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@Paulina Yes, I did about a year and a half of free work (while working FT); this was either comprised of workshops or 1:1s. From there, I started eventually getting paid for the 1:1s, and a few small engagements came out of the workshops.
Side Note: At that time I did not have at that time I did not have an engagement mechanism (newsletter or email marketing). So I didn't really have a system in place to nurture and convert relationships. That's where the 1:1s came in handy; but it was all passive (again -- at that time it was a side thing for me)
there used to be! I think the feature got removed
Happy to chat more in detail -- seems like it is very similar to my work with #addison
the main challenge with non-dev roles is the trust/authority factor -- people will place a bigger emphasis on the relationship.
How I kickstarted my fractional CFO work was mainly through "marketing through teaching", doing webinars, live workshops, and 1:1 coaching around startup finance and capital raising. This was in collaboration with accelerators and word-of-mouth. From here, I started building a brand/reputation in the startup community, and slowly got to convert attendees into formal engagements.
Currently, I am transitioning into more "aggressive" lead generation, meaning focusing more on outbound prospecting because it is more predictable and I can focus on higher quality leads (higher ticket and/or higher probability). "Marketing through teaching" is very good to establish yourself as a trusted expert, but it takes more time to build predictable momentum given that it is more of a "catch-all" method, and audience tends to lack immediate-intent.
I am still figuring out my outbound prospecting strategy, but I'd recommend you to have 2-3 lead magnets in the area which you're looking to focus on and start doing outreach to your target customer profile.
Take a look at companies that have recently joined or graduated from accelerator companies, or recently vc-backed companies. Those could be good targets for you to start with.
This is really hepful! I appreciate the detailed response.
"Marketing through teaching" (or showing) is more or less the approach I was looking to follow.
Yeah recently funded companies are looking for ways to grow quickly. But I feel like I would need a couple of success cases first though. Did you do any free work at the beginning?
I want to leverage my LinkedIn audience to promote my service there. Hopefully all can fall within the #upgroves umbrella.
@Paulina Yes, I did about a year and a half of free work (while working FT); this was either comprised of workshops or 1:1s. From there, I started eventually getting paid for the 1:1s, and a few small engagements came out of the workshops.
Side Note: At that time I did not have at that time I did not have an engagement mechanism (newsletter or email marketing). So I didn't really have a system in place to nurture and convert relationships. That's where the 1:1s came in handy; but it was all passive (again -- at that time it was a side thing for me)
yes, correct -- thats a great way to put it
haha, you're right though. Great product, for UI is now outdated, and UX has become so frustrating, too many menus for nothing
ah! interesting, i thought CK was similar to Beehiiv. But it seems that it's more about marketing than pure newsletter work.
Beehiiv does have segmentation, and triggers -- but for landing pages you can only create one per newsletter; so you can't use it for different products or other things.
I'll take a look at CK; right now all of my landing pages I've been hosting on Carrd
For newsletters i'm using Beehiiv, and for b2b offering i'm using Brevo. However, I was debating using beehiiv entirely for my b2b offering and create segments like you described.
I've also used hubspot in the past but find it too cluttered
So I'm not familiar with Beehiiv's backend, but I do know it's similar to Substack (which I use for newsletter things).
My workflow looks like:
Substack (for free newsletter things) -> ConvertKit (more specialized lead magnets where I send people email automations with paid offers & I house my landing pages & sales pages within CK for ease).
I segment everyone in CK since Substack doesn't have that option.
(It also doesn't have a landing page or sales page option, which is why I use Substack as a TOF option then share CK lead magnets in Substack to bring people there where I'm okay paying for each subscriber since it's more targeted.)
Hopefully that made sense.
Does Beehiiv have automated emails where you can tag subscribers and create triggers within the automations?
If not, it's definitely worth finding a solution that does then implementing it that way to avoid needing to use something like Zapier.
ah! interesting, i thought CK was similar to Beehiiv. But it seems that it's more about marketing than pure newsletter work.
Beehiiv does have segmentation, and triggers -- but for landing pages you can only create one per newsletter; so you can't use it for different products or other things.
I'll take a look at CK; right now all of my landing pages I've been hosting on Carrd
makes sense! I was thinking too that maybe a workflow like this is more than enough
It really is, especially if you keep everything in one place. What's your current tech stack look like?
For newsletters i'm using Beehiiv, and for b2b offering i'm using Brevo. However, I was debating using beehiiv entirely for my b2b offering and create segments like you described.
I've also used hubspot in the past but find it too cluttered
So I'm not familiar with Beehiiv's backend, but I do know it's similar to Substack (which I use for newsletter things).
My workflow looks like:
Substack (for free newsletter things) -> ConvertKit (more specialized lead magnets where I send people email automations with paid offers & I house my landing pages & sales pages within CK for ease).
I segment everyone in CK since Substack doesn't have that option.
(It also doesn't have a landing page or sales page option, which is why I use Substack as a TOF option then share CK lead magnets in Substack to bring people there where I'm okay paying for each subscriber since it's more targeted.)
Hopefully that made sense.
Does Beehiiv have automated emails where you can tag subscribers and create triggers within the automations?
If not, it's definitely worth finding a solution that does then implementing it that way to avoid needing to use something like Zapier.
ah! interesting, i thought CK was similar to Beehiiv. But it seems that it's more about marketing than pure newsletter work.
Beehiiv does have segmentation, and triggers -- but for landing pages you can only create one per newsletter; so you can't use it for different products or other things.
I'll take a look at CK; right now all of my landing pages I've been hosting on Carrd
Welcome Sergio! Looking forward to see your builds