Global Marketing Plus

Networking is not just a great way to get new business, it also is a great way to meet people who can help you get business and to grow your business with their expertise and support.  I believe that the more support and assistance you have, the better.

A mentor is a trusted counselor or influential supporter who takes a personal interest in your success.  One great source of mentors is SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives).  SCORE is free and you can have one-on-one counseling for your business and build a long term mentor.  I like to think of SCORE as a board of directors for a small business that cannot afford one.  I know small businesses who have several counselors, each with his or her own expertise.  One might be a marketing professional, one an accountant, one a retired banker, and so on.  When you need advise and help with marketing, you call on your marketing professional.  SCORE is a great resource that you never have to pay for.  And you never have to worry about confidentiality because to be a SCORE counselor, you have to sign a contract with the SBA. 

You can contact me if you would like to find a SCORE office near you.

A strategic alliance is someone who is in a position to open the door to resources and contacts.

In my web design business, I found it very difficult to find those business owners that currently needed my services.  So I have created several strategic alliances with other professionals who already either have a large clientele of business owners or contact business owners on a regular basis.  When they come across someone who needs a website either built or fixed, the refer them to me.  They give me their contact information so I can follow up on them.

Running a small business on your own can be daunting and difficult.  A mentor or a strategic alliance can ease your way through the tough, competitive times.  Mentors and strategic alliances opens doors for you to knowledge, skills , referrals and contacts you might otherwise need years to access.

How can you develop these resources for yourself?  We will discuss that tomorrow.

So today, go out and create a profitable day!

Even though most successful home-based businesses are built on word-of-mouth marketing, I have found that networking is usually overlooked and sometimes even avoided.  Too often a home-based business will try to compete with larger competition on their level with advertising and direct mail.  Unfortunately, many home-based businesses find that normal advertising techniques do not result in immediate business and require a lot of money, which most small businesses do not have.  Not only that, but a prospective customer has a hard time knowing how such a business could serve them better than all the competition that is also advertising.  And without knowing a prospective customer and his or her needs, you do not know how you can best serve them until you talk with them to find out what unmet needs they may have. (for a discussion of how to remedy that problem, read my other blog on websites and how they can help)

That is where networking comes in.  Networking gives you the opportunity to find out what they need and show how you can serve them better.  In the process, the prospective customer will also have a chance to find out what they like about you, and most people want to do business with someone they know and like — particularly when they need a service.

So why is there such a resistance to networking since it is such a useful marketing tool?   According to the “Almanac of American People”, going to a party with strangers is the most frequently mentioned source of anxiety in social situations.  Could that be the reason many small business owners avoid it?

Here are six common excuses I hear for not using networking and a new way to look at them.

1. I don’t have enough time to network.  Networking does take more time than answering the phone and setting up appointments to do business.  But if the phone is quiet, networking is an excellent way to make it ring. Networking also allows you to do market research while you are trying to fill your pipeline of potential customers.  You can rub shoulders with prospects and find out what they need and what needs are not being met.  You can also find out how your competitor provides their services, what they do that the prospect likes and what they do that the prospect does not like.
2. I am too shy to meet people in a large group.  What makes a successful net-worker is not a lack of being shy, but the recognition that everyone else in the room is shy, too!  If you focus your attention away from yourself and onto helping others feel more at ease, you’ll become more at ease, yourself. How do you feel when someone you have never met before comes up to you with a warm smile and says, “Hi! I’m so and so.  What’s your name?”  I am sure that you are more than happy when that happens.  It works the same way when you go up to someone you don’t know and greet them and show interest in them — genuine interest — you make them feel good.  If that person doesn’t need your product or service, they may know someone who does!
3. It takes me away from the office.  Some people work on their own because they like to work by themselves, plus those who work on their own have more than enough work to do in the office.  Networking usually does mean taking the time to go somewhere else.  To make it so you are not away from the office during business hours, many networking meetings are either early in the morning so you can be back before the phone starts to ring, or they are at noon when customers will understand if they get a answering machine that says you are at lunch until 1:00.If you do not keep the pipeline full of potential customers, soon you will not have enough work to keep you busy… you don’t want that!
4. I don’t like to mix business with pleasure.  Another version of this is that people feel guilty if they enjoy working too much.  Yet how often does someone at a social activity ask you, “What do your do?”  And how often do you ask others what they do?   Each such question is an open invitation to network.  Most people are eager to talk about themselves and are flattered when someone else takes an interest.Don’t think only small businesses network!  Many large deals are made by the largest companies over a game of golf or at other functions.
5. I don’t want to be a pushy sales person.  Networking is not selling!  Let me repeat that, because it is important.  Networking is NOT selling!  Then what is networking?  Networking is a means of finding new people who are interested in and of themselves.  It is also an opportunity to find out whether or not the people you meet are potential prospects without the pressure of a sales situation.I advise to never sell while networking.  That is what gives networking a bad name.  Any selling that is to be done will come later.  If you find someone that could be a prospective buyer of your services, you won’t have any of the problems associated with cold calling.  You have already opened the door to a relationship.  Simply get their card and withing a day, give them a call to make an appointment for a one-on-one.  Do this even if they would not make a good customer but may know someone who would.
6. I do not like to sell, period.  No business can exist without some selling.  Networking is an ideal way for someone who hates to sell to get business.  In networking, by the time you get the opportunity to sell, you have already built a relationship and determined the need for your product or service.Even if there is no sale from your efforts, if you continue to network, you will be able to stay in touch with the contact  without having to make any follow-up phone calls, which take a lot of time and we all dread making.

