All is not lost my friend! I’ve got you. In this episode of The Hayley Osborne Show I’m sharing the things I want you to work on right now if you have little to no clients. If you’re feeling like there’s crickets in your business, this episode is your roadmap to what to focus on when clients are slow going.
I’m chatting about the smart moves to set your business up for long-term success (without spinning your wheels). This season might feel quiet, but it’s full of cracking opportunities everywhere, you just need to know where to look. So, it is your time to shine, let’s make it count.
SUMMARY
0:00:01 – Introduction and Podcast Intro
0:05:03 – Addressing Business Seasons
0:11:32 – Upgrading Digital Presence
0:14:45 – Content Strategy
0:16:30 – Testing and Measuring
0:18:15 – Networking Strategies
0:19:45 – Mindset and Self-Care
0:21:00 – Conclusion
0:21:42 – Podcast Outro
Hayley Osborne
Hello and welcome back to another episode of The Hayley Osborne show. I am so happy to be in your ears today, listening, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing. I hope that you are doing something active, or you are multitasking by driving somewhere or cooking or doing something to have me in your ears. I am the I wrote the book on multitasking. So yeah, I hope that you’re doing that. I’m so happy to be here. It’s actually evening when I’m recording this podcast episode, because everyone is quiet, and I can actually think with clarity and not be rushed.
And so that’s when you get the best out of me, when I am not rushed and I’m in my zone. And I love that for myself, and I just know the windows, and so I use them, and I love that, and that’s how this podcast keeps going. So it is no small feat. If you have not yet left me a review on Apple, please leave me a review. It just helps the podcast to get out to more people that might actually need my help, because that’s what Apple does, and Spotify.
They share it with more people, the more people that leave reviews and leave five stars and write a written review. So that would be awesome if you could do that. So today there’s been a lot of noise about which I’ve been hearing about clients being in lack so what you could do, from my perspective, when you have little to no clients, and I wanted to bring that to the table, to give you some ideas that might help you, and it might even, even if you’ve got an abundance of clients coming in, what it might do is just, you know, reset your mind and you know where you’re at with your marketing, and give you that kind of propel to work on the thing that you’ve been putting off, too.
So this would be for you as well. So I think that this podcast, for me, my objective is to help you to market smarter, not harder. Okay, so I think that it’s there’s so many different seasons in seasons in business, and it does go in peaks and troughs. But I think if you’re in a season where you’re not so busy, it’s time to work on your marketing, and that means getting your foundations in order. So I think this episode for you can be equal parts permission slip and equal parts action plan, right?
Because if you love your business, which I’m sure that you do, you’ve been doing it for a while, I think that you have the permission to do whatever the hell you like, because it’s your business. You’re the CEO. It’s up to you to crown yourself with that shit, and also up to you to create a plan of attack on what you’re actually going to do?
Because no one got anywhere by sitting on their hands, and we all know that. And so when you have a plan, and then you activate on that plan, you act on that plan. Things come to life, and momentum goes where energy flows. I just thought of that now, and that’s really good. Maybe I should write that down and use that as a quote somewhere. But if you’re in the season now where you’re looking for clients, you’re not alone.
Doesn’t mean that your business is broken. In fact, it can be the most powerful time to help you build and fix those things that you haven’t done, where clients are coming to you but they’re falling out in one way or another. So I think it’s time to claim that for yourself. So I want you to just acknowledge that the season can feel really heavy when you are lacking clients. But I think what is important for you to remember is that this is not a representation of you failing.
It’s often a representation of you in a position where you’re about to explode, okay? And it’s a phase, and this phase comes and goes, and I think it’s also the most important and you. I think it’s the most, it’s the you can get the most work done in this season, because it’s, it’s not feast or famine, but it’s like, you know that you have to make changes.
