Social media is massive waste of time for most entrepreneurs.
But in this article, I’m going to give you a proven strategy that almost no one uses on social media so it will become one of the best uses of your time. And don’t worry, this has nothing to do with posting 24 times per day or running Facebook ads.
But first, some context…
Let’s say you’ve got a book you want to sell. Do you think you’d have an easier time selling this book by having a conversation with an actual human being or hoping that they find it online where they can then buy it themselves?
I think you know the answer but I’ll give you my two cents’ worth in a second.
But first, let’s say you and I were sitting down in a coffee shop and we were talking about how to have more energy and fix your fatigue.
For some reason, in the last few months you’ve been feeling more tired than normal so you’ve been looking for the best way to overcome the problem. Since I’ve actually written the book on this topic (called The All-Day Energy Diet: Double Your Energy in 7 Days), I give you some great insights on fixing this problem.
By this point, whether I have the book in hand or direct you to buy it online, the likelihood of your becoming a customer (or reader of this book) is likely much greater than the alternative: You search online for information about how to have more energy. You read one blog post after another. Eventually you end up on Amazon where you are bombarded by endless options.
What do you do?
Not much, likely. Or you end up buying a book that may or may not provide the solution you were hoping for. Now, I’m not saying that buying something online doesn’t work. Otherwise, none of us who actually deploy smart online marketing would be in business.
What I am suggesting is that the likelihood of your selling your products or services – whether high- or low-priced – is going to be much greater if you actually have a conversation with your prospects.
So what does this have to do with social media? Keep reading. We’re getting there.
What’s Your KLT Score?
Since the beginning of time people have transacted with each other in person (or close to it). It’s only been in the last 20 years that technology has allowed us to remove ourselves from the selling process with things like sales letters and webinars (which I’m a huge fan of, by the way).
But the reason that we’re more likely to convert a prospect after having a conversation with them is because it’s the single best way to increase your KLT Score.
KLT stands for Know, Like, Trust. It’s the foundation that must be in place before any transaction will occur. That’s because we tend to do business with people we know, like, and trust.
Fortune 500 companies also understand that their reputation (another derivative of KLT) is a big factor in whether people do business with them. In fact, recent research shows that:
Reputation accounts for approximately 60% of a company’s market value! That’s pretty significant. Click To TweetThe best way for us mere mortals to build our KLT score is through good old human interaction.
Let’s say you’re buying a car. Does a dealership sell you a car through an online automated funnel? No. (Although Tesla is starting to challenge that notion.)
Why not? First and foremost, buying a car is a big purchase and therefore requires a greater degree of human-to-human interaction and KLT. Doing so allows a bond to be created between you and the car salesperson. They can educate you about the car, answer your specific questions, and take you for a test drive, in which you share a few hours together chatting about your work, goals, family, etc.
This is something that simply can’t be replicated through any automated technology. And that’s why sales people are still a necessity, even in today’s technological world.
A New Way of Doing Business that’s Really Very Old
What I’m about to walk you through here will transform your business, especially if you’re selling higher-ticket items like consulting, coaching, masterminds or events.
Why? Because if you think that someone who doesn’t yet know you is going to click on your Facebook ad, go through your automated conversion funnel, and then magically end up investing a good sum of money with you, think again.
Learn More:
- The Ultimate Guide to Creating Your Marketing Funnel
- How to Create a Marketing Funnel that Generates Sales (Templates Included)
- Step by Step Guide: How to Build a High Quality Marketing Funnel
I’m not saying it’s impossible, but your conversions will be much lower than if you actually put it in a little “unscalable” – that is, connecting with your audience and developing meaningful relationships.
In one of my businesses, 95% of the registrants for our Healthpreneur LIVE event ($500 to $1,300 price point) and 100% of the members of my Luminaries mastermind ($25k) are people with whom I’ve had an existing relationship or at least a solid conversation.
I also recently spoke on stage and offered a $1,000 program – and 30% of the room purchased it. By comparison, we’re lucky to see a 2% conversion on that program through our online automated funnels.
Now, this is not about speaking on stage or completely removing automation from your online business, but I will show you how to properly use social media – like a human – so you can attract more clients and customers into your business.
But…
Does Unscaling Rob Your Freedom?
Most of us started an online business to get more freedom back into our lives, while being able to help more people and make more money, right?
And that’s all possible thanks to the automation that the Internet has provided. I will say, it’s pretty awesome to have people buy from you, even while you’re sleeping. It’s provided a level of freedom in my life that I never could have imagined 20 years ago.
