This is part 2 of a 7-letter series about creating more opportunities in life and business.
I’m doing this because I learned about building a business online the hard way.
It started with my first business.
I tinkered around with an app for almost a year. I paid a developer and a designer. We worked late nights. I got on calls at strange times of the day because of time zone differences. I eventually launched the app.
No one showed up.
I spent too much time on the product before talking to people.
With my bank account drying up, I had no choice.
No product this time. Just me, my email, and a Skype address.
I learnt how to use email marketing to get on calls.
At a Philz coffee cafe, I built a list of 100 contacts.
Sent emails of how I could help.
I got 20 responses.
Booked 14 calls.
Closed 1 deal.
That’s when I learned the power of discovery calls and talking to the actual customer.
No talk, no feelers, no options:
People don’t talk.
They remain in silence, hoping for opportunities to reveal.
Waiting for permission to be picked.
We are in a permissionless economy.
You can’t wait for permission. You can just do it.
Don’t wait for permission to speak. Just speak.
Don’t ask for permission to apply for a job. Just apply.
Don’t ask whether you should be considered for a role. Just submit your consideration.
Don’t ask what to post online. Just post and learn from that.
Most people learn about and create opportunities by talking to people. Getting a new job, business, or partnership happens through real-life conversations.
The easiest way to talk to some is through a referral. That’s why for the longest time, the adage goes: “your network is your net worth.”
The internet and social media changed that over the last 15 years.
You can literally talk to anyone in the world.
However, this has also caused a new problem.
There are too many people reaching out.
Too many strangers in the inboxes and DMs.
To increase your chances of getting in on “opportunity-creating” conversations, you have to make your network wider and deeper. To do that, you have to increase your chances of getting noticed by people who know you and strangers. You have to increase your opportunities to “say hello.”
The more you talk and engage with people who you can create value for the better you will be at creating and attracting opportunities.
Turn discovery conversations into opportunities
I wish people understood this about the Internet:
You post online to talk to people offline.
The curious mind usually gets rewarded.
I was on a call with the hiring manager of a company and she kept saying, through the interview “your resume is very impressive.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
In the back of my mind, I asked: “wait what resume? I never sent one. I got introduced to you by someone in my network.”
At the last round of the series of interviews, the founder of the company, a big name in the AI space, said: “Nifemi, from your resume, you have built a lot of impressive skills.”
“Thanks. But again, what resume?”
I never sent one out. I was amused through the entire process, asking: “Am I really going to get this job without a resume?”
Two weeks later, I got an offer. I later found out they were looking at my LinkedIn profile.
I happen to post every single day on LinkedIn.
My LinkedIn profile was my resume.
The definition of resume has changed and that includes sharing value online to build trust so you can get in conversations to create opportunities.
The moral of the story is, whether you’re trying to close a business deal, get hired for a new job, finalize a board advisory role, start a new partnership, get investment for your business, or hire someone for your foundation, you will do this either through a phone call, video session, or in-person conversation.
Humans do business with humans.
And people are more likely to get on a call with people they trust.
So you build your surface area for trust by expanding your network.
For some looking for a job, that’s constantly staying in touch with your network, always interviewing, and putting out feelers for new opportunities, even while you have a job.
For a business owner, that’s having discovery calls with customers.
In either case, it’s about staying in a state of discovery.
It helps you understand market pain points, connect your solution to it, and start capturing opportunity right away.
As time progresses, increase your chances of getting on calls by building trust ahead of time and warming up prospects with educational content, outreach, and simply staying in touch.
When you do this, you’ll find market-fit faster, create and capture value, and continue serving to attract more opportunities.
Step 2: Discovery Conversations
Most of us don’t get to yes because we’re not used to hearing no.
A lot of people who want to start a business online think they can get through it without talking to anyone. The most important skill you need to have as an entrepreneur is sales. You do this by talking to people, discovering their challenges, and positioning yourself as the solution.
People get nervous about sales, but it’s not so hard. You just have to reframe your mind and be curious, empathetic, and a good listener.
An Approach to discovery conversations that I know works
- Create a list of contacts in your target audience.
- Get introduced (either through a warm referral or a cold email)
- Ask for a 15-minute call (low investment)
- On the discovery call, ask these five questions:
- 1. What’s your current situation in your business?
- 2. What are your main challenges?
- 3. How is it impacting your business (and you)?
- 4. If you could wave a wand and get an ideal solution, what would it be?
- 5. What benefit will this solution bring to your business (and you)?
- Have as many of these calls as possible until you start hearing the same challenges and ideal solution.
- Pay attention and be as helpful as possible.
- Once you have done 10 of these calls, you’ll begin to notice trends
- Ask for budget constraints (or how much its costing them to not solve the problem)
- Understand their decision-making process, and who else is involved in the decision.
- Start crafting your offer to match their ideal solution.
- Put a price on it.
- Ask for the sale.
Land your first client. Do a short 4-week engagement. You might have to start with a low offer. Prioritize quality work and get a case study (this will be helpful in the remaining steps).
Use insights from discovery to strengthen authority signal
Revisit your positioning in in step 1. The feedback will help you strengthen your position.
Use your experience with your first couple of clients and the discovery calls you have to build educational content (blog posts, social posts, and case studies) that attracts more people to get on a call with you.
For those that shy away from sales, remember this: “Your ego is my opportunity.”
If you don’t want to deal with rejection, it’s an opportunity for another more hungry entrepreneur to create and grab value that you could be providing.
Start getting comfortable with rejection.
Get to yes from no through discovery conversations.
Final Thoughts
The best opportunities come through conversations.
Lead with your curiosity and follow up with empathy to really tease out challenges that you can help with. The more you have these conversations, the more you put yourself in a position to create opportunities. The next step is to build a content engine that helps you attract these conversations with ease and at scale.
I’ll touch on that in the next set of steps in my 7-stack system to build, package, and share your expertise to consistently build leverage, create opportunities, and live a life with autonomy.
Here are the coming steps:
- Step 1: Clarify your “authority signal”
Step 2: Turn discovery into opportunities {you’re here} - Step 3: Build a conversation magnet (a story bank)
- Step 4: Master Magnetic Message Structure
- Step 5: Stack Content Like a System
- Step 6: Design a Lead Magnet That Works
- Step 7: Build Your Inbound Engine
- Bonus: Warm Up Outbound with Content
Yours truly,
Nifemi
