1. Nurturing leads can benefit you in your everyday life even if you don’t have anything to sell

Nurturing leads is not just a sales tactic. In fact, ever been to a networking event and have met a lot of interesting people that you would like to get to know more of? Or, have you ever wanted someone to do something for you or your career? The immediate benefits of networking might not be apparent at first. But these people can really help you in your career or business down the line. This is where nurturing leads plays an important role.

Nurturing leads is doing the opposite of a “cold call.” Since you’ve already introduced yourself to them, your leads are now “warm leads.”

2. Networking is the perfect opportunity to nurture leads

It takes a lot of time and effort to maintain your relationships with your leads.

Some people don’t like to network because it’s uncomfortable to talk to strangers. Yes, you worry about whether you’re not giving them the right first impression. You worry about whether you’re saying the wrong thing. There’s a lot of pressure that is sometimes involved with networking.

There are a lot of other people who go to networking events for the same reasons that you do. I remember when I was a student, and almost everyone in the room was looking for someone to give them a job after graduation. The number of students outnumbered the people who could hire them, or introduce them to a hiring manager, so there was a lot of competition. It’s for this reason that professionals sometimes avoid networking events: there are a lot of people asking for favours who have no connection or obligation to them.

3. Networking events are a chance to sell your personal brand

I’ve been on both sides of the equation. It makes me understand now why networking doesn’t work if you don’t go about it the right way. It can get frustrating because you end up wasting time “barking up the wrong tree”, as they say.

The trick is to find a type of networking event that works for you, and that could mean a less formal event which is more focused on getting people to talk to each other than in making a sale.

You can be reluctant to ask people for favours when they don’t know you, or have a reason to do you a favour. And you’d be right to be reluctant. That’s why your connection first has to warm up.

Work on your elevator pitch. It’s a thirty second speech to sell your personal brand. It should briefly describe who you are and why they should get to know you more.

Yes, networking takes time, but you have to be patient.

So start early and get to know as many people as possible.

Someone you met a year ago might think of you today and be interested in what you can offer.

4. Nurturing leads builds your professional network

Nurturing leads is not just a sales tactic because there’s no better way to progress in your career than by finding new opportunities through your network. It could be a connection that is internal to your current company, or a different one.

Knowing more people can also make you more knowledgeable.

If you’re building your own business, it’s useful to know people who can advise or mentor you.

By broadening your network, you cast a wider net and increase your chances of making the one connection that could change your life.

5. How you can nurture leads

After the introduction, send a follow up message that reminds them who you are and where you met. Then suggest that you meet up for another coffee, either virtually or in person.

After the coffee chat, stay in touch.

Send a new message when you’ve reached a career milestone, or have interesting or relevant information to share with your network.

6. Where you can find leads

There are a lot of places where you can find leads. For example, special interest groups and professional associations are the two most common places to find new leads. Also, people flock to social media, whether it’s Facebook or LinkedIn, to connect to new acquaintances.

Finally, through volunteering for a cause you believe in, you can be introduced to the same people who believe in the same causes that you do. This can be a great conversation starter and a way to keep in touch.

So don’t wait until you want to switch careers or move up the career ladder to start networking and nurture those leads. Similarly, it’s important that nurturing leads is not just a sales tactic because the main objective is to expand your network.

You can think of networking as an exchange of useful information. You can connect to someone, but it’s even more meaningful if you have something to offer.

This is where adding value plays an important part in nurturing leads.

Following up on warm leads are more likely to result in meaningful and lasting connections than cold leads.

Networking is never easy. It takes time, and it takes practice. Expert networkers are trained to recognize opportunity and to give immense value to others.

Introduction

At a certain point in your business, you might consider partnering with an influencer to promote your business. A social media influencer can spread your message and win you new audience members.

What is an influencer?

An influencer has a loyal audience who are hooked into the minutiae of their everyday lives. They tune into their social media channels just to see what the influencer is doing, wearing, buying, and recommending.

It really is amazing how devoted these fans can be. If the influencer has a massive following, they often capitalize on this by building partnerships with other businesses and getting paid for it.