Remember that you should not try to depend on networking for immediate results.  Of course, you shouldn’t expect immediate results from other forms of advertising either.  It has been estimated that you need to make contact with a potential client 7 timesbefore they will even consider you as a supplier of what they need.  With direct mail, that can be very expensive!  Networking is far less expensive and the results are far more sure.

So if you want to get more business, start talking and have a fun time while you’re at it.

Now go out and have a profitable day!

Now that the networking meeting is over, there are some things you can do to insure your time at the meeting was worthwhile.  If you follow these steps, you will have success, if you don’t follow these steps, you will probably be disappointed at your results.

14. Follow up fast with a phone call.  If you meet someone at the meeting that showed interest in doing business with you, you need to follow-up immediately.  I call the next day to arrange a meeting.

You might not be able to make follow-up appointments with everyone you have met, but if there could be any future business value from these contacts, you can at least call the next day.  First meetings is where we can make first impressions, but following up by phone will cement them.

15. Arrange a one-on-one with everyone.  Begin with those contacts that you feel might use your services.  Then after you have met with all those, do one-on-ones with those that you think may be able to refer new business to you.  Then move on to one-on-ones with the rest.  You never know who might know someone who needs your services.

A one-on-one is a meeting you arrange to meet with each other.  Plan on at least a half-an-hour to perform these.  You could meet in your office or theirs.  You could also meet at a restaurant and pay for their lunch.  The important thing is to meet. 

When you meet, be the first one to begin the conversation and ask about their business!  Also ask them what kind of referrals they are looking for.  How can you help them!  You must show genuine interest in them and what they do.  By doing this, you will build a relationship and they will feel obligated to ask you about your business (in most cases).

If you can think of a referral to give them, so much the better.  I have found the more you give, the more you receive and the more successful your one-on-one will be.

If you are networking correctly, you should be doing two or three one-on-ones each week.

16. Put the names of your new contacts on your mailing list.  You should be sending out news clippings, reports, or announcements that you think will be of interest to your contacts.  Include information about your recent activities.

17. Always send a thank-you note or place a call to say thank-you to anyone who sends you a referral.  Then keep them informed as to how the referral is progressing.  When someone has sent you several referrals or one that is particularly profitable, give the person that referred them to you some additional acknowledgement.  Take the person to dinner or send flowers.

18. Don’t over do it.  Don’t try to cram in every event on the calendar;  you will get sick and tired of the effort. Keep your networking calendar to a manageable level.  Two well-selected events per week are ample for most full-time businesses.  Remember that networking takes more time AFTER the meeting than just the meeting.  You not only want to make contacts, you want to have time to follow them up and enjoy the process.  Pace yourself!  If you are too busy to do the follow up, you might be attending too many networking events.

There you have it, 18 tips to making your networking successful.  Tomorrow we will talk about overcoming the major misgivings about networking.

 Until then, have a profitable day!

My original intention for this blog was for Internet marketing.  However, I have spent the last few weeks talking about general marketing and business tips to build your business. 

So I have changed the name of this blog to “Business Marketing Tips”and will continue to provide general marketing tips and business building tips (with an occasional plug for websites and SEO, since that is what I do!)

I would appreciate feed back on this blog.  Let me know if I am covering the subjects you want and if I am covering them sufficiently!

I have also created a new blog on “Internet Marketing Tips“ where I will concentrate on how to build your business using the Internet.  Please go there and read that blog on a regular basis.  In fact, please become a fan of this blog on Facebook.  This helps you to know when I make updates to the blog.

