We spend a lot of time here talking about how to get found online. But every once in a while (or more often), one of the best things you can do for your marketing is go touch grass.
Key Takeaways
- If people don’t know what you do, they can’t refer you. Being liked in your communities isn’t the same as being remembered for a specific kind of work.
- You don’t need to be equally known for everything you do. Put your limited time toward the work that’s profitable, a good fit, and the kind you want more of.
- Someone who hears your name is going to look you up. Your website, Google Business Profile, social media, and reviews have to confirm what they heard, not contradict it.
Your online presence and your real-world presence are supposed to support each other. One doesn’t replace the other. The web makes your marketing work harder, but it was never meant to stand in for the relationships you already have.
Start With the Communities You’re Already In
Think about the groups you’re already part of. Your kids’ sports, your neighborhood, your church, volunteer groups, professional organizations, the people you see at the dog park.
You don’t want to walk around handing everybody business cards. But those people should have some idea what you do, and ideally a little more than “she does something with marketing” or “he works with computers.”
That’s where getting specific helps. What do you actually want to be known for? Maybe you’re the realtor everybody thinks of when their parents are downsizing. Maybe you’re the travel advisor known for multigenerational trips. Maybe you’re the plumber people call when an old house has a weird problem. Specific is easier to remember, and it’s much easier to refer.
You Don’t Have to Be Known for Everything
Just because you offer ten services doesn’t mean you need to be equally known for all ten.
You have limited marketing time and budget. Put more of it toward the work you actually want more of: the services that are profitable, a good fit, and the kind of work you want your business to grow around.
Local Online Groups Are the Same Idea
There’s a digital version of this, and it’s your local community groups.
Facebook neighborhood groups are still full of people asking “does anybody know a good electrician?” or “who can recommend a travel advisor?” The worst way to participate is to jump into every conversation yelling “Me! Here’s my link!” Especially when the group rules specifically tell you not to.
Read the rules. Then be useful. If somebody asks a question you genuinely know the answer to, help them. You don’t have to turn every answer into a sales pitch. Over time, people start to recognize the person who consistently knows what they’re talking about.
That kind of visibility works differently than buying an ad, because there’s already some context around your name. You’re somebody they’ve seen participating.
Then Somebody Looks You Up
Eventually they will. They hear your name from a neighbor, see you answer a question in a group, or meet you at an event, and then they search your business.
When they do, your online presence has to confirm what they heard. If you want to be known for a particular type of service or customer, can they see that on your website? Does your Google Business Profile support it? Do your reviews and your social content give them confidence that this really is what you do?
The relationship got you noticed. Your marketing still has to help that person figure out whether you’re the right fit.
Action Steps This Week
Three things, and none of them take long:
- Write down three or four communities or circles you’re already part of, and one clear thing you want people there to know you for.
- Choose one local online group where your customers genuinely participate, review the rules, and start being useful there without turning every comment into a promotion.
- Search your own name or business the way a neighbor would, and make sure your website, Google Business Profile, and social presence reinforce the work and customers you actually want more of.
You don’t need everybody in your area to know you. You want the people you already interact with to know what you do, and to feel comfortable mentioning your name when the right situation comes up. Combine that real community presence with a clear online footprint and you get a whole lot easier to remember, refer, and choose.
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Links in this episode: You Have to Own Your Point of View