Partner with an influencer to promote your business and increase brand awareness

If you own a business, and want to build brand awareness, or increase exposure to your target audience, you could consider partnering with an influencer. This can really multiply your following, popularity and get your brand in front of your audience.

Of course, you have to pay an influencer. Like any paid ad service, you want to maximize your return on investment (ROI) to achieve the most results from the money you spend. The influencer becomes your brand ambassador, or temporary spokesperson, for your business.

The partnership might become part of your marketing plan. An influencer charges fees in exchange for featuring your product or service through their social media channels. A partnership might be useful if your following is small and you want to grow your following.

Does the influencer match your target audience?

There is a right way to execute a partnership with an influencer. First, examine whether influencer marketing is right for your business.

Would your business have the most advantage from this partnership? Since influencer marketing does not work with all businesses, you should decide whether this is the right path to take.

It’s not surprising that lifestyle and leisure (e.g. travel and food) are the industries where the most influencers are found. So it’s these industries that would work best.

What kind of audience do you already have, and what kind of audience do you want to attract?

Understand your target audience, have a goal clear in your mind, and know what you hope to achieve from this partnership. This is important for analyzing the end results and concluding whether the partnership worked to bring about the desired effect.

Tips on searching for an influencer to promote your business

Look for an influencer that will resonate with your audience, within your budget, whose views agree with yours.

Ask for a media kit. Most serious influencers will have one put together. A media kit includes their background information, follower count, bio, and social media channels.

If you don’t already have an influencer in mind, or know which ones to approach, do a search on social media and view their blogs, tweets, photos and videos.

Influencer marketing is just like any paid ad service: do your research before engaging their services, because the reputation of the influencer becomes the reputation of your brand.

Research what the “market rates” are for their services, and decide if it’s within your budget.

Meet virtually with the influencer to work out the details of your agreement, and to determine if they’re a good fit for your brand.

How to approach an influencer

What you need before you approach an influencer is a website or established business with your social media channels already set up. Once you’ve constructed a short list of influencers to approach, write an email or send a direct message. Avoid sending a generic mass email.

Another option is to engage the services of a digital marketing agency that represents the influencer.

Have a clear outline of the types of content you want the influencer to use to promote your business.

Finally, the contract should include the expected fees and pricing for their services, based on your agreement and previous research.

The risks of partnering with an influencer

There are always a few risks that you will take if you are working with an influencer. To effectively use influencer marketing, your actions must be authentic. The influencer must believe and genuinely support your brand, products and services, or it will be seen as insincere, untrustworthy, or done only for money.

These days, it is easy to inflate their follower count through fake user accounts.

On rare, though nonetheless possible, occasions, your influencer might find themselves embroiled in a scandal or controversy. As your brand ambassador, this invites negative publicity that might affect your brand.

You have to believe in what they stand for, which can be a problem if their views and opinions do not agree with yours. Thoroughly understand the influencer’s personality to ensure that it aligns with your brand’s values.

Finally, what should you do once the influencer has put their recommendation for your business out there? Follow up by monitoring engagement with the influencer’s post. Determine whether your ROI was worth it, and whether you gained more followers. You could continue the partnership if opportunities arise.

Conclusion

By partnering with an influencer, you can achieve a reach far greater than if you were promoting your business yourself. If you are cautious with your outreach, you can really maximize your ROI. Don’t skip any of the key steps, it can mean building a new partnership that works better and more efficiently.

Introduction

Most entrepreneurs who have authored business books are also owners of businesses that earn them millions. Just from reading these business books, I’ve noticed a pattern. There are three industries with high potential earnings, and these entrepreneurs have capitalized on them.

The three industries are: real estate, event planning, and coaching.

On the high end, business owners in these industries can make millions in potential earnings.

Before they’ve moved on to write books about it, they were self-made millionaires from various backgrounds. Not all of them were raised in rich families, which goes to show that with luck and hard work, you can build your million dollar business, too. Realistically, though, the average income is in the high six figures.

In this blog post, I describe the three industries with high potential earnings. I will outline their risks, qualifications, and challenges in each.

1. Real estate agency

Owning a real estate agency can really have the potential to earn you a high income. The real estate market is expected to grow to USD $729 trillion globally by 2028.

