140. The Fortune is in the Follow-Up: A 3-Step Process for Post-Event Momentum

Welcome. I am marketing expert and business coach Melissa Kellogg Lueck. And this is the Doing Business Like a Woman podcast where we are exploring and teaching you how women are reinventing the way business is done and money is made to help you create greater impact and financial freedom. One business at a well, hello. Hey friend. Hey friend. How's it going? I haven't been on live in a while so I was thinking about you and thought I would pop on and say hello and give you a little update on what's been happening as well as I have some big ideas to share with you today. And I spent last week in Dallas, Texas at the E Women Network International Conference Icon Conference. And it was amazing. And if you've seen my posts, I've been posting pictures and stuff and it was just an incredible time. We had such a fabulous time. And I got back on Sunday and back at my desk yesterday and it's been a little bit of a whirlwind, I'm not gonna lie. And I wanted to share with you today how I my process for follow up. Because networking or going to conferences, going to meet people and tell them what you do and all that great stuff is great, but that is not going to be what ultimately creates clients. Networking is not going to create clients for you. It's going to be the follow up that does. And so that's where all of the power is, is in the follow up and in building relationships. And so I wanted to chat with you a little bit about that today. But before I get to that, I want to just offer that I'm an introvert, right? So going to big events like the one I was at last week and even going to networking can really be taxing on my nervous system. And so I noticed when I got home that I really needed to just take some time to be with me and process. You know, I, I'm still dreaming all about the conference. So I know my brain is still processing everything that I experienced last week. And but for those of you that are introverts or even if you just have, you know, if it's a big lift for you to go to events and meet people in person, I want to just normalize that. That is completely normal that you feel that way. And it's completely normal that when you get home from big events or times where you're very visible that you need to care for yourself. And so I have a three step process that I wanted to offer you that I practiced that's really helped me to get back out there and just enter you know, re energize myself for this week and to keep the momentum going in my business. And so number one is in this process. So I would offer that this could be used anytime you are, you know, coming back from a conference like I did, or after an event or after a long weekend, or maybe it's just Monday morning, right? So number one is power up. And powering up includes really getting centered and connected back with yourself. It includes grounding and regulating your nervous system and also going back to your why. And for me, anytime I reconnect with my why and why I do the work that I do. And I probably should give a little summary in case you don't know me. My name's Melissa Kellogg Luick and I am a coach for women entrepreneurs. And I love helping women entrepreneurs create financial freedom through entrepreneurship. And I do that by teaching them confident, consistent client flow and teaching marketing and helping them to be successful and bringing in consistent revenue and clients. So, so when I reconnect back to that why, that helps me power up, right? And then the second thing that we always have to do when we come back from a big event, long conference like I was at is catch up, right? It's about catching up with, you know, maybe the work that you missed out on during that time that you were gone, or catching up on email, catching up with clients, even catching up in your home, right? Like I had to get home and do the grocery shopping and get the dog to the groomer and get my son to his teeth cleaning appointment to the dentist and you know, all those little things. So there's some catch up and just always making space for that. And then the third thing that I really want to talk to you about today is follow up. And so that's the third part of our process. We've got a follow up. And follow up is super important because that's where you really have the opportunity to get the return on your investment for, for going to the conference, going to the event, being away from your office, your family, all of those things. And so part of my plan in, in creating a return on my investment of the time and money that I was away is having a really solid process for follow up. And so I wanted to share that with you today. And in fact, I put together a checklist with this process. So if you want the checklist, make sure and just comment checklist or that you want it or something of that sort right here on this video and I will send you the checklist. And so number one, that I did as I was on the plane flying home, I started pulling together all of the, everything that I gathered, you know, all the business cards, the connections, the notes that I made of people that I wanted to follow up with. I started to gather that and I put all of the business cards that I was given, I put them in a spreadsheet and I just did that on my phone, right? I put a very simple spreadsheet that I, when I got home, was able to upload into my CRM. And so I just collected all of that. So I had all of that ready to go. So that's number one thing. Then the second thing is within the first couple of days, days, first week, ideally within 24 to 48 hours after you return, send a personal follow up communication, whether in whatever style is best for you or that you like, whether it's an email or a text or a dm, however you like to communicate, or you could do, you know, LinkedIn messages, whatever, however you like to connect with people, follow up with a personal message and say, you know, hey Susie, it was really great to meet you. Make sure you put something in there personal, like, I'm really glad we got to sit together at lunch. I really enjoyed our conversation about that session that we were in. Or, you know, however you want to say that. But just send a personal note. This is not a call to, you know, dump everybody into your email management system and start just sending emails. Right. It's a personal connection email and I love the personal feel of that and your recipient will as well. And so as part of that, you also want to offer a next step. So what I have