This is going to be a long blog and this the shortest section. But, don't misunderstand, it is THE MOST IMPORTANT SECTION you will read.

That’s because if you come to social media with the sole intent of pitching your services, your timeline posts will get zero attention, you’re likely to get banned from groups, and prospects are likely to shun you. Instead, you want to find people that can either refer you work or straight up hire you and friend them. You can establish a lot of connections by requesting to be friends with people that like and comment on your posts.

So first things first, when you approach social media, you’ll want to come to the platform as an expert. You have a ton of knowledge about your niche, so show it off. Discussions about posting content in the next section revolve around showing off your knowledge and being a resource.The attitude you want to convey is that you are already a successful entrepreneur. Others are repelled by coaches or consultants that seem needy and want to pitch to everyone they see.

Come to the table with the mindset of genuinely wanting to help others and you’ll do 100x better. Be helpful, be an expert, and be a credible authority in the market.

Here are some effective attitudes to cultivate:

• You are 100% a professional and an expert.
• You are there to provide value to people that need your expertise.
• You are not needy, and you don’t need their money.
• You are there to lead people through their problems.

With that being said, let’s get to it! In the next section you’ll discover exactly what to post, where to post it, and how to interact with others that you want to build a relationship with.

Regularly posting content will be the fundamental piece of your social media marketing plan. It’s important to create content that engages your audience, displays your expertise, and eventually pushes people to want to work with you. You can do this by posting good quality content on your own timeline as well as in relevant groups.

Posting Content in Groups:

Try these effective strategies to post content in groups:

• Find 3-5 quality groups where your ideal clients would hang out. Remember, it’s not where you want to hang out but where your clients want to hang out.
  • For example, if you’re targeting people who want to lose weight, join groups that are about weight loss, dieting, or maybe even thyroid groups. Once inside, comment on posts and answer questions from the group members.
• Post your own original content. Also, make this content value based for the members - they need to view it as helpful. If we go back to the weight-loss example, maybe you could write a post about the fat-loss benefits of weight training.
• Interact genuinely with everyone who comments on your posts. Always be helpful and inject your personality into your content.

Posting Content on Your Own Timeline:

Try these techniques:

• Batch the content creation process. Sit down and take 3-4 hours a week to create all of the content you’re going to post for the week. This will end up saving you a ton of time and headaches in the long run.
• Limit “offer” posts to once or twice a week. Avoid trying to sell something with every post, or even every day. It generally works better to make posts that are selling a product or service maybe once or twice per week at the most.
• Split your offers between direct offers and indirect offers:
  • In a direct offer, you simply tell someone about your product or service and see if they’d like to buy it or get on board with that.
  • For example: “I’m looking to get 5 more people down to their goal weights in 6 months or less. If you’ve always struggled with your weight and been left disappointed by yo-yo dieting, then reach out to me and let's get you started on my premier weight loss program.”
  • An indirect offer is where you start off a post without mentioning your offer - usually with a story or a helpful tip. Then you transition into a soft CTA (Call To Action).
  • For example, you can start with a case study of one of your previous clients and how you helped them.
    • Then you can say something along the lines of “If you struggle with {whatever problem you solve} like {previous client name}, then I’d love to see if I can help you. Just message me and we can have a chat.
• Also, make posts that are not about selling something. If you make offers once or twice a week, what about the other days of the week? For these days, create posts that build your credibility and show your expertise.

Content Rotation and Schedule:

Make posts that give helpful tips and tricks. A variety of formats and styles will capture your audience’s attention. For example, suppose health coaching is your niche.

Consider this schedule:

• Monday. Make a post on Monday about foods with great health benefits as well as an awesome recipe using those foods.
• Tuesday. On Tuesday you could do a health update on yourself to show people that you walk the walk and don’t just talk the talk.
• Wednesday. On Wednesday you can try something called an engagement post. This is where you are actively inviting engagement and interaction from your audience.
• ​​​​​​​Thursday and Friday. Thursday and Friday can be days that you do an indirect offer and a direct offer.
• ​​​​​​​Weekend. Then, on the weekend, you can tell stories and case studies about people you’ve helped.

Here are some more ideas for posts you can write:

• Story posts
• Posts about your lifestyle (be who your clients want to be)
• Pure entertainment posts
• Objection handling posts
• Future pace your audience
• Rustle their feathers and agitate their pain (works well with offers)
• Expert interview
• A live training session
• A challenge for your audience
• Recent client wins

Draw Inspiration from Other Posts:

Check out other posts on your timeline and in the groups you visit. Which posts catch your attention and make you want to continue reading? Determine what makes them so captivating and try to recreate that feeling within your own content. Ensure that you’re interacting with all of the comments on your posts and then follow up with a message. 

