Whaa gwaan fastlaners!

[leonrobinson1]

Greetings everyone,

I'm Leon, a graphic designer from Kingston, Jamaica, and have my own graphic design "business" Insight Studios. I produce quality work, but was never able to turn it into an advertising agency, my dream. I taught myself graphic design after graduating in the recession. I thought hard work alone would be enough, and if I burned my bridges I could make it. No day job, few relationships, just work.

A decade after I started it, I realized how wrong I was. I was self employed playing entrepreneur, doing all the design work, and made very little progress. I took on a partner that's good overall, but knows little about business. None of the potential mentors I approached helped me. Few want to groom competitors. I have a great deal of expertise, but don't know how to get corporate advertising accounts. Tired of small time "I know someone who can do it cheaper" clients.

I know I'm capable of SO much more, but I don't know what the missing piece is.

That's why I finally joined the Fastlane Forum. Because I'm tired of feeling frustrated. Because I'm tired of being surpassed by people with a fraction of my intellect and drive. Because I don't want to spend the rest of my youth making others rich. Because I want to realize my full potential.

Looking forward to your comments!

 

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[Phikey]

Hey Leon, nice to emeet you and welcome to the forum!

What are your next steps?

 

[leonrobinson1]

Hey Leon, nice to emeet you and welcome to the forum!

What are your next steps?

Wow! That was quick! Guess this is the Fastlane after all! I want to get ad contracts from large companies. Once I secure enough consistent contracts, I can hire employees. But is this the right path?

 

[Odysseus M Jones]

I want to get ad contracts from large companies.

What's stopping you?
Sales skills?
Is there a barrier to entry?

 

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[leonrobinson1]

What's stopping you?
Sales skills?
Is there a barrier to entry?

Sales mostly

 

[Phikey]

Sales mostly

What are you doing today to get those contracts with big companies? What are your next steps? what are your immediate action items?

 

[leonrobinson1]

What are you doing today to get those contracts with big companies? What are your next steps? what are your immediate action items?

Posting here for one. Hope to get some advice. I've done things by myself but it hasn't been working. I'm looking at agency proposal templates and considering joining an Advertising Association.

 

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[sparechange]

Posting here for one. Hope to get some advice. I've done things by myself but it hasn't been working. I'm looking at agency proposal templates and considering joining an Advertising Association.

Pick up the phone and start dialing like a telephone terrorist (cold calling can be fun if you make it a game) send out emails to all the big companies, request meetings, network with people & meet the big players.

 

[leonrobinson1]

Pick up the phone and start dialing like a telephone terrorist (cold calling can be fun if you make it a game) send out emails to all the big companies, request meetings, network with people & meet the big players.

Good stuff. Any more tips?

 

[sparechange]

Good stuff. Any more tips?

All I got for now :d

 

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[Andy Black]

Greetings everyone,

I'm Leon, a graphic designer from Kingston, Jamaica, and have my own graphic design "business" Insight Studios. I produce quality work, but was never able to turn it into an advertising agency, my dream. I taught myself graphic design after graduating in the recession. I thought hard work alone would be enough, and if I burned my bridges I could make it. No day job, few relationships, just work.

A decade after I started it, I realized how wrong I was. I was self employed playing entrepreneur, doing all the design work, and made very little progress. I took on a partner that's good overall, but knows little about business. None of the potential mentors I approached helped me. Few want to groom competitors. I have a great deal of expertise, but don't know how to get corporate advertising accounts. Tired of small time "I know someone who can do it cheaper" clients.

I know I'm capable of SO much more, but I don't know what the missing piece is.

That's why I finally joined the Fastlane Forum. Because I'm tired of feeling frustrated. Because I'm tired of being surpassed by people with a fraction of my intellect and drive. Because I don't want to spend the rest of my youth making others rich. Because I want to realize my full potential.

Looking forward to your comments!

Welcome. In some ways I’m in a similar boat with 10 years experience in my current field and still doing the coal-face work. I’m increasing my consulting fees but only a little and purely to get more revenue with less clients so it frees up my time. Then I’m going to focus on building productised services and platforms (courses in my case rather than a SaaS or something more complicated).


A question to ask yourself:

“Who already has your customers?” (Jay Abraham)



These might help you:
> "Build Your High Ground" & "Grow What You Know"
> HOT TOPIC - Andy's Inbound/Sales Braindump

I’ve grown my business building relationships. I had a great chat with @Kak about that here:
> Kak & Andy discuss the importance of building relationships in business

 

[Odysseus M Jones]

I've done things by myself but it hasn't been working.

Tell us what you've tried so far & any other pertinent info that you know such as industry practice etc
Is it a level playing field or is there something that prevents smaller players from making the transition into bigger customers?

 

[Phikey]

I think you’re moving in the right direction. Just think, every day, what is the one thing I could do today to move me towards my goal? (whatever that goal is)

You really really really don’t want to get stuck doing what we like to call ‘action faking’ here on the forums.

If I were you would I break down my goals clearly into smart goals and work out the exact path you need to follow to get there and discard all the distractions and fluff.