Yesterday we began our list of tips you can use to improve your results of networking. Here are more networking tips building on yesterdays list:

6. Carry a large stack of business cards at all times.  Even when I run to the store to buy sprinkler parts for my lawn, I carry business cards in case I run into someone who may need my services.  There have been times when I forgot my cards and I needed them!  Remember that some networking meetings have you pass your cards around the table for everyone to take one.  If you go to a meeting with 60 people, and you only have 40 cards (which may seemed like a lot when you left the office) some potential clients will not get one of your cards!

7. Make sure you get a business card from every one at the meeting.  This allows you to follow up by calling them later.  The primary reason to give out your business card is to get their card in return.  Never leave it up to those you want to talk with further to contact you!  You must take the intitive yourself.  So many times someone who was excited about my services at the meeting and said they would call me in the morning forgot!  I had to call them. 

Why get a card from everyone, even if some may not need my services?  You must remember that 80% of the business I get from networking meetings does not come from the people I meet using my services, it come from people they know that are referred to me!  I even get business  from my “competition”!

8. Make notes on the card you collectabout when and where you met the person and anything special about them and what you want to discuss in the future.  Don’t rely on your memory.  Chances are two weeks after getting the card, you’ll have no idea who gave it to you or why you kept it.  So many times I get home and have several cards from new people I met and can’t remember anything about them and who was who.

9. Make name tags work. If name tags are furnished, don’t just put your first name on the tag.  Print clearly your name, and the name of your company.  Wear your name on your right side so people can easily see it when they shake hands with you.  You may want to have a professional name tag made and wear you all the time.  Even outside of meetings, you don’t know who may see your name tag and ask you about it.

10. Talk to one person at a time.  Don’t rush madly from person to person.  If you are too much of a go-getter, you will turn people off.  Over the long run, you will do far better talking sincerely with a few people.

11. Don’t spend too much time with one person.  I am not contradicting myself from number 10.  If there are other people you could meet and greet at the meeting, talk with each person long enough to exchange information, then move on.  You should arrange a one-on-one (discussed later) and spend extended time getting to know each other later.

12. Wrap up conversations graciously.  When you conversation winds down of its own accord or you can see that the need to talk will get much more involved than is proper for this type of meeting, feel free to move on.  There are several ways to conclude the conversations, such as: “I’ve enjoyed meeting you”, “I’ll look forward to seeing you in future meetings”, or “let’s get together during the week”.  Those lines will also work well to excuse yourself from a  conversation with someone who is talking on endlessly.  In that case, you could also say “Excuse me, I see someone I need to speak with.  It’s been a pleasure meeting you.”  However, if you use that statement, be sure to go talk immediately with someone else.  I might look bad if they notice you just go off and stand alone!

13. Stay at least 15 minutes after the event.  Don’t rush off too quickly.  there may be someone who wants more information from you or wants to set up a one-on-one meeting.  Exchange cards with others you want more information from and wrap up any unfinished conversations from earlier.  Take a moment to say good-bye to anyone you met for the first time or haven’t seen for a long time.

Tomorrow I will go over tips for what to do after the networking meetings that can improve your results. 

Until then, have a profitable day!

Do you wonder why you do not get more results from your networking efforts?  Usually it is because you are not making the most of your networking opportunities. 

The three biggest benefits of networking groups are:

1. Finding several business owners in one place
2. Building relationships with people who may use your products or service at some time
3. Some of the other attendees may know several people that could use your products or services.

Lets talk about several things you can do to make networking pay!

1. Prepare before the meeting.  Make sure that you have the materials that you need to help your efforts.  This includes your appearance.  You must look professional.  If you are a mechanic, change clothes before you attend.  Do not come in your greasy coveralls. 

Have the brochures and business cards you need to support your message that day. 

I have also found that those business owners that have a website that supports their message, can improve the results they get from the networking meetings. These days. almost everyone interested in your product or service will ask if you have a website and go there before they make the commitment to buy.

2.  Arrive at meetings and group activities at least fifteen minutes early. If you attend these meetings and arrive on time and leave right after, you are missing the boat.  This is the time when the most networking occurs.  Once the formal program begins, there is usually little time for networking.

3. Attend regularly.  I see many times when business owners attend two or three times and then decide that since they had no results it wasn’t worth their time.  It takes time to develop relationships with other business owners before they feel comfortable use your services or to refer you to their friends.  I have seen business owners that have attended for two or three months or more before receiving their first order or referral from the group.  Then at that point, sometimes the flood gates of business starts flowing in.

