Photo by Clarke Sanders on Unsplash
If you are like me, I get a lot of calls and text throughout the month from friends asking for advice. It ranges from “can you look at my LinkedIn and tell me what you recommend changing” to “can we do lunch and it ends up turning into a full strategy session.”
Now with my closest friends, if it turns into a project they actually pay me my rate, but that is not always the case for those not as close to me. After talking to my followers, I noticed, many people have a problem stopping the conversation, stating the obvious this is becoming a full client session and discuss prices, transfer of fund online via PayPal, quick pay or cash app and then continuing. I get it, it can be awkward or you may be in a situation where you want to fulfill a trade and barter relationship even though you have not quite figured out what the other person can do for you.
The answer is…. Ask your friends to write you a review, like your pages AND give you a referral.
The Review: This is the most crucial part and if they do not write you a review, I suggest that you no longer meet with them.
Now, I understand you would love for them to leave you a review on multiple sites but so far I have had a lot of success with asking people to leave me a review on two sites. I normally go for Facebook and LinkedIn because those sites show who left the review. I can then always go and copy the review and put it under the service in my store that they received. We are pretty smart individuals and understand that with the website, you can honestly write your own reviews if you wanted to. In my opinion, it makes you more credible if people can go to a site that shows without a doubt an individual that was not the owner of the site wrote the review.
If your friend refuses or “forgets” to leave you that asked review you have every right to deny them another session without coming off like something you don’t want to or fear of making a situation awkward because they dropped the ball. Not you.
I personally volunteer weekly with the Chicago Urban League for free and I ask people that I meet with that if they found our session valuable to please leave me a review on Facebook: Average Black Girl and recommend me on LinkedIn and it works!
For your reference: My Facebook & My LinkedIn
Ask to like your pages:
Social media metrics are real and there are dollars to be made based on your following. If someone has received free advice for you the least they can do is give you the courtesy of following your pages. Following pages shows other people that you support and find value in your brand. People are nosey and you normally will gain a few other followers when they like your page.
Give you a referral:
Now, this is not something that can happen overnight but keep a mental note on if someone recommends people to your business within the course of 6 months to a year. If the answer is NO, never, you may want to evaluate your client relationship.
All in all, regardless if money is being exchanged you should always be looking to gain something from volunteering your time in something that is related to your craft and you are an expert in.
When we change our mindset, we change our reality.
Cheers to increased metrics after this post!
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https://averageblackgirl.com/product/11-strategy-session/
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