So does doing more unscalable activities – like having an actual conversation with a prospect – rob you of your freedom? Not really. I’ll show you how in just a few moments.
The reason I’m sharing this with you is because I’ve had a revelation recently. I’ve built a very large and automated online business in the health and fitness space, where we sell a lot of lower ticket items ($10 to $300).
Prospects come into our world by doing a Google search or finding us on social media and then up going through one of our automated funnels. And yes, we’ve done very well with this model, but check this out…
The Social Media Trick that Catapulted Her to #1 New York Times Bestseller
A good friend of mine in the health space recently had her book, Hashimoto’s Protocol: A 90-Day Plan for Reversing Thyroid Symptoms and Getting Your Life Back, hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
We were having dinner during her launch and the ONE thing she said that moved the needle the most during her book launch was her 3.5-hour Facebook Live hangout! That’s not something she could have delegated to a team member. Her audience wanted to see and connect with her.
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Why did it work so well? It’s simple – her audience got to hang out with her. They got to ask her questions and have them answered in real time. She had recreated the coffee shop conversation I illustrated earlier.
As a result, her KLT score soared even higher than it already was, people felt like she was addressing their specific concerns, and book sales skyrocketed.
In my health business, we’ve noticed the same pattern. Whenever I spend time with my audience (even if it’s virtually), sales go through the roof. And the best part is that the entire time I’m adding value to my audience. So it’s a win-win.
Is this scalable? Not really. But it’s personally fulfilling and very effective.
You’ll see what I mean once you apply what I’m about to share with you in your business. But again, this isn’t about doing hours upon hours of Facebook live videos, although if you did, you’d likely see some amazing results. And I’m not saying that you should abolish your online funnels or automated processes because they certainly have their place and they do serve a purpose.
The Key to Converting a Prospect Into a Client or Customer
The most important thing to remember is that when it comes to actually converting a prospect into a higher-end buyer, you’ve got to engage in some kind of dialogue with them.
And the best part is that you can do most of the heavy lifting by properly using social media platforms that you’re likely already on. I’m just going to show you how to use them more intelligently. This will work for online and brick-and-mortar businesses alike. And because of their unscalable nature, I would recommend using these strategies if you’re selling higher-ticket items that make it worthwhile for you and your time.
The important thing to remember here is that NONE of this should be outsourced or delegated. You should do the work yourself because it will be much more meaningful and effective since it’s coming from you!
Learn More:
- Why You Should Give Gifts to Your Clients and Prospects
- [Podcast] How to Convert Leads into Customers
- 15 Fast and Easy Ways to Improve Your Site’s Conversion Rate
The Facebook Friend Filter™
How many “friends” do you have on Facebook? Whatever your answer, it’s most likely a lie. That’s because even if you have 5,000 friends on Facebook, I’d bet my life that you only really know 100-150 of them, right? The rest of them are little more than a nice ego stroke.
I’m going to show you how to mine your existing so-called friendships on Facebook to actually connect with the select few who are worthwhile going deeper with. I call this the Facebook Friend Filter™. I’ll walk you through how I’ve implemented this strategy in my Healthpreneur™ company where I help health and fitness entrepreneurs grow their online business.
The best way that I can serve these entrepreneurs is through live workshops and masterminds, all of which are much higher value than a $10 e-book. So, for this business, doing the unscalable makes a lot of sense.
Here’s how we do it…
Step 1: Sift Through Your Facebook Friends List
Once you’re on your Facebook profile (not your business fan page), click on the “Friends” tab.
Next, you’re going to manually click on each relevant friend (not your family members, obviously) to see their profile and get an idea of who they are and what they’re up to.
As you browse their Facebook profile, you’re asking yourself, “Is this someone that I want to get to know better and develop a relationship with? Would they be an ideal client?”
If YES, you’d send them a personalized message like this…
A few important elements in this message:
- You are taking the blame for not knowing them better (i.e. “my bad”)
- You are introducing a small amount of scarcity (i.e. “I’m cleaning out my friends list”)
- You are making a relatively small ask (i.e. “15-minute chat”)
- You are making it all about them, not you (i.e. “How can I best support you?”)
- You are making it easy for them to take the next step (i.e. providing scheduling link)
In your message, you’ll include a link to schedule a time to chat with you. It’s very important that you have this conversation via video (Skype or Zoom) as it’s a much more intimate interaction than audio alone.
