Early in my entrepreneurial journey, I used to get very disappointed when I would see friends of mine hiring someone else to do their photography or someone else to design their website. I thought that if my friends didn’t want me why would anyone else. This was the wrong way to think. A lot of the consumer’s decision-making process is not based on price alone. It is based on the quality of the service or product. It is based on the relationship that is built between the salesperson and/or business owner. Now you may have the best price and offer a great product but how did your relationship start? Up next I’ll dig deeper in what I mean by this.

The relationship
Take a look at your friend’s list on Facebook or you followers on Twitter or Instagram. A lot of the people on those lists are friends that you knew before starting your business or side hustle. They may know you as the class clown. They may know you as your old coworker from a past job. What I am getting at is that they don’t know you as the expert in whatever field you are in. In my case when I started my entrepreneurial journey most people knew me as either a clown from high school or someone who works with kids at the YMCA. Neither of those is what you look for when hiring someone to design your website, shoot your video or take your pictures. What you need to do is focus that energy you had been focusing on trying to get your friends to buy your stuff and work sharing what you do. If you’re a photography post pictures of the photos you’re taking. If you are a barber post pictures of some of the hair cuts you have done on your clients. Focus on showcasing what it is you do and something magical will happen. Sorry, the magic is not your friends buying your shit. It is your friends will now start seeing you the way you want to be seen and they will now refer their friends and family to you. Don’t look at your friend’s list as a list of hot leads. Sliding into their DM’s talking about your latest and greatest product is not the way to go. I hope this helps.