90 Days, 90 New Business Relationships

Written in 2018 for Universal Analytics. Kept online as published — the screenshots are historical, the concepts still apply. For current Google Analytics 4 training see the Agency Jumpstart Course.

Today I want to start off with a bold assumption: You want to grow your agency or one-person consulting business in 2018.

But what steps are you taking to get there? Do you have a plan in place? More importantly, are you working that plan?

The agency business is a relationship business. What are you doing to cultivate new relationships?

Are those activities enough for you to reach your growth goals?

Would you like a sure-fire way to build your business in 2018?

Then join me in taking a 90 day challenge.

Build one new relationship every day, for the next 90 days

That's my challenge to you. To commit to building new business relationships. To set yourself up for your best year ever.

Here's how it works. 

1. Map out your target market for prospective customers, selecting a specific client and service niche.
2. Take the time to research 90 people within this niche who could become a strategic relationship for your business.
   • Learn about them on LinkedIn, find their email address, read their blog posts or social media updates. Really get a feel for who they are.
3. Develop an "intel" file for all of your new relationships (spreadsheet, CRM, notepad - anywhere will do).
4. Set a start date for your jump-off point.
5. Reach out to one new person from your list every day for 90 consecutive days, with the intent of forming a strategic business relationship.
6. Grow your business exponentially in 2018.

And I plan on joining you for the challenge!

My 90 Day Challenge at Jeffalytics

The Jeffalytics team is undertaking a 90-day challenge, starting in January. We will be producing 90 videos for our YouTube Channel, and writing 90 blog posts to accompany those videos. The videos will be about digital marketing and professional growth topics, and they will all be posted to our YouTube channel.

For Agency Sage subscribers, each weekly sage post will have a video component attached. And we may even throw in a few surprises on top of that.

We are very excited to get started, and our first video will come out January 29th. From then until April 29th, we will be publishing one video each day to our YouTube channel + a blog post to one of our websites or a guest post elsewhere.

What is going to happen with this challenge?

Setting expectations for the 90-day challenge is tough, because it's unlike anything we've ever done. It's probably isn't something that you have done, either.

But here's what I am thinking will happen at Jeffalytics:

80% of the videos and posts we produce will get very little traffic, at least initially. They will get a few clicks from our subscribers, some likes on YouTube, and maybe even give us a few good vibes. But they won't be "viral" hits.

Another 10% of the videos will do pretty well. They will get some social media shares and a comment or two on the blog/YouTube. Hopefully those comments are civilized. 

The final 10%? They are going to change the face of my business. They will double our blog traffic, email subscribers, and YouTube audience. They will drive SEO growth, earn links, and drive us forward to an expanded audience.

And it will make the whole effort worthwhile.

What you can expect from the 90 days, 90 relationships challenge

Here's what you can expect from your own 90 day challenge.

80% of the people you reach out to won't respond, or will offer back a tepid response.

10% of those you reach will be warm to you, but probably not a great business fit.

10% of those you reach out to will become major leads for your business. They will have potential to grow your business significantly, and several of them will become customers. These contacts will change the face of your business.

And it will make the whole effort worthwhile.

Tell me what other activity you can do over the next 90 days that have those potential results (other than taking my Agency Jumpstart Course, hehe).

Sound like a plan?

Then leave a comment below to declare your commitment, along with the date you are starting your challenge.

Once we receive your response, my team will add you to our unlisted Facebook group for challenge-takers. This is going to be a lot of fun!

One more thing: My team is also going to do the 90 days, 90 relationships challenge

We are going to commit to a second challenge as well, a relationship challenge.

We are going to research and target 90 consultants/small agency owners over the course of 90 days. We will be doing everything that is outlined above, and we will be sharing some of our favorite results on the unlisted Facebook group.

This relationship stuff works! Almost every current Agency Course student started off as an email subscriber. Several new students joined after I offered them a 1 on 1 video call during the summer of 2017. Agency Course growth started with building business relationships with agency owners. Relationship building has become one of our best sources for new students.

Committing to 90 days means you're likely to develop ~10 new, high-quality relationships to begin 2018. They may become customers right away, or it could take 6 months.

No matter the timeline, I like your odds.

Are you in? Leave a comment below with your commitment and the date you are starting. My team is here to support you!