How to Do Online Networking with Ashley Schmitz

Ashley is very organized and isn’t afraid to ask for help which is the thing that makes her business possible.

[2:15] Ashley was a stay-at-home mom to her four kids in the beginning, but she always wanted to be able to contribute more to her family and the world at large. She felt that starting a business was the first step to contributing to her surroundings. Her husband was actually the person who referred her to the Bookkeeper Business Launch program and a few months later she decided to pull the trigger.

[5:40] Currently, Ashley serves 11 clients and on her goal sheet, which is something that she writes down every day, her first goal is to hit six figures this year. Her bigger goal for the next two years is to be the boss of a million dollar company.

[6:45] Inspiring young women is one of Ashley’s major motivations, in addition to providing a life for her family that she didn’t have growing up.

[9:30] Working from home has worked out well. It enables her to be there for her family and her clients.

[10:20] Ashley was desperate to get her first client, so if she could give herself advice, it would be to not undervalue herself. She learned a great deal from them, but if she had the ability, she would have waited for the right person.

[11:45] Ashley’s biggest challenge is to have the time to go to meetings and networking, so she is having to rely heavily on direct marketing. The good news is that is a fine way to build a viable business. It can be done. You just have to be intentional about it.

[14:30] Posting in local Facebook groups and on LinkedIn, as well as referrals, has been the main ways Ashley has found her clients. You don’t want to rely on just one way of finding clients, so for Ashley, she just has to double down on the things that are already working.

[15:40] Ashley is starting to niche down into law firms and real estate. Ben’s advice is to pick one and focus.

[17:00] Get very clear about who your market is because that dictates what your message is. The least important aspect of marketing is the media. 90% of success in marketing is defining your market.

[18:25] Once you understand what your market wants and doesn’t want, you use that to shape your message. When it comes to media, the first thing you want to do is reverse engineer what’s already working and focus on that. In Ashley’s case, Facebook groups may be her best target to start with.

[22:20] Media comes and goes. One of the best things you can do is email outreach. If you do it right, you can spend a lot of time doing research and lasering in on the right people.

[24:15] Ashley sends a general message to people that she’s connected to on LinkedIn that may be able to use her service.

[25:30] The money is in the follow up, not in the initial contact. You don’t need a CRM to keep track of those things. A Google spreadsheet will do just fine.

[27:00] Look for the private forums in your niche where the people you want to work with are discussing things. That may be Facebook, but it could also be another site.When it comes to direct mail, send your marketing to the person’s home instead of their office. That allows you to avoid gatekeepers.

[29:30] Free consultations aren’t as effective as they used to be. Sending the recipient to a free online training is what Ben prefers.

[32:00] Start with your niche and start doing more of what’s already working. Learn the questions and language your market is using, which starts to add value to the conversation. You can use the common questions to help you design your training. There is a saying in marketing, “you give people what they want in order to deliver what they need.”

[34:30] Look for shoulder groups. Who already has the clients you want to work with, and how can you get in front of them? A podcast is a great example of how to become known in a specific niche that you want to target.

[37:10] Ashley’s number one action item is to get clarification of who her market is and hone down what her message is going to be to them.