Inbounding

Is it better for you to find a new job and apply to it, or for a recruiter to come reach out to you? Is it better for you to find a new client and sell to them, or for a client to come find you? Is it better for you to reach out to a peer, or to have them reach out to you?

In business, you reaching out to someone is called “outbound,” and someone reaching out to you is called “inbound.” 

Early in my career, I thought it meant the same thing, because the end result seemed the same. You either get to work together, or you don’t. 

But now, I think that it’s always better to have someone reach out to you.

There’s a ton of value to inbound opportunities; the conversation starts with minimal research on your end, and the other person initiated it which means that they have a need and believe that you can solve it, or at the very least they’ve established in their mind that you’re worth meeting and talking to and taking the time to set a meeting with. In other words, they are bought in, even if just a little bit.

The challenge is for you to filter inbound opportunities; whereas if you’re doing outbound opportunities, you simply really need to persuade and sell.

“Inbound” has a bunch of alignment with thought leadership and content marketing, but there are so many other inbound marketing opportunities that take place outside of content:

  • Find the people your work is an actual solution for; for example, if you’re on the job market, approach recruiters to find companies hiring for your role. If you’re working in technology, this also includes people working at investment firms responsible for helping their portfolio companies with recruiting. If you see a company post a job for their marketing team, visit the VP or director of marketing’s LinkedIn profile.
  • Ask people to forward an email on your behalf. I like finding the person who’s making or influencing the decision, seeing who our mutual contacts on LinkedIn, and asking that person to forward an email from me to them and making an intro if they’re interested. Sometimes, I also reconnect with the person I asked to forward along the email, who sometimes sees another opportunity for me. That’s an inbound lead.
  • Find an affiliation or community you have in common with someone else; for example, if you’re applying for jobs at a company, look at their sister companies or their investor’s portfolio companies, and start connecting with people there and adding or delivering value.

Trust is key to making opportunities happen, and people trust other people.

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