Didn’t I say that educating your marketing about mediation was the way to go? Looks like I’m not the only one who thinks so….
Check out this recent article in Business Week that confirms educating potential clients on how to solve their problems is a very powerful marketing tool. This is especially relevant to us in our marketing efforts.
How Can You Use Educational Marketing?
Create an education experience for your niche market based on the types of experiences or processes they might face.
Suppose for a moment, you’re a mediator who works with condo associations as your niche. You could compose a number of different articles, quizzes, checklists, reading lists, and how to articles that educated board members on working collaboratively, resolving conflict or any other related topic. Surely, you’d become the recognized (and highly appreciated) expert in that niche who clients turned to for support.
What to Write About
No matter where you are in your practice- newly trained or mature practitioner- you have information of value to offer to someone who is less informed in your niche. As someone once said, ‘In the land of the blind men, the one-eyed man is king.’
Newbies
Write about what you know. Your experiences as a new practitioner are unique and bring a new perspective that can be enlightening. Or, write about what attracted you to working with your niche group. Or, what legacy you hope to leave your market.
Established Folks
Your approach is similar to that of the newbie, except your challenge is composing items from the vast amount of conflict resolution wisdom you already have to share! You have forgotten more about resolving conflict than some people ever knew. Time to give back.
Recall the questions, challenges or concerns that your first clients brought to you and turn them into learning products that teach clients how to begin to use and benefit from mediator or facilitation or whatever process you use. Then consider the challenges of your current clients and create tools that help them prevent disputes. Your clients will be grateful and turn to you when they realize they do need your expertise.
Definitely take a moment to check out the article I linked to above. The results were dramatic. If you could achieve a small portion of their success, you’d be at the head of the class!
Try. Fail. Learn. Grow!
Dina
Originally published by the Association of Family & Concilation Courts (AFCC) in AFCC eNews.A mediation process that is thoughtful, respectful, and paced to fit the communication style and needs of...
By Donald T. Saposnek, Ph.DGravity problems make conflict resolution more difficult because they sidetrack us from actionable problems. Here’s how to recognize gravity problems when you see them, why they’re troublesome, and how to...
By Tammy LenskiThis is another in a series of vignettes, culled from mediations conducted by the author. In this vignette a very stubborn litigant was going against his own lawyer’s advice to...
By John R. Van Winkle
