How to Get Your Business in Front of the Right People

You don’t need to get your business in front of more people. You need to get it in front of more of the right people.

Those are two very different missions.

If you’re a wedding florist, 10,000 random people seeing your Instagram post isn’t nearly as useful as 100 recently engaged people knowing who you are.

If you’re a dog trainer, 50 local dog owners who know you exist is much better than 5,000 people across the country who will never hire you.

If you’re a photographer, the business owner planning a big product launch recognizing your name is more impactful than 10,000 people who think your photos are pretty.

Visibility isn’t a numbers game. It’s a relevance game.

So where do you find the right people?

GO WHERE THEY ALREADY ARE

This is the easiest place to start. Where does your ideal client already spend time? What businesses do they already support? What events do they already attend? What accounts do they already follow? What communities are they already part of?

You don’t always have to build the space. Sometimes you just need to walk into one that’s already full.

If you serve brides, look at venues, planners, bridal boutiques, photographers, DJs, hair and makeup artists.

If you serve homeowners, look at realtors, contractors, interior designers, landscapers, home stores.

If you serve other business owners, look at coworking spaces, networking groups, chambers, associations, and businesses that serve the same people you do.

You are looking for overlap.

FIND THE BUSINESSES THAT ALREADY HAVE YOUR PEOPLE

This is where things get interesting. I’m not telling you to cold contact every business whose audience looks vaguely similar to yours.

Please don’t.

I’m telling you to pay attention. Who has already earned the attention of the people you want to reach?

Those businesses have something valuable 👉 access to an audience you haven’t had to build yourself.

That doesn’t mean you immediately ask them to promote you. It means you start paying attention to them. Follow them. Read what they’re talking about. Show up at their events.

Make a purchase.

Refer people to them when it makes sense.

Build an actual relationship.

Don’t walk into someone else’s house and immediately ask if you can use their oven to bake a cake you’re planning to bring elsewhere. Get to know the people who live there first.

LOOK FOR OVERLAPPING CLIENTELE

Your best connection isn’t usually someone who does what you do.

Think adjacent, not identical.

You don’t need another photographer. You might need a wedding planner.

You don’t need another wedding planner. You might need a venue.

You don’t need another hairstylist. You might need a makeup artist.

You don’t need another business coach. You might need a bookkeeper, photographer, website designer, attorney, or coworking space.

Your people are already surrounded by other people’s people.

That’s where the opportunity is.

GO TALK TO THEM.

The relationship starts when you actually engage.

Comment on something you genuinely have something to say about. Send the article that made you think of them. Ask the open ended question.

Go to the event. Introduce yourself. Invite them for coffee.

Thank them when they send someone your way.

And when you find yourself thinking, “I don’t want to bother them,” remember 👉

You’re not bothering someone by being interested in them. You’re bothering them when you only contact them when you need something.

THE GOAL ISN’T TO GET IN FRONT OF EVERYONE

It’s to become familiar to the people who matter.

That’s why I don’t want you spending all of your time trying to grow an audience full of strangers. I want you to find the places where your people already gather and become part of the ecosystem.

When the right person needs what you do, you don’t want to be a stranger who suddenly appeared in their feed. You want them to think, “Oh, I know her.”

That’s visibility.

And that’s why outbound engagement belongs in your marketing strategy.

Go find your people.

Day 24 of 30 days writing something every day.