Relationship-based selling is one of the best ways to attract aligned clients by being true to your vision and values. It's where you create value in people's lives through excellent work. And in this way of selling, your integrity and authenticity are a major part of what you offer. When you run a service-based business, the product is you and your team as much as it is the end result you deliver.
This means that the relationships you cultivate are the most effective selling channel you have.
Which leads to the question of what to do about "internet marketing." You know, the folks trying to sell the "one true way to get 10,000 leads a day and scale to $10,000,000 in 3 months?"
It's sometimes enticing enough to make you want to give up on all the touchy feely stuff in favor of juicing your business with pure growth.
But something about it doesn't sit right, namely the relationship part.
Does this mean you should give up on the internet with the unprecedented reach and opportunity it offers and rely solely on networking events and coffee chats for growing your business and referrals?
No way. But it does mean you need to approach your presence online differently than many of the experts say you should.
For instance, rather than thinking about impressions or leads generated, try thinking about connections created or ideas sparked.
What that looks like for online content is shifting it from driving conversions to starting conversations.
The videos you create become ways to share your personality, perspective, and help as many people as possible, hopefully while having some fun in the process.
Your social posts become a way to express your vision and values in a way that will attract people who resonate with those same ideas.
Your blog posts become like letters to a close friend, rather than letting AI churn out some keyword-heavy junk that speaks to no one in particular.
Your podcasts become ways to build connection and community around a problem that you are passionate to help solve.
Each of these activities becomes like a receptor or API endpoint for people to feel connected with you. And because your content is coming from a place of genuine care for your customers and connection with your values, you create a connection with everyone in the audience.
And voilà, you start to create relationships, only now they're happening at scale.
Think of a person you feel connected with that you've never met. For me it's often artists, authors, creators—even ones that are no longer alive. For instance, I just finished The Wright Brothers by David McCullough and felt deeply connected with Wilbur and Orville's curiosity, passion, and perseverance. What's interesting is that they weren't trying to build a bridge with anyone, but instead were focused on lifting everyone up (no pun intended).
So when you approach the problem your business solves with your own spark of purpose and intention—and share that with the world—you create a similar space for people to find their own resonance with that purpose. You create an opening for people to join your world and to have a relationship with you around this interest that you share. It's also how you stand out as a leader in your space.
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