First, ponder these questions:
How do you find your customers, or better yet, how do they FIND YOU?
How do you generate leads, or better yet, how do you close these leads and WIN NEW BUSINESS?
How much do you charge for your services, or better yet, are you CHARGING ENOUGH?
How do you keep new business coming, or better yet, whether in down times or amid changing conditions, how do you ensure new business is MORE PROFITABLE THAN BEFORE?
Whenever entrepreneurs of any kind gather, the first question of consequence to emerge in their conversations is always this one: “How do you find new business?” It can be phrased in many different ways, but the meaning is always the same.
Typically, the responses revolve around some variation of referrals and word of mouth, and the focus invariably shifts to marketing, selling, “outreach,” or business development techniques. The conversation falls flat once someone mentions cold calling (a technique that everyone agrees is disagreeable!), then collapses altogether once direct mail or advertising gets dropped in. From there, the talk turns to idle chatter, personal questions, the weather—anything to push the topic at hand away from its disappointing evolution. There are no business development magic bullets or gold nuggets here, are there? So why bother beating a dead horse?
Entrepreneurs are invariably exasperated over this challenge. So much competition, so much new technology, so much sudden change in the marketplace. How can a company lift itself above the noise? It’s a constant game of catch-up, missed goals, back-to-the-drawing-board, and perpetual boom and bust. Despite adhering to marketing and sales “best practices,” nothing seems to help for long.
Yet a magic bullet does exist: a little-used business development strategy called “thoughtleading,” guaranteed to grant you your “expert’s edge.” Though all entrepreneurs and consultants and professional services practitioners are experts, few of them remember to exploit their expertise to superior advantage. Those few who do however typically rise above the playing field to assume higher levels as a breed apart known as “thought leaders.”
No longer mere “specialists,” “practitioners,” “professionals,” or even “experts,” thought leaders cease wondering where their next business meal will come from. Instead, they steadily welcome new customers from an ever-expanding prospect base that seeks them out, rather than the other way around. Here are a few ways they do it:
They publish ideas! Whether it’s a book or a series of articles, true thought leaders share their ideas about how to solve problems their clients are faced with each and every day.
They speak to groups! Whether on a stage before a live audience or via phone as a guest of a podcast or sharing slides on a Zoomcast, thought leaders elaborate on their thinking, field questions from attendees, meet up with prospects following their programs etc.
They develop new original ideas! They don’t always realize it but in the normal course of a day or a week or a month, to our satisfied clients we are ALL thought leaders! That’s because each of us develops customized solitons for our clients’ problems that are unique to our particular way of thinking.
So is it time you admitted that you too are a thought leader but have simply not been practicing a Thoughtleading Strategy? Surely that time has indeed come!
Contact us to learn more such as how our process works, how we can help you get the “best-kept secret” of your success and expertise with your clients, how we can help you get your ideas published as a book or articles, how we can help you land speaking gigs whether in-person or virtually as well as our fee options, our commitment that our program will work for you, our fee options, our guarantee, our client endorsements.
You time has indeed come! Let our Thoughtleading Strategy approach work for you as it has for over 400 experts and their firms since 1996. Email us at inquire@thoughtleading.com now and (finally) separate your firm from its competitive pack!