If it’s your dream to be a real estate agent, you will need to apply for a real estate license. The required coursework can take up to 1.5 years to complete within Canada, or up to six months in the US. After passing the exam, if you want to obtain a broker license and own your own brokerage, you need further training and at least two years of experience as an agent.

The startup cost of a real estate brokerage is at least $10,000. This includes office expenses, marketing, and salary for your employees.

The risks of starting a real estate brokerage are lawsuits from: not disclosing information about the property to the buyer, any breach of confidentiality, and injury on the property during showings.

The threats to your brokerage business could stem from events such as a housing market crash. The housing market is sensitive to many factors out of your control, including interest rate, supply and demand, and the health of the economy.

In addition, the rise of discount brokerages are also driving competition between different firms.

As a real estate agent, your commissions are pretty much standardized across the region that you work in, so it may not be possible to earn millions if you don’t own your own brokerage.

Furthermore, owning a real estate brokerage is just like owning any business as an entrepreneur. You must network and get your brokerage known and trusted within the industry.

In the end, real estate brokerages are in an industry that have the high potential earnings of $160,000 per year.

2. Event planning

Another industry with high potential earnings is event planning. This industry is expected to grow to USD $1.75 trillion by 2032.

Unlike real estate, you don’t need a license to be an event planner, so there are lower barriers to setting up your own event planning business.

However, it could help to be certified in event management. Once you earn your certification, experience working for another event planning agency before starting your own would be useful.

The risk to starting your own event planning business is that your highest income earning months are seasonal. In addition, the event planning industry took a tumble during the pandemic as events were switched to online virtual platforms.

This just shows how you must be able to pivot and adjust your business model in response to market conditions that are out of your control.

In addition, the cancellation of a single event would require you to refund all the tickets, leading to a major loss in income.

Finally, there is the threat of competition from other event planning agencies. but depending on your brand and price point, you may be able to find your niche more easily than a real estate brokerage.

3. Business coaching

The third industry with high potential earnings is business coaching. As a business coach, you act as an advisor for other entrepreneurs, guiding them in their business journey.

Your coaching business can have different models. For example, one on one or group coaching can be in-person or virtual, or you can sell masterclasses that your customers view on demand.

Business coaching is possibly the business with the lowest risk out of the three, because of the low overhead costs. Unless you’re thinking about leasing an office space, all you would need is a phone line to handle calls, a virtual meeting platform like Zoom, and internet.

It can also help to get certified as a coach, and these programs will have a fee.

One risk that this type of business faces is the loss of income caused by a recession or economic downturn. During these times, people will be reluctant to start businesses and hire someone to help them, though it might depend on what type of business they are in.

There are also challenges that can result in this type of business. For example, it’s also true that some niches perform better than others.

Selecting a good client can take time. There has to be a good match between client and coach, so know how to select clients who will work well with you.

Another risk is that depending on your business model, you may be trading time for money. One way to get around this is to sell access to on-demand coaching classes on an online teaching platform.

Conclusion

All three types of businesses require you to put in the effort to network and get your name out there to gather and maintain a good client base.

So, good interpersonal and communication skills are essential, and the know-how for gracefully dealing with difficult clients and customer service issues.

Also, it requires you to have realistic expectations. A good reputation is not built overnight.

A good business and marketing plan for making sales is also a major factor in the success of the business.

Expertise and experience are valuable, so find ways to gain that knowledge fast.

At first, stress and work life balance can be an issue, until you may need to find a system for outsourcing your tasks.

Avoid situations such as taking on a client that is not a good fit for your or your business, which can tarnish your reputation.

Relationship-building and leadership skills will land you far ahead of the game.

The importance of building relationships with your audience or customer is key to the success of your business. Reciprocity sets up a system of mutual benefit that helps to drive growth and engagement, and ultimately, sales.

From your customer’s perspective, reciprocity means that if you help them, they will help your business. Reciprocity is not created immediately, however. It takes time to build trust and loyalty through your brand.

Here you will find reasons why you should build reciprocity in your business, and how it can mutually benefit you and your customer.

