Two and a half years ago, I got some advice that changed my business and life forever.

I was copywriting for a tech startup and freelancing on the side. I'd already given my notice and was about to go into my business full-time.

The problem was, I couldn't get people to respond to my outreach, and I didn't have enough clients.

In my mind, I was:

• sending tons of messages

• trying "everything"

• not getting anything to work

Nervous and a bit frustrated, I scheduled a call with a mentor of mine.

"Do more outreach"

On the call with my mentor, I shared my troubles. He calmly said, "Okay, so how much outreach are you doing?"

I thought for a minute.

"Probably one message a day on LinkedIn."

He looked at me like I was insane.

"ONE a day?"

I nodded.

He jumped out of his chair.

"Do THREE per day. FIVE per day. Then let's talk."

I nodded and said I'd try that. Over the next couple of weeks, I did what he told me. A month later, I sent him this message:

Hey, guess what? After x5 ing my outreach I’ve scheduled 3 discovery calls with target clients, and had several other positive responses. 🤩 That’s from 50 LinkedIn messages to marketers in my niche ...

My mentor was ecstatic for me and cheered me on. Sure enough, I was able to turn two of those prospects into clients. Those were the first "strangers" I ever worked with.

I felt like I had a real business.

Now, do even more

The funny thing is, we had the same exchange a year later.

Only this time, I told him I was sending five outreach messages per day. He told me to ratchet it up to 25 per day given what it could do for my business.

I'm still figuring out how to follow his 25-per-day recommendation. But I have zero doubt that if I did manage to send that volume of outreach consistently, I'd unlock serious growth for my business.

Here's the thing though:

The lesson I learned wasn't really about the number of outreach messages I need to send.

It was that:

• Outreach and sales are the lifeblood of any business

• We can do more than we think we can

• Work that's "a lot" to us is nothing to someone a few levels up

And the key to reaching that next level?

Surrounding yourself with people who are already there.