Leadership is Not a Title

I used to be one of those people who admired others who worked for themselves because of their perceived freedom. They could choose who they worked with and their hours were flexible. They had business expense write-offs and could take time off whenever they wanted. Of course, that was all too innocent of me.

Any  self-employed person will tell you that you don't know what it's like to work for yourself until you work for yourself. That doesn't let you off the hook if you work for someone or own a large enterprise.

Selling You is Hard Work

Developing your own brand, offering or services can be tough if you don’t have a team to lean on or a established company to back you up. Scaling your expertise can be as difficult as deciding what you will offer in the first place. But we need to remember we still have a team which comprises of our network of helpful humans. The business model is expanding far past any building walls.

One may think that selling a product is easier than a service and it’s not. There are millions of brilliant people developing necessary products who can confirm the hill is just as steep. I’m often asked “what do you do?” and I prefer to say “here’s how I can help”.

B2B + B2C = C2C

We portray a strong image through profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and more. The keyboard can make us brave but earning business is hard work. You not only have to prove you can provide the services you promise but you must give a prospect a reason to hire you and work with you.

If you work for yourself, be proud of your accomplishments. There are good, bad, scary and busy days. None of us escapes them, including those who started large enterprise. From Henry Ford to Carol Bartz, Oprah Winfrey to Michael Dell, they all had to start somewhere. We reside on both sides of the counter, so we all work for someone.

So How Can You Help?

Kneale Mann

image credit: freelanceswitch | original: jul 2011

The Product is You

You're the Boss

I used to be one of those people who admired others who worked for themselves because of their perceived freedom. They could choose who they worked with and their hours were flexible. They had business expense write-offs and could take time off whenever they wanted. Of course, that was all too innocent of me.

Any  self-employed person will tell you that you don't know what it's like to work for yourself until you work for yourself. That doesn't let you off the hook if you work for someone or own a large enterprise.

Selling You is Hard Work

Developing your own brand, offering or services can be tough if you don’t have a team to lean on or a established company to back you up. Scaling your expertise can be as difficult as deciding what you will offer in the first place. But we need to remember we still have a team which comprises of our network of helpful humans. The business model is expanding far past any building walls.

One may think that selling a product is easier than a service and it’s not. There are millions of brilliant people developing necessary products who can confirm the hill is just as steep. I’m often asked “what do you do?” and I prefer to say “here’s how I can help”.

B2B meets B2C meets C2C

We portray a strong image through profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and more. The keyboard can make us brave but earning business is hard work. You not only have to prove you can provide the services you promise but you must give a prospect a reason to hire you and work with you.

If you work for yourself, be proud of your accomplishments. There are good, bad, scary and busy days. None of us escapes them, including those who started large enterprise. From Henry Ford to Carol Bartz, Oprah Winfrey to Michael Dell, they all had to start somewhere. We reside on both sides of the counter, so we all work for someone.

So How Can You Help?

Kneale Mann

image credit: performancerules

The Art of Prospecting

Finding The Gold.

I am always fascinated by how people build their business. I’m a content guy at heart so it’s not enough for someone to say they want to grow their company.

We all do.

I like to get into their heads to see what will they actually do to get where they want to be.

So I posed a simple question on LinkedIn in the Canadian Marketing Association group.

Q: What is your best tip for prospecting new clients?

Here are some responses…

Todd Falkowsky • The old fashioned way, get on the phone. I am still amazed at how many tools have been developed to break the ice with new clients, but the tried and true is still the best. Looking forward to hearing some other thoughts!

Ron Kipp • Todd is right on and if you outsource cold calling to a boutique contact centre you can invest your time more cost effectively.

Jody Steinhauer • Referral Referral Referral!!! If you do a great job, don't be shy to ask for a referral. We have built our entire company on referrals and no cold calls. It works! We are growing and need more people to help take good care on the inside.

Loic Jeanjean • Hi Kneale, I agree with Jody. We have also built our organization along referrals. Clients that have been happy with our services have been our best brand ambassadors since day 1. We have also been attending local conferences in our target market and provided 30-45 min educational workshops.

Dennis Meharchand • Depends upon what's being sold - Theoretically Cold calling should work well for products and services where there is not much pain associated with buying wrong whereas referrals from trusted sources should work well for high pain decisions. Given all that's changed in communications the last 10 years maybe it's time for a new edition of "How to Make Friends and Influence People"!

Ron Kunitzky • Networking and Referrals and Partnerships with companies that have relationships with your target audience.

Paul Provost • All are great comments that I agree with. We've built ourselves to where we are based on our referrals but it started with getting out there (networking) and reaching out (cold calls). One note on referrals - they work great if you have customers but if you start from zero, smart and targeted cold calling (and not just open the white pages) works.

Jeannette Marshall • Kneale, as a seasoned sales pro ... I'm going to say that there isn't a one-point answer. Many of the comments have been excellent. What I would suggest first is examine your existing customers, ask why they use your service, importantly what value they've gained (i.e. % saved, $ increase in revenue, etc.) - your best tool is those already in your tool belt.

And my response…

Kneale Mann • These are all excellent points, thank-you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts. Most of the prospecting advice I see is from a mechanical approach - which is necessary - but the relational side is one not to ignore. It takes longer, it takes patience and trust, but referrals don't fall from the proverbial sky, they come from good work and nurtured relationships. Keep the conversation going!

What are your thoughts?

knealemann
Helping you integrate all you do with all you do.

image credit: nevada outback gems