I have also seen those who attend long enough to get business.  They then feel they can slack off the meetings and find that their business and referrals from the group stop.

4. Stop waiting for something to happen.  I often hear people complain that they have attended networking meetings but “nothing happened”.  From experience, I have found that they usually attend the event as if they are a guest, waiting for someone to intorduce them.  Instead, you need to approach the event as if you are the host, greeting people yourself.  Walk up to them and strike up the conversation!  They are there for the same reason you are, so if you go up to them smiling and extend your hand, in every situation I have seen, they will smile back and introduce themselves in return. 

5. Introduce yourself with a sixteen-second sizzler.  Have you ever been introduced to someone and, when they told you what they did, you were completely at a loss because you had no idea what he or she was talking about? These conversations end quickly because no one wants to appear foolish and ignorant.  The kiss of death is using overly technical and professional jargon!

Make sure you don’t fall into this trap.  practice introducing yourself in a simple 25 word statement that provokes interest.  Use terms an eighth grader will understand. 

Instead of saying:  “I own LegalTech.  I install third-party vendor systems for vertical markets.”  say something like:  “My company is called LegalTech.  We help lawyers and their staff make friend with computers.”

Your introduction should include your name and company name, the market you serve, and how you benefit your clients.  For example:

• “I’m Ron Coleman with Virtual Secretary.  I provide word-processing for busy business owners.  I specialize in meeting impossible deadlines.”
• “I’m Ron Coleman.  My company is called Fresh Mushrooms.  We provide large, luscious mushrooms to the finest restaurants in town.”
• “I work with people who are tired of dieting.  I’m Ron Coleman and I have a no-diet, no-exercise weight-loss program called the Bonus Plan.”

When you meet someone whose introduction leaves you in the dark, be different than everyone else that will back away.  Ask them, “What does that mean, exactly?”

Tomorrow we will continue our list of things you can do to make networking meetings pay.  Until then, have a profitable day!

It has been said that success is not so much in what you know but in whom you know.  Over the past 35 years in business, I have found this to be true.  Business is about relationships.  Knowing people who believe in you and your work, people who will recommend you, refer to you, and open doors for you can make the difference between a marginal and a stunning success.

This means that you can use your mouth to make the business contacts you need to succeed!  In today’s world, you can contact virtually anyone you need to know through networking.

No matter how large a business becomes, business is still about relationships.  It is done person-to-person with the exception of some online sales.  Through networking, we can use person-to-person contacts to establish relationships that will lead to business.  Through networking, anyone can become well connected.

In my experience with helping small businesses and home based businesses become succesful, networking is the single best way to start and build a small business.

If you do not count the sales I get off my website, most of my sales each year come by way of networking.

Think about it.  Wouldn’t you prefer to do business with someone you know and trust or someone who has come recommended to you by someone you know and trust?  Most of us would.  For this reason the more people you meet, the more likely you are to find people to do business with.

And also remember the phrase “Out of touch, out of mind”.  The more you keep in touch with the people you know, the more likely they will turn into customers and clients, or give you referrals to those who will become customers.

How do you get started in networking?  We will talk about that tomorrow.  So go out and have a profitable day!

If you need business right now, here are five ideas for getting business fast!

1. Make them an offer they can’t refuse.  Identify people who need your skills and make them a special offer so tempting they simply can’t say no.  But be sure you at least cover all of your costs and ask them to serve as a reference for you in the future.  Some money beats no money! 

2. Turn your ex-employer into your client.  Your former employer already knows your capability and has a proven need for it. Often you can negotiate to do on a part-time basis or contractual basis what you had been doing full-time, or you can negotiate a contract to train your replacement.

3. Subcontract or do overload.  Your competitors can be an excellent source of business!  Contact your competitor and see if they have overload work that they are willing to subcontract out to you.  About 20% of my new business comes from my competitors!

4. Work as a temporary in the field in which you will be doing business.  Working as a temporary can not only give you valuable experience for your resume, but can also give you valuable contacts.  It also provides you will a source of immediate income while building your business.

5. Volunteer.  Some work beats no work and work begets more work.  There is nothing worse for your morale than having no work to do.  Volunteer efforts may become paid efforts, and many volunteers turn their experiences into paying contracts or orders.  You can also use it as a source of experience and references that can help getting future business.  In some cases you may even work side-by-side with the very people you need to contact to get business!

