For the past couple of weeks, we’ve been talking about the importance of not just making the time to do proactive business development, but to make it a priority.
In the 2017 State of the Independent PR Pro Industry Report, we found 42 percent of you just don’t have the time.
Instead, you rely on word-of-mouth and referrals to pay yourself, and even grow your businesses or departments.
This, of course, leads to feast or famine, which we all instinctively know is bad.
And yet…
It’s Not So Easy
I get it. I do.
Many of you will think, “Yeah, but it’s easy for you, Gini. You have this blog, which I’m sure brings you lots of leads.”
Yes, that’s true.
The business development opportunities Spin Sucks affords us do make it look easy.
And we certainly have grown in ways I never imagined when I started writing consistently in 2009.
Let me tell you how easy it is.
I get up at 5:00 every morning to focus on this blog.
Every, single day for the past eight years, I have spent the first two hours of every day making business development a priority.
This morning, in fact, I am in a hotel room and, right this second, it’s 4:09 a.m. in Chicago.
I have to be at the event where I’m speaking in 90 minutes.
There are two things I’d much rather be doing: Sleeping or going for a bike ride.
But business development—and this blog, in particular, is a major priority for me.
So I make the time.
I can hear you groaning.
And making excuses.
Maybe you’re not a morning person.
That’s fine.
If you asked me to write after dinner, it would take me 16 times longer.
I’m not a night owl.
The point is not that you don’t have to get up at 5:00 in the morning to work on your business.
The point is that you have to make it a priority.
How to Work On Your Business, Not in it
Let’s look at it another way.
A few years ago, a business coach suggested I block off half a day to work on my business—to make business development a priority.
I remember thinking, “There is no way this will work. What if a client needs me?”
But, as it turns out, when you set the expectation that you are unavailable on Friday mornings, for instance, people are very accommodating.
So I started out spending every Friday morning working on the business.
In the beginning, I kind of flailed, because I didn’t know if I was supposed to be making cold calls or going to networking breakfasts or building my Twitter following.
In the end, I discovered Spin Sucks needed some love, and I figured it was a good way to see if it could create inbound and passive leads for us.
Every Friday morning turned into all day on Friday.
I don’t take any meetings on Fridays and my day is full of the types of things that lead to proactive business development.
Things such as content.
The Content Secret to Closing More Clients Bootcamp
And, long the way, we perfected a five-step content process that generates more leads, closes more clients, and increases our revenue…all while I’m riding my bike.
OK, slight exaggeration.
Of course, the work still has to be done and it’s not easy work.
But we do have qualified leads coming in consistently from this five-step process…while I’m riding my bike.
And that is what The Content Secret to Closing More Clients bootcamp is all about.
It begins on Monday and runs every day next week for an hour (from 12-1 p.m. EST).
If you join us, here is what you’ll learn:
- How to create a proactive business development plan that generates inbound leads, closes more clients, and makes you more money.
- How to compete for first page Google results for your firm and the work you do.
- How to include several different revenue sources so you aren’t reliant solely on client retainer work.
- How to go all in on a PESO model that will create long-term clients who are happy to pay you what you’re worth.
- How to craft content so prospects chase you down to hire you.
- How to multiply your word-of-mouth and referral leads so you can predict your pipeline.
- And a whole lot more!
It’s free of charge, but it will cost you five hours of your time next week…and likely a few more hours to actually do the work I’m going to teach you.
Rather than blocking off an entire day to work on your business, like I do, next week you’ll do the work every day.
Make Business Development a Priority
It’s time.
It’s time to make business development a priority, to get in a great habit of focusing on your business, and make the interwebz work for you.
Make time for one hour every day for five days.
You can do it!
I promise you will walk away energized and ready to conquer the world.
