Mark McGuinness - Resilience: Facing Down Rejection (10 page)

Pick one or two whose ideas resonate for you, and look for opportunities to connect with them via your network—online and offline. Read their blogs and leave comments. Go to their lectures and ask questions. Read their books and write about their ideas online. Follow them on social networks, where etiquette allows—following them on Twitter is probably a good idea, asking to be Facebook friends, not so much. LinkedIn is particularly good at helping you check whether any of your contacts know them.

Look out for opportunities they advertise. If they are open to speculative applications, then approach them yourself—with a meticulously prepared pitch.

5. Make time to hang out with the tribe you identified in
Chapter 17
. DON’T keep hustling your peers for opportunities—that’s a big turn off. Remember,
the purpose of networking is to build your network
, not to close a deal in every conversation. Focus on making a genuine connection with people and look for opportunities to help
them
, and eventually the opportunities will trickle through to you as well—even if it takes a while.

20. Narrow the odds

I once built a business by cold calling. I took a deep breath and dialed my way through a list of HR directors’ phone numbers, asking them whether they had a need for my company’s training courses.

During that time I listened to a lot of tapes of extroverted American sales gurus—guys like Zig Ziglar and Brian Tracy, who were the complete opposite of my diffident English poetic self. It was a way of deliberately stretching my personality in a new direction. I was never going to be as hyper as Power Sales Guy, but it helped me get into a more extroverted state before I made the calls. One of the sales mantras I heard from the gurus was, “You have to hear a lot of ‘no’s before you hear the word ‘yes’!” When you adopt this mindset, you
welcome
rejections, because each one takes you closer to the next acceptance.

It worked. After several months of dogged persistence, I found a few needles in the haystack, landing some big contracts that transformed our business. And I can assure you cold calling is a great way to develop a thick skin for rejection! I wouldn’t say I ever got to the point of enjoying it, but after making several hundred calls, the ‘no’s felt more routine than personal, and the ‘yes’s that led to meetings and new business made it all worthwhile.

Looking back, relying on cold calling was a stupid way to build a business. I’m embarrassed to admit that at the time I didn’t know the difference between marketing (earning the attention and trust of potential customers) and sales (closing the deal). I thought they were just different names for the same thing, so I steeled myself and dialed my way through the list. But in spite of being stupid, it worked. A bit like amateur surgery—thankfully nobody died, but it was pretty uncomfortable and left bigger scars than was strictly necessary.

Playing the numbers game is all very well, but you can save yourself a lot of time and effort if you begin by asking yourself how you can narrow the odds. Which is what I did with my next business…

First I narrowed the field by deciding to specialize in the creative industries—since I was passionate about creativity, and my best work had been done with artists and other creative professionals.

Then I went to college and did a Masters Degree in Creative and Media Enterprises. By the time I’d finished, I knew a hell of a lot more about marketing. And there weren’t many aspects of creativity and creative business I hadn’t researched and thought hard about. So when I was in front of the right people, I had a much better understanding of their business and the industry they were operating in—which meant I had a much better chance of closing the deal.

I made an effort to get out to networking events, drinking vast quantities of coffee and meeting new people. The more people who knew about me, the better the chances of my name coming up in conversations about the kind of problems I could solve.

I also focused my efforts online, as I figured I could connect with more people more efficiently than trying to meet them all one at a time. I started blogging with the idea of attracting coaching and training clients in London. Then I realized most of my readers were scattered across the globe, and I could greatly expand my options if I found a way to sell things to people in other countries.

I started coaching clients via webcam, which meant all I needed to do was co-ordinate time zones in order to work with clients on the other side of the world. I also developed and sold e-learning courses. I discovered there were even companies who were prepared to fly me across the world to deliver training workshops. With the whole planet to choose from, I now have much better odds of getting on the radar of potential clients.

These days, my sales cycle is a lot more efficient than when I started:

• I focus on a very particular kind of client.
  
• Because I know a lot more about solving their very specific problems, I convert a lot more leads into sales.
  
• Casting my net worldwide makes it easier to find enough of them.
  

I’m still playing the numbers game. I reach thousands of people every week via my blogs, mailing list, and social networks. But I’ve done a lot to narrow the odds—which means I find more opportunities with less effort.

You can do the same: decide who you
really
want to connect with, and make a concerted effort to get on their radar, while at the same time acquiring the skills and knowledge that will make you extremely valuable to them. Don’t try to be all things to all people. Decide what you want to do and make yourself so good at it that you are the obvious choice for the people who matter.

When I started out, I was competing with hundreds of business coaches, and when I took a good look in the mirror, I realized there wasn’t anything obvious that made me stand out from them. But I don’t know many business coaches who specialize in creativity and online marketing, and who also write poetry. For the people who find that an attractive combination, I’m the obvious choice.

And make the world your oyster. You may think the online world isn’t suited to your particular talents or industry (I know I did). But set your skepticism aside and start exploring.

Your next steps:

1. Decide what you are going to specialize in. Take time to think about it from different angles. Just because
you
enjoy doing something, will anyone pay you to do it? On the other hand, just because there are plenty of opportunities in a particular field, are you passionate enough about it to do your best work there?

Ask yourself:

• What are you most passionate about?
  
• What are you best at?
  
• Who do you most like working with?
  
• What are people most eager to pay you for?
  

2. Make yourself an expert. Tell yourself there’s no reason why you shouldn’t become the best in the world at your particular specialism. It’s humanly possible and you are a human.

