One Person Removed

One of the most powerful concepts I have been toying with is the idea that you are only one person away from having someone support you in achieving your dreams. What would happen to your business if someone who is highly influential decided to back you and promote you? Let’s say Oprah or Bill Gates, or maybe the president of an association with thousands of members. Get the picture?

Earlier this year, my company launched a product called QuoteActions. It is a system that allows the small business owner to stay in touch and open conversations with their entire database. We set a goal of selling 200 subscriptions for this year, and we have a good chance of achieving our goal. Our business plan projects 1,000 sales in two years.

However, based on this post’s title, the truth is–there is no reason why this couldn’t happen a lot sooner. All I would need to do is attract one highly influential person who already does business with my target audiences.  This someone would serve the needs of small business owners and/or independent service providers.  If they were to endorse my company and product to their clients, I believe the timeframe would be significantly reduced.

Here’s the interesting part. Last Wednesday I was attending a networking meeting with my BNI group and one of the visitors ended up sitting next to me. We chatted for a few minutes, and he told me that my business sounded interesting to him. We exchanged cards and decided to explore how we could work together in the future.

As it turned out he contacted me that very afternoon. After reviewing my website and my blog, he made the call to let me know that we had something he and his company were looking for. As a business development leader of a successful sales training firm in Southern California, they had been looking for a company that does experiential learning to help their clients. They have a database of over 100,000 members—all are small business owners, entrepreneurs and service providers. Imagine what could happen if his company decides to promote and become an affiliate provider of our product? When you combine the database numbers with the credibility this person enjoys with his clients, we could possibly reach our 1,000 within weeks. Think about it–if only 1% of their contacts respond positively, it’s a win-win for both companies. I’m not saying this will happen, however, it is now a very real possibility.

We have a tendency to project the future based on what has happened in the past. We often extrapolate numbers based on averages from previous months or years. While this approach seems logical, it doesn’t have to be so. Just remember, you are only one person away from blowing those predictions away.

So who is that person and how do you find him/her? Well, in the immortal words of Jack Palance to Billy Crystal in the movie City Slickers — P: “You know the secret of life boils down to one thing.” C: “What is that one thing?” P: “Well, that’s what you have to figure out.”

I don’t know who that person is or where I will meet them, although sites like Biznik.com & Ecademy.com greatly increase my chances.  But I do know one thing, the odds that I will find them – or them find me – are greater the more I believe and trust in this process. The mind works like a missile. Once it locks into a target; it finds a way to get there.

Tagged as: "QuoteActions", Billy Crystal, Biznik, BNI, Business, City Slickers, ecademy, Jack Palance, Los Angeles California, Oprah Winfrey, Small business, Southern California