How To Generate 100% Inbound Leads and Retained Revenue by Building a Community, with Kyle Winterbottom, Ep #197

The Resilient Recruiter

Building a thriving recruitment business in the middle of a global pandemic may be unimaginable to most people, but not for Kyle Winterbottom.

Kyle’s strategy is clear and straightforward: give value, give value, give value! In this episode, Kyle uncovers the story of his journey into the recruitment industry and how the global crisis turned into a pathway of opportunity.

Kyle is the Founder & CEO of Orbition Group, an award-winning talent solutions business. Based in Manchester, they focus exclusively on scaling Data, Analytics, and artificial intelligence teams across the UK, Europe, and the USA.

Kyle is also the Founder/Host of the Driven by Data Community which is comprised of three components; The Roundtable, The Podcast, and The Mentorship. Kyle elaborated on his three proven long-term strategies for boosting engagement and building relationships

Episode Outline and Highlights

• [02:02] Launching a recruitment business during the height of the pandemic.

• [06:11] Community building and visibility to build brand awareness.

• [10:23] Giving value through podcasting - should you start your own podcast?

• [17:02] Establishing commercial relationships.

• [24:26] How hosting live events can scale your business by demand.

• [34:43] Kyle talks about their Mentorship Programme and why it is the best long-term strategy.

• [41:57] Growing by demand vs. growing by design.

• [46:10] Revisiting business development strategies.

Give Value, Give Value, Give Value.

The pandemic can be perceived by many as not the best time to launch a business, but Kyle looked at it as the best time to kick off Orbition. His strategy is clear and straightforward: leverage content marketing and community building to build brand awareness. Give value first, and build relationships after.

“I guess that the whole premise was very simple. Just create a community of people who will ultimately be potential target customers and buying clients. Let's add a load of value to them and from there that'll create relationships. That then I guess the whole premise really is give value, give value, give value.”

Kyle elaborated on his strategies and you will find that there are three main takeaways:

• Content marketing and adding value to your ecosystem can lead to a snowball effect, where people will want to participate in your engagement activities.

• Prioritizing value adding to your market will generate not only visibility. It will position you as an expert and thought leader which gives you authority.

• It builds the best type of relationship - as your audience appreciates your contributions, you build a relationship that goes beyond the customer-vendor type.

Kyle shared his practices on how they continuously add value: via podcasting, live events, and mentorship programs.

Podcasting and Hosting Events

I was astonished when Kyle shared with me that 100% of their clients are through inbound marketing. I really wanted to pick his brains on their roadmap and the strategies they use.

He shared that podcasting has been a really effective tool in engaging with their target audience. One of the reasons that it is really successful is because it invited guests who they find credible, people of influence and seniority within the marketplace who have something to share. Kyle also reminded the listeners that it can take time to really get engagement and ROI - so it is really important to be patient and consistent.

After the pandemic, Kyle and his team started hosting free live events. These events started to garner more demand than they could facilitate, so they had to find the right balance of content and format in order to scale these events. They get very positive feedback from those who participate in these live events. Kyle and his team are able to bring together Chief Data Officers to share best practices while networking with one another.

Aside from the above engagement components, Kyle also discussed their mentorship program.

Deep Diving Into Their Mentorship Program

“The mentorship program came from a place where I'm continually looking at what is the next thing that we can do for this community that adds value and how can we do something that also strategically aids the direction of the business”

Kyle shared what their mentorship program looks like and how it helps those starting their career in data analytics improve in technical and soft skills. Kyle also revealed that this is not something they are monetizing at the moment. He shared why: “It's more about the brand visibility and having that relationship, because I think for us, in all honesty, what we can earn from you know, charging for a mentorship program will be really insignificant in comparison to what we can earn off having that relationship with those people and obviously, what you know we're again think about the long game. “

This is indeed a wonderful approach to engagement and adding value to the community. If you think about it, the 300+ people joining their mentorship program become their brand ambassadors. Knowing that someday those who were mentored will eventually become decision makers and hiring managers, they will be future clients.

Our Sponsor

This podcast is proudly sponsored by i-intro

i-intro® is an end-to-end retained recruitment platform. Their technology and methodology allow recruiters to differentiate themselves from the competition, win more retained business, bigger fees, and increase their billings. Their software combined with world-class training enables you to transition from transactional, contingency recruiter to consultative, retained recruiter. Instead of being perceived as a “me too” vendor, you’ll be positioned as a “me only” solutions provider. Be sure to mention Mark Whitby or The Resilient Recruiter. Book your free, no-obligation consultation here: https://recruitmentcoach.com/retained

Kyle Winterbottom Bio and Contact Info

Kyle is the founder and CEO of Orbition Group, an award-winning talent solutions business that operates exclusively within the Data and Analytics space across the UK, Europe, and USA. Kyle is also the Founder/Host of the Driven by Data Community which is composed of three components: Driven by Data: The Roundtable, Driven by Data: The Podcast, and Driven by Data: The Mentorship.

Kyle is also featured in the Data IQ 100 Most Influential People in Data for 2022 and 2023.

• Kyle on LinkedIn

• Orbition Group website link

People and Resources Mentioned

• Alex Cooke on LinkedIn

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• TRR#195 Recruitment Rhythms: How Human Connection Elevates You Above the Competition, with Alex Cooke

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