The Desert of Arizona
Snow? 32 Degrees
So it snowed last night… in the desert… in April. And today, it’s going to be sunny with a high of 62 degrees. Which means, as fast as it came, that snow is going to be GONE.
In fact, I’d bet that by mid afternoon, most every sign of last night’s winter wonderland is going to be forgotten.
This is pretty much what happens with you in the mind of your prospective clients. When you show up in front of them, they know you’re alive. When you leave, they completely forget you ever existed.
So if you don’t have a plan for continuing to “show up,” you get forgotten. Which means you basically don’t exist. Ouch.
This is why you need a Platform. And not just any Platform. You need one that is strategically designed around what your prospective clients really want. Do you know? Have you seeded that into your marketing? Have you made sure it’s clear that YOU are the one that can help them get what they want? Why should you even go to all of this trouble?
Because when you are clear about what motivates your prospective clients, and clear about how to talk about that, marvelous things can happen. How effective could it be when you know what someone wants and are able to help them get it… and you figure out a way to make sure they know that?
Let’s look to the animal kingdom for an example of what can happen. My email the other day about my dog Tucker prompted this reply from a Client Letter subscriber:
“One day my wife went to the local deli and bought an assortment of meats and cheese. When she got home, I started unpacking the grocery bags and loading the fridge. As I was unloading the deli meats, our cat, Kramer, jumped up on the counter and attacked me. He’s not the nicest of cats, but he’d never actually attacked me before.
I soon realized he was after the deli meat. I’d never seen any cat, especially Kramer, so motivated. Just couldn’t let that go to waste. Within two minutes, Kramer was trained to sit. Within a week, he could shake hands, roll over, play dead on command. But, of course, he demanded his turkey treat.
Hmmm. Why stop there? I then informed my wife that I was going to teach Kramer to play the piano. And of course, he learned to play in a matter of days. He played a different melody every time, and he had no grasp on harmony, but still… pretty impressive.
Here’s the cool part. My wife and I would invite people to dinner. After dinner, we’d drift into the den. At some point, I would mention to our guests that our cat knew how to play piano. Naturally, no one believed us, and they all laughed, but on the command, “Kramer, play us a tune,” he would walk over, jump up on the piano, and play us a song of his choice.
Even cooler. Late one night, when all were asleep, someone started playing the piano. It was Kramer; he was hungry. We had to start closing the lid on the piano every night. I only wonder how many times he went in and started to play, with no notes and no reward.”
So just to be clear. In this little example, you are the trainer, your prospective client is the cat. Your Platform is the deli meat.
Does your “deli meat” bring the cats and keep them around? Do you even have “deli meat?” Or are you just sitting there saying, “Come here Kitty!” over and over again just hoping someone hears you?
Get your Platform and work it. If you need help with the strategy, you’ll find it there at that link. This is work worth doing. If you build it (right), the “cats” will come.