Well now. I didn’t see this one coming. I recently turned 70 and took a bit of time before that “testing” retirement. I hated it. So now I find myself strangely energized and my creative juices are overflowing.
A bit of history. I have always been an effective networker. In the past, I have owned and operated three professional networking groups as a for-profit business. I am a referral junkie. Who likes cold calling? Not me, and if you say that you do … I would say that you are a …
Back to 2006. I had left my last management position (where I had spent most of my career) and I had made the decision to no longer manage people let alone be managed. I became an independent contractor.
I scoured my territory for potential opportunities and found several hundred. I then tore up that list and, instead, I reached out to potential power partners. Folks who could, and would, willingly refer me to potential clients.
Life was good until the recession hit. My business was driven by new commercial construction and … there was none. Time to pivot again.
I had developed my first networking group as a side hustle. Now it was my only hustle. Add two more groups and simultaneously develop side hustle #2 … consulting. The groups were sold in January of 2023 and I moved on to my next phase … retirement.
O.K. … semi-retirement. “Semi” is a bit of an ambiguous term. Does that mean work 20% of the time or 80%? I’m somewhere in between. And, how long does “semi” last? Dunno. My goals are pretty simple …
- Have fun doing what I love to do
- Supplement my income
- Save a little more for full retirement
- A few home improvement projects
- Fund my addiction to guitars and all of the goodies that go along with them
- Take a few extra trips
While I am a passionate networker, I have struggled with social networking. I’m more of a F2F kind of guy. I also have a fear of being in crowds and can be more introverted than extroverted. In short, I’m a mess and my age is showing.
I’m not about to do blast marketing hoping to uncover the occasional gem. I don’t like marketing period, I abhor automation, and I’m not good at either. It’s a sniper rifle for me vs. a shotgun.
Sometimes I think that I am a slow learner. I’m often oblivious to the painfully obvious. It’s the difference between “knowing what to do and actually doing it.” I’m now formally developing both my ideal client profile as well as my target buyer personas. I need to become more effective on LinkedIn in particular. I can do that.
I have decided to narrow my efforts to training and implementing Nimble CRM. Frankly, I have gotten damn good at that. I have developed a very effective training program and am in the process of expanding, and refining, that offering. Time to find more buyers.
Will A.I. be a part of this? Maybe, but I remain hesitant. I still think that effective selling is based upon developing relationships and I don’t see how A.I. fits into that. I have been advised to consider that route to assist, supplement, my P2P efforts. I will force myself to remain open to those concepts.
Back to networking. Any quality networking relationship is based on giving as well as taking so … my focus right now is on what I can provide to others. Give before asking. Leverage the “law of reciprocation”. I can do that. Like the Godfather, I’d much rather be in a position of being owed vs. owing.
I do have the luxury of time, other than my advancing age. I have spent the balance of 2023 largely on preparation. That being said … “no amount of planning replaces pure dumb luck” and I’m feeling lucky. Stay tuned.
Craig M. Jamieson
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