for Your Brand
It's often said (or assumed) that a fundamental principle of marketing is to have a clear, understandable message.
It's then assumed that you should come up with that clarity before you start "putting your brand out there".
This is like having a fixed mindset in marketing & branding.Growth Mindset for Branding
A growth mindset looks more like this:
You don't "have" a clear message.
You're always working to further clarify.
You’re dedicated to the ongoing process of clarifying:
You make a current b...
December 3, 2021
Spiritual teachers: your marketing makes a greater impact than your “real” work...
Many spiritual teachers fall prey to the idea of "means to an end"... let the marketers do whatever they do to get us an audience, so that we can do our "real" work with the clients...
Those teachers don’t understand that their marketing itself is impacting many more people, compared to the smaller numbers who sign up to work with them. Their public presence (messaging and branding) is influencing many more minds and hearts than they realize.
In other words, your marketing itself is a core part o...
