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I’ll share a quick announcement before hopping into today’s issue. For the first time since 2020 I’m offering cohort-based training to help you grow your business.

You’ll get access to The Solopreneur’s Fast Track (my online course) and meet with me live to get your questions answered as well as real time guidance on your content and business development. You can learn more and enroll here.

And now, let’s get started.

Today at a glance:

Thought: Is it time for macro patience or micro speed?

Time-saver: Focus on clients who know they need you

Tactic: Leverage Jobs Theory to get hired

Read time: 5 minutes

Thought: Is it time for macro patience or micro speed?

The next four weeks are my favorite time of the year as it applies to business development.

Decision makers are back to firing on all cylinders now that summer is over and they still have time to lock in a few deals before things slow down during the holidays.

This makes it the perfect time to pitch major projects and have time to get contracts signed before the end of the year. But before you start blasting out proposals, stop and think to yourself;

Is it time for macro patience or micro speed?

I’ll explain both concepts.

Macro patience requires delayed gratification as you build up the resources, knowledge and structure to run your business. Maybe it’s onboarding new tools, or focusing on professional development. Either way, you’re working on your business as opposed to in your business.

Micro speed involves taking actions to achieve your goals as quickly as possible. This can include pitching projects, sending out proposals, prospecting on social media, leading webinars or booking speaking engagements. And to move even faster you’ll need to say “no” to activities that distract you or slow you down. For example, a Zoom chat with a random person you met on LinkedIn.

So how do you choose between macro patience or micro speed?

Macro patience: Consider this approach if you’re still figuring out your service offering, promotional strategy or any other business processes.

You’ll be in a good position to start generating revenue in Q1.

Micro speed: If you’re already clear on who you help and how you do it, you should strongly consider micro speed.

You’ll be able to lock in deals before the holidays and feel much more comfortable taking time off.

Time-saver: Focus on clients who know they need you

My first “real” job was at a technology distribution company in Buffalo, New York. I used to call companies trying to get them to buy one fancy product or another.

Half the time they didn’t know what I was talking about, the other half they didn’t think they needed it. Both situations led to an extremely low conversion rate.

Why am I telling you this story? Because you may be accidentally marketing your services to people who either don’t know what you’re talking about or don’t think they need any help.

There are four types of prospects and are differentiated by their awareness of problems and solutions.

For context let’s say you’re a digital marketing expert and you focus on helping companies get more sales on their website. This process is known as conversion rate optimization.

Problem Unaware, Solution Unaware

These prospects don’t know they have a problem and haven’t heard of the solution you’re offering. In this case, conversion rate optimization.

Don’t waste your time here. It will take too long for you to prove they have a problem and even longer to convince them that your solution is worth their investment.

Problem Unaware, Solution Aware

In this situation they’ve heard of the solution but don’t know they have a problem.

You can try to make them aware of the fact they have a problem but this is also time consuming and it may not be their highest priority. Again, I wouldn’t waste time connecting with them directly but you can still share content on social media to educate them.

Problem Aware, Solution Unaware

These prospects are well aware of the problems they have and – if it’s a high priority – may be looking for solutions.

You’ll have a much easier time connecting with them by talking about the impact this problem has and then offering your solution. Although there will be a learning process involved – and they’ll still want to vet other solutions – they’re much more likely to have a conversation with you and potentially become a client.

Problem Aware, Solution Aware

As you can imagine this is the best audience to pursue. They know they have issues and are aware of possible solutions. Once you initially connect with them you can spend the bulk of your time learning about their specific problems and then sharing how you can help.

If it’s a good fit you can expect the deal to close in a much shorter time frame than the other audience’s we covered.

So, how do you find prospects that are problem and solution aware? I shared my favorite approach in Issue #8 How to Find Leads That Are Interested in Your Services.

In short, look for people who have taken LinkedIn Learning classes that are related to your service offering and ask if they’d like your help implementing a solution.

Here’s another option. Attend online or offline events that your audience would be interested in.

Back to our example of a Digital Marketing expert who helps companies get more sales on their website. Let’s say Squarespace – a website building platform – is hosting an event around improving your website.

You know the attendees care about this issue so you could meet or message them and explain how you can help.

The options will be related to your specific service offering and audience, but hopefully you get the point here.

Focus on prospects that are both problem and solution aware, then put yourself in a position to have a conversation with them.

Tactic: Leverage Jobs Theory to get hired

Why do people buy products or services? Because there’s a job that needs to be done and they can’t do it themselves. This is the foundational premise of the Jobs-to-be-Done theory.

It affirms that people buy products and services to get “jobs” done, i.e., to help them accomplish tasks, achieve goals and objectives, resolve and avoid problems, and to make progress in their lives.

There are nine tenets of the Jobs-to-be-Done theory. I’ll list a few of my favorites below.

1. People buy products and services to get a “job” done.

Your audience isn’t impressed by meticulous branding or an expensive website. Just focus on getting the job done.

2. A Job-to-be-Done is solution agnostic.

There are plenty of options for your audience to choose from. Be sure to highlight your unique differentiators. Maybe it’s your experience, personality or testimonials.

3. A deep understanding of the customer’s “job” makes marketing more effective and innovation far more predictable.

Perform audience research! The more you know about the outcomes your audience is seeking, the better prepared you’ll be to create the perfect solution.

4. Innovation becomes predictable when “needs” are defined as the metrics customers use to measure success when getting the job done

Focus on the outcomes your audience wants to experience and continue evolving as your audience or other environmental factors change.

For more information about the Jobs-to-be-Done theory I highly suggest reading Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice.

And during the interim, review how you’re communicating with your audience. What changes can you make to increase your chance of getting hired?

I hope you found this valuable (please let me know) and if you did please consider sharing it with a friend. They can sign up here.

Have a great week!

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