Creating content and interacting with others is the groundwork for getting clients. It starts conversations and gets the ball rolling. But the real goal is to get an individual into a private messaging conversation with you, where eventually they ask for your services. There are many ways that this could happen and there really is no script to work from. That’s because human interactions aren't scripted - they’re organic and therefore your messenger conversations have to be organic as well.

Starting With Comments:

Let’s walk through the process of what to do from the comments on your posts and where to take the conversation from there. You’ll get a variety of different comments on your posts, either on your timeline or on your posts within various groups. You’ll get some that just agree with you or say that you made a good point. Others will ask questions. It’s a good idea to respond to all of them but ensure that you always respond to people who ask you questions or those that seem even the smallest bit interested in your services. If you’re commenting on someone else's post, be as constructive and helpful as possible.

Moving Into the DM’s:

When you move the conversation into Direct Messaging, follow this process:

• Start by referencing any previous interaction you had (such as the comment they made or the comment you left). This instantly makes you warmer than someone who is reaching out completely cold.
• Then, follow an extremely simple framework: give them a compliment and ask them a question. This will keep the conversation moving along.
• Bring your own personality into the conversation and make it dynamic. Be authentic and interesting while keeping the focus on them.
• Keep the first conversation very light. Just build a friendship with this person.
• Then let some time pass. This can be a few hours or even a day or two, depending on how busy you are.

Getting Back in Touch:

Once you reignite the conversation, use the rapport you’ve already built up to move them along to a discovery call. You can ask more about their problem or what you think you could help them with. Once you figure out whether or not this person really needs your help, you can move them towards a call. It’s crucial that you do this in a way that is not “salesy.”

Moving to a Call:

In order to move the prospect toward a call, you could try messaging something like, “Hey, I’m creating a new training surrounding dairy and lactose intolerance and how to cope with it. It’s not done yet, but I’d love to hop on a call with you and see if any of the information would help you.”

Keep these items in mind:

• The most important thing about this call is to deliver value to the person and if you can help them further, then you can mention your services and see if they’re interested.
• Avoid being attached to the outcome of this call. This is called “outcome independence” and it’s going to take a lot of weight off your shoulders and cut down on your stress a ton.
• ​​​​​​​If they say NO, that is totally okay. Continue being helpful and treating them like an equal. Being in an equal frame of mind as the person you’re talking to is going to take a lot of those buyer defense walls down.
• ​​​​​​​Only give solutions if they give you permission to do so and you want to give away your coaching for free. Otherwise, see if they want to sign up for your coaching or whatever product or service you offer that gives the solution that they’re looking for.

Benchmarks and Automation for DM Conversations:

Ideally, you want to message around 10 new people a day, while keeping in touch with all of your previous fruitful conversations. This can get a bit overwhelming when you really start getting traction and you have 30 or so potential client-producing conversations happening at the same time. Luckily, this process is scalable when you build a team around it. Hiring one or two appointment setters that are paid on commission can automate this portion of the business for you.​​​​​​​

Social media can overtake and pass up other forms of marketing just by its sheer reach and power. Complete strangers can interact on a post together and then end up as good friends or your “post partners” can become loyal clients! Social media combine the personality of cold calling, the scalability and directness of cold email, and the networking capacity of public networking events.

All of this together makes social media the current king as far as client attraction is concerned. This does take a bit of time and can be overwhelming when you have a ton of conversations going on. However, a team built around your social media can really let some steam off and allow you to focus on other aspects of your business.

Out of all the social media platforms, Facebook and LinkedIn are going to give you the most reach. They are the so-called “powerhouses” of social media marketing and their features make them perfect for delivering content and starting conversations.

The most advantageous mindset on social media is that of a helpful expert who wants to give and create value. Posting your sales pitch and being needy will get you shut down extremely fast. Do your due diligence and success will come.

Post content every day of the week. Comment and interact with everyone who participates in your posts. Ensure that you’re also commenting and delivering value on other posts within specific Facebook groups (where your clients are gathered).

Message everyone that you interact with and build a genuine relationship with them. Offer your expertise. Move the conversation towards a call and if you really believe you can help them with your services, then offer them in a non-salesy way.

That about does it. But none of this information will matter at all if you don’t implement it. Imperfect action is better than perfect inaction every single time.