And so I think this is a season where the foundational work gets done, and it also puts you in a position where you can set yourself up for consistent growth, because if you had things coming in through certain avenues easily, and then those avenues dry up, it’s called a pipeline that then dries up, and you haven’t done any marketing, you’ll be in a shit ton of problems, because that’s not how you need to position your business. There’s, there should be lots of different avenues where business comes in through either different methods of referrals or whatever it is that you do, not just one funnel.
Okay, so instead of spiraling into the whole like, I am not good enough, I don’t decide I can’t run this business, who am I to do this? Let’s, like, shift that story, change the narrative and it’s okay. What can I do now that I will my future self will be happy for? And that’s the kind of story that you need to start putting and telling yourself. And I do that like all day long in my life.
What can I do now that my future self would be happy for? What can I do now where my future self is going to be so thankful, and that’s even as little as sorting out what we’re going to have for dinner earlier in the morning, right? What will my future self be thankful for? Will I sort the washing out to be done like the night before, and that way I can just press play on the machine the next day?
What will my future self be thankful for getting my clothes out the night before, so I don’t have to think about it in the morning, and I can just get going with all the chaos that’s happening in as my morning goes and so it’s okay now to shift that narrative in your business and think to yourself, Well, what will my future self Be thankful for if I do these things in my marketing, to build my business now so that when I’ve got so many clients coming through the doors, I’m not overwhelmed.
So what can I do now to set myself up for success? And this is where I can help you with plugging all your holes in your bucket, in your business to make sure that when your clients come in, you’re keeping them okay. And that’s a really important thing to remember, is that you know, there’s no point in doing all of this outward facing marketing if you don’t have your inward marketing set up. Okay? So I think it’s really important to get that clarity in and around, whether you have your foundation set up before clients come through the door, and if you’re in a season where there’s not a lot happening, this is where you really nail down and do the work.
And it’s important. So it’s time to zoom out as a periscope view and ask yourself, Who is it that I’m trying to serve? Who am I trying to help? What is the transformation that I am trying to help them achieve? What is the problem that I solve, and is my messaging super clear to the person that I want to attract? Because I think vague marketing equals vague results, and you don’t need every single person. Okay, you need the right people, and you need, like, those people that you need your target client, and you need 50 million of those to follow.
You don’t need the wrong people, because the wrong people actually cause you more grief than what it’s worth and like, No thank you. More please. Okay, and you end up doing a lot more for the people that don’t actually fit with you. And I know that to be true for myself, it’s like, doesn’t matter what you do, you could absolutely bend over backwards for someone and it still isn’t good enough for them. And so moving right along, because there’s lots of people that will absolutely adore what you do, and how you do it, and how you deliver it, but there’ll be all there will always be some people that just you don’t vibe with, and that’s human nature, and that’s okay, because if we were all the same, then life would be bat shit boring and no good for anyone. And also, guys, come on.
While I talk about bat shit boring, I’m finding heaps and heaps of content out there to be batshit boring right now because of AI, there is no better time to be yourself. So really, don’t use AI to be your thoughts. Use it for research and then write your own story, because we I am seeing a sea of sameness. So do not fall into that trap and it is lazy. So if you want to have a business that is different from those in your competitors, those in your world that are similar to you guys, you gotta lean in and do the work and build your knowledge to be better, because being like everyone else is going to happen very fast. Because everyone is using AI, don’t be like that. Be different.
Be yourself. Okay, there is no better time to be yourself. So vague marketing equals vague results. That’s something that AI can help you achieve if you want, or you know, if you realize that you’re not for everyone, then please get razor sharp on those four things that I spoke about just before, and look at your offers, look at your messaging. Look what it is that you sell and align yourself to your target audience.
What do they want? Okay, and who are you talking to? So write your transformation message, something like, I help x, so I help business I help business owners. I help small business owners to create marketing activities and strategies to give you the biggest growth with the least amount of time and effort in your world. And you know, that’s mine, and I think I’m going to be working on that a little bit more over the next month or so, but I think it’s time to get really emotional and try and tap into that human.
