Jenny and the Unicorn: A business fable for those in need of leads that convert

It was another grey winter day and Jenny, who was constantly trying to find interesting ways to market her consulting business had just about had enough. Her business was in a lull and it was making her nervous. “How can I get more clients to pay me a significant retainer fee every month? I need some bigger fish,” she exclaimed. This wasn’t the first time Jenny had asked herself this question. It seemed to her that the term “consultant” was merely a euphemism for “sometimes eats”.

To be fair, Jenny was no slouch. She worked diligently at marketing her business. She networked with other business owners, teamed up with people in complementary industries, applied for freelance work on various job sites, and regularly published valuable content on social media sites all over the internet. She did get leads that converted to clients, but not the kind of clients she really wanted. She wanted to find clients who could easily pay her a more significant retainer over a long period, instead of clients who pay a measly $500 per month for a few months at a time. Jenny recognized that business owners who could only afford to pay a small retainer for a short time, really couldn’t afford to pay anyone at all to help them with their business and would not be very gratifying to work with. After all, how can you affect change in a business with such a low budget? It takes time and effort to significantly increase results in business, and time costs money.

It was clear that Jenny needed to find a way to access clients with more money to spend on improving their businesses. Exhausted, Jenny called it a day and decided to turn her attention to other things for a while. A change in focus can sometimes stir up a little inspiration, she thought.

That evening, Jenny got a call from a friend who was in the midst of writing his first book. A prolific writer, he compiled all of the blog posts he had ever written and began sifting through them to see if he could weave them together well enough to make a coherently written book. “I’ve got so much content to work with, it’s a bit daunting just trying to get through it all. I’ve been dividing everything up into themes and trying to sort through it that way,” he told her.

“Bob, why don’t you just decide what you want to write about, put together an outline for each chapter and go from there? You will probably find you can still extract the content from your previously written posts, but it will flow more naturally.” Bob didn’t like Jenny’s suggestion. A bit of a unicorn, he had his own creative process and needed to work through it in his own way.

Over the years, Jenny had given much thought to the best approach to writing a book. She had a few unfinished books under her belt plus a finished book that she even got published. Jenny understood that the creative process is different for everyone. The way we organize our thoughts and keep things structured when we write is a very personal process. What works for some may not work for others. Jenny spent the next few days pondering Bob’s creative process and the creative process of other writers she knew.

Did you ever notice how great ideas are often formed in the middle of the night? You wake up from a sleep and all of a sudden you are struck with the solution you have been searching for. That kind of thing happened to Jenny all the time, and so the idea to write an e-booklet was born. This would be an e-booklet that would appeal specifically to the business owners she wanted to attract. She would include a link to her booklet in all of her posts and also send it to business owners who were connected to her through social media. Any business owner who wanted to take his or her business to a higher level could download the booklet and get some valuable information for free. Jenny figured if they could afford to have someone come in and help them, then they would contact her. In other words, she would have generated a lead with a high probability of conversion.

Jenny decided to write her e-booklet and make it downloadable without barriers for easy sharing. People are more likely to share content that doesn’t require any personal information and won't lead to spam. Jenny felt that having reach was more important to her than having an email list. She reasoned that if the booklet struck a chord with an interested business owner, then that person would naturally contact her.

Pleased that her dear friend Bob had inspired a solution to her client shortage, Jenny got to work on writing and distributing her free downloadable e-booklet. It seems unicorns really are magical creatures!

Is your business in transition? Are you seeking exponential business growth?  Download my free e-booklet here!

Few public relations & communications specialists have as diverse a background as Renée Cormier. Add published author, employee engagement specialist, sales and marketing strategist, entrepreneur and educator to her list of accomplishments. In her career Renée has held leadership roles in sales and marketing, developed and implemented national marketing strategies and was responsible for teams as large as 28 strong. She brings a wide range of experience and talent to her work.

Renée really shines in marketing communications. She is known for developing and implementing comprehensive communications strategies and generating results through flawless implementation. With such strong business acumen, passion for her work and a natural talent for business strategy, Renée is definitely considered an important resource for her clients. Is your business in transition? Do you need help with your communications or public relations efforts? Contact Renée through her website.