Promote a Business

I asked a friend of mine, who is successful in business, a rather simple question, the answer to which I had not been expecting but which was outstandingly far simpler than I had imagined.

Q: How did you promote your business?

A: By speaking to the right people.

This simple answer which took no time at all to roll off his tongue was ingrained as a reflex; the answer had already been defined by his formal business practices and existed before my question was asked.

It was a somewhat crashing reveal for me – the answer was plainly obvious and in itself not profound – it certainly gave me a slap back on track.

It is moments like these that you will remember and be successful; or you won’t.

  • http://Twitter.com/aacolman Aaron Colman

    It’s an interesting observation.
    I try and approach my promoting in a similar fashion, particular now whilst we are pre-launch.
    You can reach the right people or the right people on paper but you won’t know until the conversation has been had.
    Particularly for startups, who need others promoting you also, it often boils down to passion. I believe the person on the other end of the phone needs to be as passionate about the opportunity you are creating or they need to believe that your company will solve their problem.

    I’ve been very surprised over the last few years that many whom I thought would be ideal were not and many whom I assumed were blatantly not, very much were.

    The key I believe is once you have found anyone willing to listen, ask them who they think would be interested in learning more.
    Also, particularly for startups, you don’t really know what your product will be tomorrow, 3 months etc so even though some people don’t seem ‘right’ right now, staying in touch could be very useful for the future.

    I like your friends answer as short is sweet, but, if you’re building a startup and are seeking advice, this is not the answer you are looking for.