been doing, what I have done, I sent out all my emails yesterday with everybody that I connected with and I, you know, so it was great to meet you and I put something personal in there about, you know, what I remember about being with them or meeting them or chatting with them. And then I either invited them to a one, either or both, invited them to a one on one connection call, which I love doing those. And I also offered to send them the checklist that I was talking with you about. That, that, that gives this process, right? Because I think so many of the folks I met will and so many people that I meet when I'm out networking, never follow up, right? And so as I said earlier, the fortune is in the follow up, right? So make sure you're following up. So I suggest that you think about what can you offer, what can you give. We're not asking or requesting anything from them. We're thinking about how can I get to know them better? How can I build a relationship? What can I offer them? So I offer, you know, I put together this checklist that I'm offering. And so think about what you can give them, not what you want to get from them. Right? And then the fourth thing, the fourth step I, I suggest is showing up online. This is a really great opportunity to share with your audience, whether they were with you at the event or not. Share with them how it impacted you, what you learned, share some photos or videos or reels about the experience and just enjoy that energy that you came back with. Right? And so share, maybe you can write a post or record a video that just shares some of your insights about the event. And then also the next thing would be to keep the connecting alive, to keep the connections alive. So all the folks that you met, all the folks that you sent that personal email to, think about how you want to keep those connections alive. Do you want to host a, like a virtual get together, a virtual coffee chat or you know, something where you all get together as a group? Do you want to suggest, you know, having a one on one connection call with them or getting together with them for coffee in person or what is the next step in the relationship? To just keep the conversation going. And it's not about pitching, it's not about selling, it's about giving. Still, it's about creating connection, creating a relationship. Right? And then finally track, I want to encourage you to track everyone that you are connecting with, whether it's in a, in a spreadsheet or in a CRM and make sure that you, you know, have a place there where you can take notes and make notes on the conversations so that you can keep those connections going and, and then continue following up. So, so maybe you have a one on one connection call with them. Then you want to think about, well, what can I, you know, how do we want to continue this relationship? And then make an offer, an invitation, right, to, for the next step in your client journey. And if you don't know what your client journey is, that's a really great thing for us to, I'm happy to help you with that. It's a really great thing for us to discuss if you would like to do that and make sure that you have a place where you can prompt yourself to follow up with them, to continue following up with them. Right? So maybe you send the initial connection email, you have the one on one connection call with them and then you just follow up with them either in a week, you know, Every week for a little while, maybe it's once a month for a while, but just keep the relationship going because this is how business is built. And I this sounds simple and sounds common sense, but common sense is not very common, right? And I know myself, I have been guilty of not following up and making big investments in time and money to go to conferences or events and not following up and not creating my return on investment. That is our responsibility as entrepreneurs, as CEOs to create that return on investment. And it can be done very, very simply. And I want to just encourage you that the whole point of this is to create connection. It's not trying to think about, okay, now when can I sell them? It's creating connection and offering to serve. And so you will know if you go, if you go into it with that spirit, with that thinking, then you will know when it's the right time to offer to help them. Say, oh, that's exactly the work that I do. I can help you with that. And you will be surprised at how you know. The more you give and serve, the more it comes back to you, I promise. But yeah, just in the, the point of all of this is not to have it perfect or you know, perfectly organized and curated. For example, this checklist I created, I got the idea for it when I was at the airport waiting for my plane. I had some extra time and I just started chatting with, talking with ChatGPT about some ideas and it really helped me to flesh out some ideas around how I myself can, can follow up and have a process and then how I can turn that into something that can help you as well. So I'm doing it and you're. And offer, I'm offering, offering it to you to help you as well. So it's kind of fun, right? So as I'm doing it, you can do it as well. So let's do it together. Let's keep connected. And because marketing is all about connecting and serving your future clients and that can be super simple and it's super effective. So say hi if you are here and if you're watching in the replay, give me a good hello and I'm so glad that you're here with me today. It's great to see you all and that's what I have for you. So remember, keep following up and keep the connections going, keep the relationships going. That's what our businesses are built on. And if I can serve you and help you in, you know, putting your personalized plan together for your follow ups, including, you know, brainstorming your client journey, reach out to me. I would love to help you with that, to help you really begin creating or continue and build upon the current business that you have and get to a place in your business where you can confidently rely on yourself in your business to always be bringing in clients and revenue. And so I would love to serve you in that way. And that's all I have for you today. I am going to sign off and go get some dinner going and I hope you guys have a fabulous rest of your evening and I will talk to you again very soon. All right, bye. Hey, if you like this podcast, I want to invite you to become part of my community. The link is in the show Notes. 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