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In today’s edition, we explore why you cannot rely on social media and referrals alone to bring new business in. You have to get on the front foot as hope is not a strategy. Let’s get to it.

Hi Reader,

I had coffee with a friend last week, and it was good to catch up. He has done very well in his job but has recently decided on a change and will be leaving his job at the end of February to embark on a new career.

He told me that he was excited at the thought of the new challenge, but also scared.

"What scares you?" I asked.

"I am giving up the security of a wage packet every month, and although I have got money to live on, what happens if I don’t get any customers? More importantly, I am not sure I know HOW to go and win new customers”.

He then proceeded to talk about another friend of his who had started up a new business 6 months ago with great intentions and bold thoughts. He was confident in what he did, and winning new business would be easy. So, he thought.

Six months down the line, that same friend was starting to think about finding a job because (bar one small customer) he hadn’t brought any new business on board and was now worrying about what he would do for income.

I asked my friend, "What has he done to try and win new business then?", and when I got the answer, it all became clear.

"He has been posting on social media regularly for months and gets some engagement, but no bites or enquiries. When he does reach out to people, they show some interest, but it never goes anywhere. He doesn’t know what to do!"

I sighed. I had heard this same story so many times. I shook my head.

"What?" my friend asked.

“You can’t rely on it coming to you”, I said. “The reality is simple. If your ship doesn’t come in, then you have to swim out to it. How much swimming has he done?”

His response said it all.

"Not much, I don’t think, if any". Which I knew meant none.

Herein lies the big challenge, not just for someone starting up a business, but for those running an existing business or for those who work in a business.

Winning new business is not easy.
Winning new business is tough.
Winning new business RARELY happens without you having to do something.

In other words, you must learn to swim. And quickly, if you don’t have any income coming in.

There seems to be a belief out there that ‘putting posts on social media’ or ‘attending a few events’ will guarantee you a glut of new leads and business.

Or the creation of a slick marketing campaign will bring leads in by the bucketload.

It is vital that you shake off this misconception now if you want to achieve the revenue and targets you have for 2026.

This misconception is cultivated by the hundreds of ‘lead generators' out there who tell you that they can generate you lots of leads by not doing much per month. This group, when added to the clueless people who say ‘keep doing what you are doing, it will happen in the end' causes endless amounts of stress for so many in business.

They crave and want to win new business but rely on hope as a strategy.

And hope is not a strategy. Not one that I would bet on anyway.

If you want to generate new business (especially if you are a new company), then there are only 2 ways to do this.

They come to you
Or you go to them

You can generate ‘inbound’ new leads through the creation of Lead Magnets or Targeted outreach campaigns (through pay-per-click or social advertising), but I would never base my overall strategy on this approach alone. Plus, there is work and cost involved in the 2 above approaches.

If you want to guarantee yourself the best chance of winning new business, you need to develop a proper Outbound Sales Plan. A plan that will allow you to make contact with potential customers and then OVER TIME build some awareness and trust with them that MIGHT make them want to engage with you.

I told my friend that if he (or his friend) wanted to generate new leads that could (in time) turn into customers for his business, then the path wasn’t straightforward, but it was very achievable. If he was prepared to do a few things that felt a bit uncomfortable.

I gave him 5 simple steps to follow to start with.

STEP 1

Be very clear about the specific problem you solve and for whom. Be as specific as possible.
Create a persona of who that person is, what their likes and dislikes are.
Write down what their top 20 problems are and how they are solving this problem right now.

I cover a number of other elements in my Ideal Customer Profile document. You can download it here for free.

STEP 2

Build, research or create a list of a minimum of 100 (but ideally 200) prospects that meet the criteria above.
This may take a little while to research and find, but it's important to create.
You only need 100 if you need 1 or 2 customers for your business. Most businesses UNDERESTIMATE how many prospects they need to have to engage with to meet their objectives.

STEP 3

Create a few bits of valuable content or information which talk to the top 2 or 3 of the biggest problems.
Whether that is a video, a guide, a checklist (like this one), or a mini course, create something of value that you can use within communications with this group of prospects.

STEP 4

Put together a 6-month (yes, 6-months – prospecting takes time!!) calendar sheet which has the prospects numbered down the left-hand side, the dates at the top and tickboxes in the middle.
I have created a version for you to use if you like. It's here.

STEP 5

Create a series of communications that you can send and use to engage with this group of prospects.
You do NOT want to be using only one media for this. Ideally when you are prospecting, you should be engaging with 3 or 4 different media to stand the best chance of getting a response from them.
And remember this is Outbound, i.e., you are reaching out to them via their email address or via a social message.

It is not just creating a social post and then expecting them to come to you! This is the bit that most people find hard to do. If you don’t know what to create, then get in touch by replying to this email and I will send you details of an online Training session I am running in Feb to help create ‘outbound messages that generate results’.

With these 5 steps completed, my friend is giving himself the best possible chance of ensuring his transition from job to business owner will go well. There are still a few steps involved in the process after these 5 and the communications and outreach HAS to be done well, but doing the above will give him (and you if this story resonates) a fighting start.

Many I speak with prefer the inbound approach because it is less scary and feels easier to do. But when has anything that has been easy got great results??

I am also going to share with you in the next few weeks some strategies that, when used, can help you open the door to new prospects and break down the barriers with people you don’t know.

If you know someone in the same position as you, then why don’t you look at referring them to the newsletter? The person who get's most referrals in the month of January is going to win a prize from me.

I will provide my friend with some help and support, but many are struggling because they are relying on hope too much as a strategy.

Please don’t. In life, we have a choice. Eat or Be Eaten.

You can either take control of your own destiny and eat. Put your success in your hands only.
Or you can be eaten up by the world and everything around it. And in 2026 and with an incredibly uncertain business world, you will be eaten up if you leave everything to hope and chance.

I know we can do better than this. Let’s make it happen.

Have a brilliant week ahead and see you next Saturday.

James