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— Ann Gynn

🟩 ATTRACT → 🟧 CONVERT → ⬜ RETAIN → ⬛ AMPLIFY

Fairly often, someone reaches out to say they may need my help and asks for a meeting. When we get together, it turns out they just want to “pick my brain.” Should I just stop agreeing to meetings unless they have a signed contract?

Seemingly hot leads like that are exciting, so it’s understandable that you immediately say yes. You show up—maybe even buy them a coffee if it’s in person. You answer their questions, hoping they marvel at your insight and expertise. Later, you send a thank-you email and recommend the next steps. And then? You get the cold shoulder.

We’ve all been there. I don’t recommend you create a new no-meeting-until-you’ve-paid policy. But you can make some changes that better protect your time and turn those conversations into opportunities to demonstrate your expertise without giving your work away.

It starts with taking control of the meeting — establish parameters. But do it in a way that doesn’t seem demanding: “Let’s spend 30 minutes talking about what you’re trying to accomplish, what’s getting in the way, and whether or how I might be able to help.”

In the meeting, ask more than you answer. It seems like a counterintuitive approach. After all, don’t you want to show them you know your stuff? But asking questions does that.

In my marketing consulting business, someone may ask me for recommendations on using social media. But before I ever say “LinkedIn,” “Instagram,” or “TikTok,” I ask questions: Who are your customers? What are your business objectives? What do you think social media can do for your business?

Those questions demonstrate how I approach social media marketing: Know who you’re trying to reach and why, then determine if social media is the best avenue to reach them.

Share insights, not an implementation strategy. Use their answers to point out a problem, give a reason why something could be done better, or identify something they hadn’t considered. Then, explain how you would approach solving it if you worked together.

Back to my example: I might explain to the prospective client that I recommend developing a simple marketing strategy first to ensure that social media is the best option to reach its customers and, if so, which channels would be best. That’s the strategy I could help them develop.

Make an ask. Often, these meetings end with a “thank you” and a handshake. But before you get to that point, ask them a couple of concluding questions: “What do you think about what we’ve talked about?” “Would you like to talk about what it would look like for us to work together?”

Then, agree on the next step, whether that’s sending a proposal, providing more information, or scheduling another conversation. 

I’m a big fan of scheduling a follow-up call. Getting on their calendar is a big step and makes it less likely that they’ll ghost you.

You don’t have to solve a prospect’s problem to prove you can. Ask questions that demonstrate how you think, offer just enough insight to help them see their challenge differently, and show them how you would approach the work.

Got a question you’d like me to answer in a future edition of The Hotline? Call or text Marketing By One Hotline: +1.440.661.3984.

This week: Develop a list of five or so questions that will help you get to the heart of a prospect’s request and demonstrate your expertise.

The DTC beauty category is crowded. To break through, Jennifer Aniston’s brand LolaVie, worked with Roku Ads Manager to easily set up, test, and optimize CTV ad creatives. The campaign helped drive a big lift in sales and customer growth, helping LolaVie break through in the crowded beauty category.

Learn more

I helped out the local League of Women Voters by crafting plain-spoken explanations and pro-and-con lists for a half dozen amendments on the November ballot. The information gets posted to the Voter 411 information site.

ChatGPT helped me do the research to see how the amendments differ from current law, and most importantly, it cited its sources so I could verify the conclusions and assess their credibility.

Have any AI tricks of your own? Hit reply, call, or text the Marketing By One Hotline: +1.440.661.3984.

Pick a useful older article or page on your site and add a link to it from a newer, relevant piece or page that gets more traffic.

📣 PR works: 85% of brand mentions by AI responses come from third parties. That’s one of five zero-click marketing newsy tidbits Rand Fishkin shares this week. 

👥 My people: LinkedIn is testing a two-feed option. The Network tab is a feed with people in your network, and the For You tab is a feed with a wider range of posts from inside and outside your network.

🔗 Link charges: If your Facebook Page content drives referral traffic, expect to pay or see a drop in traffic. Meta is starting to charge for links in posts from professional accounts without paid subscriptions.

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Got a question you’d like me to answer in The Hotline? Email me or DM me on LinkedIn. Even better: Text or leave a message on the Marketing By One Hotline: +1.440.661.3984.