1. What is reciprocity in business?

Reciprocity is the exchange of value in one from entity another. In this case, the value is often given by your business to your customer for free. For instance, if your business is to sell goods, you may add on free shipping as an added value to your product.

This achieves two things. From the point of view of your customer, reciprocity gives a reason for your customer to keep buying from you. From your point of view, as the business owner, it encourages loyalty to your brand.

This is how a system of mutual benefit is built. You should find ways to keep this system going so that your customers return for repeat business.

2. Why should you build reciprocity?

As a business owner, the main reason to build reciprocity is that it gives value to customers. It builds trust and strengthens the relationship between your business and your customer.

By giving value, you achieve another effect: you build authority, which gives your customer a reason to listen to you. As you grow your brand, you will hope to encourage loyalty among your customers.

What better way to do this than to position yourself as the authority in your niche? Building reciprocity also motivates your customers to take action. Whenever you are trying to sell something, you will always get some resistance from your audience. To tip the balance in your favour, give them something for free. You will encourage their decision making and thought process, pushing them towards your offer.

Finally, this system of mutual benefit also wins new customers. A customer who is new to your brand, and has never heard of your product, needs encouragement. A great way to introduce your business to them is to give them a free taste of your product and all of its benefits.

3. How can you set up a system of mutual benefit?

If you are a new business owner, you may be puzzled as to how you will nurture relationships with your potential customers. The simple answer to this problem is to build up content that you will later give away for free.

The first step is to create the content. Called a lead magnet, this is a piece of marketing material that you will give away for free in exchange for their email address, or for signing up for your newsletter. This could be a free checklist, e-book, or audio material.

Just because it’s free doesn’t mean that you should make the material low quality. The purpose of the lead magnet is to introduce your brand to your potential customer and entice them to buy from you in the future, so don’t skimp on its quality.

The lead magnet should promise them that there is further quality to be had, and give them a reason to remain interested in your business.

Don’t be afraid to give them value for free. It will ultimately lead to a greater return on investment because your audience will want to act as your brand ambassador, spreading news of your business by word of mouth and recommendations through social media.

4. How can your business benefit from offering free value to your customer?

Let’s say that you have given your audience a ton of value in the form of materials such as blog posts, videos, webinars or photos. Your content is interesting and engaging. You also gave value in the form of free trials, limited time offers, coupons or free shipping.

How can you ask for something in return? This is where your social media marketing strategy can be of good use. You can ask for feedback, comments and reviews. By keeping your audience engaged, they will think of your brand first instead of another competitor’s. They are more likely to take action and buy from you.

The more channels you use to get your message out there, the more likely your audience will see it and remember your brand.

5. Building reciprocity in your business is really just an exercise in maintaining good customer relations.

When there’s a system of mutual benefit set up, your customers are more likely to be happy with your brand, and more willing to buy from you. The more value you give, the more persuasive your messaging is. This is how you will convince your potential customer to sign up to be a loyal customer.

Understanding what motivates people to buy will help you improve your sales strategy. Market motivators, or the reasons why customers are motivated to make purchases, is what drives sales. In this blog post I examine why some products succeed at their sales strategies, and how you can use them to grow sales in your own business.

1. Products succeed because they understand buyer behaviour

Some products fall flat while some take off. Why?

Buyer behaviour (or what makes people spend money, and on what types of products) may explain why.

For example, let’s say your business is to sell a mobile app. You do your market research, you’ve figured out that there is a market interested in the app, you design the product, and you promote your sales launch.

But it doesn’t sell.

You do more market research and gather user feedback. On further examination you realize that it doesn’t solve a problem for your customer, nor does it fulfil an unmet need.

Not only does a product need to be well designed, but it also has to be easy to use, with features that differentiates it from your competition. In a saturated market, it is harder to develop a highly innovative product than it is to develop your own unique brand. A unique brand is what drives sales and motivates your market to buy your product.

Sociologists, psychologists, and economists have built models of buyer behaviour to explain why people buy. One oft-quoted example is the Rolex watch. Its functionality is the same as any watch, yet people will splurge on Rolex watches for the status and prestige conveyed by possessing one.

