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For the week of 1/21/13:
I periodically post successes and hurdles I experience with my GrowLoop endeavor. It's likely more cathartic for me, but many others in the GrowLoop community are entrepreneurs as well and have interest in the peaks and valleys of others who have gone before or alongside them. So if you're curious or find benefit in the following information then you're welcome to it. Wins: First off my digital marketing strategy for GrowLoop is working and paying off. It's a strategy that's simplified from some of the more overwhelming ideas of having to be everywhere in social media and online with your marketing and producing tons of content that you can't keep up. My strategy is truly driven by communication and relationships with other people, yes humans, not screen names or Twitter handles. The point here is that I'm reaching and building connections with folks who are receptive to that idea and I'm accelerating those business relationships that initiate online by taking them off-line as quickly as possible. It allows you to put a voice with a name, if you connect off-line by phone, or a face with a name if you connect off-line in person. I've been connecting with several people this way for the last year, and I feel like I'm finally perfecting it for myself and my business (Note: I'll be sharing this strategy in a "how-to" product for sale in the near future). The other part of this strategy that is key and really part of the GrowLoop mission is truly finding a way to help those I connect with. I try to be a resource as best I can pointing them in the direction of a book I recommend based on what they've shared with me, or trying to connect them with other contacts that could lead somewhere worthwhile. The point is helping others in this way also adds to the acceleration of trust in a newly forming relationship. Thus, new contacts become newly trusted relationships a lot quicker and in a more genuine way. Sure it's not a mass flood of new connections, but the connections made are stronger and with real people tied to them -- not just a two Twitter handles following each ore online. The fruits of this strategy are steadily growing and in, what I would consider, the right way -- the GrowLoop way -- and that's a big win. Other wins include an awesome web project with a good friend and amazing residential solar panel installing business, Sun Dollar Energy based in the Raleigh, NC area. I'm super excited for this project and helping Dan grow his business. He's got some great ideas to integrate his off-line residential solar panel installing business with an online version of his business for the do-it-yourselfer who wants to install their own solar energy power-saving system. Get paid from the sun -- get your Sun Dollars! Challenges: I think my challenges lately are more sales-related than anything. While I'm constantly improving my ability to articulate and share the value of my services and close the sale, I'm realizing that though every sale has specific stages that are the same or similar, no two sales are identical in the details. I recently read Dave Ramsey's book EntreLeadership (Amazon Affiliate), in which he talks about the four steps a prospect goes through to make a purchase, which are:
Where I sometimes get hung up is either I didn't help the prospect well enough in the qualification stage or the education/information stage. I will say in the education/information stage I've been known to perhaps overwhelm folks with more education/information than they're ready for -- I'm learning to dole it out appropriately base on where the prospect's comfort level is and where their needs are. Posted by: Nick Venturella Comments are closed.
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