What’s missing from your business growth strategy?

24th, Jul 2025

Are you using both marketing and business development strategies to grow your business? Too often, professionals and business owners focus on one and neglect the other, when they actually work best together.

The truth is that you must do both to be successful.

Marketing helps people find and trust you. It boosts visibility, builds credibility and keeps you top of mind.

Business development cultivates relationships that lead to actual clients and referrals.

This concept was reinforced for me at a recent Legal Marketing Association program on business development (BD) by David Ackert. It focused on overcoming the challenges many professionals face when it comes to BD. But it also highlighted how marketing can support BD.

One of the most valuable takeaways was to concentrate on your “Short List.” These are your key relationships most likely to lead to new business or referrals.

Once you’ve identified your Short List, you use a mix of marketing AND business development tactics to move them through what Ackert calls the 7 Stages of Engagement that go from initial awareness to becoming loyal clients or referral sources.

To be successful in this process, you have to consistently show up.

According to Ackert’s research, it takes about 14 meaningful interactions spaced 4–6 weeks apart to build enough trust for a client conversation to even happen. That’s more than one lunch meeting or “Just checking in” email. It’s a sustained, deliberate effort.

The good news is that not all those interactions need to be one-on-one. Your marketing counts.

Every time you share helpful content on your website, social media, email and third-party sites, it is a valuable touchpoint that reinforces your credibility and keeps you top of mind to support your business development.

For example, you should post on LinkedIn as part of your marketing, but also pay attention to what your contacts are sharing to learn more about them for business development purposes. Comment on their LinkedIn posts and respond to comments they make on your posts to deepen the connection. Reach out to individuals who show interest in your profile or LinkedIn posts, or those sharing information you feel is valuable, to create new relationships.

Done well, your marketing will amplify your business development.

Because marketing alone isn’t enough. And business development without marketing is a slow uphill climb.

Of course, none of this happens overnight. But while BD is deeply personal (and not as easily outsourced), marketing is something you can get help with and coordinate in a way that supports your long-term growth.

Need help creating marketing that fuels your BD efforts? Contact me for a free consultation.

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