Referrals are such a powerful way to land clients. If you’ve read “The Prosperous Coach” by Rich Litvin and Steve Chandler or listened to the Referral Marketing Guru podcast with Michael Griffiths, you know what referrals can do for your business.

Though referrals are powerful, they aren’t the only way to leverage an endorsement for your business. There are many other ways to use the influence of others to attract your ideal clients.

On this episode, I want to give you 9 different ways to benefit from the influence of others to fill your pipeline with your ideal prospects.

IDEAL CLIENTS

Before you can attract your ideal clients, you need to know who they are and where you can find them.

Grab my Ideal Listener Development worksheet to get a clear idea of whom we are attracting. Download it at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/listener.

Who is your ideal client? What do you love about working with them?

Which influencers already have the attention of your ideal client?

You can’t hit a target you can’t see.

Complete the Listener Development Worksheet to get the answers to these questions and more. It will help you find your clients.

GROWTH EQUATION

There are two sides of the equation to grow your audience.

You need to get new listeners. Then, you need to keep your current listeners coming back episode after episode.

If you only focus on attracting new listeners, it is like putting water in a bucket with holes in the bottom. The bucket will never fill.

It won’t matter how much you add, because it is leaking out as fast as you add it.

What are you doing to keep your listeners pushing play?

KEEP THEM

There are three things you can do to keep listeners coming back again and again.

First, effectively tease the next episode at the end of each show.

Don’t simply promote the next episode. Create some anticipation. Make them want to come back for your amazing content.

Think movie trailer. Get your listeners to say, “I gotta hear that.”

Next, email your list each time you release a new episode. Again, effectively tease the content by creating some intrigue.

Saying, “We interview Bob Smith” isn’t nearly enough to get people to listen. Open a loop that can only be closed by listening to the episode.

Hint at something in the episode. “This week, Bob Smith tells us how he turned his hobby into a million-dollar business.”

Finally, post your new episode on social media each time you release. Let your followers know there is new content available.

THE CHALLENGE

When coaches come to me for help, they are typically struggling to grow the audience and monetize their show.

I first ask, “How are you promoting the show?”

The typical response is posting on social media and emailing the list.

I definitely want you to keep doing that. But as we saw earlier, that is only half of the equation. How are you getting in front of people who aren’t aware of you?

Now that you’ve defined your ideal client, you know what influencers have your ideal client in their audiences. So, let’s get in front of them.

Here are 9 ways to get new listeners.

CLIENTS FROM REFERRALS

Direct referrals are probably the most powerful. When someone you know recommends you to someone else, the weight that recommendation carries is immense.

A guy in my mastermind just referred two people to me. When I talked with the first, he said he has heard great things about me and my knowledge.

You can’t buy advertising that powerful. The trust is built in.

When a referral comes your way, you are already 2 steps down the sales path with your prospective client.

Who can refer you?

MASTERMIND

The second way to get clients is through masterminds.

This doesn’t necessarily need to be your mastermind. You can speak to other masterminds. These groups are typically looking for speakers.

My last client came from speaking to a mastermind.

I am in a high-end group of movers and shakers. One of the women in that group runs a mastermind of speakers.

She invited me to speak to the group. That particular gathering had 6 people present. One of those members became a high-end client for me.

Masterminds are filled with people who understand the value of investing in resources that will help them. That’s the magic of tapping into masterminds.

SUMMITS

The next resource you can tap into is summits.

Summits are like online conferences. These online events are typically multi-day affairs. Most are between 3 and 5 days long with 6 or 8 speakers a day.

Because there are so many speakers, the title of your presentation really needs to stand out in order to get people to show up for you.

There may not be many people present for your talk. But, you don’t need many to land a client.

You can also benefit in the long run if the host is recording the presentations for VIP attendees.

I’ll speak at any summit. I love presenting, so it isn’t a big deal. It is convenient and easy when it is online.

Many summit hosts know I can be available at the last minute, so they will call me if a speaker backs out.

