MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — When it comes to growing your business, author Mark LeBlanc has a simple message for small business owners: don’t overthink it.
“There is no end to what you could do,” says LeBlanc. “Focus on what you will do in order to move your business forward and get the results you want.”
LeBlanc, CSP, CPAE, has authored or coauthored seven business development books, including his newly enhanced 25th anniversary edition of his underground bestseller, Growing Your Business!, (2024, Indie Books International).
Since it was first published in 1999, people have been giving copies of Growing Your Business! to friends, family members, prospects, and clients. Currently there are more than 80,000 copies in print.
LeBlanc has delivered over 2,000 presentations and coached over 1,000 small business owners, solopreneurs, and practice professionals. In addition, he has conducted over 170 idea-packed retreats for full-time independent professionals called the Achievers Circle weekend retreat.
“Here are nine ideas to get you moving in the right direction,” says LeBlanc. They are:
- Add a better signature line to your email template.
- Change your voicemail message every thirty days.
- Have something of value you can give away online or attach to an email.
- Mail a personal note or card once a day.
- Create a color PDF promotional piece you can provide in an instant.
- Choose a target-rich environment for networking.
- Sketch out a written profile of your perfect-fit customer or client.
- Develop a newsletter or memo you can send quarterly or monthly.
- When sending a note or email, keep your message short.
“These ideas may seem simple or too basic to be considered,” says LeBlanc. “Master these and move onto bigger and bolder strategies. The basics never go out of style and conspire to help build your brand and establish a strong foundation for your success.”
LeBlanc shares a tenth idea, which he calls “the greatest marketing strategy in the world” for getting more referrals.
“There remains one strategy that rises head and shoulders above the rest,” says LeBlanc. “I call it the advocate strategy, which can be the least-cost, highest-return strategy you can implement.”
Here are eight action steps from LeBlanc “to get started in a small way” and move forward with the advocate strategy:
- Make a list of five or more champions or cheerleaders of you and your work.
- Create a series of connections to maintain a top-of-mind presence with these advocates.
- Connect with them on a regular basis, i.e., monthly, or quarterly.
- You can call, text, email, or mail something to your list of advocates.
- Keep your message simple and do not ask for referrals.
- Invest zero to $100 or one to three hours per month on this strategy.
- Maintain a list of under 25 and ideally keep it to 12 advocates.
- Update your list on a regular basis; adding or delete one or two along the way.
“Readers of the original chapter of this book loved the simplicity of the strategy and yet made it more complicated than it needed to be,” says LeBlanc. “The more complicated they made it, the sooner they abandoned the strategy.”
Other books by LeBlanc are Never Be The Same, Build Your Consulting Practice (with Henry DeVries), Defining You (with Kathy McAfee and Henry DeVries), Persuade With A Case Acceptance Story! (with Penny Reed and Henry DeVries), Rainmaker Confidential (with Henry DeVries and Scott Love), and Bringing In The Business (with David Goldman and Henry DeVries).
He has been a member of the National Speakers Association since 1983 and was the national president of NSA in 2007-2008. He was inducted into the Minnesota Speakers Association Hall of Fame in 2006 and given the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. He earned his CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) designation in 2018. In 2023, he was inducted into the NSA Speakers Hall of Fame (CPAE designation).
In 1997, the Minnesota Speakers Association created The Mark LeBlanc Award for outstanding service and presents this award annually to a deserving member.
In 2008, Mark walked the 500-mile Camino de Santiago pilgrimage across Spain. He went back in 2014 for a second walk and again in 2017. His first Camino was the inspiration for his book Never Be the Same.
He created the Mark LeBlanc (Y.E.S.) Foundation for young entrepreneurs and has gifted 30 aspiring business owners with grants of $3,000 each. He lives in Edina with his wife, Ann.
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SOURCE Mark LeBlanc