But you won’t be sending people to a regular scheduling platform like Calendly (not yet, at least). You’ll be sending them to a Power Positioning Page™ that you’ll have created ahead of time. We’ll look at how to do that next.
But first, for those “friends” who don’t respond to you after a few days, I would simply unfriend them. They’re obviously not interested in getting to know you better. Move on.
Alternatively, you can send this same message with a little more personal flare by sending a video within Facebook Messenger. Simply click on the little camera icon at the bottom of the messenger window, hit “Take Video,” and you’ll be recording a video from your computer.
It’s pretty awesome and it adds a personal touch that certainly gets noticed (more on this a little later).
Step 2: Create Your Power Positioning Page™
Chronologically, this should actually be done before you begin your manual outreach.
What you’re doing here is creating a bridge page that positions you ahead of time and gives your new friend a better sense of who you are and why you’re someone they should connect with.
I call this a Power Positioning Page™.
Here’s an example of mine:
On this one page, I’ve included a short video that includes some testimonials about me, some quick facts about my business, and a few stats about what I’ve been able to achieve in the past 11 years.
Related Content: How to Get as Many Testimonials as Possible from Your Customers
This is similar to what a podcast or talk show host would say about you if you were a guest on their show. It edifies you and builds your positioning. This reassures people that you will be a valuable use of their time instead of just jumping on Skype with some random person who isn’t all that exciting to get to know.
Above the video, I’ve included a button that allows the “friend” to then schedule a time to chat. This link directs to my calendar in Calendly.
The power of this page is that it positions you as someone authoritative and credible. It allows you to toot your own horn without actually tooting your own horn. Plus, once you jump on Skype or Zoom, you won’t have to waste your time explaining what you do, so the conversation can be all about them.
If you offer any kind of consulting or higher-priced program, understand that there’s a segment of your existing “friends” on Facebook who may be perfect candidates for what you offer.
You just need to reach out and connect with them, not shove cold promotions down their throat.
Step 3: The Call
So you’ve organized a time to chat. Now is when the magic happens (or is lost)!
I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank my buddy Jayson Gaignard of Mastermind Talks for some of the following insights. He’s a true master at connecting and building meaningful relationships.
First, be on time and apologize profusely if you’re not. You need to be respectful of people’s time.
Second, show up with good energy. Standing during your call is a simple way to improve your state so you’re more charismatic on camera. Sitting down isn’t exciting. Don’t be boring.
As you get into the conversation, you can follow these simple guidelines:
1) Build Rapport
We have a strong desire to feel significant, valued and understood. So let your new friend know that you appreciate their work and congratulate them on their success. But b real, not phony. And most importantly, let them do most of the talking. Just be quiet and listen attentively.
To help with your rapport building, you can leverage a mutual connection like a common friend or an experience you both shared (i.e. same school, event you attended, etc.)
Finally, don’t be a know-it-all whose life is “perfect.” Be vulnerable and let people in. Doing so will break down barriers and allow for a deeper conversation and connection.
2) Ask Great Questions
Get to know the person a bit better by asking questions like:
“What are you great at?”
“What are you not great at?”
“If someone needed ___________, how would I know to recommend you?”
“What excites you?” (personally and/or professionally)
“What has to happen this year for you to feel happy with your progress?”
“What challenge(s) are you facing that could keep you from realizing that goal?”
Based on the answers they provide, you can start formulating how you can best support them. Maybe it’s an introduction, a resource or a mention of something you provide that could benefit them.
3) The Follow-Up
Now that you’ve had a great conversation, the worst thing you can do is not follow up. At the minimum, send a thank you email. If you promised them an introduction or more information about something you offer, be sure to send that to them the same day of your call. Don’t wait a week.
Just as with an online funnel, the “money” is in the backend. So think of everything AFTER your initial call as the backend. Be of value to your new friend and keep them in the loop if relevant things come your way that you can pass onto them.
If you nurture them, in time you’ll see that these conversations will turn into extremely valuable relationships.
Now that you’ve got a simple formula to follow for your call and follow up, it’s simply a matter of doing this consistently with more of the right people.
Facebook alone is a goldmine. Put it to use properly and watch what happens. But there’s also another a great social platform for you to explore – it’s called LinkedIn.
Related Content: 26 Social Media Prompts that Get the Conversation Going
Using LinkedIn – The Right Way
I consider LinkedIn to be the Tinder of business. Most people use this platform to get down to the nitty gritty, which is “getting business done.”
