08đ€: What are you doing?
Eight, not spelled, only in number â8â form⊠is my favorite number. So that makes this my favorite lifeletter so far.
Itâs cool to have six more of you join the Partner Philosophy download since last go around. If you havenât checked out the previous posts, archive is here. If you want to help make the subscriber count a great â8â next week, then share.
âWhat are you doing?â
Thatâs been the question of the hour, day, week.
I have learned thereâs been a whole host of varying meanings behind those four words. All depending on how the question is asked. Blasted be voice intonation, so much context in how that all works! Never as simple as just, âWhat are you doing?âŠâ
So the meanings, a few of the most commonâŠ
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?"
aka "You're leaving your corporate gig for a one man shop with zero customers, zero revenue??? Are you insane? Does your wife know about this? Does she still want to be with you?!â
"What are you doing [now]?"
aka "What do your activities look like during the week? How are you spending your time?"
âWhat. Are. You. DOING?â
aka âYou should stay. I like you. I like working with you, please donât go. I donât care about your new hopes and dreams, do what I want you to do...â
"What are you doing?"
aka "What is your business? What services will you offer? How does it work?"
To each of these, and more⊠I have increasingly responded not with a statement, or a task summary, but rather a question of my own.
âHow do you (or your company) generate revenue through relationships?â
People donât always like when you answer a question with a question⊠but it absolutely helps move the conversation in a meaningful way.
Because hereâs the thing. The straight up answer to âWHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?â is predictable. People already know the answers. Yes, itâs crazy to leave an honest wage for a no-manâs land startup of one. Of course my wife knows. Yes, she still wants to be with me. Although, for sure there are plenty of OTHER reasons that make her wonder why she still is⊠a lifeletter for another day.
This question, almost always gets a same answer. And thereâs no multiple meanings about it.
âUmmm, I donât knowâŠâ
âOk.â I say, âThatâs what I am doing⊠I am helping businesses and individuals answer that very question.â
Still a little bewildered, they were really hoping I was going to list off 3 services and a simple cost structure like of $24.95/month.
Instead, we go deeper, and quickly.
I say, âWhat does it mean, âto generate revenue through relationshipsâ? How do you know youâre effective at it? Why would you even want to do it? How do you know where the gaps are? How do you know how to improve?â
Boom, now weâre on the same track.
I get to have intriguing interactions about what I want to do, how I want to serve.
Itâs not a sales pitch either. Most of these people are not my buyers. Theyâre family and friends or genuinely courteous current and former colleagues.
Thatâs ok. Itâs awesome practice for me.
Because even when it is face-to-face time with a decision maker, I am ditching the pitch.
Itâs simply a conversation. I believe the best b2b strategy is a p2p, people-to-people one.
Thatâs not to say every interaction has to be at the handshake level. Itâs to say that everything (i.e. emailing, calling, advertisements, trade show booth manning) should have the goal of fostering a relationships at itâs core.
Not a contact.
Not a lead.
Not an opportunity.
Not a job offer.
Those are outcomes of a meaningful relationship. How you get there, quickly and genuinely, is what I help individuals and businesses do.
Itâs not just what I do now, itâs what I have been doing for a long time. Just now, itâs my brand, my name helping others execute the same.
So while the leads, the customers, the revenue is zero⊠the relationships are plentiful. Iâm not starting a business from zero, Iâm genuinely cashing in on what it means to generate revenue through relationships.
Some business I fully expect will come through people I have had long, strong relationships with. While other business will come from people I am just barely meeting.
Thereâs lots of excitement in that. And yes, all the other emotions youâd expect. Anxiety. Fear. Thrill. Trepidation. Bravery. Lots.
So, next time someone asks you, âWhat are you doing?â or âWhat do you do for work?â, be quick to hear beyond the words, and take the opportunity to practice steering the conversation to one of meaning and not just âNothingâŠâ.
Hereâs two ways you can take advantage of what I am doing to help businesses and individuals make sense of revenue relationships.
LinkedIn Posts : I post about partnerships and lessons learned through what some would call the transactional, everyday happenings of life. Itâs free to follow.
đ https://www.linkedin.com/in/brownrbrian/Consultations : An audit of your go to market activities and how strongly they build and strengthen relationships that generate revenue. Itâs not free, but the investment pays dividends.
đŹ PartnerPhilosophy@gmail.comFor businesses, it can be company-wide, for teams, for individual contributors.
For individuals, it can be centered on how your personal brand is or isnât building meaningful relationships that make you more money. Weâre not talking in advertising either, everyone has a personal brand whether itâs digital or youâre specifically selling a deliverable or not.