Sometimes the best solutions are also the simplest.
Instead, we love, love, love to make life complicated.
Take getting hired for example.
I help content experts get hired. Consultants, coaches, trainers, and speakers all want one thing. More clients.
And that’s where it gets stupid.
“So, tell me what you’re doing to get more clients?” I might ask, innocently expecting some version of a sales pipeline strategy.
Wrong.
What I hear is a crazy-complicated scheme involving YouTube videos, chopped into sound bites for Twitter with edited still images splashed on Instagram that somehow go from Facebook to a blog and back to Facebook.
What the hell?!
If any of this sounds embarrassingly close to home, please listen to me.
You are an idiot. I know because I was as well.
Seriously, do you actually think a VP of HR frantically trying to keep her troops hired, happy, and productive gives an owl’s hoot about your Instagram feed?
Before I get to A STUPID SIMPLE WAY TO GET HIRED I want to make one point clear.
Almost all of the time you spend promoting your business on social media is wasted. Don’t believe me? Here’s a simple test. Calculate your typical hourly rate, multiply it by hours spent creating, editing, posting, checking, replying, checking again, replying, etc. Now compare that number to revenue directly earned from those efforts.
If you are not making some multiple of earnings from time spent then you have, well, a problem.
THE SHOEMAKER’S SON
I work with influencers. People who get hired to speak on stage, lead corporate training programs, deliver personality assessments, coach, or facilitate planning sessions.
These are talented, highly motivated people, who, just like the proverbial shoemaker’s son, have blind spots when it comes to their own business.
That’s where I come in.
My role is to help develop simple, repeatable systems that bring in predictable revenue. My role is to also unpack damaging myths being promoted by self-motivated influencers.
Most of these myths fall under the ubiquitous advice of “be everywhere.”
Sure, if you are selling memberships, e-books, or online courses you need to reach thousands to get hundreds of sales. But, that formula quickly fails in the arena of more expensive skill development initiatives, like live coaching or training.
The “be everywhere” is also a direct path to burnout and starting to hate your business. I know because at various times I’ve tried it.
“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.” — Jim Rohn
After two decades and millions in sales, this is what I believe:
- you don’t need to reach millions of people to get hired by a few dozen.
- the best way to influence a prospect is with a conversation.
- when you post on social media you tell the world you aren’t busy.
That brings me to a better way to get hired.
A STUPID SIMPLE WAY TO GET HIRED
Let me start with a question:
What do people love to do?
Answer: talk about themselves and give advice.
And that’s the secret: if you want to get more business, ask for advice.
Instead of pounding away with your not-so-subtle sharing of wisdom on social media, do some research.
It’s as simple as this: phone a dozen prospects or past clients and ask them what keeps them up at night. What is their biggest frustration? What is one thing they would love to start/stop/change in their business?
Your goal is to discover the solutions (that you are an expert in) that would be perfect for them and to start a conversation. Trust me, if they are talking about their business, their challenges, and their needs, and you are truly listening (not pitching) they will want to talk.
I have done this for decades and I have always gotten sales.
Here’s the beauty of this approach.
This is the most direct, respectful, meaningful way to fine-tune your products to exactly what the market needs. When you follow up from each call you know precisely what that prospect needs to hear (you can even use their words in your pitch).
I know what you might be thinking…
THIS IS SO EASY IT CAN’T WORK
You’re thinking this is so easy there’s no way it can work. After all, my business is different. And don’t all the gurus tell me to create a bleeding big spreadsheet to track all my social media posts and stay up late editing my latest iPhone video?
Of course they do—they want you to buy their course, or template, or Bootcamp.
“Remember that if you don’t prioritize your life someone else will.” ― Greg Mckeown
Before I sold BlogWorks I used this exact technique to close 3 to 4 sales per week, working only 15 hours a week. I wasn’t selling, I was learning all about what these business owners needed. Big difference.
It just so happened I had exactly what they needed 80% of the time.
On the other hand, you don’t have to change anything.
DON’T CHANGE A THING
If you’re after immediate gratification keep pounding away at social media.
Just like yanking on a Vegas slot machine, social media is designed to give you intermittent rewards. And once in a while you hit the jackpot. And when that happens you quickly forget about the hundreds of hours that turned up squat.
Chances are you love Twitter or LinkedIn or whatever. That’s great. Keep doing what you’re doing and I’m sure somewhere in the future you’ll get a hit and get hired.
Meanwhile, a boatload of business has sailed by your doors and gone to someone else who was willing to pick up the phone and make a call.
And I guarantee you that person will do it over and over again.
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