Marketing from the Middle

One of the core tenets of the Just Enough Framework is that your business foundations will pave the way for your marketing strategy. To illustrate this point I often use two fictional businesses that share the same revenue goal but have very different business models: 

Selling four multi-five figure consulting contracts to high-growth start-ups is very different from selling a $50 direct-to-consumer mini course. One requires a high volume of traffic to meet their goals while the other is more likely to be rooted in relationship building and word-of-mouth.  

The reality of business is that not everyone is going to buy from you – that’s where your conversion rate comes in. The number of leads or prospects or audience members, divided by the number of sales. For example, if 100 people visit your sales page and five of them make a purchase, your conversion rate would be five percent. 

The internet more or less agrees that the average conversion rate across all industries is somewhere between two and three percent. Michelle Warner, relationship marketer extraordinaire, says that a conversion rate of less than 10% is an indicator that you are in a high volume, traffic-based business while a 50% conversion rate is indicative of a relationship-based business.  

So let’s break it down. Using Michelle’s guidelines, the HR Consultant in the example above would need eight good prospects to land those four clients and reach her revenue goals. On the flipside, even with a generous 10% conversion rate, the course creator would need an audience of about 20,000 (!!!) to meet those sales goals. 

But what if you are operating with a hybrid business model that looks more like this: 

You might have one or two retainer clients that make up the bulk of your income. Maybe this is where you’re really leaning into relationships and referrals, leveraging contacts from a past life in corporate when you were working in your zone of genius for someone else before doing your own thing. 

Additionally, you have a mid-tier offer working one-on-one with clients, plus a lower ticket group offer in the form of a yearly membership. 

How do you market this business?  

Having diverse revenue streams makes good business sense. But the promise of “passive income” from low ticket, evergreen and digital products conveniently omits the fact that they’re not going to sell themselves! 

You’re going to have to proactively market those offers and the other inconvenient trust is that different offers may benefit from different marketing tactics.

A hybrid business model requires a hybrid marketing strategy. If the example above looks anything like your business, you may need to employ some higher volume traffic marketing tactics to attract a large enough audience to your biz. 

And you may also need to foster intentional relationships with your leads and prospects before converting them to paying clients – especially when it comes to a mid-tier offer which often can be a lot more difficult to sell than other offers at either end of the spectrum I outlined above.

As a solopreneur who is the CFO, CTO, CMO and office administrator (plus all the other roles you play in your life) it can feel impossible to keep up with a single marketing strategy, never-mind more than one. But that’s where a solid sales and marketing plan comes in. 

While planning for sales and marketing are essential to any business, when you’re marketing from the middle it becomes even more important. Having a deep and clear understanding of when you’re going to market each one of your offers will provide your marketing with structure and give you the space to be proactive instead of reactive (no more desperate panic posts or random email blasts!) – and adjust your plans accordingly.  

Once you’ve got your roadmap, it’s just a matter of deciding which route you’re going to take! 

Ready to take your hybrid business to the next level?

Watch my free Marketing Magic training to learn the essential elements of an effective marketing strategy and how to apply them to your unique business and goals, so you can show up consistently, make money and do it without burning out.