Bill, I think one of the toughest things to do is to realize and practice that, when we connect with someone on LI, it is NEVER about us. It is NEVER about us getting another transaction. If you connection brings it around to that, great. But until they do, we MUST just be seeing how we can help that person – in their business, in their life. I was luck to have someone view my profile within hours after my posting the revised version who said up front that they loved my transparency and wanted to purchase their first home. But that was an anomaly.

On the other hand, I have had phone conversations with a number of people with whom I have connected after I emphasized simply that I may be able to help them get more exposure. When I am on the phone, I take charge and ask them to spend a couple of minutes telling me about themselves, who they are, what they do, how they got to where they are now. Makes no difference if I am talking with a general contractor or a CEO is a large tech firm, they are always ready to talk about themselves. Then they usually ask about me.

I usually say something like, “Well, you can see from my profile that I am in real estate, but . . .” and I then speak about how I have helped others in ways that do not necessarily have anything to do with selling them a home.

I then say that I believe I know someone with whom they might share interests, or someone who might help them in their business. Then, after the call is over, I do an email loop with them, the person or persons I believe they will benefit from meeting, and I encourage them to agree for us all to meet for lunch or coffee. Have had some great meetings this way. During one, a week ago, the two gentlemen who I put together both thanked me profusely for engineering the meeting. Then both confessed that they are in the market to buy new homes and, voila, the conversation changed.

I do not necessarily use the 4 questions verbatim. For example, I rarely ask “What is your core business?”. I look at their profile, and if their core business is obvious, I ask a questions that makes it clear that I HAVE looked at their profile. So, I might ask what is the minimum size company they prefer to do business with, or what are their goals for the year?

I hope this helps you.

Hey, @bill-toujouse  –

First of all, deep breath.  Nothing has happened YET.  And we talked from the very beginning about the fact that you have felt negative about yourself/your business for a long time.  You have been going in this direction for a long time, swimming upstream, so to speak, and sometimes it takes a minute to turn the canoe downstream.  You’re in the middle of that now. You know what they say, “When you’re going through hell, keep on going!”

I want to point out several ways in which you are sabotaging yourself, quietly, and likely unaware that you are doing so.  @ken-deshaies mentioned one right away in his wonderful response to you!  “I need 2 clients this month.” On one level, sure.  Deep down, though, that need is coming from a place of lack – which, while it may be the reality you created for yourself up until now, sends the message of lack right back out AND pushes those possible clients away.  When you think of your future clients, think of them with gratitude – they’re coming, they just got a little lost on their journey to you.  You’ve HAD clients, you WILL have clients again!  So welcome them in in your mind and know that they want to come to you, AND once they arrive, you will help them – BIG TIME!!

Steps you can (and should take every day): Check your Barker 20 stats – are people responding to your Q1s, to your Q2s? Where is the conversation breaking?  Are you continuing to show up on the Mindset calls – they are powerful and I know you used to attend regularly.  You need that infusion of YES in your life!  Speaking of which, what are you doing to keep good things happening in your life? Are you working hard, so hard that you never get a break right now? You need time to recharge your batteries, every day.  The objective is to move you towards an attitude of SUCCESS in EVERYTHING so that success can start to show up once again!!

Come to the Q&A call tomorrow and talk through it with the team. Let everyone support you AND get you back on track! Now is a GREAT time to be someone’s new accountant and tax man because the clients didn’t like last year’s accountant!! You might also listen to the Profit First calls (at least the first one and the final one) because you may want to consider offering that system to your clients.  Telling them you will make them profitable right away and keep them that way will make you stand out from the crowd for sure!!

Specifics about your profile: Your headshot isn’t good – you want to be able to see your head in about 80& of it, not 20% of it.  You also want to USE the real estate of that background image.  Send an email to Lindsey@coredm.com with your company name, logo, and 3 results those contractors can expect from working with you.  Then she can put that into the background and it’s like getting an ad on your own profile!! I also feel like your summary is too accounting-y.  YES your clients know what EBITDA is, and they don’t really care!! It doesn’t mean anything to them!  You want to run the whole profile summary through hemingwayapp.com and see where you are writing above 5th grade language – give them the experience of the EMOTION, not the techie bits (which is what YOU are there for).  And your call to action isn’t strong. Use this: Ready to see how much you can save? (instead of ready to talk)

Also, you wrote and asked this to me in email:  How do I build a webinar for accounting and tax services? I am not sure what to add and what to do.
PLEASE go through the training for modules 5 & 6.  We walk you through the process step by step AND this is what the live coaching calls are also for.  Start with the webinar overview roadmap, do the webinar accelerator, and then let us know how we can help!!

Bill, you’ve got this!! KEEP COMING BACK and KEEP STAYING IN ACTION – then KEEP SHARING YOUR RESULTS (good, bad, or indifferent) so we can help you course correct!