One of the major concerns for people making a career pivot or starting something new, is not knowing where to start in order to gain traction. This concern compounds the anxiety people feel about making a pivot or change.
Everyone knows how vitally important it is to hit the ground running.
This is especially true when your pivot feels like starting from scratch and your finances and survival depend on quickly moving from burn rate to profitability.
So, how can you make this move so that you launch into the next thing with some momentum?
Here’s the first thing you should do
Make a list of everyone you know and have some method of contacting. Seriously….everyone.
When I say “know,” I don’t mean the Linkedin connection requests you accepted but who you know nothing about. I mean: people you have spoken to, met in person, are friends with, are acquaintances with, you’ve worked with, etc.
In short, I mean everyone who you remember, by name, and who would remember you, by name.
Here’s what to do after that
Write a message short enough that it would be appropriate to send via text, social media direct message, or email. The message should contain the following crucial pieces of information:
- A Contextualized Greeting
- An Explanation of what you’re doing and who it is for
- An ask without a deadline
Let me elaborate…
1. A Contextualized Greeting
- If you are sending a mass of messages to people, be up-front about that.
- If you are writing individualized messages to people, this is the place to add personalized context.
Either is fine, so long as you’re not lying about it. For instance, don’t pretend you are sending personalized messages when you are in fact copying and pasting the same message to everyone.
Example:
Hi, I’m sending a message to everyone in my network because I’m in the midst of starting a new business and I could use all of the help I can get from the people I know.
2. An explanation of what you’re doing and who it is for
Keep this simple. Don’t tell people about everything you could do. Pick one or two things and then explain who it is for.
Example 1:
I am starting a business coaching practice where I help people who are self-employed, especially those who are neurodivergent, to get their systems and processes in order so they can scale while doing more of the work they love. ← btw, this is one of the things I do
Example 2:
I am starting a membership community for moms, particularly those who are first-generation. I provide resources, coaching, and support so that expecting mothers, recently post-partum mothers, and mothers with young children have the resources they need to thrive and don’t feel so alone. ← someone I know
Example 3:
I am launching a new podcast focused on rapid-learning for topics that would be interesting to people who want to make an impact through their work, whether that is at a company or working for themselves. ← this is a rough pitch for the relaunch of my podcast Shareable
3. An ask without a deadline
The reason I suggest no deadline, is that this is not a sales pitch. It’s an awareness builder.
Your goal here is not that you annoy 90% of people with an unprompted pitch to get 10% of people who might be interested.
The goal is to let people self select and give them the benefit of the doubt that they can read between the lines.
Example:
My only ask is that you keep this information in mind and if know anyone or come across anyone who you think would be interested in my new direction, I’d be grateful if you would connect them with me. My new email is: [email protected]
The only thing left to do is send
Now that you’ve crafted the message and you have a list of people to contact, it’s time to reach out and send the message.
Why this works
This works because, despite what you might think, it is generally going to be the people at the edges of your network that will lead to new work. That means, people known by the people you know. If people don’t know what you are working on, they cannot recommend you. If you don’t reach out and update them about your direction, they won’t recognize when it is the right time to bring up your name.
By sending an update with a low-pressure ask, you are more likely to be received as a friend or acquaintance seeking help, then someone intruding with, yet another, sales pitch.
One more, from me
Hello, my amazing reader.
I am writing this to let you know about what I do since I am currently working on reaching the next level for an important line of my business. I would love your help getting to do more of this important work.
I am the co-founder of a productivity company called Super Productive. We specialize in configuring productivity tools with a neuroinclusive approach to help every person on a team become more productive. We leverage automation to reduce repetitive work, design customized workspaces to streamline cross-team collaboration, and offer support to spur adoption until our clients have a tool that is their single source of truth.
Please keep me in mind when you think of productivity. If you know anyone now or in the future with a productivity problem that works in pharma or biotech, or who works at an agency (marketing, pr, design, etc), I’d be grateful if you connected them with me.
I can be reached at [email protected]
I hope you enjoyed this post!
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