Been thinking about the economy

Hey there, I'm sure you've been reading on the news about the current economic situation. Well, instead to just subscribing to all that doom and gloom I think perhaps we should draw our attention to what this current situation is doing to our businesses.

First and foremost you have to understand, if you believe at this juncture that what's happening now is going to make you go bust you're most certainly correct. Thus a good point to keep in mind here is attitude. Keep that attitude in check. Franklin D. Roosevelt once said during America's Depression that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself".

In a manner of speaking he's right, if we submit to the paralyzing fear of the times, we'll most likely shock ourselves into doing nothing!

Secondly, I think it important to remember that continuing your marketing efforts is a must at this point. Yes, so times are bad, you don't have much cash flow to carry out much marketing efforts. Instead of worrying how much money / cash flow you have to carry out marketing activities, why not focus on what kind of marketing activities that can be carried out at a low cost. Think guerrilla style marketing.

After all that's said and done, you can't be paralyzed by the current turn of events, instead times like these are probably a call back to real marketing efforts and a cut back from all that advertising which you've probably mistaken as marketing effort. Till next time...

Referrals marketing strategy (Part 1)

In my previous entry, we looked at the reasons behind why it was important to have a referral strategy as part of your overall marketing mix. Today, I'd like to introduce you to 3 steps which can help you create a referral marketing strategy:

1) Always have your Business Card on you:

I cannot possibly stress how important this is. How many times have you come across a person which you introduce yourself to and he / she mentions that they don't have a business card on them at the moment. Now imagine this, you're meeting someone for the first time and your introducer mentions that this individual could be interested in giving you your next million dollar deal. You check your wallet and you don't have any name cards. How is this person going to contact you? What kind of impression do you think you've made with this person? Is that the sound of a million dollar deal being thrown out the window?

So remember, always make sure that you have business cards.

2) Think Networking, not closing a sale:

Whenever you mention networking, most people equate that with closing a sale. The first time they meet you they try to hard sell you their business. Have you met individuals like that? I can tell you that I have and it sure isn't a joy to talk to them. Remember, networking is about building relationships and that TAKES TIME. Don't get their card and pitch them the next day. First and foremost it is not professional and second it makes you look desperate. Remember desperate people end up getting nowhere.

3) Join a Hard-contact Networking group:

Sure there are many avenues to networking out there, there's Kiwanis, Rotary, your local chamber of commerce but these avenues are usually open to everybody which means that you can also end up meeting a lot of people in the same business. Thus, consider joining a hard contact network. I'm borrowing this from a brilliant writer, Dr. Ivan Misner He's been called the Father of modern networking.

Now, Hard contact networks are networking group which only allow one profession / trade to be apart of the group. Thus, you will have the opportunity to meet different individuals from different professions and yet be the only profession of your type in that group. Isn't that swell? A good example of a group like this would be BNI.

So, now that you have 3 ideas to start you on the road to developing a referral based marketing strategy, its now your turn to act. There's no time like the present. I'll be back with 3 more strategies soon to develop a better and stronger referral marketing strategy. Till then, take care.