Your Referrals Will Dry Up. Here's What to Build Now.

Hot off a conversation with my senior account manager Morgan over lunch - we keep noticing the same thing with business owners we meet. Growing off referrals, feeling comfortable, and not building anything underneath it.

I wanted to get honest on the podcast this week about how TSC actually started. Because it wasn't referrals.

In this episode:

• The real story of how TSC began (it was messy and scrappy)
• Why a referral-based business is a privilege and a risk at the same time
• What actually happens to every word of mouth lead if you're not nurturing them
• What a resilient pipeline looks like … and it's simpler than you think
• The levers to pull when referrals go quiet

Links:

• Join the IHEE WhatsApp community
• Follow on Instagram: @inhererampireerapod
• Find Loren on LinkedIn: Loren Tomlinson
• Visit us at: inherempireera.com

Loved this episode? Leave a review - it would mean the world!!

If this episode gave you a breakthrough moment, share your key takeaway on Instagram and tag @inhererampireerapod. Your insights might just shape a future episode.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome to this morning's episode of In Her Empire Era, a podcast brought to you by the Social Collective Digital Marketing Agency. I am your host, Lauren, and I am, of course, as always, so stoked to be back behind the mic sharing this episode with you today. We are back with another In Her Empire Era episode, which means, of course, you get video all combined with the podcast episode. So whether you are watching this or if you are listening, thank you so much for tuning in. It is, as always, amazing to have you here. Today's conversation is one that's a little bit different. I want to peel back some layers on the social collective a little bit in today's episode. And the reason it is coming to the podcast today is actually hot off the press. It is hot off a conversation that I was having with our senior account manager, Morgan, over lunch today, where I've just got back from shooting up north. So for those of you who are listening to this on Wednesday, I'm actually smashing this episode out on Tuesday night. I have been up north all day with a client shooting some amazing content. And over lunch, Morgan and I got into a very interesting conversation around similar conversations that we are having with people in our wider circles, business owners that we know, business owners that we have connected with at different networking events, different conferences, and just a lot of conversation that I think is really important to bring to the podcast. And that is around business owners that we have noticed, inquiring to work with the social collective, and of course, business owners that we know and have met at different events that talk a lot about growing their business off of referrals. And I think in this digital age, it's just such an important conversation to have. And the reason that we got on the topic of this is of course, we know a lot of people that have been talking to us about how they grow their business off of referrals. It's a very, very common thing for like a marketing agency to start working with a client who has grown their business off of referrals. And especially if social media or digital marketing is new to you, it's probably because you have been able to grow your business off of word of mouth and just through people knowing about you and hearing about you through the grapevine. And I think there's been a lot of, well, I've noticed that there's been a lot of times where I have been in conversations with business owners where naturally they assume that that's how the social collective got started. And I thought what I'd like to bring to the podcast is I guess like the raw, honest facts about what it took to start and grow TSC for those of you that are interested. Um and just kind of, I guess, debunking some of the myths I think that are associated with starting a business. Because contrary to popular belief, or contrary to belief at all, I should say, is TSC didn't start off of being a referrals-based business. I did not start by having a really strong database. I didn't have warm introductions to people, I didn't have an existing network. TSC basically began with zero head start. And what it did look like in the initial stages, particularly in the first year to a year and a half of business, I would say, was pure hustle. I definitely wouldn't recommend hustling to the point where I hustled, which again, I see a lot of content on social media these days where people really over-glamorize what it looks like to get yourself into a very unhealthy position or in a position where you are growing and scaling a business at a rate that is not sustainable because it is so dependent on you. But the reason I want to talk about this today is because that period of business and where I am and where TSC is now are very different. And starting a business with not a lot behind you is very scary. And I know that when we have clients that come to us at TSC, it's a scary thing to be growing a business when you are reliant on word of mouth. And I think one of my favorite things is when business owners who are in that space do come to us because we have the opportunity to grow a presence for them. We have an opportunity to support them with their socials. So educating their audience, making sure that there's information publicly available about their business and how they can support people. There's email marketing that we can support them with, which is of course making sure that you're nurturing your current people that are in your sphere, the people that are already in your ecosystem. And then, of course, there's the advertising side of things where it's really there as a tool to be able to broaden your awareness, broaden the people that are aware of your business or broaden your database. So by collecting more email addresses, uh obviously, I guess, broadening sales as well if you're in e-com business. And so there's a lot of things that marketing can do. And I think it's always such an exciting time when we get to work with a business owner who comes to us and says, Hey, my business has predominantly grown through word of