Business Development for Busy Business Owners
Lately, I have been advising several clients on their business development practice. How can they best and most effectively stay top of mind with clients and prospects – and what are some ways they can improve what they are doing?
I follow seven activities that help me bring in new business consistently. Perhaps a few of these ideas will be helpful to you.
- Top of mind. I regularly promote and distribute content on marketing and general business issues for those who subscribe to my blog or are connected to me on LinkedIn. I want to build a strong association and link with my brand – which is all about one word – marketing. Since 2009, I have published 1,500 blog posts to share what I have learned. don’t expect every subscriber or connection to read all my content. However, by showing up consistently, I become top of mind. And should a reader have a marketing-related need, they think of me. I want people to associate the word marketing with Jeff Slater. How are you showing up consistently to remind people of your expertise?
- Stay connected to people, not just companies or brands. With job switching happening at the speed of an Olympic speed skater, you need to stay related to the people you work with, not just their company. When I work with clients, I might meet 4-10 people at their company. After a meeting, I immediately reach out to everyone on a call to see if they’d like to connect via LinkedIn. That assistant marketing manager will become a marketing manager in a few years – and she may work somewhere else. My request to join records where we met – “Hey, Anne, we were in today’s meeting today about how Glibloo, your new blueberry drink, will be marketed to teens.” I also wish everyone a happy birthday that I’m connected to on LinkedIn. It takes me a minute each day but I get to reconnect, at least once a year with everyone. I enjoy when people wish me a happy birthday, so it is an easy way to reconnect. How are you leveraging LinkedIn’s ability to keep you connected to people you meet every day and to serve as an easy way to remind you of how you met?
- Sharing Content Constantly. I regularly look for content (blog, video, podcast, graphics, reports, interviews, job listing, etc.) relevant to a current or prospective client. My connection may not read my blog or see my content on social media – but a short email with a link to a helpful report or content helps me be beneficial. If I share a job listing they might be interested in, that helps them personally. I can share their listing to my LinkedIn followers if they are hiring. It is my way of reminding a contact of me, my work, and thinking about their brand. How are you leveraging what you read, hear, and see to keep front and center with prospects?
- Commenting on social. Are you regularly commenting on posts by current or prospective clients? This is a great way to show interest in their brand and engage with them. Even a brief “thanks for posting this information, I learned some valuable tips” helps build a connection. Your comments must be authentic and genuine – but don’t miss a chance to engage online and show interest in what they shared. How are you engaging on social media with people you want to work with again or anew?
- Sharing free ideas. From time to time, I will reach out to someone I am acquainted with but don’t know too well and share a free idea. I preface it by saying that I’d like 15 minutes to offer a concept with no strings attached but based on some observations about their marketing activities. About half the folks I reach out to will schedule a call to listen. I only do this if I think it is meaningful and valuable – not minor and tactical. Two years ago, this led this client to hire me to assist her and her team in a branding effort. My idea was like a “free sample” of how I think, and they valued that I took the time to offer to them – without any strings. Sometimes, getting time with a prospect is worth giving away your best ideas, especially when you are confident that more of these gems will emerge over time. How are you sampling what you can do directly with prospects?
- Stick It on Your Calendar. I block time three times every week on my calendar for business development work. If I schedule it, I get it done. It helps me build good habits of reaching out and connecting with prospects and former clients. I’m a bit of a slave to my calendar – since if it’s worth doing, it is worth planning. And when it lands on my calendar, I know that I need to spend 30 or 60 minutes on this crucial seeding activity. How do you hold yourself accountable for your business development work?
- Share Your Platform. Do you have a valuable platform that prospects might be able to use – or you can use to help promote their brand or products? This can be a terrific way to give value to a prospect. That alone is worth reaching out to them. If your new connection turns into an opportunity – great. But when you offer to authentically help someone get exposure, it can be invaluable. How are you using your platform to be helpful to others?
Ten Hours a Week
I invest about ten hours every week in my business development effort. It requires consistent diligence and is a never-ending activity. To assist me, I schedule it on my calendar so I know I have a block of time committed to supporting my lead generation needs.
Business development isn’t a faucet you turn off and on at random intervals. BD is to business, what water, sunlight, and fertilizer are to gardening.
You can’t harvest what you don’t sow.
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. The conversation is free, and we can explore if working together makes sense. Watch a short video about working with me.
Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash
