The quote, “if you build it, they will come,” may have worked for Ray Kinsella in Field of Dreams, but if that’s the notion you’re counting on in your business ventures, you’re going to be sorely disappointed with the outcome.

While I am a huge advocate for being passionate about your product and/or service, and a believer that passion DOES help convert strangers into customers, that alone will not give you the results you want (or need) in order to thrive. Running a successful business requires that you are also adept at marketing, sales, and understanding your customer’s needs. If you are getting into the the solopreneurship world, struggling to get your current venture off the ground, and/or are experiencing a lull in your existing business, keep reading - this one is for you.

Since the pandemic, we’ve seen a mass exodus from the corporate world. Every year, more and more people are becoming consultants, starting their own businesses, and taking big career risks. What I find is that much of the time, these individuals, are not mentally & emotionally prepared for the fierce competition and short attention span of the marketplace. These individuals, who are usually extremely knowledgable and talented, have rarely had to make a sale in order to survive. And, more often than not, when we hear the world sales, people have a visceral reaction.

Sales has a stigma of being a forced, pushy situation where you manipulate people into spending their hard-earned money to work with you. Sounds like a blast, right?

It doesn’t have to be this way!

Imagine a world where you believe SO strongly in yourself, your business, your offers, and your worth that making a sale feels like an opportunity to truly change someone’s life.

This. Is. Possible. For. You.

I’m not going to sugar coat it. It’s a rollercoaster. It’s putting yourself out there to be accepted or rejected. It’s trial-and-erroring your elevator pitch over and over again. It’s walking into networking events where you know no one, and awkwardly navigating your way around the room. It’s not posting on social media because you have no idea what to say. It’s one step forward, two steps back. It’s scarcity and fear because how the heck am I going to pay the bills? It’s wondering if you made a huge mistake. It’s searching through job ads on LinkedIn every few months because it wasn’t supposed to be this hard. It’s hiding in a hole of busy work to make yourself feel productive, and avoid having to put yourself out there again.

In order to combat these challenges, we need to remain open, curious, and observant of our tendencies (hello, Enneagram!), and find a way to consistently get clients into your pipeline. To do that you have to do the work of developing, connecting with, adding value to, and nurturing your market.

But, how? I’m so glad you asked! ;)

You can remember these critical success tips by asking yourself if you are OPEN for business. This means…

Am I showing up Online? Am I actively developing and aligning my Personal Brand? Am I developing and sharing my Expertise? And, am I Networking?

If your lead generation is lagging, it’s likely that at least one of these areas is being neglected.

Now, I can already hear what you have to say about this. HOW the heck am I supposed to prioritize all of these things AND do the actual work in my business? Or, these are not things that I am good at & I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Great. Let me share some ideas.

First, it doesn’t matter how good your product or service is if no one is buying it. There - I said it. If you’re not prioritizing some sort of business development, you are going to have amazing systems and processes that no one ever gets to go through, and you will struggle.

Second, you do not have to do this alone. The business development world can be overwhelming. Here are 2 suggestions to help you prioritize your business development and marketing strategy:

1. Create an “advisory board” for your business. Have a list of 3-5 people that you know and trust, who are invested in your success. Ask them if they’d be interested in advising or mentoring you through the growth of your business. I meet with my friend, Frank, every Friday, and have several others who are just a phone call away & are always eager to troubleshoot and advise when I need them.

2. Work with me. I can help you develop your strategy, define and develop your personal brand, create and execute online content, and help you develop your subject-matter expertise through development of workshops and/or webinars you can share with your target market (which I’ll also help you define).

And, I’m going to modify the quote we started with today…

“If you build it, market it, deliver value, and network CONSISTENTLY,
they will come. But, not all at once, and maybe not as fast as you’d like. But, they will come.”