Bill J Clarke: “Getting high-value clients is a puzzle and a lot of brands are missing the key pieces

Recently we sat down to speak to Bill J Clarke – 23-year-old entrepreneur from York, England – to talk about what it takes for brands to generate their dream clients from social media, what the common myths surrounding this topic are, and what his hopes are for 2021.

As a self-taught marketer, Bill has learned – through his own trial and corrections – what works when generating clients online and what doesn’t. Through the years, he has found that his most successful campaigns haven’t been the ones he spent the longest planning, but those that he jumped into and learned from along the way.

When it comes to building your client-base, it is easy to fall into the trap of striving for the perfect campaign before you launch it. The perfect message, the perfect offer, the perfect systems…

“Trust me, it’s better to be 80% ready and get your name out there, than to be trying to get 100% ready and never contact anyone.”

Along with this, Bill also speaks of one of the most prominent common misunderstandings in the industry – that there is only one way for your brand to bring in high-value clients.

Is it cold calling? Is it email outreach? What about through Instagram? How about your blog? Are you supposed to generate clients from your SEO strategies?

Before answering, Bill quickly dismisses this idea that only one will work. He goes on to ask why there would only be one way for you to generate your clients as they are accessible on all of these mediums. Your dream clients likely have Facebook, Instagram, email accounts, mobile phones, watch YouTube and have LinkedIn profiles.

One of the keys to Bills clients’ success is his focus on multiple channels at the same time. So if you use a cold email campaign to contact your prospects, why not link that up with a LinkedIn campaign to message everyone who doesn’t respond to your emails, with a follow up message on another platform. There is plenty of software out there to allow you to do this, it just takes your own imagination in creating unique and profitable campaigns.

Another myth in how to generate high-value leads for your brand would be that quantity is better than quality when doing outreach. Bill sees this all the time and it boggles his mind in how people would rather send out a generic message to 1000 people then to send a personalised, high quality message to 50 people.

The problem with the quantity over quality approach is that, even if you sign clients from this, they are likely to be a poor fit for your brand and not stay with you for very long. This is because social media is becoming a marketplace with people trying to sell from all angles.

Bill’s inbox is full of people trying to sell him their coaching, their course or their services. He says he ignores every single one of them except the ones that mention something from his social media account.

“Whenever I get a message that includes a comment about something from my profile, I always reply. If I see that someone has taken the time to look at my profile, what I do, what I am like as a person, what content I produce, then I instantly have more respect for their efforts and will give them the time of day. Getting high-value clients is a puzzle and a lot of brands are missing the key pieces. The key to stand out when generating clients from social media is to be personal.”

When asked about what his hopes are for 2021, Bill says he’s curious to see how the year plays out for both his personal and professional lives. In regards to his business, he has exciting plans as he has recently expanded his potential by going into business with 2 others to help entrepreneurs and influencers to build credibility with their online brands.

He also mentions how keen he is to travel again as his plans were cut short in 2020, understandably, due to the current climate. He is looking to spend time in Vietnam, Brazil, Thailand, Bali and Argentina while running both businesses from his laptop.

You can find Bill J Clarke on his instagram @billclarke.97