Networking like a pro

Whether you’re a small business owner or a Realtor, marketing is extremely important to your business.  Equally important is developing new relationships and prospecting for clients.  One way to accomplish both of those tasks is to network.  And we don’t mean strictly online social networking (although, that’s important, too.)  Reading this article gave us some great tips on networking that we wanted to share.

1.  Set the stage appropriately.  Make sure you read the details of the event before you head over.  Is it an after-work social gathering or a Saturday morning breakfast?  You’ll want to dress appropriately.  If everyone’s meeting after work, most likely they’ll still be in work clothes, so you might stand out in your jeans.  Bring a lot of business cards with you.  Have an upbeat attitude.  It’s easy to spot the people who have no desire to be there in the crowd.  Make yourself approachable.

2. Act like a host, not like a guest.  This one is great.  As a guest at a party, you’re usually waiting for the host to go around and introduce you to new people.  Be proactive.  Walk up to someone, extend your hand, and ask what they do.  Introduce yourself and your business.  Don’t let your eyes wander while you’re talking to someone.  Make sure you’re focused on the conversation in front of you.

3. Try not to break up two people in a conversation.  Approach someone who is on their own, or aim for a group of three or more.  When you’re speaking with someone, make sure to listen.  Try to determine how you can be a resource for them.  Do you have a product that can make their lives easier?  Do you have a customer who does?  Either way, this is a great time to build a new relationship. 

4. Try not to come off strictly as a salesman.  You don’t want to be “pitching” the room.  Your goal should be to make new contacts that can help you grow your business.  They might not all become new customers, but you might meet someone who would be great at starting a joint venture marketing opportunity with you.  You could meet someone who one of your customers should know to help them.  That will help you grow your relationship with your existing customers. 

5. Follow up after the event.  This is the most important.  You don’t want these meetings to be a one-time deal.  Ask for two of their business cards.  You’ll want to keep one and have another in case you know someone who can use it.  Send a handwritten note afterward thanking them for taking the time to speak with you.  If you think a joint venture will work, give them a call to see if you can meet for lunch or coffee to discuss it.  Or call to ask if you can give their name out, or if someone you know can contact them.  Keep them in your database to receive your newsletters and mailings (Make sure you ask for their permission first!)

If you’re ready to start your marketing project, be sure to visit us online.

How having a partner can boost your business

You’re probably working on overtime trying to build your business, beat your competitors, and save money during this recession.  You want to make sure you’re still in business and making money on your own.  What if we had a solution for a way to build up your business, for free??  Have you considered a joint venture?  A joint venture, by definition, is a partnership where people undertake an economic activity together and is a way to share knowledge and expertise.  Terrance Charles’ blog offers his take on the top three most effective joint ventures.

1. E-mail list swaps.  You can immediately add hundreds or thousands of e-mail addresses to your subscriber list by doing this.  So how do you find your swap partner?  If you are a subscriber to some marketing lists, try responding to some of the newsletters you receive to see if the authors are interested in a swap.  How about a past colleague you’ve reconnected with on LinkedIn or Facebook?  We’ve had real estate agents swap lists with financial planners.  You want to make sure you do this most effectively, though.  Let’s say you have a database of 500 current clients, past clients, and prospects.  Let’s take the example of the real estate agent and financial planner.  They decided to swap 10 names a week.  Why so low?  Because they each sent each person a note highly recommending the other’s service.  Then they called the new name and introduced themselves.  Then they each wrote a handwritten note thanking them for speaking with them and sending out a card.  It was then that they added them to their regular list.  So it took time, but the plan was for them to thoroughly introduce themself so they knew they were comfortable receiving their e-newsletters first.  It helped them achieve a lot more sales than just blindly adding names to a list.  So consider how you want to best approach this.  With patience and the right partner, you will no doubt have success this way.

2. Trade content.  Do you have another blog or Web site that you’re constantly reading?  See if the author will allow you to post their information on your site and vice versa.  You can add hundreds of views a day to your site by adding their visitors, as well.  And make sure you give them credit.  Link to their page from your Facebook or Twitter page. 

3. Teleseminars and webinars.  Terrance says, “For a JV, this is good because your building credibility and value for your subscribers and customers. Not only that, marketers are always looking for more content, so it usually get’s passed around on blogs, forums, articles and to their list. It doesn’t have to be a long teleseminar, it can be from 5 minutes to 1 hour, it all depends.”  You don’t even have to make it as formal as a teleseminar.  Just post a video on each other’s sites with some new content.  Posting videos is extremely easy to do these days with the new technology that YouTube and Facebook offers.

Hopefully this blog gave you some ideas on how to expand and build your business by forming a joint venture.  Once you’re ready to get those marketing pieces out to your lists, visit us online so we can create the perfect piece for you!