Most people spend so much time working “in” their business that they don’t get to work “on” it and fail to grow. What strategic structures should you put in place if you want your business to generate more leads and referrals? How do you stop putting out fires and actually start working towards growth? How can you put your marketing on autopilot? On this episode, we do a crossover with Local Domination podcast host Doren Aldana to answer these questions.

The best referral partner is someone who your ideal client is talking to, working with, or building a relationship with before they talk to you or have need for your services. - Doren Aldana

Takeaways + Tactics

When thinking about referral partners, consider: Who has the highest capacity to send you the most leads most often? Who is working with your ideal clients before they start working with you?

Always carve out time to work on your business, not just in it.

The contacts in your phone are a database already.

At the start of the show, Doren shared on the 3 buckets of business success and the importance of remembering that you’re in the marketing game. Next, we talked about finding referral partners and how to build a database if you don’t have one. Towards the end, we talked about how to focus less on putting out fires and more on creating a long-term vision.

We also discussed:

How to maximize your repeat and referral business

Working “on” your business vs. working “in” your business

How to mine leads from your social circle

If you want to grow with the future in mind, you have to remember that “Return on Time” can be even more important than “Return on Investment”. If you actually want a business that sets you free, spend more time working on it-- not just in it. One of the most powerful things you can do is set up a system that takes people from suspect to prospect, prospect to client, and then from client to evangelist.

Guest Bio-

Doren is an entrepreneur, host of the Local Domination podcast and the founder of Testimonial Engine. Go to http://mytestimonialengine.com/ for more information.