1. Moving up the Food Chain finding and landing big projects

2. purpose of this talk
who is this for?

3. intro
who am i?

4. History… broke college dropout started as “2 guys in a garage”
took on any project / no focus
gradually added industry/company focus
added employees slowly
built portfolio
grew projects from $1,500 to $150,000+
always maintained a sales/marketing mentality

5. Step 1:
remove mindblocks

6. obsess over sales and marketing
Step 2:
obsess over sales and marketing
(every day)

7. Identify and decide. don’t be everything to everyone
decide who you are
determine what you’re good at
SWOT analysis
determine which efforts make you the most $
choose targets: industries, company size, etc.

8. build your portfolio. at almost any cost

9. partner.

10. Accept this truth: But it works.
B2B Sales/Marketing is arduous and requires
tremendous patience and perseverance …
But it works.

11. Outbound marketing is alive and well.
inbound only will leave you lonely
pick and find your targets – build your list of contacts
meticulous research is critical
create high-value offers: analyses, seminars/workshops
coordinated outreach: mail, phone, , social
score/segment your leads

12. Inbound is wonderful – when it works.
SEO and blogging
content marketing
PPC/advertising
social media
P.R./speaking/guest blogging, etc.
always put education ahead of promotion (thought leadership)

13. Raw leads go into the funnel
“A” leads: sales-ready
“B” leads: 1-6 months out
“C” leads: 6-12 months out
“D” leads: not interested (don’t give up on the Ds)

14. In B2B, nurturing is everything.
create a curriculum of communications
, webinars, white papers, etc.
truly engage on social media
pick up the phone
relentlessly (but tactfully) pursue your targets until you hear no.
anything to maintain top-of-mind awareness

15. Once you have a sales-ready prospect:
get in front of the prospect face-to-face, wherever they are
build rapport, ask many questions, even ones that don’t matter
understand their business and their pains
spend 70% of time listening, 30% talking/selling
design and write killer proposals and presentations
details matter: thank-you cards, leave-behinds, etc.
follow up until your hear “no”

16. Why should they choose you?
be great at something
define a differentiator … even if it’s not that different
add value through additional services
convince them that you can support them long-term
make them like you
don’t just be another option on a freelance board
you’re a professional business, not a web developer
make it sound easy (for them)

17. go #big.

18. “Move fast and break things.”
- Mark Zuckerberg

19. fear is your friend.

20. the power of NO

21. Pricing charge more for exactly what you’re doing right now
prepare a compelling justification for your pricing
never win a deal because you’re the cheapest
if you’re not losing deals on price, you’re not charging enough
sell bigger projects and gradually move up the food chain

22. Supporting Staff (or partners):
Sales & Marketing
Design
Development
Project Management
SEO and Digital Marketing
Content
Support & Maintenance
Administrative

23. “Death by 1,000 cuts”
Success and growth are a result of of many, many tactics relentlessly being tried and employed.

24. free educational workshop
What can you do TODAY?
free educational workshop

25. movingupthefoodchain. emagine.com
Slides available at:
movingupthefoodchain. emagine.com