Hi, I'm Adam Bell, podcast producer and the owner of PodPro Australia. Welcome to another episode of The Content Engine. I wanna talk about something I reckon a lot of businesses get completely backwards. They spend all their time chasing people who don't know them yet. You know, new leads, new inquiries, new followers, new prospects.
Let's get more email addresses. Everyone wants to get new people, and I get it. Of course, you need new business. But while all that's happening, there's often a whole group of people sitting right in front of you who already know you, trust you, and have already even paid you. They're your existing clients.
And here's a bit businesses often assume. Well, they all already know what we do Well, I'm gonna challenge you. Do they? Or do they just know what they actually hired you for? Because they're not necessarily the same thing. If somebody came to you two years ago for one particular service, there's a pretty good chance that's the box they put you in.
That's what you do as far as they're concerned. Meanwhile, your business might have evolved. You might h- offer three other new and different services. You might solve another problem that they're actually dealing with right now. You might have a completely different part of your business that would actually be incredibly useful for them.
But unless somebody tells them, how are they supposed to know? And I think businesses massively overestimate how much attention clients are paying to everything else they do. They're busy running their own businesses. They're not sitting there studying your services page every month. They're not memorizing every capability you've got.
They know the thing they originally came to you for. That's usually about it. And then this ridiculous thing happens. That client needs something else, and they go somewhere else to get it, and six months later, you find out and think, "Hang on. We do that. Why didn't they come to us?" That's not necessarily the client's fault.
Maybe you never gave them a reason to know. And this is where I think content gets misunderstood because we talk about content marketing, and everyone immediately thinks, "How many new leads did we get? How many people saw the post? How many new followers have I gained? How many inquiries did it generate?"
But some of your content should be doing another job entirely. It should be educating people who already know you, not hammering them with sales messages, not sending them an email every week saying, "Oh, by the way, here's another thing you can buy from us." Nobody wants that. I'm talking about genuinely useful content that keeps showing your clients more of the problems you understand and more of the areas where you can actually help.
That's a completely different thing. Let's say you record an episode about a problem your clients regularly face. That episode becomes a video. It becomes a blog. There are a few short clips that actually come out of it, and then there's an email or a newsletter that goes back to your database. Now suddenly, your existing client gets an email about something they hadn't even realized that you de- deal with Not because you sent them a brochure saying, "Here are our 12 services."
You've actually explained the problem. You've talked about when it becomes an issue. You've shown what people get wrong. You've given them some valuable information, and at some point they think, "Wow, I actually didn't know that they did that." That's a much better conversation to create because you're not forcing a sale.
You're creating awareness, and if they ever need that service, you're already there. They know you. They trust you. They've already worked with you. That's a very different starting point from going out and trying to convince a complete new lead, a stranger, that you're any good. And I think this matters even more for businesses that offer a broad range of services.
The wider the capability of the business, the easier it is for clients to understand one little part of it. They originally came to you for one thing, so in their head, that becomes what you are. And unless you're regularly educating them, that can stay that way for years. The funny part is, businesses will spend thousands trying to find completely new people who need those other services.
You'll put out new ads, start new campaigns. "Let's get another lead magnet out there." New whatever. Meanwhile, there could be people already sitting in your database who have exactly the same problem. They just don't know that you solve it That doesn't mean you stop marketing externally. Obviously not. You still want new people coming into your business.
You still want new clients. But I'd be asking, are we putting as much thought into the people who already trust us as we are into the people who have never heard of us? Because trust is usually the hard bit. If you already have that, don't waste it. And this is one of the things I like about creating content from a longer recording than constantly making random social posts.
One proper conversation can have a much longer life. It can be evergreen. You record something useful about what you do and why you're the best at it. The full episode goes out. Parts of it appear on your socials. There's an article. There's an email to everyone who knows you, and that email goes directly back to clients who've already used you.
So now the same piece of thinking is doing two jobs. It's helping somebody new discover you, and it's helping somebody who already knows you understand more about what your business actually does. That's where I think newsletters become really, really valuable. A newsletter shouldn't just be, "Hey, here's what's happening at our company."
Guess what? Most people don't care. It should be, "Here's something useful we think you should know." Maybe it's a question that keeps coming up. Maybe it's a problem you're seeing clients deal with. Maybe it's a mistake people make. Maybe it's a service that becomes useful at a certain stage. You educate first, and over time, your clients start building a much better understanding of the depth of the business.
And there's another benefit to that Even if they never need the service themselves, they may know somebody who does. Now they can refer you for more than just the one thing they originally hired you for. Now that's important, because if your clients only understand 10% of what you actually do, they can probably only refer 10% of what you do as well.
So when I talk about building an ongoing content system, this is one of the reasons I love it. It's not just about chasing attention online. It's about continually showing up and showing the people around your business what you know, how you think, and where you can help. New prospects, existing clients, referral partners, people who've dealt with you before.
You're building understanding across the entire network. So before you put all your energy into finding your next new stranger client, have a look at the people who are already paying you. Do they actually know everything you can help them with? Do they know the other problems you solve? Do they know the other services that you offer?
Do they know when they should come to you for something else? Or are you just assuming that they already know this stuff? Because they probably don't. Your next opportunity might already be a client. They just don't know it yet. And this is what we do here at PodPro Australia. We help businesses take the knowledge and expertise they already have and turn it into useful long-term content that's evergreen, and we create it into a video, written content, short form email, so that one recording keeps working across the entire business.