mouth. And it feels a little bit daunting, I think, for them at times, because it certainly did for me when I started and I was kind of out there on my own trying to find work and figuring out what my next move would be or where my next contract would come from or my next client. But one of the things that I did very early on, obviously being a marketing agency owner in true marketing fashion, was putting myself out there on social media. And I think one of the most valuable things that you can do for your business beyond social media is actually growing an email database. And the reason that I say that and the reason I talk about it and I talk about it a lot in my content that I share, is because that is a warm group of people that if you are having, I think back to like the earlier days of having TSC when there were quieter months, or there was a period where I could see that I had some gaps that I could fill, or there was a time where I wanted a bit of an extra cash flow injection in the business. And so one of the first places that I would always go and do often still go to is my email database and was and has been my email database. And I think looking at a lot of business owners who we work with, a lot of them often come to us and they don't have anything like that. They have a database of businesses that they have worked with before, but they don't have anyone that's kind of waiting in the wings. They don't have anyone that's sitting there ready to start working with them once the timing is right or their finances are in order. And so what happens is that when we go through periods where things like referrals dry up, there isn't as much word of mouth going on, or we have a client leave us, if we don't have a database that we can tap into and start pulling in new inquiries, new leads, new conversations, and then of course new work, it can start to feel a little bit stressful. And that's where this whole concept of having a marketing ecosystem, like we talk about with your socials, your ads, and your emails all stacking up together. That's why for me as a founder and a marketing agency owner, I think it's so important to have that ecosystem there because that is what builds your future pipeline. We are all about making sure that we have a sustainable, scalable pipeline so that business can continue to grow. It doesn't have to constantly ebb and then flow down and then ebb up again and then, like, you know, like all of the ebbs and the flows when business is rolling. And I think that for me is why I'm so passionate about it, because I do know what it's like to not have that. And like I said in the very, very early days of TSC, truthfully, TSC started by cold emails to people. I was posting a lot on social media. I offered to do so much work for free to build up my portfolio, which this is not me, by the way, saying that you have to go and work for free to build up your portfolio. You could leverage off of a job that you've had or a contract that you've done before. There's so many other options. But when I went out on my own, I didn't have much of a portfolio. So I needed to, of course, build one. And that looked like doing contra work. It looked like doing different collaborations. It looked like picking brands that I loved online and actually just coming up with my own social media concepts for them to show other people what I was capable of. So there was a lot of really messy, scrappy work that happened. It was a lot of random emailing, it was a lot of DMing people on Instagram. And that's just the raw, honest reality of what it looked like to grow the business back then. TSC has now just turned four and we've been going for a while. I, though, have been out on my own for a little over six years now. And so this started six years ago, pimping myself out, making sure that I had enough work in the pipeline. If I didn't, it was looking on Seek and seeing if there were companies. Like I went as far as looking for companies that were looking for marketing managers or social media managers and then sliding into their DMs and saying, hey, I saw that you're looking for somebody that can do this, this, and this. I can actually do that, but I would do it on a contractor basis. And so you don't have to employ me. If you don't like me, you can get rid of me. If you love me, you can keep me. And there's no skin off your back, and I get an opportunity to grow my portfolio. And so there was a lot of work that I did that way. I looked for anyone that was posting in different Facebook groups and I would message them and I would say, hey, I would love to be able to grow my business through working with yours. And I would love to take on this job. Would you be open to considering me for the role? So, contrary to belief, like I said, TSC didn't start from referrals. And I do really feel like referrals in business are such a privilege because not everybody has them. Not everyone has word of mouth that is traveling about your brand that they can just lean on for work. And the reason I'm so passionate about talking about this is because I really feel like businesses that get so comfortable sitting in that space of just growing and scaling a business based on referrals, I feel like there's a missed opportunity that while things are good, while there is cash flow in the business, while there is a good pipeline of work there, that is your opportunity to be growing and scaling and building, like I said, that future pipeline, that future income stability. So that if things do slow down a little bit, or you are, I guess, in a position where you don't have as many referrals coming in, or you don't have the same flow that it used to be, or one month is a little slower, you have other alternative ways of being able to get business because having a referral-based business, like I said, is a real privilege. It obviously means that there is some proof of concept, it means that there's trust in the market and there's trust within you. And it also gives you that instant warm database. You always have a warm group of people to be talking to. But I guess if I put it in this kind of context, if you're bringing in leads and you're not nurturing them through things like your email marketing, that word of mouth is not