If you spend the time and energy now to do the things described in this blog, both in previous posts and future posts, you will soon find you need to spend less of your time on getting business and more time will be spent on doing the work you want to do and getting paid for it.  Eventually your business will become self-sustaining — that is, it will generate all the business you need.  And you will truly be able to say, “I get almost all of my business from referrals.”

Should slow times occur, you will be able to act with confidence to turn the slow times around quickly.

Tomorrow we will go into more detail about networking.  Have a profitable day!

Let me share with you the six methods that have been highly successful for me.

First, let me explain. This is a good question but one that is hard to answer. There is no answer that fits all businesses in all situations!

First of all, I am assuming that by “Free Advertising” you mean free of cost in money. As I mentioned in a previous blog, free or low cost marketing or advertising usually have a high cost in time and other resources. There is a trade off!

There are many variables that could change what marketing methods you use. Are you marketing a product or service? What product or service you are selling? Are you selling business-to-business or business-to-consumer. Are you trying to sell to a local, national or world-wide market? What fits your personality?

Remember also, that what worked last year may not work this year.

Also, who are your potential clients? If you are working with seniors, the Internet, including Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In, may not be the best way to market to them. Whereas if your target market is in their 20’s, the Internet may be a viable way to contact them.

Another thing I have learned is that one marketing method almost always works better when combined with other marketing methods. For example, almost every method I have tried, either with my businesses or with client’s businesses, can double their effectiveness when combined with a website that is professionally built and looks professional and easy to navigate.

Over the past 13 years that I have been designing and building websites, I have constantly been doing market research, in some cases with focus groups with website visitors, to find out what items on a website help sales and what hurts sales. After this research, I have found that many websites have been built that actually handicap the business!

So, with that said, here are my top six marketing methods I have used over the past few years. I will briefly mention them in this post, but in future posts, I will spend much more time on how to perform each one in more detail.

1. Networking Meetings and Leads Groups. From personal experience, attending networking meetings and leads meetings work very well. I have also found that almost no matter what product or service you sell, you can benefit from networking groups.

My target market is business owners that are trying to increase sales. Most of the people who attend these kind of meetings are business owners trying to build their business. This is a very natural mix.

Your product does not have to be business related. If your target market is seniors that are ready for retirement centers, you will not find your target market at the meetings, but you might find someone who knows someone who has a relative that could use your services.

Most chamber of commerce host these networking meetings and many are free or just the cost of your lunch.

2. Blogging. Blogging must be done on a consistent basis. There have been times when I have been too busy doing other things I thought were more important, only to loose many of my readers and it was very hard to get them back.

I suggest a minimum of blogging once per week. But if you plan to post once a week, you MUST do it every week!

3. Online Directories. Online directories can bring in a lot of business, especially if you can find an industry specific directory.

Even though most directories may cost money, there are free ones out there. Also, those that charge, usually offer a basic listing for free.

4. Social Media such as Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, and others. These can be very effective. But be sure that you do not openly try to advertise. The reason being is if you are perceived as always “selling”, people will tend to tune you out.

5. Viral marketing. Viral Marketing is an idea that spreads–and an idea that while it is spreading actually helps market your business or cause.

I have used this since 1974, although before the term “viral marketing” came about I called it “Richocet Marketing“.

This could be a product in which a self-building cycle occurs. Hotmail, for example, or YouTube. The more people use them, the more people see them. The more people see them, the more people use them.

The product or service must be something that excites people enough to tell others about it, who then tell others, and so on. I will use other examples in future blogs.

6. Website and SEO. Even though websites and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) are not free, there are some very inexpensive alternatives.

Statistics show that businesses that have an effective website and use it properly have a much higher success with the other four areas, above.

SEO is not paid advertisement or pay-per-click… that is Search Engine Marketing (SEM). SEO is getting your website a natural placement high on the search engines result page, (SERP).

SEO is one of those things you CANNOT search online and learn how to do it for yourself. Search engines are changing constantly and things that may have worked just a few weeks ago may get you banned from the search engines today!

But most small businesses cannot afford to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars every month to get better rankings in the natural listing of the search engines.

That is why I have written SEO Master that does most of the work for a small business and explains in plain terms what must be done to your website to get those higher rankings.

And it only costs the same as a soda drink a day!

Remember, all these methods can take a lot of time, but little money. They also can work better when combined with other methods. In fact, I would suggest you use ALL 5 items above at the same time and cross market them!

Like I mentioned, I will spend time in future blogs to go in more details in each area plus other areas that did not make my top five areas.