Understanding what buyers need and desire are key to implementing strategies in your marketing that will encourage them to fulfil these needs and desires.

2. How can you use market motivators to drive sales?

If you’re a small business, you might not have an army of sales marketers backing you up like the big corporations. You might not have a big budget, either.

But it is still possible to strategically use marketing to drive sales. Since you did your research and you know what motivates your market, the next step would be to craft your sales strategy.

This is where it will help to understand marketing principles, which include knowing your pricing strategy, distribution channels, and marketing strategy.

In terms of promotion, the process of setting up buzz, excitement, and hype will go far to ensure a successful sales launch.

Promotions can be accomplished through word of mouth, referrals, traditional and digital advertising, and social media.

Some sellers run Facebook ad campaigns to build excitement for their product and to boost sales. With Facebook ads, it’s possible to target Facebook users in a specific niche, ensuring that your ad gets seen by the right viewers, and that your ad spend has a high return on investment (ROI).

It also helps to have testimonials, people who can vouch for the value and reliability of your product.

A successful sales strategy also prompts potential customers to beat their indecision and procrastination. This can be done by implementing urgency and scarcity. People procrastinate when spending money especially if it’s a large amount of money.

That’s why the words “limited time offer” (urgency) and “get them before they’re gone” (scarcity) are used so often. Time-limited promotions can boost sales during holidays or periods of slow sales growth. Setting up a waitlist also shows your customer that your product or service is in high demand.

3. Know your ideal customer profile and market motivators

Knowing your ideal customer profile is essential to understanding market motivation and what drives sales.

Your target demographic will have specific wants and needs that are different from another demographic.

You might think that your product is for everyone, or you’re hesitant to limit yourself to a niche. But the truth is, you can’t sell to everyone, and it’s not useful to spend your paid ad dollars targeting all audiences. Your efforts will be wasted if you try to target the wrong audience.

Focus your efforts for a greater ROI by knowing how your customer behaves, their likes and dislikes, and their habits. Get very detailed when creating your ideal customer profile. For example, what are the types of sales channels and distribution that is used most often by your niche? Is it online or brick and mortar stores? Make your products easily available through these channels.

Finally, knowing your ideal customer profile will help you make decisions about how to market your product in a cost-effective way.

4. Know how to handle customer objections

Customer objections are expected when you are pitching a sales proposal. You may see your product or service as a benefit to your customer, but they see it as a huge risk. What if the product doesn’t work? What if they don’t reap the benefits?

Lower their perceived risks by talking them through their objections, asking questions, and presenting solutions.

It helps to add some statistics, graphs, and charts in your slide deck to back up your claims.

Once you have an effective sales pitch, this will help to drive sales in your business.

5. The timing must be right to motivate your market to buy

Most often, sales are seasonal and can have peaks or troughs depending on the timing. For example, sales of gym memberships see an uptick at the beginning of the year when people make new years’ resolutions to get fit.

Also consider the current economic climate, which can tell you a lot about market conditions.

Timing is especially important if you are in the tech industry. You don’t want to launch a product that is misaligned with current innovations and technologies.

Technology always moves fast, and if you’re in the tech space, you might always be running to catch up.

Furthermore, it’s not reasonable to launch a product if there is no demand for it.

Consumer demand is what drives sales.

Take advantage of opportunities though be wise about it as you don’t want to just ride the wave of a fad that will pass in a few months.

Keep an eye on industry trends in order to stay relevant.

6. Keep repeat customers happy to drive more sales

When a good relationship is established between the seller and customer, this will motivate the customer to return for repeat business. Repeat business drives sales, all without having to nurture new leads.

You don’t want to just make a single sale and never have your customer return for more.

It takes less effort and less money to make a sale to a repeat customer than it is to find new ones.

To do this, have great customer service. If you’re a smaller operation, you may want to hire virtual assistants to answer phones or emails.

This will also help to cultivate customer testimonials which you can use in your social media or website.

Excellent customer service is what accelerates the growth of your brand by word of mouth and helps drive sales.

Market motivators are one of the key factors that drive sales. Knowing what motivates your customer to purchase will already take you a few steps ahead in your sales strategy.

