Dr. Annie Cole is back on the show and this conversation might just give you permission to stop doing the marketing thing you secretly hate. Her new book lays out 15 different customer attraction strategies, and the central argument is that every business has one that’s built for it — most practitioners are exhausting themselves on the wrong one. We talk through which strategies tend to fit health practitioners best (referrals and partnerships, SEO and AI optimization, lead magnet workshops, gig platforms for those side income streams), which ones to maybe leave behind, and how to do an honest audit of what’s actually working in your business versus what just feels like it should be. Annie also shares how she’s made almost half a million dollars in two years with an Instagram following of 800 — a great reminder that audience size isn’t the metric that matters. If you’ve felt stuck doing all the things and seeing none of the results, this one will land.

Takeaways:

• There isn’t one universal marketing strategy. There are 15, and the right one depends on how your customer actually finds solutions to their problem (Googling? asking their doctor? scrolling Instagram?).
• Partnerships and referrals tend to be one of the highest-leverage strategies for health practitioners, especially when you set up casual referral arrangements with complementary providers.
• Don’t sleep on SEO and AI optimization. Getting your website to show up in Google and ChatGPT is a long game that pays off over months, not weeks.
• Borrow other people’s audiences instead of trying to build your own from scratch — podcasts, media features, paid newsletter spots, and gig platforms all put you in front of people without building a following first.
• When you feel like nothing’s working, do a personal audit: are people not seeing you (visibility problem) or are they seeing you and not converting (offer or messaging problem)? Pick two to three strategies and give them 30–60 days before pivoting.

Connect with Dr. Annie Cole:

• Website: https://www.money-essentials.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-annie-cole-edd-16ab59135
• Book: How Six-Figure Business Owners Attract More Customers — https://www.money-essentials.com/6-figure-customer-attraction
• Free Quiz: https://www.money-essentials.com/6-figure-customers-quiz
• Instagram: @buildwealthwithannie

Resources Mentioned:

• Quoted (PR pitching marketplace) — qwoted.com
• Paved (newsletter advertising directory) — paved.com
• Gig and freelancer platforms: Upwork, Fiverr, Catalant, Contra, Freelancer.com

Connect with Whitney:

Follow Whitney on Instagram @whitneybateson

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