Quick tips: Six basic marketing principles
by Doug Florzak
1. Focus attention on strategies that pay off
Marketing is not an end unto itself. You want your marketing efforts to reach the appropriate clients with the minimal effort. Concentrate your efforts on putting your ideas in front of people who buy your brand of consulting services. Change your marketing strategy if you find you're spending too much time marketing to the wrong group of people.
2. Market continuously
Marketing is like a garden that requires perpetual care. You must constantly prune and weed your marketing strategy. Although it will go against every instinct in your body, the best time to market is when you don't need the work. Use prosperous times to build a pipeline of business for down times.
3. Be patient
It takes time for marketing to work, especially since so much depends on word-of-mouth. It will probably take at least six to eight months of hardcore marketing before you get a steady stream of clients.
4. Promote positive word-of-mouth
Positive word-of-mouth is always your best salesperson. Home Office Computing magazine published the results of a survey in 1991. They found that the most successful consultants (those with pretax income greater than $110,000) used referrals and word-of-mouth as their main marketing strategy. So, pay attention to this marketing technique.
Everything you do from the way you answer the phone to the work you deliver your service must leave the people you contact with a positive impression of you. The best byproduct of providing high-quality service is the recommendation of a satisfied client. Many satisfied clients will go out of their way to recommend you to their colleagues. Encourage them to spread the word. Solicit positive quotes and letters of referral from your clients.
Don't forget to use your network of friends and family. You might be surprised to find that many of them work at companies that are in the market for your services or know of someone else who is. When you start your consulting business, tell all your friends what you do and encourage them to keep an eye out for any potential opportunities.
5. Be prepared
Marketing opportunities come in different packages. You never know when you will meet a potential client. It could be at a wedding or a funeral. It could be at your health club or riding on the bus. Be prepared. Always carry your business cards with you. Reduce a description of your business to one or two sentences and practice delivering this description so it becomes second nature.
6. Use both passive and active marketing techniques
Most marketing techniques fall into one of two categories: passive or active. Passive marketing techniques are any techniques that do not require your personal interaction while they are working. Examples include advertising, listings in directories, the Yellow Pages, and a Web page. Active marketing techniques require your personal presence for them to work. Some people consider these true sales activities because you are directly soliciting business from potential clients. Examples of active marketing includes networking at meetings, cold calling, and public speaking.
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