Pick up the phone and start dialing like a telephone terrorist (cold calling can be fun if you make it a game) send out emails to all the big companies, request meetings, network with people & meet the big players.

This is fantastic advice. This is action taking. I’m in the services business too and I wish I had done this sort of thing long before I realised how important it was.

I recommend going through @Andy Black ’s threads (there’s a lot) They helped me a lot when I was getting going. Just be careful not to get caught in the analysis paralysis state and actually take action ASAP! Looks like he’s already made it into this thread!

 

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[Andy Black]

Pick up the phone and start dialing like a telephone terrorist (cold calling can be fun if you make it a game) send out emails to all the big companies, request meetings

I must try this one day. I feel I’m somehow missing out on a lot of fun.

 

[sparechange]

I must try this one day. I feel I’m somehow missing out on a lot of fun.

After getting rejected over and over, there's something really special about getting a sale.. kind of like how people get excited when winning on a slot machine? Really think there is a similarity, I might be crazy though.

 

[Odysseus M Jones]

I must try this one day. I feel I’m somehow missing out on a lot of fun.

No it's not.
You'll probably be really good at it though.
Hope you do do it, I sense a gold thread, it'll help a lot of budding entrepreneurs.
Sales is one of the biggest obstacles people face.

 

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[sparechange]

No it's not.
You'll probably be really good at it though.
Hope you do do it, I sense a gold thread, it'll help a lot of budding entrepreneurs.
Sales is one of the biggest obstacles people face.

 

[Andy Black]

Ack. I’ll probably continue to do what I do, how I do it. It’s fun and I make friends (check out the episode on Kak’s radio show).

 

[Odysseus M Jones]

Here's a couple of cold call threads I skimmed yesterday:

GOLD! - Getting Rid of Cold Calling Anxiety Using Brute Force

I've got some free time on my hands and decided to get some sales experience. I'll be the doing cold calls, since the mere thought of doing them terrifies me. Inspired by @Fox's thread, I decided to "sell" websites. That being said, I can't build a site. I don't even know someone who could...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

EXECUTION - 90 Day Cold Calling Challenge

Hello everyone! I will be making a 90 Day Cold Calling challenge where I will call local businesses for 3 months straight on working days. With this, I hope to change my life so stakes are high... I will be posting updates at the end of each day. P.S.This is inspired by @Vilox legendary post...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

Read through, there's some good techniques from contributors that can be applied to calls and emails.

Although I would suggest that @leonrobinson1 brings on an industry experienced sales/account manager.

The advertising industry is idiosyncratic, nepotistic & xenophobic, it's a steep learning curve.

Even consider an equity partner that can drive growth.

It's better to have 30% of a large pie than 50% of nothing.

 

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[leonrobinson1]

You guys are awesome! Sage advice! I was applying to jobs, and have a job interview Monday. If I get it, I planned to use a portion of my income to hire a salesperson. But armed with this new advice, I'm not so sure. Should I:
1. Rededicate myself to my business, master sales, even though my funds are in the red?
2. Get a day job and hire a sales expert, even though I'd doing business part-time?

 

[Odysseus M Jones]

You guys are awesome! Sage advice! I was applying to jobs, and have a job interview Monday. If I get it, I planned to use a portion of my income to hire a salesperson. But armed with this new advice, I'm not so sure. Should I:
1. Rededicate myself to my business, master sales, even though my funds are in the red?
2. Get a day job and hire a sales expert, even though I'd doing business part-time?

If you choose 1 how would you survive until you made sales?

 

[leonrobinson1]

If you choose 1 how would you survive until you made sales?

I'd just go for it. The idea is the pressure would FORCE me to generate sales. Burn your bridges and all that. Others say that's impractical, and the best approach is to have your job take care of the bills, nurture your side hustle until it gets big enough to take your job's place.I will admit I was less aggressive business wise when employed as I was comfortable.

What do you guys think?

 

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[Odysseus M Jones]

I will admit I was less aggressive business wise when employed as I was comfortable.

What do you guys think?

You're right, a fighter has to live rough, struggle & prevail when he's on the ropes.

Humans are lazy & won't do anything unless absolutely essential.

A job will make you complacent.

I vote 1 death or glory.

 

[sparechange]

Keep a job...stress levels of not being able to pay bills will land you in a mental asylum. Try to keep your work hours short (part-time) if possible.

Work on the business during lunch break & commutes.

Unless you have a few months of savings locked up, then by all means just go for it.

 

[leonrobinson1]

You're right, a fighter has to live rough, struggle & prevail when he's on the ropes.

Humans are lazy & won't do anything unless absolutely essential.

A job will make you complacent.

I vote 1 death or glory.

Thanks for the feedback from you and sparechange. Had my interview and they discussed my design experience. I demonstrated competence and offered design and marketing solutions for their business. They said even if I didn't get the job, we may be able to do business together.

 

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[Tourmaline]

Have you read Built to Sell? If not, it seems like exactly what you need.

 

[leonrobinson1]

Have you read Built to Sell? If not, it seems like exactly what you need.

This may be what the doctor ordered. One of my challenges is divorcing myself from my business. Maybe it's because I fear losing control. Or maybe it's like father like son (my dad's a self employed carpenter).