What I’d Do If I Was Just Starting (with real example)
A content marketing strategy for solopreneurs.
Yesterday, I had a meeting with a math teacher who’s starting a tutoring business.
She needs some help writing a powerful sales funnel that highlights her expertise and attracts clients.
She’ll start with a FB ad and a landing page.
And, as anyone who’s starting any type of business, she’s on a limited budget.
So let’s imagine I’m her.
I’m a math teacher who sees an opportunity. I know I can help a lot of kids and their parents. I want to start a business.
I don’t have a lot of money for ads, websites, etc.
What do I do?
First, I forget about the paid strategy.
I can’t really afford ClickFunnels. I can’t really afford to get a lot of leads with ads. Ads are a money game. As Dan Kennedy says, whoever can pay the most for the lead wins.
I can’t pay the most.
Also, I don’t really know a lot about how this works. Freebies, funnels, upsells, downsells, bazillion offers. It sounds great. I believe I can make a lot of money with it, but it feels complicated and overwhelming.
That’s because it is. I’m not there yet. This is not my path.
So what’s the alternative?
I think about where my clients are.
In this case, I teach 11-12-year-old kids in Singapore. My services actually target their parents.
I Google “the average birth age in Singapore” and get 31. This means I’m targeting people between 40-45 who can afford private tutoring.
They’re doing good professionally, and they’re concerned parents who want their kid(s) to do better.
They’re probably problem-aware or solution-aware.
Meaning they’re either very well aware of the problem but still unaware of the potential solutions,
OR they’re a bit further down the path, and they know their solution options.
In both cases, these people consume content. They’re looking for ways out of this.
Sure, putting a solution in front of them in the form of an ad is one way to reach them. A faster way.
But why would you pay to show them content they’re already looking for? And why would you do it, considering you’re at the stage where you need to be smart about money?
Instead, I’d do this with content.
For my target market, I’d choose to create content on LinkedIn and Facebook. Considering the demographic and psychographic of the audience, these two platforms should work very well.
On LinkedIn, I’d do it with regular posting and creating a built-in newsletter about modern teaching methods. I’d also invite parents who’ve used my services to leave feedback on LinkedIn.
On Facebook, I’d do it through videos. They don’t have to be super professional videos as long as they’re useful.
The good news? If you manage to get 10,000 followers on your FB page and you post videos consistently, you can actually monetize Facebook.
So not only will you get clients, but you’ll also get paid for the content you share (instead of paying FB to show your ad).
I would create a basic, professional-looking website where I’d explain a bit about me, my experience, and my credentials. I’d use this mostly for building credibility.
The pros and cons.
My method (content marketing) is free.
It’s also how you build a real, interested audience. If tomorrow you decide to create a product that helps kids study better, you have the audience for it. If you want to do your business full-time, you have the audience for it.
Last but not least, you build credibility and become a name in your industry. You can only do that through content; you can’t do this through ads.
That being said, she’s not entirely wrong to try the ads method first. It’s a faster way to test the waters and get some feedback on your ideas & brand. Since ads guarantee wide exposure, any feedback (even crickets) is feedback worth considering.
If she gets her first few clients this way, she will have a proof of concept, and she will get more content ideas.
But never do just ads without content.
Content is still king. And you can get paid for it.
This applies to any industry.
Nice and simple, right?
Sending you a bucket of wisdom,
Maya
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