So this week, I’m going to let you in on a little secret that ALL of my clients have in common.
Yes, ALL.
Not 90%.
Not 95%.
100%.
They have ALL become clients as a result of direct outreach.
By personally reaching out to perfect strangers, building the relationship, building trust, getting to know their story and showing how I could help improve their life, they became clients.
Let me first just say that direct outreach wasn’t something I dove into headfirst.
When I founded my business, I had the “build it, and they will come” mentality. I legit thought that all I needed to do was put up a website, and people would come to me without me having to go out there and get it. Ha. The first of many entrepreneurial lessons learned 🙂
Initially, I had a million reasons why I thought direct outreach was a bad idea. “Oh, people’s inboxes are cluttered enough. People don’t want to be bothered. There’s a pandemic; people are tightening the belt.”
Those voices in my head were coming from a place of fear, and the harsh reality was that I had a lot of internal work to do.
A few truths I’ve learned through my experience:
Direct outreach isn’t for the faint of heart. You have to be willing to sign up to endure serious rejection. Do you know how many times I’ve been told no? I’ve lost track….too many to count. Doesn’t stop me though; every no is one step closer to a yes.
The energy you show up with matters. You have to truly believe in who you are, what you’re about and how you can help. People pick up on the energetic signal you’re broadcasting, so feeling good about who you are is non-negotiable.
Direct outreach is fun. New people to meet every single day.
Direct outreach is a well that never runs dry. 7.8 billion people in the world…c’mon. You don’t have enough time on this earth to run out of new people to contact.
You have to play the long game. Consistency and patience are key. There’s no easy button. You gotta do the work.
Direct outreach is a numbers game. If you cast your rod enough times, you’re going to catch fish.
You must have a genuine interest in adding value and be truly invested in helping people. Transactional mindsets don’t cut it.
If you do direct outreach, you will outlast your competition. Direct outreach will differentiate you. Success is found by doing what most people aren’t willing to do.
Every point in the process matters, from the initial message to the follow-through. You can’t start strong and then fall off. You need to bring your A-game every step of the way.
So I’ll leave you with a direct message: if you have a business and you’re NOT doing direct outreach, you’re leaving a lot of business on the table and many lives untouched.
And if you read that last part and hesitated because you question if your product or service impacts lives in a meaningful way, perhaps we need to have a different conversation – one centered around core values and the importance of your personal belief system being lined up with the values of your company.
I’d love to share some ideas with you about how to incorporate direct outreach into your business. Click here, and we’ll chat.