Building a brand is essential to your success because if done correctly, a brand is something that people will remember.

What do people do when they are trying to solve a problem?

They think about the potential solution, and if they remember you, they will knock on your door seeking your help. This can help you distinguish yourself, and thereby open the doors to many opportunities, and make you more successful.

In this blog post, I talk about two types of brands: 1) personal brand (also your professional brand) and 2) business brand.

1. What is a personal brand?

A personal brand should be a reflection of your superior qualities and strong characteristics.

When you get an introduction to a potential client or employer, you want your personal brand to reflect your best qualities and give them a reason to hire you or do business with you. If you’re unsure about what are your best qualities, get feedback from your family, friends, or a job coach.

Think about the impression you want to give when you first walk into a job interview. You only get one chance to make a first impression, so a pleasing appearance, firm handshake, eye contact, and smile are essential. This is your first step to building your personal brand.

2. How can a personal brand guide you to success?

The next thing you need is to craft your “elevator pitch.” Your elevator pitch is a thirty second story consisting of your name, your past experience (whether it’s academic or employment), and a highlight of the qualities that you bring to the table. It should be no more than five points and brief enough to fit onto a cue card.

When you’re networking, use your elevator pitch to make the right impression. Preparing an elevator pitch is also useful when you first meet a potential employer, client, or team member.

3. Be memorable (for the right reasons)

Your brand should be unique so that people will remember, and recall you when they are looking for your services. This is why building a brand is essential to your success. Who is going to win that client, project or job? Of course it will be the candidate with the most memorable personal brand.

The person who gets the job is successful because they have a strong, memorable personal brand. You have only an hour or so job interview to make a good impression and convince them you’re the right person for the job.

This will also be helpful when you’re trying to win referrals and new opportunities to your business.

4. How often should you revise your brand?

A brand should be revised as often as needed. For example, if you’ve acquired a new skill set, or reached a milestone in your business, it’s a good idea to make these achievements stand out. Keep your elevator pitch current so that it remains relevant.

5. Your personal brand includes your social media

Your personal brand is not only the impression you give in person, but also the impression you give through your social media. So bear this in mind when you are posting through Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. Posts must always be professional. It also helps to post strategically and think about what you want your audience to see when they search for you online. What would you want your employer or client to see when they visit your social media?

6. What is a business brand?

A business brand is similar to your personal brand, except that with a business brand, you are trying to promote a specific image for your business that will drive sales and referrals. You want people to think of your business when they want to solve a problem.

7. Why a brand is essential for the success of your business

A brand is needed not just to make a sale, but also for both customers/clients and team members to have clear expectations of your business. A brand should guide your team members on how to deliver the mission and values of your business.

Why should they choose you among all other competitors?

Businesses can basically offer the same product, but why choose one brand over another? This is the question that your brand should answer.

Consider what emotions are stirred when using words or phrases, slogans, logos, and colour palettes to build your brand.

You want to target the right demographic and market with your brand. Is your product low end or high end, exclusive and luxurious, or casual and mass market?

Don’t confuse your audience with contradictory messaging. Your audience would rather understand than be confused about your business. If they’re confused, they’ll move on to the next business who can help them solve their problem more quickly because they don’t want to spend time trying to figure out what your business can offer.

8. How can you use your brand capture your audience’s attention?

To do that your brand needs to tell a story. Make your customer the hero of the story, not your business. Use your imagination when crafting the story. Think of the problem you are trying to solve for your audience.

Branding will help you target the right customer. It gives you focus so you don’t waste time advertising to the wrong people.

9. Your brand unites your team members to one common goal

A brand is not only useful for your audience, it can inspire the team members who help run your business. As an entrepreneur, you are a leader and one of the ways to help lead your team is to remind them why they are along for the journey. If their goals are aligned with your brand, you will find that they are more motivated to make your business a success.

10. Conclusions

The reason why building a brand is essential to your success is because a brand is memorable: no need to repeat yourself because your brand does it all for you. A brand should invoke the desire to do business with you or continue the conversation. By cultivating the right impression, your brand can work for you and pay off in the long run.