If you'd like some help with that, get in touch. I'm Adam from PodPro Australia. Thanks for joining me on The Content Engine, and I'll catch you next time
Let's get more email addresses. Everyone wants to get new people, and I get it. Of course, you need new business. But while all that's happening, there's often a whole group of people sitting right in front of you who already know you, trust you, and have already even paid you. They're your existing clients.
And here's a bit businesses often assume. Well, they all already know what we do Well, I'm gonna challenge you. Do they? Or do they just know what they actually hired you for? Because they're not necessarily the same thing. If somebody came to you two years ago for one particular service, there's a pretty good chance that's the box they put you in.
That's what you do as far as they're concerned. Meanwhile, your business might have evolved. You might h- offer three other new and different services. You might solve another problem that they're actually dealing with right now. You might have a completely different part of your business that would actually be incredibly useful for them.
But unless somebody tells them, how are they supposed to know? And I think businesses massively overestimate how much attention clients are paying to everything else they do. They're busy running their own businesses. They're not sitting there studying your services page every month. They're not memorizing every capability you've got.
They know the thing they originally came to you for. That's usually about it. And then this ridiculous thing happens. That client needs something else, and they go somewhere else to get it, and six months later, you find out and think, "Hang on. We do that. Why didn't they come to us?" That's not necessarily the client's fault.
Maybe you never gave them a reason to know. And this is where I think content gets misunderstood because we talk about content marketing, and everyone immediately thinks, "How many new leads did we get? How many people saw the post? How many new followers have I gained? How many inquiries did it generate?"
But some of your content should be doing another job entirely. It should be educating people who already know you, not hammering them with sales messages, not sending them an email every week saying, "Oh, by the way, here's another thing you can buy from us." Nobody wants that. I'm talking about genuinely useful content that keeps showing your clients more of the problems you understand and more of the areas where you can actually help.
That's a completely different thing. Let's say you record an episode about a problem your clients regularly face. That episode becomes a video. It becomes a blog. There are a few short clips that actually come out of it, and then there's an email or a newsletter that goes back to your database. Now suddenly, your existing client gets an email about something they hadn't even realized that you de- deal with Not because you sent them a brochure saying, "Here are our 12 services."
You've actually explained the problem. You've talked about when it becomes an issue. You've shown what people get wrong. You've given them some valuable information, and at some point they think, "Wow, I actually didn't know that they did that." That's a much better conversation to create because you're not forcing a sale.
You're creating awareness, and if they ever need that service, you're already there. They know you. They trust you. They've already worked with you. That's a very different starting point from going out and trying to convince a complete new lead, a stranger, that you're any good. And I think this matters even more for businesses that offer a broad range of services.
The wider the capability of the business, the easier it is for clients to understand one little part of it. They originally came to you for one thing, so in their head, that becomes what you are. And unless you're regularly educating them, that can stay that way for years. The funny part is, businesses will spend thousands trying to find completely new people who need those other services.
You'll put out new ads, start new campaigns. "Let's get another lead magnet out there." New whatever. Meanwhile, there could be people already sitting in your database who have exactly the same problem. They just don't know that you solve it That doesn't mean you stop marketing externally. Obviously not. You still want new people coming into your business.
You still want new clients. But I'd be asking, are we putting as much thought into the people who already trust us as we are into the people who have never heard of us? Because trust is usually the hard bit. If you already have that, don't waste it. And this is one of the things I like about creating content from a longer recording than constantly making random social posts.
One proper conversation can have a much longer life. It can be evergreen. You record something useful about what you do and why you're the best at it. The full episode goes out. Parts of it appear on your socials. There's an article. There's an email to everyone who knows you, and that email goes directly back to clients who've already used you.
So now the same piece of thinking is doing two jobs. It's helping somebody new discover you, and it's helping somebody who already knows you understand more about what your business actually does. That's where I think newsletters become really, really valuable. A newsletter shouldn't just be, "Hey, here's what's happening at our company."
Guess what? Most people don't care. It should be, "Here's something useful we think you should know." Maybe it's a question that keeps coming up. Maybe it's a problem you're seeing clients deal with. Maybe it's a mistake people make. Maybe it's a service that becomes useful at a certain stage. You educate first, and over time, your clients start building a much better understanding of the depth of the business.
And there's another benefit to that Even if they never need the service themselves, they may know somebody who does. Now they can refer you for more than just the one thing they originally hired you for. Now that's important, because if your clients only understand 10% of what you actually do, they can probably only refer 10% of what you do as well.
So when I talk about building an ongoing content system, this is one of the reasons I love it. It's not just about chasing attention online. It's about continually showing up and showing the people around your business what you know, how you think, and where you can help. New prospects, existing clients, referral partners, people who've dealt with you before.
You're building understanding across the entire network. So before you put all your energy into finding your next new stranger client, have a look at the people who are already paying you. Do they actually know everything you can help them with? Do they know the other problems you solve? Do they know the other services that you offer?
Do they know when they should come to you for something else? Or are you just assuming that they already know this stuff? Because they probably don't. Your next opportunity might already be a client. They just don't know it yet. And this is what we do here at PodPro Australia. We help businesses take the knowledge and expertise they already have and turn it into useful long-term content that's evergreen, and we create it into a video, written content, short form email, so that one recording keeps working across the entire business.
If you'd like some help with that, get in touch. I'm Adam from PodPro Australia. Thanks for joining me on The Content Engine, and I'll catch you next time
