Marketing Tactics

Marketing often means networking with peers and that means being around and being in contact with certain people on a regular basis.  A good marketer knows that you cannot spread yourself to thin and still be effective.

Ingrid was fervently trying to start up her own home care company, often working till the wee hours of the morning on tasks that needed to be done.  

Unfortunately, this part of her day... the management part... didn't start until about 10 PM.  The rest of the day was filled with talking to hundreds of people, making sales calls on a dozen or so clients, and then going to at least 2 functions per night in order to meet people.

Ingrid's problem?  Well, aside from the fact that she was just too tired to work effectively by 10 PM, Ingrid was in front of 200 people each week, each time with a smile and handshake, but rarely knowing if she'd actually even met the person she was introducing herself to.  

Did her networking actually accomplish anything?  Rarely.  Ingrid made the rounds, but few people knew her past a handshake, they were sometimes insulted that she was clueless as to who they were, and she never touched base, even though she is the one that suggested it every time she met someone.  Ingrid was waiting and hoping that her "friendliness" would rub off and people would call her.  Unfortunately, she never gave anyone a reason to pick up the phone.

Instead of trying to network connect with all the people on an infrequent basis, select a few and keep great contacts.

Who are your best market connections?  Examples might be people in complementary fields, educators, healthcare workers, and social workers.  Find out where these people network and instead of checking in with them every 2-3 months, reduce the number and join two groups where you network weekly.

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