Braggings versus promoting… when you talk about how great you are at creating content, it sounds like “bragging,” but if you were to tell someone else in private about how incredible you are, it may seem sincere and more like a promotion of yourself. However, that someone else you’d be speaking to in this hypothetical situation is much more likely to believe me talking about you than me talking about myself.

Bragging or promoting?

To grow a business, you need several avenues of marketing: digital, social, print, networking, and partnering. The last one (partnering) is crucial because when you build a relationship with key people (at least 4 or 5), they’ll essentially shout from the rooftops about how great you are. At UK-USA Marketing, we find those key people that want to tell their clients about how great you are. The best relationships are ones where you can also send those key people to your clients as well. This symbiotic relationship can last for years instead of just having a “one-off” job. Having a steady flow of clients is much more ideal for any business. We call these downstream and upstream referrals. If someone creates a problem that you solve, then you are downstream to receive the referral. On the other hand, if you create a problem that someone else solves, then you are upstream to create the referral.

Imagine you are a bookkeeper who helps business owners get their accounting books in order. You want to connect with business coaches in order to get an owner to increase their revenue and employee retention so much that they can now afford your services (downstream referral). Or you may want to talk with certified public accountants (CPAs) that tell their clients to present the information in a succinct way so that they may prepare your tax return (downstream referral). Once you have prepared the owner’s financial statements and accounting books, that owner is ready to connect with a CPA for tax planning (upstream referral) or a commercial lender to apply for a business loan (upstream referral). Connecting with business coaches, CPAs, and commercial lenders can generate a continuous stream of referrals to grow your business.

At UK to USA Marketing, we work to find your ideal power partners so that you can focus more on growing your business. If you have any questions, please contact us!