Readers and students who are thinking about dusting off their Get Clients Now! book and working the program again often ask me: “Is the Get Clients Now! system still effective now that so much business development takes place online?” My answer is a firm yes. But I can understand why they ask.
I invented the Get Clients Now! system in 1995 and published the first edition of the book in 1999. A lot has changed since then!
When my system was first introduced, almost no one was online. The World Wide Web had just been launched; less than 1% of the population had email; hardly any business owners had websites. In addition, almost no one had a mobile phone, nor did we communicate by text message. Social media didn’t exist. Videos were a medium we viewed on VHS tape players.
And yet, somehow, we self-employed professionals and creatives managed to get clients in those olden days without using any of those digital platforms. How did we do it? We used the six marketing strategies described in the Get Clients Now! book:
- Direct Contact & Follow-Up
- Networking & Referral-Building
- Public Speaking
- Writing & Publicity
- Promotional Events
- Advertising
Every one of those strategies is still relevant — and effective — to get clients today. Just to demonstrate this point for the three most effective strategies:
- Direct contact and follow-up can take place using email, text messages, or social media DMs.
- Networking and referral building can transpire within online communities, on social media, or in Zoom meetings.
- Public speaking can happen on webinars, live streams, or text-based chats.
Online approaches are not separate strategies or tactics for marketing and sales. They are channels through which the six Get Clients Now! strategies can be executed.
As I noted when I completely rewrote the Get Clients Now! book in 2013: “…communication technology and business products continue to evolve. Keep in mind that the basic principles of marketing don’t change as quickly as technology and products do. The ideas and approaches behind the Get Clients Now! system will continue to be valid for years to come, no matter what new paths marketing or communications may take.”
The Get Clients Now! system still works today because it relies on these timeless principles of effective marketing and selling:
- Focused on relationships — Regardless of changes to technology or the marketplace, people still prefer to do business with those they know, like, and trust. Get Clients Now! emphasizes building authentic relationships and credibility to boost your know-like-and-trust factor.
- Action-oriented — Embedding sales and marketing activities in a 28-day program encourages consistent, persistent action, a known requirement for success in marketing.
- Human-centric — The system steers you toward ensuring you understand client needs, address objections, and provide value. These are enduring prerequisites for selling professional services.
- Based on the Universal Marketing Cycle — Every business must go through the four stages of filling the pipeline, following up, having sales conversations, and closing sales.
- Integrates online and offline strategies — The 28-day program is ideal for integrating sales and marketing tactics taking place on multiple platforms. It’s flexible enough to accommodate not only the digital and analog approaches of today, but also any new approaches invented tomorrow.
The reasons that Get Clients Now! emphasizes human-to-human interactions over online presence, any form of advertising, or anonymous bulk messages remain the same as when the system was created:
- Human-to-human interactions build trust and affinity.
- The successful delivery of professional and creative services requires a relationship between provider and client.
- Online presence and anonymous contacts can begin or enhance relationships, but they don’t replace them.
- Digital tools are extensions of pre-existing ways for humans to interact. The eternal principles of sales and marketing still hold true no matter what channel you make use of.
- If you want to get clients, you still need to talk to them.
Remember, too, that the Get Clients Now! system is specifically designed for self-employed professionals and creatives who work directly with their clients, such as consultants, coaches, counselors, designers, financial advisors, freelancers, health practitioners, and other service providers. The system is not intended for those selling products or low-cost packaged services.
If you need to recruit a hundred people to participate in a $29 class, Get Clients Now! will be helpful, but it won’t be a complete solution. But if you’re looking for clients with whom you will have a personal relationship and to whom you’ll deliver a customized service, the Get Clients Now! program is still as powerful as ever.
So, pull your copy of the Get Clients Now! book off the shelf and create a new 28-day program for yourself. If you don’t have the third edition from 2013, find out where to get your copy. Downloadable copies of the worksheets are available here. If you’d like an extra boost to put together the best program possible, take the Get Clients Now! Virtual Success Course.
The Get Clients Now! system has helped over 100,000 professionals and creatives get more clients with less effort. You should be one of them.
