DIY Marketing Part To Get You Through The Recession - Part I

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DIY Marketing To Get You Through The Recession (Part I)

Marketing experts complicate a very simple subject. Without any expertise, pretty much anyone can get results once the mystique is lifted.

There are many definitions of marketing which cause great debate with the intellectuals.

For many though, it is communicating with people who want your stuff, and supplying it profitably to those who respond.

But that doesn't necessarily mean expensive advertising. Nor do you have to invest in fancy brochures.

You can communicate in so many more ways - many of them costing nothing - and get even better results.

One recent example was a charity I'd just started working with. They spent a small fortune on a local newspaper ad.

Not one phone call came in.

I helped them send a circular to the people around 8 of their staff regularly communicate with by email.

Straight away, the phones started ringing. It cost them nothing to send. Within a few hours, they'd sold 6 tickets.

They didn't call anyone. Instead, people rang or emailed them. After I left the phones were still ringing.

This series of articles will give you all the little secrets I've discovered which get results for nothing, or very little.

Want The Biggest Secret Straight Away?

It's your database. Clients who have bought from you.

Or prospective clients you have communicated with before.

A good database is the foundation of no-cost marketing.

But before you panic thinking yours is in a mess, or, perhaps you don't think you have one, relax.

I'll show you how to create one.

But I won't just show you the easiest ways of building one, I'll also share my experiences of using them to generate sales or enquiries, which can often happen instantly.

For example, this first article focuses on business networking. Keeping a database of people you have met is a great foundation for communications which generate business.

And too many people stick business cards in a drawer, suit jacket pocket, or strewn all over their desk.

Even lazy people can take the stress out of data-entering them by using a business card scanner.

From business networking where we start to look at your database, you are taken on a journey that shows you several sources of data you have spread throughout your business.

In accounts applications, in your inbox/sent items, in contact folders. You may even have a database already, but it hasn't been kept up to date.

I'll show you how to bring it all together.

You don't have to wait. Too many put off using their database until "it's finished".

But it never will be! That's why I take you through using your database straight away.

How? You get too busy to personally call or visit your clients anywhere near as much as you know you should.

So I show you how to politely keep in touch, with personalised messages to both your clients, prospects and even those you meet at networking events.

And a central theme is politeness. You don't always have to "sell" in your messages to generate more business.

I've seen messages sent to clients saying just "thanks for your business" generate a flood of enquiries from people who just needed reminding you're still there!

Let's Get Started

I decided to kick-off with business networking. Because you may already have a stack of business cards of people you've met and want to get cracking.

If not, even if you're an introvert, I thought I'd show you how to get over it.

Hopefully I can persuade you to give it a whirl if you don't bother. And if you do, a timely reminder that you need to keep up the momentum.

Especially in these challenging times!

Ethical And Polite Business Networking (Part I)

...ideal for the shy, extrovert or in-between networkers who
want to get more business from the people they meet

*** THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS ***

- Tips for the more introverted who know they should do more
business networking, but put it off or are simply too
scared to bother!
- How to gain clients and referrals from business networking
without any "in your face" pushy tactics
- Why people buy people far more than they buy the faceless
product or service you deliver
- Why pushy tactics simply do not work
- 6 easy-to-use techniques and advice for shy networkers
taking away the stresses and pressures of business
networking
- Why setting yourself a simple target can actually reduce
your stresses about networking
- About the author

The first and most important resource you have to help you get more sales is yourself.

People buy people. Whether you're an introvert or completely charming. Whether you hit it off with someone straight away, or it takes a little time to build trust, they will buy YOU before your product or service.

And it's not just you that people will buy. They will buy based upon the recommendation of a friend - but they're still buying people. Or rather, they are "buying" the positive experience a friend they trust has had.

And that's the big mistake many people make in business networking. Would you instantly want to buy from someone you had never met before at a networking event? Probably not.

Although it does happen!

I'm talking about the pushy salesperson. The type that works the room in a flash looking for easy prey. And whoever they corner gets the full pitch.

Very quickly, that same person gets taken off invitation lists for future networking events. And when they do appear at a networking event, people who have seen their pushy behaviour before will sidle away and avoid them.

The point is, you buy from people you like and trust. And trust isn't built on pushiness - or in extreme cases aggressive in-your-face sales tactics. You don't have to be the most charismatic or extrovert person to make business networking pay-off.

