Wouldn’t it be nice if all you had to do to be successful was to just exist? Just sit back and say yes, or no, to prospects that come your way? The reality is, very few times in life does an opportunity just fall in your lap. You need to hustle and hustle hard (at least in the beginning). We know it, so does every other business owner. Whatever your specialty, we will share these tips and trick for finding and creating your own opportunities.
Really, when you break it down into the simplest terms, to connect with an opportunity, you need to (1) find it, and then you need to (2) ask for it.
“Opportunity dances with those already on the dance floor.”
– H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
The first part – the finding. How do you do this? Through research. The online world makes it easy to target what you want to find and best of all, the process is free, can be done anytime, anywhere!
“The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity.”
– Ayn Rand
Target Opportunity Research
This is where it all begins. Use research to not only find how others in your field have been successful but which avenues you need to pursue to follow in their footsteps.
- Keep it simple. Start with the industry basics like “how to be successful as a speaker”, “steps to becoming a profitable writer”, or “establishing your coaching niche”. This is the read-and-learn phase.
- Next, search who’s looking to find you. This is a process of identifying and locating your ideal clients and building a database of where to find them. There are many positions and opportunities that need to be filled, take the time to find them.
- Perform advanced searches on LinkedIn
- Look through various job boards
- Search specialized trade groups
- Look for specialty Facebook groups
- Poll existing clients/contacts to find out what their needs are
- Perform Google searches for your target
- Fast Trick – When entering your profession’s keyword into Google (i.e. writer) followed by “write for us”, you’ll find plenty of opportunities right there on the first few pages.
“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.”
– Zora Neale Hurston
Taking Successful Action
Now, the second part is the more challenging, and sometimes time-consuming part. Acting on all of that wonderful research and data you have gathered.
It is best to prepare a media kit for the content you are promoting. Have your bio ready, key/signature focus topics, links to your website, portfolio, and any appropriate social media profiles. Keep it short and to the point to improve your chances that it will be read. Make sure that your intro email has honest tidbits about why you are contacting that person and how your alliance/product/service will improve/transform/ease their life. Reference that you contacted THEM because you admire the way that they… and feel that you can help them to better… in the immediate future.
Scott Tousley confirms “44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up. The average sales person only makes 2 attempts to reach a prospect. Personalized emails improve click-through rates by 14%, and conversion rates by 10%.”
Break it down into chunks. Take your 40 prospects from your research and set a goal to contact 2/day or 10 per week. This way, there is a system behind it, you can take your time customizing the message, and you don’t get overwhelmed.
“We often miss opportunity because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work”
– Thomas A. Edison
Once you have completed your first round, do a second touch, in the same system. Statistics show that you are highly unlikely to get a “yes” at the first contact. Robert Clay writes, “When you consider that 80% of prospects say “no” four times before they say “yes”, the inference is that 8% of sales people are getting 80% of the sales.”
Also, consider your comfort and confidence with your pitch, if it’s new for you, try starting with some lower priority opportunities to test and improve your approach.
Need a jump-start? Here are some pre-researched resources that we can share:
Speaking & PR Opportunities
- Join associations, clubs, business networking groups & special interest societies
- Sign up for notifications on upcoming events and/or opportunities specific to your field of expertise
Some good sites:
Interviewing & Guest Blogging Opportunities
- Reach out to people or companies that complement your offer (not your competitors)
- Offer to swap posts/interviews
- Share mailing lists and previous leads with each other
- Collaborate on a project
- Join group podcasts and guest blogging sites
Some good sites:
Need Help?
And if you are just starting out and need a little more help than just advice, we are here and ready to prepare your media kit. We can research customized opportunities, finding exactly what you are looking for, and complete the application process, ensuring that you will be well represented. After, we stay connected to handle all of the follow-ups and finally, we make sure that you are all set for the post-acceptance process. It’s almost like having it all, just fall in your lap. Contact us to get started today!
