General
Walking Softly on the Telephone
Sometimes we need to “Walk Softly” as we use the telephone. We have all been victims of Telemarketers who call at inconvenient times. You know the type – can’t pronounce your name, obviously reading from a script, mispronouncing words, talking forever, won’t take accept “NO” for an answer… The phone call from hell.
Many of us shy away from using the telephone in business just because we don’t want to be associated with telemarketing. There is a better way, however.
How many clients do you have in your computer who haven’t spoken with you for three or more months? Have you ever considered calling them just to see how they are doing? You could ask them how that widget machine is working, you know, the one they bought from you last year? Or you could wish them a Happy Birthday, or ask about her son’s graduation, or mention the article you saw about the in the paper… There are dozens of reasons you could call, just to show you care. You don’t need to talk about business. Just connect with them, find out how they are doing, perhaps discover a few things about them that you didn’t know.
If you think about it, how many times have people who have sold you things in the past bothered to call “just because”? Would it make you feel better if you heard from some of your vendors occasionally?
Take a soft walk around your client base from time to time… Don’t talk about business. Ask about something else. Engage them in conversation, be interested in THEM and the things that are important to THEM. Then send them a Thank You card… “Thanks for the conversation… It was great catching up with you… Hope your daughter’s wedding goes well.” Make a goal to just talk with one person in your database every day, and send them a card to thank them for the call. Let them know that you are glad to have them as an acquaintance and client. They’ll love you for it…
Alternative Places for Networking
Alternative Places to Network - For some new ideas on places to network, check out Jessica Chen’s article in Entrepreneur.
The ‘Net as a Tool
Seth Godin’s blog rant on using the ‘net as a tool is spot on. I probably read Seth’s blog, articles, books, etc. more than any other author. I don’t always agree with him, but very often we find common ground. The reason I follow Seth’s thoughts is that they make me think and examine my business critically, with emphasis on improvement. Among his articles over the years, I would rate this one as five-star.
The Difference
Marketing is marketing, right? Actually, no. Corporate marketing, the kind you learn in business school, is cash-intensive, math-based, and media-dependent. It is rooted in advertising, and lots of it – expensive network television spots, full-page ads in large newspapers and magazines, radio, skywriting, sponsorships, you-name-it. Home businesses don’t normally play in this arena because it is too expensive and not effective for small businesses. The purpose of most corporate marketing is to establish recognition of brands and products.
Small and medium-sized businesses have their own marketing tools – local newspapers and radio stations, flyers, little-league teams, school calendars, and so on. Although these seem closer to the home business model, businesses with physical locations market differently because their primary goal is to drive people to their locations. In some instances, local businesses market to cause someone to call them.
Home businesses, on the other hand, tend to have unique objectives when they market. In most cases, someone running a home business is NOT attempting to develop physical traffic to their home. That would be inconvenient and possibly dangerous. Telephone traffic is more desirable, as is electronic traffic via email, web sites, blogs, podcasts, instant messages, and so on. In most cases, home businesses need to market directly to their clients, without sales forces, stores, or distribution networks.
Operating a home business is most efficient when marketing time can be separated from operating time (doing whatever you do). You can’t get much work done when you are answering the telephone all day. Likewise, you can’t expand your business without a certain amount of effective marketing.
The ideal is to generate interest passively while you are working, then follow up on that interest using the telephone, or other electronic means, during a time period that is set aside strictly for marketing. This is a key difference between marketing for home businesses and marketing for businesses located in commercial locations. Of course, the internet, with its vast capabilities, fits the home-based business model like a glove.
At this site, I plan to discuss marketing as it applies to HOME businesses. The emphasis will be on free or inexpensive tactics for developing new business. Some will apply to your business, while others won’t. I hope you will use the tactics that work best for you, while wisely bypassing those that do not apply to your business.