nearly as potent and nearly as powerful. Same thing with your social media presence. I think about if somebody came to me and gave me a word of mouth recommendation, one of the first places I'm gonna go is either their LinkedIn or their Instagram or their website. So if there's not content that's been posted on their social platforms, how am I gonna know if this person is right for me and that I should be working with them? But if you've got email marketing that's operating and you're nurturing those leads that are coming in, because a word of mouth referral doesn't mean they're gonna sign up straight away. It doesn't mean they're saying yes to you right then, right now. It just means that they have been recommended you. So your socials should be up to scratch. Your email marketing should be existing. You should, I mean, ideally, if you can and if you have the budget to have some advertising that retargets people that visit your website, because that's ultimately, again, how we make sure that we stay in front of those people. Because I think there's a real difference too between businesses that have really strong earned referrals, that is basically a long-lasting referral system, versus businesses that just had a lucky break and they get a period of time where people are raving about them. But if those people that are raving about you move on in their job capacity, or if life changes, or if for any reason something happens and they no longer want to or are able to refer you, I want you to really think about is my business, especially if you are this person that is in a space where your business is really reliant on referrals, I really want you to think about am I in a position and am I in a situation where my business is sustainable? Do I have something that continuously fills my pipeline? Or am I really, really reliant on just being comfortable with these referrals? And I think I guess the danger that nobody really talks about is sometimes you've got to get a little bit messy and a little bit scrappy if things go a little bit slower. And I think that's another thing that's happened with social media and marketing is that everyone just, well, not everybody, that's a generalized statement, but there's a lot of people that I see that they put themselves out there on social media, they run some ads and they go, great, that's gonna be the thing that fills my pipeline. That's gonna be the thing that brings in all my new clients. And I think if you've never had to hustle for clients, you're you're very, very lucky. I think one of the things that is so worth remembering is that not knowing how to market yourself and not knowing how to nurture your leads, if you will, even if they're not leads right here, right now, I think knowing how to nurture them is so valuable because even if things feel like they're good right now, that is often when I say to people, that's the time to outsource to an agency, is when your leads are good, your pipeline is good, things are looking good. Because six months from now, where is your business? Where is that? Where is that gonna be? What does that look like? Do you have the infrastructure within your marketing to consistently market? And I think it's all about being able to innovate and change and pivot if you need to. But I think by having a marketing presence, it's a great way of being able to really just solidify having that resilient pipeline. Because, like I said before, I think about with clients that I talk to and business owners that I talk to when it comes to having a really strong, solid pipeline. A lot of the time, yes, we do get word-of-mouth referrals. Like now, TSC is very much in a position where we do get talked about on a regular basis. And I love that and I'm very, very grateful for it. One of the things that I do to solidify that for me, which I know that a word of mouth referral isn't necessarily someone that's looking to convert right now. Like we talked about, it's someone that's probably likely to convert later down the track. They're just putting out the feelers, or someone's mentioned our name in conversation, or they've been like, oh, hey, I'm looking for a marketing agency. Do you have any recommendations? They might still sit on my pipeline for six to 12 months. They might pop their email address into our database and come back later on. We have a client that's with us at the moment that I talked to almost two years ago. They have followed our socials, they have looked at our emails, they've read all of the newsletters, they have seen everything that we've done online. They are now in a position where they can outsource their marketing and the finances work well and it works with the business model and they've got approval from the owners. And now we work together. And it is amazing. But that would not have happened if we had gone silent between that first conversation a couple of years ago and where we are today. And so it's the nurturing component that I feel like a lot of the time business owners forget because they get so comfortable with having referrals and they think, oh, well, the only way that I've been getting business is referrals. And that's great. But you can obviously solidify a better and more robust pipeline if you continue to nurture them. And I also guarantee you that if you are getting referrals and if you are seeing business come to you through a referred source, word of mouth, an email from somebody, a phone, I don't know, like a text recommendation, I can guarantee you that person is looking at your content. They will be looking at what you do online. They'll be at least at bare, bare minimum, they will be looking at your website. And so I really want you to think about that the next time that you think, oh yeah, I'm just getting business through word of mouth. I really want you to think, okay, well, first and foremost, am I collecting everybody's details so that if they did come through word of mouth and they're not ready right now, how can I make sure that they're ready in maybe six months' time or 12 months' time? Because it's right place, right time for a lot of things in business. And I think if you can make sure that even if it's right place, wrong time, how can you be the right place at the right time when