A brand is like a shortcut. People see part of yours, and an internal box is ticked (or it isn’t).
 
That’s why the corporates spend millions of pounds building their brands.
 
See the golden arches or an apple with a bite out of it and feel it’s okay to get your credit card out. Right?
 
It might be for big corporations, but it's different for solopreneurs or small rec firms.
 
In this edition of FTDOMA, I unpick company and personal branding to make knowing what you must do easy.
 
The good news is that most of your brand is not down to image and messaging. There is something far more important.

When I set up my first business, my business partner insisted we both take quite a bit of time off from the start.
 
Initially I thought this was an indulgence because being at the coalface is where you dig out the coal, right?
 
Boy, was I wrong and the holiday framework he insisted on, I ran for years and still do in a way.
 
Bottom line here, holidays are a business necessity, not a business luxury.
 
Watch the video to find out why (and what his holiday framework was).

I have seen LinkedIn headlines that are like fishing trips – a big net to catch a wide group of prospects.
 
Except it achieves the opposite trying to be everything to everybody ends up being nothing to anybody.
 
The answer is to focus on what you do best and use that to win a client, then cross-sell whatever else you offer.
 
In this edition of FTDOMA, I explore the whys, hows, and whats of this very important topic.
 
As the title suggests, the more you focus, the more you win.
 
Put another way: concentrate to penetrate and penetrate to accumulate!
 

In its simplest form, a workshop is where you learn how to do something from somebody who knows how.

As a BD tool, they are massively powerful yet woefully under-used.

Online versions revolutionised how we run them. Before that, you had to hire a room and get people to attend it.

 You may think this is harder than it actually is. In this edition of FTDOMA, I explain all: -

• How to choose a subject.
• Who should run the workshop.
• What part do you play in it all.
• How to run them.
• How to get the right people there.

 I dare you to give it a go and see what happens. 

 It’s a plan with no drawbacks and can deliver some great results for you.

Let’s start by looking at the pros and cons of running a LinkedIn Newsletter: - 

• They are free.
• They always reach the inbox.
• LinkedIn invites people to subscribe.
• If you primarily produce content, you can send out a promotional post every now and then.
• It’s easy to invite people to subscribe yourself.
• It builds up a selection of really good quality content you can point people towards when you connect.
• You can use it as a feed into your email newsletter.
• You can’t see who is reading it or clicking on links.
• LinkedIn owns your newsletter – they may withdraw it at any time 

However, LinkedIn newsletters also have a very neat feature that you may find even more useful.

You can have more than one!

In this edition of FTDOMA I show you how to create a second (or first if you don’t have one) LinkedIn newsletter.

The traditional approach to pricing is: -

 Contingent – lowest price

• Exclusive – more expensive than contingent
• Retained – more expensive than exclusive

Now, a full retained search requires a lot of activity for which you will want to be paid.

But exclusive carries much the same effort as contingent, maybe a little more.

However, on average, only 1 in 5 contingent deals end in fees, but the figure is closer to 4 out of 5 for exclusive.

In other words, your hourly rate (number of hours you work on all vacancies divided into fees earned) is considerably greater for contingent.

This means that you can lower the fees for contingent deals, making it even more attractive to buyers.

In this edition of FTDOMA, I follow the argument to its conclusion.

In this edition of FTDOMA, I’m exploring differences when doing delivery... The part you get paid for.
 
I suggest you go into more detail when taking vacancies because hiring managers can become pickier in this market.
 
I also urge you to reinforce with clients that there are never enough good people about, whatever the market.
 
Searching for candidates requires a lot more innovation and perseverance: LinkedIn, job boards and advertising are only part of the picture.
 
Finally, I go deep into a 3D CV. What it is, why it’s important, and what should go on.
 
This market demands a different approach to taking and sourcing requirements. And that’s what this post is all about.

If you don’t write and post according to the LinkedIn algorithm, your post is unlikely to fly.
 
Like it or not, that is the plain fact of the matter.
 
Don’t forget that LinkedIn is probably the most powerful BD and relationship management tool there is.
 
And don’t even start me on how it brings in candidates.
 
But to make it work, you must stick to the rules, and that’s what this post is all about.
 
After you’ve watched it, I expect you’ll be hopping over to the Portal to get a refresher on the rules.
 
At least, that’s what I hope.

We believe that you should build and operate a strategic BD capability within your firm.
 
The stronger this becomes, the more high-value clients you’ll win, and they, in turn, will feed more vacancies into your business.
 
It’s so much more efficient than vacancy scraping.
 
This means you have to do less tactical BD – a win all around then.
 
In this video message, I remind you what you need to do and how you need to think to make strategic BD work effectively for you.
 
Persistence and creativity rule OK!

My old boss used to present a list of his current clients to prospects during a pitch.
 
He’d then say, “I can arrange for you to speak to any of these people. They’ll all vouch that what I’ve just said is true”.
 
Steve Guest used to take a folder of printed testimonials on headed notepaper along to a pitch to get the same effect.
 
Well, in this edition of FTDOMA I’m going to share a modern equivalent of the above.
 
While prospects will decide emotionally whether to use you or not, some need proof that their decision is the right one.
 
This neat little sales trick will tick that box.