Humans buy from humans, and I’m gonna I’m seeing that a lot more where that’s not AI, right? And we gravitate to people that are being their true selves, and that’s how you need to come across in your marketing. So if you are having trouble understanding what that looks like, send me a DM. I would love to try and help you.
The next part I want to talk about, and this is very obvious, especially to me, is upgrading your digital footprint. So I think have a look across the board at what that looks like for you? Where are you stomping your feet in the digital world? And use this time to build that authority, build that know, like and trust, and build out your presence online to be you, okay, because no one can ever be you. So what does that look like for you? And I think you what you could work on is, you know, obviously refreshing your website.
What does that look like? What are your fonts look like? What are the colors look like? Optimizing your social media, okay, are you clear on what what you do and who you help that’s really important, and start showing up consistently, okay? Give lots of value. Who do you serve? What do you do? How do you help people? Why do you do? What you do? You know, who, how, why, what, where, when, all the things share the behind the scenes in your business, because that connects with people, and people buy from people.
So I don’t think that you should feel any pressure to be super perfect with any of this, because no one is. And I think that is just a point and shoot type of approach, and then press upload, okay? Because in my world, Done is better than perfect, 100 million times over. And that is how the consistency starts to build, and that’s how you stay top of mind when your person needs what it is that you have to offer. Okay? So it’s not necessarily gonna help everyone right now, you showing up consistently, but all of a sudden, if you’re in someone’s world enough and they need the thing that you have, obviously you’re the one that’s going to come to their mind straight away.
Or, you know, you never know what conversations people are having, at barbecues, at sports, with their kids, at anywhere. And so if you’ve been coming up and up in their world, and you’re the first person they think of when someone says, Hey, do you know anybody that does this or has this? And then that person is going to be like, Yeah, I know such and such, and you should connect with her, follow or him follow them on Instagram, like whatever that looks like.
So never be afraid to be consistent. Consistency also builds confidence, which is such a beautiful thing to have, right? And confidence is magnetic, okay? Never ever forget that the next thing you need to start to do is build up that content bank, baby. So this is gold build up that B roll where you can and I don’t give a shit what anyone says. I think that if B roll is good for you, do B roll if it’s not good for you, don’t figure out what is good for you and lean into that.
Okay. I think that, you know, there can be some really polarizing messages across social media, especially, and I think that you have to take what you need out of what people are serving and leave what you don’t need, okay? And when you start to do that, you’ll start to show up as your true, authentic self, and then that will start to shine through your marketing, know, like and trust, okay? So take what you need and leave what you don’t, and I think, create content now, so that when you are busy with clients, you’ve got a library to pull from.
Okay, so think about like B roll. Think about getting contact content wherever you go and just saving it in a library folder in your. Phone, create those blog posts, create those reels, the videos talking to the camera like I am now, create your email newsletters, or at least, create an email strategy. I’ve done that with a few private clients of mine over the last couple of weeks, and they can’t believe how easy their whole email funneling strategy is now going to be because we have a plan, and it doesn’t actually seem too overwhelming that you all of a sudden have to send 50 emails in a year to your database, because that’s very overwhelming.
Sending an email every single week. It’s like, what am I going to talk about? Well, hang on a minute, if you had a strategy and you had a structure, then it becomes really, really easy. Okay, so think about that, and don’t forget, through all this repurposing, I am the repurposing queen. So if you need to repurpose pieces of content, be it your marketing, how do you do it? Just ask me, Okay, I am the queen of this because I am short with time, and I have figured out a way and a strategy that works for me.
Okay, the next thing that you want to do is start to throw this out to your world from your content bank. So we’re testing, we’re tweaking, we’re measuring, we’re creating offers where we’re testing, we’re changing, we’re redoing headlines, we’re doing all of that until we hit something that starts to convert, because you’ve got the time right. So just lean in and weigh in. There is no pity party here with me. There is no glass half empty. We are always in a glass half full mentality, because if you are not working with clients, you are working as your own client, okay? And maybe the problem isn’t visibility.
