Disclaimer: These are just 5 ways of getting more work or business. There are smarter and much easier ways to go about getting more business. But if it were smart and easy, everyone would do it. How would you compete? You maintain an edge by doing crazy, unbelievable things as mentioned below.
Anilia Arneus, a mindset coach and a blogger at Motivated Sista. She is one of those sources of inspiration for any work at home mother, simple because she’s been there and done that. In a particularly intriguing post, she drives one point home: only the crazy succeed.
One look at any inspiring account or a success story and you’ll inevitably notice one thing for sure: those who succeed – no matter how you define success – are outright crazy. The things they do, their gait, actions, mannerisms, behavior, ambition, work ethic, productivity levels – none of these are anywhere close to what the average person does. In fact, this is one of the factors contributing to their success.
Getting more work or attracting more business is perhaps the most challenging aspect of running your business. To help you out and to perhaps guide you to think like a nutty, but successful person, here are a few ideas:
1. Old wine in a new bottle: Cold Calling
We call it crazy because most moms who start businesses from home won’t even consider this as an option. Traditionally, it’s been the domain of telemarketers and sales persons. Mom entrepreneurs – thanks to comforts like online businesses – didn’t really have to go to this extreme. We, however, highly recommend cold calling because it’s effective and gets results quickly for absolutely no (or very little cost).
Jay Forte (a nationally ranked thought leader) and Tom Peters ( best selling management guru) assert that “women are better sales people than men”, points out Peter Skakum — co-founder of Talent Strategies, Sales Trainer and Coach. For women, the conversion ratio (the rate at which you are able to persuade clients or customers to buy from you compared to how many people you actually meet) is considerably higher.
2. For once, get friendly with the sharks
There’s an undeniable truth in the fact that “you make more money when you know more people.” Power networks have been the reason why some people are more successful than others. For you, when working from home, it’s an endeavor that takes more effort than if you were working with a company, in a traditional job.
Now, networking with as many people as you can is a given; we are sure you can do that and even leverage your networking efforts with social media channels such as Linked In and Facebook. Anyone with an account on LinkedIn and Facebook can network, what will you do?
Go for the big guns and network with highly influential people. Depending on the type of business you choose to run, go for the decision makers and those who are the very top in their respective fields. Try to network with those with tremendous influence — the people who others listen to and respect. This is, naturally, much harder than connecting with everyone and sundry. But it pays off.
Who do you know?
3. Persistent, personalized email campaigns
Got email? Formulate custom emails for companies or people who are likely to be your clients/customers and send out emails to them. Yes, this could be termed as spamming but not when you do it right. Send out introductory emails with the intention to “know them better”, or “to thank them” — in response to a comment your potential clients would have left on your Facebook Fan Page. LinkedIn, for instance, has an “InMail” feature using which you can approach people who are in your friends’ networks or even complete strangers.
If you are in the web designing business for instance, send out emails or try to connect with other designers and design studios. It’s alright if you don’t get business right away since you are making a mark here and you leave an indelible impression.
4. Meet ups and local events
It’s normal to “attend” local meet ups and events that relate to your business somehow or events where your potential customers are likely to gather. “Create a community” instead of merely attending one; if you are in the real estate business, start meet ups (create an account at meetup.com to start with) and train others on various aspects of home care, maintenance, etc.
5. Crazy collateral
Don’t let your business cards, brochures flyers, and other marketing collateral end up in the trash can. Creative, bold, memorable and highly effective design helps you make collateral that fetches you business or helps others remember you. Consider business cards made of metal or wood. Make bold statements on flyers. Adopt crazy, outlandish designs on your brochures – all of these are a possibility. Go crazy. Experiment!
We’d love to know how you got your clients. Share your success with us. Please feel free to comment and let us know.
