A stranger is a customer that you have not yet met

"A stranger is a friend you have not yet met."
-- Jim Reeves (among others)

When planning strategies to find new customers or business associates, the usual reflex is to approach people we know well: friends, family, colleagues.

But this is probably the WORST source of good contacts. Why?

First, these people know you. They have a preconceived idea of who you are: brother, mother, employee, professional. And all of a sudden, you show up with a crazy idea that you are now Mister or Miss Businessman, and you want them to buy this fabulous opportunity you are selling, because all of a sudden you "believe"? Yeah, right ... Be too pushy, and you quickly become a member of the NFL club (exclusively for those who have no friends left).

Second, sooner or later (probably sooner), you will exhaust your list of contacts. And once someone tells you no, it's much harder to go back to ask for references (and even less to ask if they have "changed their mind")...

That is why you must go beyond your circle of known contacts. You must develop the habit of approaching strangers.

The advantage of introducing yourself to someone who does not know you, is that the person has no preconceived idea of who you are. It is much easier in this case to get "in character". They do not know that you are a beginner (or experienced) in business, or that you just endured ten "NO"s in a row. For them, you are someone new, with no reason to doubt your conviction and sincerity.

And if things don't click with the stranger you have just met, no problem, what are the chances that you'll ever see this person again?

The important thing is to approach the people you meet for the first time with no other intention than simply to introduce yourself and your project. That's all. The decision to go further becomes theirs, and you've done your duty to make yourself known.

I have personally experienced the need to approach strangers. My professional and financial survival depended on it. During my last move to my present home, more than 3000 kms from where I lived my adult life up to that point, to a new city where I had no job, no contacts, no friends, no family except my old mother, necessity dictated that I start somewhere to rebuild a customer base. So I hitched up my courage to the engine of bold action, and I plunged into the adventure of meeting new people. Fortunately, the process was much easier than I thought because I could just be myself and thus attract people who were really interested to connect with me and even participate in my project.

Now my best customers and business partners, and even my best friends, all these are people I did not know before.

Banish your discomfort and step outside the circle of people you know. Go meet new people, simply for the pleasure of meeting them. Be visible, real, open, honest, enthusiastic. You will see that it is possible and fun to create an entire network of contacts who appreciate who you are and what you have to offer.

Because your best customer, and even your new business partner, is most likely someone that you have not met yet!

The speed of freedom

There is an essential dimension to the success of any business plan, and that is speed.

And it takes momentum to create this speed.

Think of a tsunami. A sudden, powerful, instantaneous change in the Earth's crust creates a wave that can travel thousands of kilometers, increasing in size, generating speed and creating consequences far in time and distance of the event that triggered the process. That's the power of momentum.

Once you have speed, building and guiding your business requires less effort. Is it not true that it's much easier to ride your bike once you have huffed and puffed and sweated your way to the top of the hill?

When your project has momentum, all obstacles or disadvantages become smaller. If you do not have good momentum, each "no" or hiccup or disappointment becomes an obstacle that grows increasingly large, undermining your progress and eventually stopping you from reaching your goal.

Building quickly is much easier than building slowly.

What is the masssive action that you need to do now? It is approaching as many people as possible in the next thirty (30) days. Approaching people not to sell them or convince them, but to simply inform them of your project and your goals. Whether they agree or not is their choice. The important thing is they know what you are doing.

And your next thirty days beginning with your activity this week. The only mass action that you must aim for is to contact at least ten people per day for the next five days - it will be 50 contacts all grouped together in a short period of time.

Speaking with fifty people in your project this week will give a quantum boost to your confidence and will break through the discomfort and hesitation that is keeping you back from the results you want. What you do now, right now, will result in sales, contracts, income and profits within 90 days or less.

The key to this strategy is the concentration of your efforts. Instead of just planning, take action. Be bold, be a little crazy, but be in motion. Banish from your vocabulary the question "how?" and remind yourself of your who, what and why.

Yes, it will require time and effort on your part. But the investment you make now, NOW!, is a good measure of your probability of success in 90 days. Because, like a farmer who wants sweet, juicy corn, you have to plant the seeds of opportunity now to be able to reap later.

To create the results you want, you must start with a big, even a massive, push to overcome the inertia of the present moment. If your effort is not sufficient, you fall back into your zone of daily results, and you always get what you've always got.

What differentiates those who succeed from those who fail in business, as in life, is the will to act boldly.

The speed of your results depends on two factors: the intensity of your work and velocity of your actions.

A rocket, to take off and reach the Earth's orbit, needs to accelerate to a speed of 11.2 km / s or 40320 km / h. If this escape velocity is not reached, everything is for nothing, the rocket will not reach its orbit and crash back to Earth.

And to achieve this speed, a rocket like the Space Shuttle needs nineteen times more mass in fuel than the empty weight of the vehicle. Half of this fuel is to lift this weight so that it rises above the launch tower. Talk about intense!

So to achieve the objectives you have set for yourself in 90 days, you must take massive action now. Consider your goal for this week and double it - and even quadruple it. Massive, intense, rapid action - that is what is needed so you can reach the speed of freedom!

What bold, massive action are you willing to take right now so that you can create the future you want?