For many business owners, advertising is one of their costliest expenses. And advertising is so much harder in this digital media era. Yeah, yeah, digital ads reach exponentially more people than print – and people who are in my target market, versus anybody of any age, gender, or location who happens to pick up a magazine carrying my print ad. Blah, blah, blah! We’re all so inundated by Internet ads; they’re littering the sidebar, they’re scrolling across the bottom, they pop up out of nowhere, and, most infuriatingly, they interrupt and destroy the momentum of our YouTube video viewings!
Seriously, Who Pays any Attention to Internet Solicitations?!
Not many, I’d venture to guess! I think I’m pretty typical and I immediately ignore/close those distractions; I don’t know when, if ever, I looked at an online ad and thought, “Ooohhhh! I gotta get me some of that!” And you never even know if an Internet ad is for a legitimate company or if it’s just a scammer.
Same Goes for Online Reviews.
Lots of glowing reviews…. are they written by the business owners themselves? Lots of bad reviews….is this a campaign staged by a competitor? Or worse, by a scammer? Several times a year I receive SPAM from “services” that, for a price, will flood your review sites with favorable reviews and 5-star ratings. Take user reviews with a grain of salt, that’s all I can say.
When I’m reading a magazine, looking at each and every ad is part of the leisurely magazine-reading experience. And we can be much more assured of its legitimacy since somebody from the business had to actually talk to a real live person at the magazine to work out the details. If I see something of interest in a magazine, be it an article, photo, or ad, I can tear out that page and save it for future reference. I’ve picked up several clients over the years who said something along the lines of, “I’ve had your ad on my refrigerator for months!”
It’s All in Who You Know
Regardless of delivery, it’s all rhetoric. The absolute best, the “holy grail” of advertising is word of mouth referrals.
When you refer a business or a product, rhetoric perishes, instant credibility! That one casual mention to your mom, or sister, or friend, or co-worker is invaluable! Worth so much more than any print or digital ad! You have no idea of how much one little mention can help. Case in point: one of my clients, “Jane”, told her friend, “Joan”, about me. Joan has never come in, but she told her friend, “Betsy”, about me. Betsy came in, and later told her friend, “Betty”, about me, and Betty came on board, too! Two very good referrals sprouted from a woman I’ve never met, but who was comfortable recommending me based upon her friend’s recommendation.
My biggest “cheerleader” in Phoenix told me she had very few friends (common in Phoenix!) and named the reasons why they wouldn’t be good Endermologie candidates. All valid reasons, but you never know who THEY might know and share what you told them, just as what happened in the aforementioned anecdote!
Oh, and then there was “Dorothy” who referred me to her friend “Hilda”. Hilda has a self-proclaimed “big mouth”! She not only sent over several friends but was even overheard by a stranger who butted-in to ask for more information. And, yes, that stranger came on board! In all, Hilda was responsible for 4 new clients! All because Dorothy told Hilda about me in the first place!
And I Practice What I Preach!
I have the world’s best D.N.F.T. Chiropractor in Tempe, AZ. Whenever I catch wind of somebody in Phoenix needing a chiropractor, and if it’s a good fit, I’ll share his contact information.
And I have never met a more ethical and skilled plumber than the one I have in Johnson County, KS. I’ve recommended him so often that when my sister called him, he didn’t charge her in exchange for all the business I’d sent his way!
And my electrician asked me to stop recommending him because he couldn’t take on any more work! He said he didn’t even have time to call people to tell them he didn’t have time!
There’s a Ma-and-Pa restaurant in Johnson County, KS that I enjoy. During CoVid we went over there to pick up some carry out. It was so sad to see a once lively and thriving establishment quiet, like a library. I took to NextDoor.com to do nothing more than to drop a few lines of recommendation. I don’t know if it resulted in an uptick of business, but my post got a lot of comments agreeing with me about the food quality and comfortable ambiance.
So if You Like Someone or Something, Talk!
You might be that one silver bullet who flips that business, ensuring that YOU will continue to be served!
I have capacity right now to take on your referrals (Thanks a LOT, CoVid!), but still can’t serve everybody who wants to come on board. Sometimes it’s a medical contraindication, sometimes it’s scheduling incompatibility, once in a (rare, thank goodness!) while it’s because they treat me badly and I must resign from their service. I’ve never had to refuse service to a referral; my ladies always send me other nice ladies! 🙂
You can rest assured that I will not let you down…I will not make a liar out of you! I am going to knock myself out giving your referrals outstanding, top-notch treatments, doing everything I can do to try to help them achieve their goals as quickly as possible.
I will do you proud!
Cindy Baumann, Sleek Physique LLC
Masters Degreed, Expert Certified Endermologie Practitioner
In continuous specialized service since 2005
