The Year of Hustle

If you’re old enough, you might recall that “back in the day” the most effective business people in your local town or community were seemingly omnipresent. Think about the car dealer, the top real estate or insurance agent or maybe a local mover or the grocer in your neighborhood; these business people showed up everywhere.

They would sponsor pretty much anything they could. They would be prominent at the fall fair and deliver pumpkins at Halloween. They would deliver cookies or cakes during the holiday season. They would talk on the local radio station. They worked extremely hard to create their omnipresence. It wasn’t hard to connect the dots of their success to the simple fact that they kept showing up. They were always hustling.

Robbi Campbell, our real estate agent, is cut from the same cloth. Every month we get a small gift from her in the mail along with the latest listings and recent home purchase prices in our area. She is always doing something to maintain the relationship she has with us. She’s out hustling. She also sells a lot of homes. There’s an obvious connection between the two.

I have been privileged in my consulting practice this year to work with a number of owners and executives in the RIM (records and information management) and destruction industry who are making gigantic strides in their businesses. The secret of their success? They hustle. They are not content to wait for things to happen, they make things happen.

“Hustle” is defined as a forceful action and energetic intention to accomplish or obtain something. For you and me, that means leads. Thus, marketing activity is of utmost priority every single day. There is no magic or easy button. Hustle demands implementation. It requires work.

It means that you do not let those one-time contacts forget you. If you get their names and they are qualified leads, you send them your newsletter on an ongoing basis, even if they aren’t ready to buy from you yet. It means you send a multistep direct mail campaign to your desired prospects and follow up by phone. And, then, if there is no response, you send them something again. Hustle means you show up and sponsor the local ARMA, ALA (Association of Legal Administrators) or IFMA (International Facility Management Association) chapter. You establish your presence in your niche or geographic community and never, ever go away.

Make 2014 the year to hustle your way to omnipresence and success!

Tom Adams is a records and information management and information destruction marketing expert. Check out his regular marketing and training tools at TomAdams.com/SDB.