The power of referrals

This week I’m touching base with my friend Justin – the Redcord instructor whose site we created in the series: The RebalancedSF Project.

Justin and I recently had a consulting session where we discussed how he could connect with new clients.

Justin is fighting a bit of an uphill battle – unlike more common modalities like pilates and yoga, Redcord is a relatively unknown physical practice in the US. Traditional SEO techniques, while still valuable and part of our initial work together, won’t work for a while until people are familiar with the practice (hence, they won’t be searching on his keywords!)

Instead, Justin has focused on serving his clients with his unique and life-changing skillset – and as as result, they are raving about him on Yelp.

In the month since we built his site, Justin has started seeing inquires from both his site and social media outreach. When trying to build your in-person following, don’t discount the art of the local search. Yelp is one of the largest referrals to physical locations like restaurants and studios.
Encourage your clients and students to write reviews.

I also recommended that Justin create a special invite-only FaceBook group for his fellow Redcord instructors based all over the world. By creating a community, you create a virtual support network. You can share insights and even refer clients – in one case, an instructor on the east coast was able to refer a new student to Justin, based in San Francisco.

Find like-minded providers on Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn or even reach out to others you find on a Google search – Best of all, it’s free to connect and collaborate!