The levers you can pull

Hopefully, your lever is more like a crowbar than the arm on a slot machine. (Image by deluxtrade)

For many years, I was one of those people who was pleased to have grown my business solely through word of mouth.

However, as admirable as it may have been to earn new business based on referrals from happy clients, it left me in a difficult position.

If I wanted to grow, there was nothing I could do to accelerate the flow of new prospective clients into my world. All I could do was wait.

While I could theoretically influence what my clients did, I had no control — and I didn’t know how to change that.

With my latest business, things are different. Even though I’m still sort of waiting for people to come to me — I’m not out knocking on doors or cold calling — I am doing some marketing. I’m showing up consistently and getting in front of new people to share my ideas.

And you know what? It’s working. While the flow of new prospective clients is only a trickle, it has become consistent along with my effort.

That’s so much more satisfying than hearing only once in awhile from someone who knows someone who knows me. I am getting new clients because of something I did. This means that not only can I count on my own pipeline of clients, I can help other people figure out how to find theirs.

It turns out that there are levers you can pull to build your business intentionally and not just depend on the kindness of other people to spread the word.

The levers that work and the way that we deploy them may vary depending on our specific business, but we can often follow in the footsteps of others who have faced similar problems. We don’t need to be wholly original or unique. And once we come up with a lever that yields our desired result, we can stick with it — we don’t need to be fancy or clever once we find something that gets the job done.

The most interesting part of the process, for me, is that I have been able to attract clients in spite of me doing a relatively poor job of clearly expressing whom I serve and what I do for them. The right people have figured it out anyway because (I think) I’m giving them enough context. I’m showing, not just telling.

The best lever you can pull, then, is the one you can find. For whatever you’re trying to do, you probably have something in your mind that you’ve been trying to get to for months or years. Do it — some version of it — even if it is not very good. Even if the “experts” are telling you that you are doing it wrong.

I guarantee that you will learn. You might have fun. And you might even see some of the results you’re looking for. From there, you can start to optimize. But doing that once you’re underway is very different from trying to do it before you’ve started.

I am by no means suggesting that I’m an expert at marketing. However, I’m starting to become successful at marketing. It doesn’t seem mysterious and magical anymore. It’s predictable and knowable. It’s been that way the whole time, just waiting for me to get it.

What levers can you pull to get the the results you’re looking for? If you’re not sure, which ones can you try?

I hope you have fun with it.