Maybe it’s your offer that’s not landing. So ask yourself, Am I being too vague? Is my transformation message clear? Am I showing people the problem that I solve for them? Because at the end of the day, it’s not about you, it’s about them. Everyone gives a shit about themselves and how you can actually help them get to their next level, or fix the problem that they have. Or, if you’ve got a product based business, you know, how does that help them get to where they need to be? Get to work, get ready earlier, like skincare.
Like, what is that? How do you help people? What’s the problem that you solve? Very, very important. The next thing I want to talk about is growing your network. So when client work is slow, lean into networking. Okay, that is still one of the most golden ways to meet new people and build relationships in my books. And honestly, hand on heart, I can’t do enough networking at the moment because I just don’t have the dang time. And that’s cool, because I am with my small humans most of the time. So once that kind of you know, the time goes by fast, guys, and I’m lapping it up. But networking is one of the best things that I do in my business, and I absolutely love it.
So if things are slow for you right now, lean into finding networks and going to events and building relationships. So other things you can do to grow your network is reach out to past clients. Okay, there is the client lifetime value is so much higher with the clients that have worked with you already. Okay, you can collaborate with people on podcasts or going live together be guest experts in other people’s courses or memberships or whatever it is, or join a membership or a community where you can collaborate with other people and like minded people hanging out, like my membership, superhero marketing, okay, that is such a beautiful way to grow your network, because like attracts like, and, you know, birds of a feather and all those things. And it’s so beautiful, I think, too.
The last thing I want to talk about is your mindset and the CEO energy that you are putting out there. Okay, so don’t forget to nourish yourself so that you can show up with the energy that you need to. And if you’re thinking, yeah, that’s all fine. Hayley, I don’t have any clients at the moment, so I can’t go get a massage, and I can’t do this because that’s extra money and all the things, but there are so many things that you can do that are free. Okay, moving your body, going for a walk, listening to podcasts that’s free, listening to audio books.
There’s so many audio books out there that are actually free. So listen to those and nourish your mind, and then, you know, reflect what’s worked in the past and what hasn’t worked. And what are the things that light you up. Go back to a time where you had a plethora of clients and who they were, what that looked like, what were you doing like? What were you doing differently? I think that’s really important. So I think that this time, if you are quiet, is time.
For you to become the best person of yourself, the best version of yourself, the best person that you can be right now, and the person who puts it out to the world that you are ready for more because you’ve set up your back end with a strategy to be ready to receive more clients, to make more money and to ultimately have a bigger impact with what it is that you do. Okay, if you’re quiet this season, I hope that this episode has given you the spark and the motivation to give you a little kick up the bum in the most loving way possible, to help you reach the next level that you want to inside of your business.
I don’t think you’re behind it all. I think that you are in progress, especially when you lean into working on your business and in your business and you know going inward to reflect on what it is that you’ve been doing, what’s not working. Where can you plug those holes? Okay, you’ve got to do the work, because that’s what builds your results. And if you want some support for this foundational work, I would love for you to join me in either my membership, join the wait list to magnetic marketing formula, which is my eight week course, and it is the place that was going to help you, Get really clear, get confident, get consistent in your marketing, to create strategies that actually move the needle until next time.
Guys keep showing up, keep being awesome, because I know that when you do those things, your dream clients are on this other side of that. And remember to be yourself, because there’s no one else like you, and you are absolutely amazing. See you guys.
I hope you’ve enjoyed listening to this episode. If you have hit subscribe, so you don’t miss any new episodes released every Tuesday, and while you’re there, leave me a review. I would absolutely love to read it. Also, don’t forget to tag me @hayleykosborne over on Instagram and share this post with your audience so they can get learning too Sharing is caring. If you want more, head over to hayleyosborne.com/category/podcast for today’s show notes and links. Catch you next week for another episode of The Hayley Osborne show you.
