“Without a list, you don’t have a business.” How many times have you heard that one?
Lead generation, whether it be in the form of followers, subscribers, website visitors or podcast listeners, is without a doubt one of the biggest challenges we face while building our businesses, and yet also the most essential piece.
Because it’s true: without a list of some sort, you don’t really have a business. Your list is your business. List building, or lead generation, is one of the elements of my L.O.V.E. Method that I feature within my signature program. The L.O.V.E. Method is actually the strategy behind business building. (And list building represents the first letter of the method, and thank goodness, because it’s that important!)
However, list building is by far the one thing that I see my market sweat about the most, for several reasons.
The Challenging Side to Lead Generation
Firstly, it’s time-consuming. Building a list takes time. It’s not something that can be done overnight. You do thankfully get to a point where you consistently build momentum, but in the beginning, there is a bit of a hustle that comes with it.
Secondly, it’s terrifying! A lot of us (yes, even myself) do not love the idea of asking people to subscribe to our list, or attend a free webinar, or join a private group. The “ask” feels awkward and intimidating and even unnatural in many cases, but again, it’s necessary.
Third and finally, it’s tough. The relentless persistence that is required to build a list and surpass the time-consuming and terrifying mentality along with it, takes something more than guts. It takes a tremendous amount of strong-willed faith in what you are building and providing.
However, luckily, I’ve been able to thoughtfully maneuver my way through the challenges of lead generation by simply thinking of it differently.
Generating Leads is Like Breathing
I look at lead generation as breathing. Breathing entails inhaling and exhaling. When you think about lead generation, there’s an inhale and exhale quality behind it. The inhale represents the actions you take internally, such as mindset work, and self-talk, and manifesting power. It represents the ability within you to surrender and allow you and your business to be ready and willing to accept and receive leads. The exhale represents the actions you take externally, such as posting on social media, pitching to media, collaborating with colleagues and networking. It represents the capacity for you to put yourself out into the world, share your message and do so in the most authentic way possible.
Obviously, just as breathing, you need to inhale as much as you exhale. Is your breathing in balance? Is your lead generation in balance? Are your business building efforts in balance? Are you in balance?
Consider the balance behind lead generation and think about the ways you can do more of one or the other.
And of course, this goes without saying that in order to make lead generation any easier on yourself, you need to first start by literally inhaling and exhaling your way through it. Afraid to post? Breathe through it and do it anyway. Nervous about asking someone to subscribe? Inhale and exhale and ask anyway.
Lead generation is an essential part of entrepreneurship. So, make it fun. Make it easy. And, remember to breathe.
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