I am here to help rid you of the ‘Monday Blues’ – what better way than to dive into marketing, right?!
I understand if there are some of you that just rolled your eyes, cause I am with you – I did as I was typing it, haha!  I still have this icky stigma that I somehow associate with marketing.  To help myself get over this I have this ongoing blog series:

Marketing-tips Monday

The goal is to help you learn the importance of and the basic tools for:

Understanding your market to be able to create and implement your marketing strategy so you can get
(& keep)
new customers/clients!

I must be the first to say that this series is based solely on my experience & am sharing the marketing strategies that moved my business forward!  That disclaimer aside, if you did not yet check out the Elevator Pitch post, as it actually can work as a prelude to:

Networking: In-person

I would love to share a few tips on how to approach networking in the flesh, you know, person-to-person.  May seem odd to some, now a days, but is another tool, from your marketing tool-belt, that I would love to help you sharpen.
(ha, see what I did there)
I feel that no matter what your business is or what service you provide, in-person networking is important.
It is something that we do without even knowing it;  when you meet someone, essentially you are networking.
So, on to some tips:

-> Get out there!

I realize that, as individuals, we are ALL DIFFERENT!
Some of us thrive in a crowd of unknown people, not intimidated to walk up to someone and start a conversation.  Some of us are in the crowd, but are relying on a friend to do all the talking and only speak when spoken to.  Some of us never make it out.
No matter where you are on that spectrum, we can all move forward!  If you are the extrovert, perhaps you need to be more selective of the networking events you are going to – maybe try to narrow in on your ideal/perfect client & where they would be.  If you are the extreme introvert, perhaps you need to search out smaller events or perhaps more on a one-to-one meetings.

-> Building Trust takes Time

I want to give you a little heads up:  networking will take time for results.  To put an approximate timeline on it, I would say if you are making an effort to get out once every couple of weeks to different events, expect to invest 4-6 months.  It will depend on how much effort you put into meeting new peers of your industry or potential clients you will be serving.
View networking as a new tool (I love using my tools, ha!): at first it will unnatural, but the more you keep using it, it starts to feel more natural every time.
If at some point you are at a networking event & you start freezing up:  Understand that everyone else in the room is there for the same thing as you – to gain connections!  It is simply a matter of starting conversations to lead to connections and further conversations!
Simple right, ha!

->Plan to succeed

Unless you have stumbled into a networking event unknowingly, chances are you will have known about it for awhile – meaning you may have access to who is going to be attending (aka the guest list).  If so, it does not hurt to do your do-diligence & do a little research on said guestlist.  You will then have access to knowing conversations to start with people that you want to network with.  Does not hurt to jot down a few questions or topics that you can resort to!  It may sound a bit corny, but it does not hurt to have a goal for the night.  As in, meet 3 new …

-> Business cards

Take with you business cards and/or brochures.  A good tip in giving a business card, getting one in return!  Once you exchange cards, before you start your next conversation, it does not hurt to write a note or two about the conversation.  It really helps to have this information written, especially when you are getting to my next tip: following up.

->  Follow up!

Cannot express enough how important this step is!  No matter how perfect the connection you made networking at the event was, you MUST follow up.  There are many ways to do it, as in an email or call or however feels most natural for you!  This not only reminds both parties of the conversations of when you met, but opens the door for further connection and more conversations!

-> MOST IMPORTANT

The most important advice I can give to you:
BE YOUR UNIQUE SELF!
Be professional & have fun!

 

Are you scared of the question,
What Do You Do?

Trust me, I used to really hate when people asked me that.  Being an small business owner, I often struggled to confidently say what I did.  Which lead to a lot of dead air and me to feeling as though I blew it…

There is no reason for you to feel that way, trust me!  I would love to help you have a confident answer to this dreaded question – What do you do?  I have put together a little downloadable guide to creating your own elevator pitch!  It is an easy, printable guide that asks you all the right questions to build a perfect elevator pitch.  All you need to do is click on the photo of the guide, easy-peasy!

 

 

 

As always, am blessed if you are still reading!  If this post has triggered any questions, I would love to invite you to ask them in the comments below & I can reply back.  As I stated at the beginning of this post – I am no marketing guru.  I am sharing what has worked for me & has helped my small business along & encourage you to ask any questions regarding marketing, in the comments.  I would love to be of any help or service to you!

 

Cheers!