Alert readers may recall that I had shoulder surgery recently. In fact, as I write this, it has been exactly six weeks to the day since I went under the knife (not that you bothered to call).
How has the recovery been? Well, as the old saying goes, there’s not a lot about it that reminds you of opening presents on Christmas morning. It’s a slow and painful process.
And yet, despite all that, I have to say that the human body’s ability to heal is pretty remarkable.
Think about it. Somebody literally cut open my shoulder, chipped off this, reattached that, and now, just a few weeks later, it’s starting to get back to normal. There’s hardly a scar, and with each passing week, things just get better and better.
Compare that steady improvement to what happens after your car gets dinged, or your computer gets a virus, or you tell your brother-in-law at Thanksgiving what you really think of him and his know-it-all wife (hey, I was drinking), and it’s clear that most things in life do not recover with the simple passage of time.
No, most things, left unattended, get steadily and progressively worse.
Well, in the world of professional services marketing, Exhibit A in that regard are (is?) your relationships. Left unattended, they wither and die, along with whatever value they might otherwise provide.
Top Of Mind is Half the Battle
Last week, for example, I saw a post on LinkedIn by somebody that I know pretty well. Not a close friend, but somebody I think highly of and have known for a long time.
He receives my newsletter and I receive his. And for the past several years, if anyone ever mentioned needing help in his area of expertise, I would send them directly to him.
I didn’t even read most of his newsletters. But there he was, month after month, showing up in my inbox.
But about a year ago (I checked), he stopped publishing. Eventually, I stopped sending people his way. Not because I no longer like him and not deliberately … I just forgot all about him.
It was like negative healing: slowly, without doing anything or even noticing, our connection became weaker and weaker, until one day, it was gone.
You Need a System
I love newsletters for all kinds of reasons, staying top of mind among them. But I get it; it’s a big commitment and writing isn’t for everybody.
So if that’s not your thing, find something else. Something – anything – that will keep you active in the brains of other people. Because that’s how word of mouth works.
Two people are sitting in Starbucks, one person says they need help with something, and the other person tries to think of a resource that could do the trick. It’s not science and it’s totally subjective. But sorry, that’s the deal.
And if you’re not in my brain when that need is raised, no matter how much I may like you and think highly of your skills, I either say nothing or send my Starbucks friend in another direction.
So try this simple approach:
Step #1. Make a list of everyone you know.
Not just “potential clients” or “influential people.” Everyone.
Your college roommate, your former coworkers, your friends from your professional associations, your brother-in-law (maybe wait until things cool down).
#2. Come up with ways to reach out to each of these people at least three times a year.
Send an email; say hello on LinkedIn; send a birthday card; call them up. It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that they remember you are alive.
That’s it.
Could you do a lot more in the name of marketing yourself? Absolutely.
But fading into invisibility among those you already know – and who would happily send people your way – is the absolute worst thing you can do.
Here’s the Bottom Line
Word of mouth requires that your name comes out of somebody else’s mouth (still with me?). It’s not luck and it’s not complicated.
And even though it is the best, most cost-effective means of professional services marketing, it only works if you come to mind when the moment arises.
Your Turn
In exactly 7 words, summarize today’s newsletter in the comments below.
(Extra credit if it rhymes.)
(Extra extra credit if it also includes the word “shoulder.”)
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Relationships mouldering? Try shouldering up your newsletter.
You are LeMaster at this, Phil (sorry)!
Shoulder healing – pain-free feeling – but remain appealing!
Well played, Linda!
Stay top of shoulder… I mean “mind”
I LOLed on that one.
2023 to get much
stay in touch
and wishing you continued healing!!
Nicely done and thank you!
Connect with others 3 times per year!
Simple and so true, Bob!
Without word of mouth
From others
You lose
Nice. That almost felt haiku-ish!
As winter is getting “colder”…
And another birthday in January makes me “older”…
Choosing to be marketing “bolder”…
So my new 2023 clients will be “beholder”my creative stoke of the pen.
You have gone above and beyond, JuneAnn!
Staying top of mind is key. Shoulder
Extra credit for creativity, Biz! Like the kid who is asked by a teacher to “use the word shoulder in a sentence,” and says, “Use the word shoulder in a sentence.”
Let frequent contact shoulder the responsibility for your marketing.
1/3 ain’t bad.
Hope you’re back in the pitching rotation soon.
A nice meatphor! (I was never in the pitching rotation.)
Fill that empty space
with YOUR face!!
To never be forgotten
be evermore uncommon.
LJ
I love that first one, LJ!
Michael’s friend disappears. Michael doesn’t say why.
Seriously, I am troubled that someone you knew for years stopped making contact and it appears you didn’t try to find out what was up. It might be something as innocent as a hard drive crash that wiped out his mailing list. It might be something sad. Or maybe you did get the answer and for some unknown reason preferred not to include it in your message.
I’m a curious person. This is going to bother me until I know more (and your guy is likely someone I have never encountered).
Aha! Great question and that’s exactly the point. This isn’t somebody I’d call a friend; he’s a business colleague, the kind of person I might see at a networking event or exchange a happy holidays email with .
The vast majority of the people we “know” – which I define as “if you called them up you wouldn’t have to introduce yourself “- are not friends. In the case of this guy, I hardly know anything about him outside of a work context. So that’s the problem – we don’t notice these people when they disappear, and they wouldn’t notice us if we did.
But, from a pure word of mouth perspective, they are valuable relationships and worth keeping fresh.
Shoulder bolder connection, get word-of-mouth direct election.*
*I’m counting “word-of-mouth” as 1 word because of the hyphens. 🙂
These challenges are always fun, Michael. Thank you.
We totally accept your WOM entry as one word! Thanks for playing, Jess.
Contacts get colder, IfYou don’t shoulder, KeepingInTouchWithThemRegularly.
Oh, you didn’t mean like 7 words found in one of those books? Those whatchacall’ems… dictionaries, did you?
Exttra credit to you, Brad. Few people realize that keepingintouchwiththemregularly is actually one word.
I came here just to read others’ comments. They did not disappoint. Speedy healing, Michael.
Hey, that’s way more than seven words.
(thank you)
Contact rules: Be bolder! No cold shoulder!
Love it!
Funny-witty-informative. I used to think that writing was a gift for some people…but now I know it isn’t. I wish I could listen more, learn your craft, and write as well as you.
By the way…
Blah.Blah.Blah. isn’t the same as ‘I know this guy who hurt his shoulder, and you should talk with him’.
Agreed. the personal touch makes all the difference, especially when selling something as intangible as professional services!
I’m happy
People are talking about me
Well done, Bill!