Depending on your field, there may be courses, qualifications, apprenticeships, or internships that will teach you what you need to know. You may find a private tutor, coach, or mentor who can help. Or it may be something you can only learn by practice. Whatever it takes, resolve to find the time, money, energy, and dedication to do it.

3. Focus on the right people. This could be as clear-cut as a particular industry or market niche. Or it could be people who share your interests, passions, attitudes, or values. Remember the tips on finding your tribe in
Chapter 17
and getting on the radar of gatekeepers in
Chapter 19
.

4. Get online. Even if you live in a big city, there will only be a few million people in your immediate vicinity. That might feel like a lot, but there are 7 billion people on this planet—over
2 billion of them are already connected to the internet
, a number that has doubled in the last five years and is still rising fast. Drawing on a much bigger pool of potential connections will exponentially increase your chances of success. (Plus if you don’t do it, you’re at a disadvantage compared to the people who do…)

Social networks, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, are a good place to start. (See my guide to the
top social networks for creative people
) But anyone can fill out a profile in less than an hour, which makes it hard to stand out. Think about what you can create and publish—as a blog, newsletter, podcast, video, or images—that will set you apart and establish you as an expert in your field.

Notes:

“Number of Internet users worldwide reaches two billion: UN,” The
Independent
, 26 January 2011,
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/number-of-internet-users-worldwide-reaches-two-billion-un-2195157.html

The Top 10 Social Networks for Creative People:
http://lateralaction.com/articles/social-networks-for-creatives/

21. The day I tipped the scales in my favor

It’s a truism that success takes a long time. But I can also remember the day my fortunes changed.

I was at home in my flat, having just put the phone down. I’d been cold calling for months, working my way through the list of phone numbers, trying to reach decision-makers. I’d had plenty of meetings, but no new business to show for it.

But the call I’d just finished wasn’t a cold call. The previous month, I’d traveled half the length of England for a meeting with the HR director of a large company. She requested a proposal for a pilot seminar, with the aim of rolling out an extensive program. I’d spent several days writing the proposal.

But when I rang to discuss it on the date arranged, she was unavailable. I rang several more times. Finally the phone was picked up by a PA, who reluctantly put me through to one of the director’s colleagues. She seemed outraged that I expected a response.
“We’ll be in touch if we need anything else from you,”
she snapped, and hung up. I felt humiliated.

At that moment, I realized I could have any excuse I wanted for giving up.

No one would blame me. My business partners knew how tough it was. Ditto my family and friends. I was pretty well guaranteed sympathy if I admitted failure. But I didn’t want excuses, sympathy, or failure. I wanted success. So I promised myself
I would do whatever it took to make this business work
.

I stopped asking myself whether I was wasting my time, and whether it was possible. Instead, I started asking myself
how
I could make it happen. I read everything I could about the corporate sales process. I developed a thicker skin for rejection. And one day, I walked out of a meeting into the sunshine and rang my business partners to tell them I had closed a deal.

In this case, the pilot actually happened. And it actually led to an extended program that brought in more money than all my previous clients put together.

A few months into the program, I asked my client what had made him choose us. “Well, it took several months for us to decide,” he said, “and you were the only guy who kept calling me all the way through. So it seemed only fair to give you a chance.” In other words, what had separated me from the competition was
persistence
.

So in spite of being clueless about marketing and sales when I set out, I succeeded through sheer persistence and a willingness to learn along the way. And that persistence came from the decision I made at my lowest ebb, when instead of giving up, I chose to commit.

At that moment, I tipped the scales in my favor.

You’ve probably realized by now that there’s no magic bullet, no magic formula, no foolproof system that leads to success. And no infallible guru to tell you what to do. The real magic happens inside, in your mind and heart. Only you can commit to making your dream happen, whatever obstacles stand in your way. Only you can turn that key.

22. Make rejection irrelevant

The opposite of rejection isn’t acceptance—it’s
attraction
.

The world is changing. In the past this is how opportunities were allocated:

1. A gatekeeper advertised the opportunity.
   
2. Applicants applied.
   
3. The gatekeeper accepted or rejected them.
   

Now you can reverse this process:

1. You advertise yourself.
   
2. Gatekeepers approach you with opportunities.
   
3. Both of you decide whether you want to work together.
   

In this world, rejection becomes irrelevant. Since you’re not applying, no-one can reject you. And the other party isn’t applying either, just approaching you to see if there’s a good fit between your skills, priorities, and resources, and theirs. It’s a more equal conversation between potential partners—and if there’s not a good fit, it’s no big deal. At the very least, you both have a potentially valuable new connection in your network.

This is the world I entered by blogging. Realizing cold calling was a monkey-with-a-typewriter way to build a business, I decided to advertise myself by blogging tips and inspiration for creative people. It took a while to figure out an approach that worked, but a few months in, I had a steadily growing audience of subscribers—and the enquiries started to come in. Creative directors—people who would never have taken my phone calls a few months earlier—started emailing and calling
me
, inviting me in to talk about how I could help them. When I arrived, I didn’t have to make the usual sales pitch—they asked me what I would
advise
.

A few years down the line, it’s a lot more fun to check my email inbox than it used to be.

Some of the emails are coaching enquiries, from people across the globe. Some of them are notifications of sales of my ebooks and e-learning courses. Others are consulting enquiries from organizations, mostly in the UK but also from abroad: in the last twelve months I’ve worked on-site for clients on three different continents, including speaking at one of the biggest design conferences in the United States, HOW Design in Boston. Over and above the business benefits, every day I hear from interesting, inspiring, charming, and funny people spread across the four corners of the globe.