How-To Drive Revenue Now!

When you find yourself in a cash crunch, you have to go back to the basics.

Jan 21

Welcome to the official newsletter of “The Transition,” brought to you by me, "IRON" Mike Steadman, A Marine Corps Veteran, Social Entrepreneur, and Member of The Bunker Labs Branding Team.

Dear Bunker,

Last week I came across an amazing framework to help drive revenue, donations, investors, or whatever fuels your current business model.

While it’s easy to get caught up thinking we need some elaborate marketing strategy to “get the word out (air quotes)” about who we are and what we do, at the end of the day what we really need is to build key relationships.

This means we must roll up our sleeves and start reaching out to our network.

In his book, “The Prosperous Coach: Increase Income and Impact for You and Your Clients,” by Rich Litvin and Steven Chandler, Rich shares the following framework:

Connect
Invite
Engage
Propose

The beauty of this framework is that it doesn’t just apply to coaches, but all entrepreneurs, especially when we find ourselves in a cash crunch and need to drive revenue or raise capital now! So how do we do it? Let’s break it down.

Connect.

Start connecting with your perfect customer, whether it’s on Linkedin, at meetups, or even via email. Rather than trying to sell them or convince them why they should invest in your startup, buy your product, or work with your company, just be thankful to be connected.

Ex.

“Hey, John,

Thanks so much for accepting my request, looking forward to staying connected here.”

Invite.

Start a conversation and don’t be transactional. Don’t be corny and try to do too much at once, but just get some dialogue going. When the opportunity presents itself, which might not be right away and make take several weeks or even months, invite them to something. It can be a zoom call, coffee, or local event. If you have a podcast, invite them on there. The goal is to keep the conversation moving forward.

Engage

This is an opportunity to show your value. The goal is to build trust and establish credibility. Sometimes this means just listening and getting to really know them. As a brand strategist and podcast producer, I like to turn my calls into working sessions, cranking open google docs and solving a problem for them on the spot. I don’t sell, I just let them experience what it’s like to work with me and how I think.

Propose

Offer to help them. If you have a product that solves their pain, sell it to them. If you’re raising capital, let them know you want them to invest. Don’t force anything, just paint a picture of what it would be like to move forward with you. Best case scenario, they become a new customer or investor, worst case, they’ll orchestrate referrals for you. Either way, it’s a win-win.

I know it’s Saturday and typically don’t send my newsletter out on the weekend, but I thought some of you needed a nudge. I’ll be discussing the framework in this week’s upcoming episode of the Transition so stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy your weekend!

The Transition is brought to you by MetLife Foundation, and their commitment the supporting veteran and military-spouse entrepreneurs. In addition, Metlife Foundation also provides mentorship and financial health resources to veterans and military spouses transitioning into the workforce.

***P.S. I’m a Marine Grunt, so I apologize for any grammar errors in advance, but know I’m working on improving my writing."

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