Callum Laing

Your Partnership proposal might be the best thing since sliced bread, but the employee on the other side of the table is more concerned about their career than what's best for you, or even what's best for their company. The more social proof you can show them from other partnerships, the easier it will be for them to say yes. Hence the first few partnerships you do should be considered loss leaders, give them a no lose offer, get their logo on your materials and move on to the next one. You can download, for free, the best selling book 'Progressive Partnerships' by going to callumlaing.com

For professional business relationships, Linkedin is by far the best platform, but just because your audience is there, doesn't mean they will want to build a relationship with you. Rather than sending random connection requests, start by engaging with your targets posts. Begin having real discussions with them around the topics they are interested in, then when a level of comfort has been achieved, actually connecting is an easy next step. The Chrome Extension 'Linkedin Icebreaker' makes this job incredibly easy.

There is no better way to get clarity on your thoughts and knowledge than to try and articulate them into a succinct order for someone else to read. Well written content can have a huge impact on your audience, but whether a million people read it or no one does, you will always benefit by going through the process of trying to write well for your audience. AI will never replace the benefits you get from doing the work!

Your email list do not want to give you speaking opportunities. They do not want to give you referrals and testimonies. Those are things that you want. If you keep abusing your database with what you want you may get a few results in the beginning but you will quickly destroy all trust and open rates will drop off a cliff. Instead focus on adding value, sharing genuine content that solves problems for your readers. Ask them for questions you can help with. Share tips and tricks that are working for you. Just as you would as a speaker, focus on your audiences needs, not your own.

People are going to put you in a box whether you like it or not. You might be 'The PR person', 'The IT woman' or the 'I'm not sure what he does' person. It's up to you to shape the narrative. Decide what you want to be known for make sure at least 80% of your profile and your posts reflect that.

A boards responsibility is to make the best decision in the longterm for all stakeholders of the business. Simply put, you need more informational input to arrive at the best decisions. And one of the best ways to do that is to have people from diverse backgrounds and experiences who are willing to share their voices and potentially challenge your own preconceived notions. We all win.