I went through a quiet patch 18 months ago and did alot of networking, just with local accountants, abit of advertising and some of the dreaded cold calling, buts its paid off big time, people must put themselves out there in the field locally, and like you say go out of your way to help people! I was giving my cards out at a new years eve party we went to as there was a new start up talking to me, so I never miss an oportunity and out came the business card. She hasn't phoned yet but I reckon she will eventually, probably next January!
Great blog, Rob. I've been following for a while - excellent points you make about networking. It's not a place to sell.
Yesterday at a networking doo, I and the small group I was talking with was approached by a lady who was full-on SELLING. Pyramid sales no less. And those kinds of pitches can go on for a while and be quite the hard sell. It wasn't the time or the place and from what I saw nobody was all that impressed with being cornered in such a situation.
I have her card, but I won't be following-up that particular new contact.
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my blog "the bookkeeper's in town - learning the hard way"
I went through a quiet patch 18 months ago and did alot of networking, just with local accountants, abit of advertising and some of the dreaded cold calling, buts its paid off big time, people must put themselves out there in the field locally, and like you say go out of your way to help people! I was giving my cards out at a new years eve party we went to as there was a new start up talking to me, so I never miss an oportunity and out came the business card. She hasn't phoned yet but I reckon she will eventually, probably next January!
Reminds me of a party I went to a few years ago, got rather past the point of remembering. Luckily my wife (who doesn't drink) got speaking to another guest who then contacted me and became a client.
A marketing expert once told me to get onto Facebook, but to be honest, I can't see this working, who really wants to hear about taxes and HMRC stuff on a facebook page? My friend told me that he has a friend on his facebook network who sells insurance, and every once in a while puts up posts on his wall encouraging people to review their insurance policies, which people find annoying, everybody just blocks his posts. Albeit insurance protection may be important, but not what people want to hear on a social networking site when chatting to their mates.
Unfortunately that is the downside of our profession, many people view it as necessary, but boring, boring, boring. Business pages on Facebook are probably fine if you are selling interesting stuff and can be used to generate interest and get people to talk about you. I am on linkedin, which is different as it is all professionals, but no business from it as yet. I have been warned that you can waste a lot of time on facebook as well, which is what I personally don't need, there are far too many distractions as it is.
I am just starting out and I have had 2 enquiries from Twitter. Think of it as another form of networking. I choice local businesses to follow and this is how I have got my enquiries. As it is the first 'sniff' at any clients I have had I am really pleased. I don't advertise, I have only put one bookkeeping tweet up, so far. I make my tweets about local events/issues, reply to comments other local businesses have made.I try to tweet twice a day, at different times and spend most time looking for local businesses to follow but not more than half-hour a day.
