Day 27: Power of Action

I spent the afternoon doing a search to find volunteer opportunities to mentor emerging leaders.  I stumbled across some contacts from a local university.  I placed a call and made a connection.  I placed another call and made another connection and a possible speaking opportunity.  I see the benefit of placing calls to plant seeds.  Not every call will result in a lead, nonetheless it is a contact that has broadened awareness of my business.

The two opportunities I am chasing are to mentor 5 graduate students for 6 months.  I know I am not making any money on this endeavor but it does accomplish two things.  First it gives me an opportunity to coach and do what I love to do.  Second, I am exposing potential leaders to my company and what I am capable of.  They will leave the university and go out into the workplace and that could potentially open many more doors for me.

These little wins inspire me to keep going and provide validation that there is a need for what I am doing. In signing up 5 students I will gain confidence and broaden my approach, I will gain more testimonials, and it will inevitably lead me to my ultimate goal of paying clients.

I created a marketing brochure that highlights the leadership coaching program I am implementing.  I have included a link to the document below.  I was pretty proud of what I was able to create, it looks very professional and speaks to my audience.

Marketing Brochure

I also had an interesting conversation over the weekend with a graphic design friend.  We spoke about marketing and he provided some excellent insight, all of which I intend to act upon.  He suggested the need to create a dialogue.  I realize that I know very little about the individuals that are subscribing to my newsletter.  I don't know their roles/titles, what they are struggling with, what information would be pertinent to their situation.  I need to create a dialogue to get these questions answered.

I have tried to accomplish this through twitter and my blog but these two groups are disconnected.  The individuals that read my newsletter do not subscribe to my blog or podcasts.  The other idea that came to mind during that discussion was to start posting this information my LinkedIn page.  I have a much better chance of initiating a dialogue there and lead them to the other sources.

I know it shouldn't be so difficult, this marketing stuff, but it does not come naturally to me.