Don't be afraid to connect with a lot of people — luck is a numbers game
Work and referrals come from being on a lot of people's minds. The way you get lucky is by keeping a lot of irons in the fire.
A lot of small shops hold back from reaching out to people because it feels pushy, or because they're waiting for the "right" lead before they introduce themselves. That's backwards. Connecting with people — contractors, designers, suppliers, property managers, other trades, past customers — is almost never the thing that costs you a job. It's the thing that gets you the next one.
It will be very rare that more than one person reaches out to you in the same week with the same kind of work. Connecting is about timing and luck. Someone needs to be thinking of you the moment their job goes sideways, their usual guy doesn't pick up, or a client asks "do you know anybody who…". That's not something you can schedule. You can only stack the odds.
The way you get lucky is by having a lot of people on your mind — and being on a lot of people's minds. Every coffee, every quick site visit, every "just checking in" text, every business card handed out, every follow-up after a finished job is one more name in the rotation. Most of them will go nowhere this month. One of them will turn into a job you never would have gotten otherwise.
- Don't pre-qualify too hard. You don't actually know who's going to send you work. The quiet contractor you met once might call you in six months when his lead guy quits.
- Stay in light contact. A short message every couple of months beats disappearing for a year and showing up only when you need something.
- Be easy to refer. People pass your name along when they remember what you do, who you do it for, and that you don't make them look bad. Make all three obvious.
- Volume beats perfection. Ten warm contacts who occasionally think of you will out-earn one "perfect" connection you're afraid to bother.
Connecting isn't about closing a job today. It's about making sure that when luck happens somewhere out there, your name is one of the first three that comes up. The more people you're on good terms with, the more often that happens.