How do you get businesses to talk to you?
I want to talk to businesses about their problems, and then build an MVP based on their feedback.
But...how do you convince people who don't know you to talk to you about their problems? And then convince them to try out your solution?
Hey @calico this is a great question.
I get businesses talking to me, but it took years to get to this point. It's not at a point where I'm waving my arms like "look everyone I found the secret", rather it's about consistency.
I remember when I started blogging, I would post and post and post and post. Eventually I worked for a guy who wasn't a super big fan of me and some questions were thrown around in my local community, creating the potential to harm my reputation. LUCKILY the fact that I blogged consistency kept me out of harms way. "You mean Colin, the guy who's always publishing content? I read his stuff - it's good. He must have had good reason to say what he did. Are you sure you're not over analyzing it?".
What a moment.
Out the gate as someone new, I'd be striking up conversations with people the same way I am with you right now. I'd be seeking who my customers are striking up conversations with them. Even if they're constructive - I'm developing X and was curious to get your gut-feel. That worked well for me and then also asking people if they'd keep me in mind for topics related to Y. That led to some referrals which turned into clients/customers.
Actually here, check out our blog or videos or whatever, I'm pretty big on stories and sharing practical insight: https://marketingqualified.com/
So let me wrap it up to this:
Hey @colinmacinnis, thanks so much for sharing your experiences!
It's very encouraging to hear that consistency > trying to be perfect right off the bat. This gives me hope that even if my outreach to businesses fail at first, that I'll eventually succeed if i keep at it
Also, I checked out your site and you've got some quality content on your blog, keep up the good work! I enjoy reading practical advice that's given in a more "informal" tone (in a good way - I guess that's why I love reading posts on IH's)
The other things too to keep in mind - I'm not sure how old you are - but the sooner you start and the more consistent you make it (monthly, weekly, or daily), the sooner it comes together.
I'm 27 and try to publish a min of 3 times a month.
When I started, I was aiming for 1/month. There's a ramp-up period but if I had started with 4/week, I would have gotten where I am sooner. It's literally the practice of consistency and persistence.
A phrase I heard years ago was:
"Who gets further ahead? The person who posts once per month or the person who posts 5 times a week? I'd say the person who's doing 5/week because they're driving themselves through that horrible awful learning curve that's at the beginning of anything you do in life. In the course of a year, the guy who publishes once per month would have 12 opportunities to improve and get better. Meanwhile the guy publishing 5/week would have 260."
I forget who gave me that info, but it build some perspective. Speed is a factor as well.
When starting from scratch, I find it’s easier to ask people to learn how they work, not about their problems.
“I’m interested in learning more about how restaurants operate, specifically with menu creation. I’ve been coming to your place for years now and was hoping I could take thirty minutes of your time to dive into a bit. Does Tuesday at 10:30 work for you?”
In the conversation, you have the opportunity to ask meaningful questions that pass The Mom Test, and if you touch on a nerve, the person will gladly talk about why it sucks or why it’s hard.
Ive learned not to make it about my idea, but to make it about their expertise and what they can teach me. I don’t have any problems getting enough first conversations, and it’s even easier to get follow ups if I make the person feel heard.
B2B user research is tough, especially early on when you're not even sure who exactly you're targeting.
The trick is just getting a few initial conversations to start with, then at the end of the conversation, ask "Who else should I be talking to about this?" Assuming you're asking insightful questions, I've found people are generally happy to help out. This way 1 conversation turns into 2-3, then those 2-3 turn into 4-9, then the 4-9 turn into 16 - 81, and so on (not that you'd interview 81 people...).
How to get those few initial conversations?
All of the above have worked well for me. And, as an added bonus, I've actually met people who became very good friends through each of these, which more than makes up for the awkward emails / meetup announcements!