One of the largest challenges when working for yourself is being a complete business. You cannot just be a Salesforce architect. You also need to be a marketing team, a sales team, a finance department, and a support team all in one.
Like most techies, I’m not a big fan of sales. I prefer to market myself rather than sell myself. This means providing as much value as possible for free, and doing my best to be known.
My main lead sources are:
- This email list, which targets Salesforce consultants. These emails also allow me to solidify my thoughts and exchange ideas with you.
- My podcast, which speaks to nonprofits. However the actual person I’m trying to connect most with is the guest, since they are in the nonprofit sector. Hopefully they will think of me when they hear the words “Salesforce”.
- LinkedIn, in which I share some emails and podcast episodes. I also connect with people across industries and comment on interesting posts.
With each source, I try to reinforce the keywords “Alex”, “Salesforce Architect”, and “nonprofit”.
The ideal result is that by the time someone knocks on my door, I don’t need to actually sell them anything. They know me by reputation.
The takeaway
Rather than sell yourself, try marketing yourself. Realize it takes a longer amount of time to see the benefits, like a farmer model instead of a hunter-gatherer model. But once the crops bloom, you eat for months.