In this day and age of hot trends that dissipate just as quickly as they come, the backbone of marketing tends to be forgotten about: relationships. In every social media strategy, you’re trying to post the things that will build a better relationship with your target audience. When running paid ads, you’re picking and choosing who you want to display the ad to so that you can nurture those relationships. But when you strip away whatever conduit you try to mask it in, relationship marketing will bring so much more reward when implemented as the real, raw thing.

We’ve been able to successfully sell our services over the years mostly thanks to relationship marketing, and we can’t wait to share with you 5 ways to create lifelong customers and clients.

Managing your client experience is one thing, but managing and streamlining your client projects is a whole other beast to tackle as a service provider. You might be wondering what the difference is, so when we talk about managing your client experience, we mean all of the communication, appointment scheduling, sending forms, proposals, contracts, getting paid, and all that jazz. (Dubsado’s our trusted CRM for that– here’s why.)

On the other hand, you also have to deal with the actual tasks that come with fulfilling a client project for both you and your team. For this, we recommend using a project management system like Asana. It’s robust enough to handle even the most complex projects, yet simple enough that if you don’t need to use all of the fancy-shmancy extras, you don’t have to.

Today we’ll be diving into the best way to streamline your client projects using Asana!

As dreamy as it would be to only ever work with clients we love, we know that isn’t always the case. There are even the few that put on a good front and seem like they’ll be a really great fit, but something goes astray during the relationship. It could be an issue as simple as miscommunication, lost expectations, scope creep, etc.

No matter the root issue, it’s hard! It may even be so hard that you’ve come to a point where you’re ready to fire a client and finally part ways for good. Before you let anxiety get the best of you, keep reading as we dive into how to determine if you actually need to say goodbye, some other ways to get back on track, and– if it comes down to it– how to fire a client without ruining your reputation.

You probably hear ten new sexy strategies to increase revenue every single day. But, if we’re honest, at the end of the day there are TWO main routes you can take.

One is with brand new, cold leads that you nurture and hope that you can convert into a client. The other is to take what’s already available to you with your existing clients to generate more revenue and super warm connections (that will take a heck of a lot less time to convert.)

Why don’t service providers do this more often? From what we see time and time again, it’s because you’re scared or just don’t know how to start those conversations with your clients. Introverts thrive on avoiding as many uncomfortable conversations as possible, but they don’t have to (and shouldn’t) feel that way. Here’s why.

It’s a no-brainer that if you really pay attention to the language and messaging you use, you start to attract your ideal clients. As a niche service provider, you know that you have the power to change lives and businesses with your service.

But one of the most important pieces of messaging that, with a simple shift, could change how you feel, your lead generation, conversions, pricing, and how you show up as an expert is what you call yourself.

We’re inviting you to try a new phrase to use outside of the usual “one-to-one service provider,” “creative entrepreneur,” “small business owner” terms that are so common in this tightly knit space.

Instead, what if you called yourself a “consultant” (whether that’s a marketing consultant, operations consultant, or [insert industry type] consultant)?

Client testimonials are the proof in the pudding to potential clients about how amazing you are. You need to be able to back up your claims of being able to achieve XYZ results for your clients and the wonderful experience you provide. Not only do they serve as a diverse marketing asset that you can repurpose in numerous ways, but they’re also like hanging those sticky fly traps.

The fact of the matter is that dreamy clients know other dreamy clients. As soon as you land who you consider a dream client, you have to use that person and their testimonial for every referral or potential client that you can because you’ll get even more like-minded clients from them.

So in what ways can you use testimonials to signal more dream clients that they should work with you?

Marketing your business as a service provider can be super nerve wracking and awkward. You might be thinking, “So I’m just supposed to talk about how good I am all day long and hope people believe me?”

The short answer: not exactly. You don’t always have to be the one doing the talking. There’s one single marketing asset for service-based business that’s the most powerful…

The client testimonial.

When you’re working with clients, saving time is the biggest concern for our audience. An overflowing task list is like a dark shadow that keeps looming over you because you know it’s coming soon, but you’re trying everything in your power to stop it.

We’ve been to that point, especially when we were offering 1:1 services, but we’ve picked up a few time saving secrets to managing clients over the years. In this blog post, we want to share these secrets with you!

We think congratulations are in order! Since you’ve come to this blog post, that must mean you’re doing something right with your marketing, so we’re proud of you for getting to the point where you’re now officially overbooked. Although it’s stressful, this is a stage in your business that can open so many doors and opportunities that you’ve probably only been dreaming about until now!

First, though, we need to deal with the overwhelm and figure out how you can free up space on your calendar so that you can give your undivided attention to your clients, plus what to do with new leads. Keep reading as we cover all of these things and more in this blog post!