Business Talk—Part II—Ways 4-7
Those of us who are business owners in the Quad State region have a myriad of opportunities to have experts we trust give us their opinions about our businesses—in many fields.It used to be that if you owned a brick and mortar business, one of the things you could count on would be lots of various kinds of sales people to walk through the door. Some with great ideas, some not so much.
Sure, businesses on the street still have their share, but the pitches also come hot and heavy through the e-mail box.
This is the second of three installments on 10 (of many) proven ways we can market our businesses. Please see the Quad State Business Journal, January 23 issue for the first installment.
Starting off this issue is probably the most effective use of free marketing we can use.
4. Network
The Quad State region is blessed by a covey of both formal and informal networking groups. One of the largest groups is Business Network International or better known as BNI. The writer worked with Ivan Misner, BNI's founder in the early 1980s and was offered the territory of Northern Virginia, Washington, DC, and all of Maryland for a mere $3,000. This was to be his first push to the east coast.
Alas, I had too many irons in the fire and wasn't thinking clearly—or maybe I just thought that the whole BNI business model wouldn't work. I passed on Mr. Misner's offer—to my pain. Sigh! BNI is now the largest business networking organization in the world.
I do know the Mason Dixon chapter of BNI is blessed by a tremendous president, John Poyle of Hagerstown Heating and Cooling. That guy runs a tremendous meeting and the members are quite blessed to have him. Good group there.
As you know, BNI, LeTip and other networking groups only allow one niche per member. It keeps the lead flow consistent. While BNI is a good business model, it is not for every business owner's personality.
Networking, combined with the #1 way mentioned, your elevator pitch, gives you a tremendous way you can be a mind-sticker in the thought processes of your potential prospects—AND--those who could recommend them to you.
Business Solution Network (www.TheBusinessSolutionNetwork.com) is going to be introducing a very special networking business model in the next 90 days. It is built on the 'space' that both BNI and LeTip leave out in their business model. Watch for it in these pages. (You are signed up for the Quad State Business Journal RSS feed, yes?)
5. Speech-Making
Granted, giving a speech is the #1 fear of a majority of business folks. Back in the old days, for some reason, I loved to market speakers. These pros were mostly from the National Speakers Association (www.nsaspeaker.org) but 'budding speakers' with a good story were also a favorite.There are many different aspects to paid and unpaid public speaking. We are referring here to non-paid public speaking. Speaking personally, the reason I probably loved to market speakers is that I often found myself hearing my clients speak and turning very jealous of their ability!
Virtually every organization is looking for a speaker. You are not there to 'advertise' your business and tell the audience how great you are, but to give them insight into their lives and businesses. If you are an expert—at anything—please look into volunteering to share your knowledge.
There are many organizations here in the Quad State region who would dearly love to have you speak to them. And you don't need a Power Point presentation as many do if you are speaking to a group less than say 15 in number. Unless your speaker aids actually build the knowledge base of the audience, you can do a lot with handouts and a nicely presented outline with spaces for notes.
The Business Solution Network has people who can help you develop your speaking presentation. See the section under Business Coaches and Consultants. The toughest thing to do is prepare a speech without receiving feedback from a disinterested third party—one who is only interested in YOUR success.
6. Create Business Buzz—Press Releases Mostly
As a small business owner, you are your own public relations firm. You need to be careful to a) craft the right message; and b) spell it out so that it makes sense.Back to Business Solution Network again, our Quad State region has an amazing number of good professionals who can craft good press releases for you—very inexpensively. Or you can sign up for larger venue help if your budget allows. I urge you to give our Business Solutions Network professionals a test first.
Just as with the graphics section of BSN, I would put our press release professionals up against almost any of the high-fee business writers. Another great free way to go if you are an expert in any field is HARO.
HARO stands for Help A Reporter Out (www.helpareporter.com.) You can respond to reporters’ queries that are looking for story ideas and resources. Some are small media opportunities, but others are major media outlets that use this service too.
As I used to tell many of my own clients, whatever you are selling and if you plan a strategy using press releases, you need to make double sure of your capacity.
I like to tell the capacity story of a Quad State client that approached me after the Mountain States Arts & Craft Festival in Harpers Ferry, WV years ago. He had heard about my working with a friend of his and knew I didn't take on clients just because their check cleared the bank.
To cut the longer story with many business lessons short, I did take on the gentleman because he had an interesting craft. (That is all the information I'm giving because he is probably still living in our Quad State area!)
I felt I could genuinely help him market his unique craft through a press release strategy thereby saving him a lot of money. He manufactured his craft in a custom-fitted garage a few steps from his back door. That refurbished garage became both his manufacturing and order-fulfillment department all rolled into one.
We had not gone more than a month or two into our relationship when I gave my little 'sermon' on making sure he was prepared to gear up for larger success if our press release efforts proved extraordinarily successful.
I'll never forget the words he spoke to me. “Lanning, your job is to bring me business based on what we planned. My job is to fulfill that business. You take care of your part and I'll take care of mine, OK?”
We did start getting some nice editorial mentions in various craft publications around the country. And he started receiving some nice orders based on those mentions in the publications. In fact things were really going quite well. And then one day it happened.
We got mentioned in a HUGE national general-readership publication and the orders started coming in by the bushel basket. I immediately urged him to expand his capacity--now. He refused. He tried to work his help 15 hours a day. They refused.
I wanted to immediately stop our press release program until he got caught up with the orders. He refused. And I resigned him as a client.
The end of the story is that he, along with his clever craft, went out of business because of TOO MUCH business. And too little capacity.
7. Speak Up and Ask for referrals
Every single customer can be a walking advertisement for you if you treat them right. That doesn't mean buying them dinner at a high end restaurant or other gifts. People do business with people they like. And treated well, they will tell others. Oftentimes, people forget what a great person you are to do business with and you have to remind them. Statistics tell us that the majority of people are willing to provide a referral—if asked. So don't be shy in asking!###
For further reading unless otherwise linked in the article:
www.Helpareporter.com
www.QuadStateBusinessJournal.com
www.TheBusinessSolutionNetwork.com
www.BNI.com
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