01 Jan Lead Generation Strategy: How to Write Compelling Content That Attracts Clients and Grows Your Business Without Overwhelm
This post is for entrepreneurs looking to attract more clients and grow their business with more effective content strategy. If you like this, make sure to get in real-time touch with me over on my Facebook community, Soul-Level Shifts, where I do weekly free trainings on topics just like this one. You can also follow my life in Bali on Instagram @heyelainaray and DM me anytime to say hi! Btw every year I launch a business mastermind for entrepreneurs looking to grow to 6-figures and beyond, so stay in touch to find out when the next round launches. If you’re interested in strategic 1-1 support, you can also apply for a 6-month mentorship. I would love to work with you now or in the future! Drop me a line if this blog helps you. ~ Elaina
You might have found this blog because I’m hyper-visible on social media (it’s how most of my clients find me and has led to back-to-back $20K months in my business — whoo-hoo!!), but I promise I spend no more than 20 minutes a day on Facebook or Instagram.
Now I’m going to share with you how I do that — and how I write posts so that I attract the people who I want to work with!
You’re in the right place if you’re an entrepreneur who uses social media as part of your business strategy and want to be booking clients and handling inquiries from people who are already warmed up and wanting to buy from you, but find you’re not getting good engagement and no one is commenting or reaching out when you post!
I have been there, trust me, thinking my whole coaching practice was flawed or that I was a bad writer or that my program sucked or that I looked stupid and would never get to experience Coach Suzy’s “$10K week with ease and flow” (“ughhhh maybe I’m not cut out for this!”).
It’s not all ease and flow, but I do know that this outcome is perfectly available to online entrepreneurs in 2020. I booked out my entire business without any paid advertising in 2019, so let’s get started! I want to share this with you!
Here are my top 7 tips for writing compelling content that attracts your ideal clients without spending hours and hours on social media every day:
TIP #1: Don’t create content in a vacuum.
A lot of you miiiiight be sitting in your living room thinking something sounds like a great thought-provoking post on a topic… that no one has ever asked you about. It’s more effective when you do your market research (everyone in my mastermind does this right up front using a very specific strategy so they have all that info already) and then create content based off of what people tell you they are interested in.
Well-executed market research also helps you create your programs and sales systems and leaves clients going like “Oh my god this is exactly what I need, how did she know?!”
See point #5 on how to use engagement for more content ideas that really land. For a quick win today you can post polls and open-ended questions on your Facebook status, Facebook group, and Instagram story and get real-time feedback from people already following you about what they are struggling with in your niche and then use that to create your freebies and solid posts.
TIP #2: Write once per week and repurpose your content across all channels.
I sit down once per week. I don’t wait until the inspiration strikes or when I’m sitting at my Instagram post with the cursor blinking. Every Monday morning, I take 1-2 hours to compile all the ideas I have on my chosen topic for the week, something that connects to my current program and offering and leads into people signing up for something if they like what I write about. I write for a purpose and that is to grow my business!
I create content under the IG character count — short and snappy works great — and that is repurposed on Instagram, IGTV, Facebook status, Facebook page, Facebook group, Facebook lives, Linkedin, blog posts, and more (my assistant does that now but I used to so DIY and then hire out when you grow).
Use a scheduler app and pay attention to the analytics of when your target audience is online. Engage right before you post (see point #5 again). Pre-select all your photos for the week and effective *competitive hashtags.*
TIP #3: Less is more, so try to write The Post.
I made this terrible mistake for way too long, trying to write 5-7 posts every week and it was eating up my time and overwhelming everyone on my channels. I still post a lot but if I am, it’s coming from an inspired place.
With 2-3 SOLID posts per week, you can be visible all across your platforms using the method mentioned above. I call this The Post. What is THE post you can write that would speak your ideal client and move them into action.
Here’s a few components of The Post:
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- Hook: Catch your reader with a strong headline that promotes curiosity.
- Story using elegant vulnerability: In a few lines, share a personal story that relates to the topic and your ideal client.