HubSpot looked at conversions across LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook for 5,000 businesses. They found that traffic from LinkedIn generated the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate at 2.74%, which was 277% higher than Twitter (0.69%) and Facebook (0.77%).
So users are there for a specific reason – finding solutions to their business needs.
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However, this has created an environment where business owners try to jump into bed with you at first sight. If you’ve used LinkedIn, you too have probably been on the receiving end of impersonal canned messages that promote the latest “business opportunity” that you must know about.
As with Facebook, LinkedIn is populated by human beings. Thus, you need to speak like a human being and truly get to know your connections in a meaningful way. Otherwise, you’re no better than a late-night pick-up artist or cheesy salesperson who’s pushing their MLM product on you.
So, let’s look at how to connect properly.
Step 1: View All Your Connections
From your home page, click on “My Network,” then “See All Connections” (usually in the top left of the window).
This will give you a full listing of ALL of your connections on LinkedIn. Naturally, you probably don’t know all of them.
Step 2: View Their Profile
Click on each connection’s name and take 1-2 minutes to look at their profile. Get a sense of who they are, what they do, and if it’s even worthwhile to have this conversation with them in the first place!
Again, this is not something that is scalable. You’re going to have to determine for yourself, “Is this someone I want to have in my life, in my business, in my circle of influence?”
Not everyone is going to be a good match. If you’ve got 2,000 connections on LinkedIn, not all of them are worth your time, nor are they necessarily a good fit for what you want to do. If they are a good fit, then move on to the next step.
Step 3: Send Them a Personalized Message
Next, you’ll notice that beside each connection is a button that reads “Message.” Pretty self-explanatory, right?
Simply click on it and a message window will appear. Here’s a sample of what you could write:
Hey [First Name], great to connect with you. Looks like you’re up to some awesome things. [INSERT PERSONAL REFERENCE – SEE NOTE BELOW.]
I really value building meaningful relationships with people I’m “connected” to, so do you have time for a quick 10-15 minute chat to see how I can best support you? If so, just grab a time here: [INSERT LINK TO POWER POSITIONING PAGE].
Looking forward to getting to you know better ☺
[Your Name]
This message becomes even more powerful if you reference something you noticed on their profile. You might have a similar background, common interest, or you really liked one of their recent posts. Bring that up so they feel you’ve actually taken a few moments to get to know them.
As with the Facebook message, it’s all about them. Not you. You’re not pitching anything and you have nothing to sell. You’re simply (and honestly) interested in getting to know this person better to see if they’re a good fit for going deeper with them down the road.
The cool thing for you is that most people don’t do this on LinkedIn.
What you’re doing adds an element of humanity that is so lacking in today’s social media, especially when it comes to doing business. And so you will stand out – big time.
Keeping Track of Your Relationships
So with all this manual outreach, how do you keep track of everything – from your relationships to your conversations?
I’ve tried different CRM platforms like Nudge or Contactually and they certainly work. But in my experience, what works best is to simply keep track of everyone in a Google Sheet.
Here’s how to create your Relationship Management Sheet. First, create a new Google Sheet (or Excel spreadsheet) and create a column for each of the following:
- Name
- Skype handle
- Date of the outreach
- Date of contact
- Date of call
- Notes from the call
Keep this sheet open as you do your manual outreach and just fill it in as you go.
Then, color coordinate it based on whether someone is a lukewarm prospect, a hot prospect, or someone you never want to speak to again. Those people that you really want to go a little bit deeper with down the road can have a specific color (maybe “gold” because they’re “golden”).
Here’s an example of what your sheet might look like:
Be Human if You Want to Do Business with Humans
What we’ve gone through here, I believe, is badly needed in today’s overly disconnected world. The intent of social media is to connect with each other. However, I believe it’s done little more than create fake, surface digital relationships that have no real substance. And other authors have written about how it’s reduced our ability to intimately connect with others, leading to more isolation.
Yes, you can certainly build a great business staying completely disconnected from other human beings. A great product, SAAS offer, and a dialed-in online marketing funnel can do that for you. But at some point, you’ll wake up, look in the mirror, and wonder why you feel so unfulfilled and disconnected.
As the future becomes more technological and more disconnected, there will be a huge opportunity (and need) for a more “personal touch.” Whether it’s used to find new clients or provide excellent customer service to existing ones, there’s no replacement for human-to-human interactions.
Now it’s up to you to determine whether or not you want to stay completed digitally automated (and disconnected) or bring more humanity back into your business.
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