This is a guest post from Halley Gray, marketing strategist at Evolve & Succeed.
“Sorry, I’m booked out for the next 6 months.”
“Holy shit, really?”
“Yeah, do you want to secure your session for then?”
“Fuck yeah! TAKE MY MONEY!”
There’s a prestige that comes with being so in demand that you literally could not take on any more work. You’re so damn good at your job that people are clamoring for your table scraps of time.
And I know how to get you a wait-list and how to make your wait-list an awesome party that people will love being on.
(This would work better if you had – at least – the following: a website, 20+ blog posts, activity in relevant FB/Google + groups, services, and a marketing funnel in place.)
How to get started in getting booked out in advance:
- Calculate how many clients you actually need per month. (You’d be surprised what your actual number is.)
- Broadcast that you have a limited number of spots available. (Adding ‘Only 2 spots available and then booked out till [two months from now]’ to your sales page, social media, or blog post is a big juicy cow to a t-rex.)
- Write content that answers questions, builds up trust, and gets more sales. (What hesitations are stopping your peeps from working with you? WRITE IT OUT.)
- Push content – not sales pages. (Giving first before getting is the best way – in and out of bed.)
- Be loud and proud about new clients. (Every time you have a new client put it up on Twitter/G+/FB this does a great job of getting more sales!)
Logistics! I like to set my monthly client number and then once I’ve hit it, close out all my monthly availability in Satori App. The beauty of Satori is that you can have different availabilities like ‘main’, ‘rescheduling’, and ‘one-offs’. That way, no available sessions show, but you also keep flexible with rescheduling and one-off strategies sessions (if you want).
Now, let’s discuss how to handle the wait-list once you’ve got one. Waiting can be a major boner-kill to enthusiasm and even though most clients won’t mind, let’s make your wait-list a fun experience!
How to make it a party on your wait-list – nine ideas:
- Develop a workshop that will prep your client to be in prime condition by the time they get to work with you 1-1.
- Create a wait-list FB/Google + group for your waiting peeps and give them prompts to work on.
- Take some time to make a fun video series that your wait -list peeps get two weeks out before working with you.
- Send a card in the mail to acknowledge they exist and that you appreciate them.
- Email them a week or two before saying how excited you are to start working with them.
- Create a live video event for them to pop on with questions!
- Mail a little welcome package with a USB drive full of fun.
- Have a countdown app that allows them to see how much longer till they get to work with you.
- Make a special 8 tracks mix tape for them! Dancing or meditative or funny.
Have these little surprises ready & waiting and you’ll make working with you an experience that everyone will rave about.
Read more about how Halley can get you (yes, you) booked out in advance – because life is more fun when you don’t have to worry about money.
Halley Gray is marketing strategist over at Evolve & Succeed. She focuses on getting creative freelancers booked out in advance (plus booming in business). She does this by using a specific combination of science experiments, content strategies, and sales techniques. Read more about how getting booked out makes your life more fun.