IT’S NOT WHAT YOU KNOW, IT’S WHO KNOWS YOU!

Whatever you’re trying to do in life,  whether it be trying to get a job, find the right business partner or get more clients, there are people out there who know someone. And believe it or not… they want to help!

Your only barrier is that they don’t know why they should care about you and you don’t know how to get in touch with them.

Well, the good news is that in today’s connected world, there are an infinite number of ways to interact with people. The problem is that most people don’t know how to connect in an authentic way and form real relationships. The digital medium makes this more problematic because it has the potential to be impersonal.

I faced this problem starting out. When I became a freelance copywriter I had no connections. I needed to bring money in and I started looking for work in the same places as everyone else. I would send out emails and make cold calls. I would post adverts on bulletin boards. I would go to networking meetings. It worked to a point, but the trouble was that by using this strategy I was lumping myself in with everyone else. Job sites are crawling with qualified people. Business networking meetups are crowded with people trying to shove business cards into your hands. I was also competing on price with people who were not as good as me. Plus, the work was often uninspiring, high-pressure stuff and after a year I found myself burnt out and demotivated.

So, slowly over the years, I developed a new strategy. One in which I let the work come to me. It may surprise you to hear that nowadays I never ask for work. I never need to attend an interview and it’s been years since anyone asked to see a portfolio or show samples of my work. I also charge a lot more than the going rate and I seldom need to negotiate. I’ve learned the skill of social selling.

I’m not some kind of social dynamo either. In fact, I’m sometimes kind of awkward. The fact is that this is skill can be learned by anyone willing to put in the time. With practice, it becomes easy.

After a while, people started noticing that I had a knack for staying busy. I had other freelancers coming to me with questions. I was always pretty open with what I was doing – after all there’s a limit to how much work I can take on – so why keep it a secret? I would often spend hours explaining to others the way to do this for themselves. Some of them put my ideas into practice and reinvented their businesses. Others slipped back into their old ways and they are still where they were back then.

That got me thinking. What if there was a way I could turn this into a system that could be repeatable? That question inspired me to sit down and write my approach into a legitimate referral strategy that leverages all aspects of the social sphere – both online and off. It includes the best ways to identify target groups, how to introduce and engage with people in an authentic way and how to send the signals that lead to referrals.

I’m willing to teach you this skill. Through a series of one-on-one coaching sessions, I will  show you how to turn everyone you meet into your own personal salesperson. So that they will feel good about referring you and will do it as much as possible. Better yet, they will pre-qualify your ideal clients for you.

Interested? Fill in the form below and I’ll get in touch if I think I can help.