- You/I voice: Avoid using “we.” Speak directly to your ideal client with a “you” voice.
- Address a problem. Make sure the post addresses an issue they are having and offers a small tip about how you solve that. Posts are not self-centered, but audience-centric.
- CTA: Include a next step for them to take (book a call, apply to my program, sign up for this free challenge, or just engage and answer a question below)
- Emojis and good line spacing: I hate that this is a thing and resist emojis myself but it makes it easier to read and people like the extra color and personality. Break up all paragraphs so they are not more than 3 lines long.
- PS. is great for calling attention to your CTA or engagement question.
- Scroll-stopping image. Include a high-resolution image ideally of YOU!
TIP #4: Keep a document with all your content ideas. Populate it after every discovery call, market research session, and client session.
Of course you probably track your content ideas, but is it organized? Do you also save all your existing content and have it ready to repurpose based on topic? (I teach my clients a ninja way to do this so you can reuse good content.)
Also, after every discovery call and client session, take notes on what came up! What did this person need help with most? Can you create some free content to help on that topic? Then ping it to them and give them value. Keep doing market research consistently through engagement and noting what your clients and prospects are asking for.
TIP #5: Don’t let your posts be a one-way conversation.
Ask your audience questions in every post and tell them explicitly to “drop a response in the comments.” People do what you tell them to and this reassures them that you’re interested. (Also ask interesting questions, not yes/no thinks and use “what” instead of “why” which makes people get in their head and get defensive instinctively.)
Make time every day to engage — just 10-15 minutes to reply to comments always tag someone @name when you respond to them — and ask a follow-up question (hello market research!). Commenting also boosts the post so you could get away with 2-3 GOOD posts per week that get engagement because they’ll keep getting shown to new people as they aggregate likes and comments.
Plus, posts on social media typically do better when you engage 15-20 minutes before posting.
TIP #6: Have a call to action — what are you selling right now in your business?
I usually don’t write content just to write content, it’s planned out half a year in advance and connected to what I’m offering in the backend of my business.
I see so much great content out there that then leaves me hanging. If I’m interested, I wouldn’t even know where to go next! Or it’s just interesting content but it doesn’t make me want to take an action or buy something or even swap my email for that person’s freebie because I didn’t get a feeling of authority, expertise, or trust in them from the content.
You’re leaving money on the table every time you don’t offer something, so include a CTA in your post (the PS. is an eye-catching place to do that) and place the link to your freebie or the application to work with you in the first comment of the post (Facebook/IG doesn’t like when you try to take people off the platform and they won’t show your post in the algorithm).
Don’t think of it as shameless self-promotion — you are offering them a next step to take if they are resonating with what you’ve thoughtfully shared. Watch how sales go up when you deliberately offer something.
TIP #7: Get off your accounts and get on mass media platforms.
One of the biggest ways I get clients is through organic search results on Google for my blog, and not only my personal blog but many people who find me via the big media platforms I write for (Elephant Journal, Fast Company, Mindvalley, Fortune, etc). A really untapped strategy is to pitch editors to contribute your blogs for their site and to pitch journalists to cover YOU as one of their stories. There’s a whole strategy I teach my clients on how to do that, but in general it requires patience and very solid content to pitch busy editors at mainstream publications. Don’t worry, the traffic and visibility you get is so worth it!
And here’s 3 things you MUST have in your business back-end or else producing content is pretty ineffective:
- A rock-solid signature program and offer.
- A clear and strong message directed at the person who is perfect for your offer.
- A killer freebie and method of consistently driving traffic to your website to collect emails and build your list so you can nurture the people who like what you write.
I go into detail on how to do all of the last 3 things (and LOTS more on content strategy) in my mastermind, launching March 2020! The mastermind is geared towards giving you a cohesive strategy and system (good content is only a small piece) to build a business with reliable income, clients you love, and a wider-reaching impact so you can finally book out your business.
Did this article help? DM me on Instagram and say hi and tell me what resonated! @heyelainaray