they're ready? And a lot of the time that looks like email marketing or continuing to have an organic social presence so that they get to see more about your business. And I also want you to think if somebody came through word of mouth, if they checked out your socials or if they looked at your website, do you have enough information on there to actually A, interest them and B, educate them on who you are and what you have to offer. And that is why having a, I guess, really starting to look at your marketing like it's a long-term thing and looking at it like it is securing your future pipeline. Because sometimes it's just knowing which lever to pull in your marketing is the most helpful. Because if your word of mouth referrals are the thing that is helping fly your business, amazing. Let's make sure that with every one of those referrals, we can capture them. We can hold on to them in some way. Because I think about all of the word of mouth referrals that haven't even yet hit your inbox, have they got an opportunity to stay in touch with you? Are they following your socials? Are they connecting with you in your email database? Are you retargeting them with ads? Because that is where the real golden value is. And that to me is what a really resilient and robust pipeline looks like. And it is one of the things that I have seen through building TSC is just really taking us to that next level. And now what we look at is referrals are a bonus. They are not our strategy, they are not the bare bones because we have a really solid ecosystem that means that we are nurturing them in all different forms. When I say a marketing ecosystem too, I don't mean anything complicated. I literally just mean at bare minimum, showing up on your socials, emailing your database because they are your warm leads. If you are finding that you are needing more appointments booked, you need more clients to be coming to you, reach out to those on your email database. Look at who's opening your emails and sit like DM them or private, like email them and just say to them, hey, look, I've noticed that you're checking out our socials. I wanted to touch base and say hi. And I wanted to see if there's any support that we can give you. If you're seeing a new follower come in on social media or someone connects with you on LinkedIn, DM them, reach out to them, say hi. Don't be afraid of starting a conversation. Yes, inevitably some people will ignore you. I have had that happen to me. You will have it happen to you. But there will also be some people that really appreciate that conversation and that appreciate you stepping forward and saying hello. Don't forget as well, there are also opportunities for you to email your database if you have been nurturing them and they are warm. If your pipeline is looking a little loose and it's looking a little bare and there's some gaps to fill, go out and email your database and say, hey, we've got a space to fill. If you have a project that does this, this, this, or this, or you're looking for someone that can do XYZ, reply to this email and let's have a chat and see if we're right for you. You could also offer them some kind of value like lead magnet. You could be saying to them, okay, you can download our free checklist that shows you how to do XYZ. Or like with us, we've got a marketing health audit on our website. So if people are wondering what they need to do next, what lever to pull with their marketing, they go and look at that and they can give themselves a bit of a diagnosis. And then if they're ready, they can reach out to us. So it's really making sure that when referrals do go quiet, we are still doing things to create visibility, to nurture, and then ultimately to convert. So that's everything I wanted to share in today's episode. I just wanted it to be a bit of a pep talk that referrals in its entirety are not your strategy, but also remembering that people will always be talking about you if you're doing great stuff. And I think it's just a matter of now working out what do we need to do with those referrals that are coming in? How are we continuing to nurture them? Because that is where the true value comes. And the last thing that I want to wrap up this episode by saying is nothing worth having and nothing good ever comes easy. Having a business is such a privilege. Being able to grow and expand what you're doing is such a privilege. I certainly feel like it's a privilege. I am grateful every single day for the work that I get to do, for the clients I get to work with, for the team that I get to have around me. And I'm always looking for ways that we can continuously be growing and expanding the value that we provide. And I truly, truly believe that the business owners that are value first and that are really here to support their clients, to support their future clients, we are the ones that are here to last the test of time. So if you are struggling with your pipeline, you are feeling like you're probably a little too referral heavy. And if your referrals did go quiet, you're thinking, okay, well, I don't know what brings in the rest of my work, feel free to DM us at the Social Collective. We would absolutely love to help. But as a closing thought, all I really want to share is that you don't have to choose between referrals and marketing. I think if you stop treating one like it substitutes the other, and instead of hustling harder, we really look at building something that supports you from underneath. So when the referrals come in, they're a bonus, not your lifeline. That is when marketing and business ownership, I feel, gets that much easier. So if you have any questions, you are more than welcome to reach out to us at the Social Collective. Don't forget to also message me on the In Her Empire Era pod Instagram and let me know what's going on. You can also go and look at inherempirea.com because we now have some details that are coming out about the next events that we are running. So make sure you go check those out. And I have some very, very exciting things that I'm going to be sharing very soon about the social collective and in her empire era. So stay tuned, stay smart, stay marketing, stay online, and I will see you same time, same place next week. Bye.