You're far better just focusing on getting to know people.

And if you listen to others, learn about what they do and not push your own product too aggressively, you are more likely to gain interest which can convert either immediately or after you've gotten to know that person a bit better - perhaps at future events.

The extreme business networking texts will have you ruthlessly targeting people who are potential customers only. In many respects they are right. But if someone you get to know isn't really a potential client - do they know people who are? I have received a substantial amount of referred business from people I've met through networking who aren't even a client.

By building contacts with people you learn to trust, you can refer business both ways. If you know they do a good job, and you get to know about their successes and typical clients, would you refer them to others?

And that starts to work both ways. You are far more likely to receive referrals from people you've been generous enough to recommend to others.

Too many people get anxious about business networking because they feel as though they need to sell.

I would suggest you view networking as sowing seeds. Relationships grow and flourish based upon trust. Some will become clients. Some will become suppliers. Some will refer business to you. And you will refer business to them once you know and trust them.

For The Shy - How To Network Without The Stress

There are a number of techniques beyond the remit of this short article which can help you overcome the fears surrounding business networking.

But I will touch upon a couple of simple techniques which the more introverted (like me!) can benefit from:

1) Firstly, excuse yourself from having to "sell" when attending networking events. Is that easier? In other words, go to networking events, but never sell what you do. Or make yourself anxious about having to get a result

2) Go with someone you know and trust.

3) Ask for a delegate list from the organiser, or if they don't have one, ask them for a few names of those they know are attending. That way, if there's people you know already attending, that will give you some comfort

4) Set yourself a target for sowing seeds - NOT selling. It can be whatever you are comfortable with. But as a suggestion, try and have a conversation with 3 people you've never before met. In fact, if you're going with a friend, help each other by splitting and re-convening. You meet someone new and then introduce them to your friend and vice versa. That way, you halve the number of people you have to introduce yourself to!

5) Turn the binoculars the right way around. Too many look through the wrong end so things look smaller! I'm talking about feeling the need to blurt out what you do. Take the pressure off. Instead ask other people what they do. Ask them to talk about a piece of work they were proud of.

Find out who their ideal clients are. Ask them to name a couple of clients (some may not be allowed, so don't take offence!). Unless the person you're talking to is extremely rude, they will soon ask what you do

6) Explain what you do based upon the results your product/service delivers for your clients. Avoid a technical and jargon-replete overview. It's far more polite to help people assess if what you do could potentially interest them. So give them what they want. For example I would say something like "I help businesses generate sales without cold-calling".

In the next article, you'll discover:

- How to subtly and easily get people interested in what you
do, without you selling
- Why setting yourself a simple target can actually reduce
your stresses about networking
- 7 ways to sow seeds and reap a bumper harvest - far better
than the shotgun approach just gets you occasional "kills"

To get this and all the articles in the series with my compiments, please sign up (top right)

About Me

I've had a varied career. From telesales (which I quickly got out of) through to the gentler climes of direct marketing as a business development manager, director of an IT solutions and support company, I got to 39 (people who know me think I'm older!) and had a kind of mid-life crisis.

I enjoy gentle and polite marketing and business networking which gets results. So I decided to do what I'm passionate about, work from home (mostly) and get a dog which I couldn't have while working in an office!

I haven't got one yet. But I will very soon - I need more exercise and walking a dog appeals. Not least because my 7-year-old daughter wouldn't give up - despite me saying it would be unfair if me and my better half were stuck in an office all day.

I now split my time between my clients' offices and home.

There isn't really a category to put me under. The nearest I can think of is an "automated marketing specialist".

I help my clients generate enquiries by automating the kinds of communications they get too busy to deliver - a circular to clients to generate repeat business, a message to people they have met to help build rapport and trust, but most importantly of all enquiries.

I suppose I am a wordsmith who uses IT cleverly to make sure the communications you send are personalised and more importantly relevant.

I either teach you how to do it for yourself, or do it for you so you can get on with what you do best, and just handle the business and enquiries I generate for you.

P.S. To get all of those articles, you need to subscribe (top right). I do not give your email address to anyone else - EVER.

Regards

Ian Denny
Smart ICT Factory

working smarter so your IT delivers results in a fraction
of the time

Tel: 07726 358394
http://www.smartictfactory.com/
iandenny@smartictfactory.com