Even if the summit topic isn’t perfect for me, showing up at the last minute gets me in the good graces of the host and gives me practice with my presentation.

Never turn down the opportunity to get on a mic.

CLIENTS FROM EVENTS

The fourth way to get in front of new clients is appearing at events.

There are a variety of event options.

You can present at networking events. Conferences are always looking for great speakers. Companies and organizations will often hold events that need speakers.

I have landed a few clients speaking at networking events. But more importantly, I’ve connected with influencers during these events who can put me in front of my ideal clients.

Find events where your influencers congregate.

GROUPS

The next idea you can use is groups. This includes both groups you’re in and other groups like civic organizations.

One of my recent clients is a member of a training and coaching group I am in.

The trainer asks us a lot of questions. So naturally, other members of the group learn what I do and how I operate.

We practice making our offer in the group. Other members get to know me and understand the value I deliver my clients. In nearly every group I am in, somebody will say, “Erik, we need to talk. I need exactly what you have.”

Be proud of what you offer, and help others every chance you can. Don’t sell. Offer help and guidance. The clients will come.

PODCASTS

The sixth idea is most effective to grow your audience. Get on other podcasts.

I know it sounds obvious. Podcast listeners listen to podcasts.

If you want to attract podcast listeners, go where they are.

Sure, it sounds logical. But, are you doing it?

Find podcasts that attract your ideal client. It doesn’t necessarily need to be in your niche.

If you’re a weight loss podcast, find an exercise podcast. If you’re a podcast about launching businesses, find an accounting podcast. Same audience, different topic.

CLIENTS FROM ASSOCIATIONS

Next, find association meetings. Many professionals belong to associations. Speakers, doctors, broadcasters, unions.

The association has money to hire you as a speaker. The members have money to hire you as a coach.

If you work closely with a profession or specific niche, find an association around that niche.

Offer to speak at their meeting. Maybe you can sponsor their fundraiser. Partner with them around their favorite charity. Promote their membership drive.

There are many ways associations can put you in front of their members.

NEWSLETTERS

The eighth way to get in front of new clients is by appearing in newsletters.

Every niche has newletters. Offer to write for the newsletter. Advertise in it. Be an expert and resource for their articles.

I once wrote a regular article for the New Media Expo blog and newsleter.

This is how Dave Jackson over at the School of Podcasting discovered me and we became friends. That was 10 years ago.

Appearing in a newsletter will give you credibility by association. People see you in print and you automatically have authority.

Where can you be a guest contributor?

FACEBOOK GROUPS

Finally, use Facebook lives. Reach out to the owners of the groups you’re in. See if they will host you.

Add value when you are in there. Don’t just sell.

Marc Mawhinney runs the Coaching Jungle Facebook group. There are around 25,000 people in that group.

Marc will often host Facebook lives with his JV partners in his Facebook group.

How would you like to be in front of 25,000 people in your niche? That’s the power of Facebook lives in these groups.

You need to be good. And, you need to offer a ton of value for the owner to be willing to put you in the group.

ATTRACT CLIENTS

Make the most of your appearance with any of these ideas.

Many people are surprised when I tell them to offer a lead magnet to the audience rather than inviting them to listen to the podcast.

If people come to your podcast and listen without subscribing, and they never come back, they are gone forever. You have no way to contact them again.

When you offer a free resource to get people on your mailing list, you can invite them to listen to your podcast each time you release a new episode.

You can email them for every episode until they unsubscribe.

Once they are on your list, nurture your list and convert them clients.

CLIENTS WORKSHOP

Have you seen my latest workshop? It is coming up soon.

This is where we roll up our sleeves and build your strategy.

You can see the full details at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/workshop.

If you’re ready to go to the next level, you gotta check this out. It may be just what you need to bring your strategy to life.

This isn’t some empty webinar. We play full out and get things done.

Give it a look and see what you think. You can see all of the details at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/workshop.

I look forward to seeing you there.