Ever heard stories of people who win the lottery only to go broke within the next year? It blows my mind every single time. What are they doing with all that money? I’ll tell you exactly what happened.
It comes down to one simple fact: they had no clue what to do with it. They had no plans. They had no ideas. They had no goals. So poof! The money went away.
In life, we get some amazing opportunities presented to us. You never know when it’s going to happen, but you can guarantee you’re going to get many great chances to take advantage of a great opportunity. And when it happens, you have to be prepared!
And as your website mentor, I’m sharing a few ways that you can be prepped and ready to win the lottery of opportunities using your website.
Develop the heck out of your skills and showcase them.
Study about your craft in spare time. Attend workshops and seminars. Read books. And each time you do so, gather all that insight and your perspectives into articles or posts on your website. When editors and marketers are looking for subject matter experts, they’ll be able to validate your level of expertise showcased in these articles. I cannot stress this enough. You never know whose attention you’re going to grab by simply showcasing your skills.
Practice, practice, practice.
Key action here is actually applying what you’ve learned: teach, do a trial run, or do it for free. You can offer complimentary service or products to test and refine your craft through your website. Some examples would be creating freebies and gathering feedback, doing a web series or live presentation feed that you can set up as a landing page on your website.
Regina Anaejionu of byregina.com is an expert in business development and growth, and she showcases her years of expertise through a ton of free materials, workshops, and more on her website.
Act as if you’re already in the opportunity.
It goes without saying that if you know how to manage money, then when you get more money, it’s not going to throw you off your game. My favorite tactic of all is mocking up the opportunity. Creating a live visual of what it would be like to work with you is the ultimate reality trigger. Suddenly they can see it and almost feel it. For example, I love when event coordinators design party that they don’t get paid to do. It not only helps to expand their portfolio but to work on the projects that they really want more of. For example, Amy Moss was a graphic designer obsessed with cute and colorful details for parties and now showcases her amazing collections of inventive parties on Oh Happy Day!
Make yourself easy to access.
Investors, agents, and managers need to be able to quickly offer you an opportunity but way too many of us are playing hard to get. Listen, if we want to make our dreams a reality we need to make ourselves more accessible. I learned this tip from Mattie James, a social influencer and entrepreneur who has collaborated with a number of big name brands. So don’t put your audience through hoops to speak to you.
This concept was reinforced in the book Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media by Britney Hennessy. Make sure your email address is easily accessible with the touch of a click on your home page, in the footer, and on your contact page.
Create a network that you can lean on.
Collaboration with other experts in your field helps you to create a team that you can lean on when the opportunity presents itself. Because everyone loves a good conversation, you can interview them and share that interview as an article on the website. Likely if someone is looking for that person, they’ll stumble upon you and your expertise.
Side Hustle Pro founder Nicaila Matthews Okome does this well on her site. Not only does she share the words of wisdom from her interviewees but she sneaks in insightful knowledge as an expert in marketing.
Make some time for magic to happen.
Now, this is not something you do on your website, but plays an important role in being prepped for the opportunity to knock on your door. Open spots in your calendar for “what if” moments. Like what if Oprah knocks on your door and offers you a check for that non-profit you’ve been dreaming of? Or what if you walk into Jessica Alba on your way to work? Or what if the Senator of your state wants to have dinner with you and your family tomorrow night? You get the point. Have enough flexibility in your schedule to literally drop everything and run with those unexpected magical moments.
Along the same lines is taking the time to be someplace where the magic can happen. If you mastered everything mentioned before then all you need is to be in the right place at the right time. So attending events such as brunches, conferences, masterminds, etc. means your raising your hand and saying “I’m Ready.”
Don’t be stingy. Share the goods.
I sound like a broken record but it’s still worth saying again. Share what you know. People call this giving value, aka helping a sister (or brother) out. Whatever dope information is stored in your head is going to change someone’s life, and the person’s life that you change will not go unnoticed. They’ll share with their friends who will share with their friends and so on. This gets your name out there for the right people to discover you and present you with that once in a lifetime opportunity like it did for Amy Landino who got the attention of the infamous Gary V. of Vaynermedia.
So let’s recap:
If you won the lottery (of opportunity that is) be prepared! And if you’re in business or building your personal brand, or just want to be seen and heard, you can get prepped for that something big by using your website to:
- Showcase your skills
- Practice your craft
- Show off your ideas and models
- Create a network
- Share your perspectives
And most importantly to help people get in touch with you
And now it’s time to put all that good stuff into action. Your challenge should you accept it is to take ONE of the items and update your website.
Also, let’s get the conversation started below. Have you ever been presented with a lucky break that you weren’t prepared for? How would you have done it differently if you were prepared?
