Don’t wait for Business Opportunities to knock – you’ll wait forever!
If you’re sitting at home on the sofa watching Law and Order and you hear a rat-a-tat-tat on your door! Don’t get excited, it’s not a business opportunity knocking!
If you’re comfy in front of your computer chatting to someone on Facebook then your attention is in the wrong direction to notice a fleeting business opportunity flying by.
I know it’s a cliché, but you need to get out of your comfort zone and rattle some cages!
Here are my five tips for opportunity ambushing.
1. Join referral networking clubs – people buy from people so you need to get out there and talk about yourself and your business. Be prepared to refer members and they will in return refer you, that’s how these clubs work. There’s only one downfall to these type of clubs – they are usually at an ungodly hour of the morning so make sure you make the most of them – not my best time!
2. Join LinkedIn groups – for instance, if you’re a widget training business, it’s pointless joining a group of widget trainers, unless it’s to get a few pointers. You need to look for groups of people who are likely to want your service. Interact with the right people, listen to their story, answer their questions and comment on their articles. Get known and seen! An opportunity will come out of it, I promise.
3. Give something away for free. Something that will show your potential customer just how good you are. They may not buy from you straight away but they will remember you when they are in need of a service such as yours.
4. Send “snail mail” – a postcard to a business up your street is a very inexpensive way of marketing but it can be effective. I use Vistaprint for the cheapest postcards and business cards.
You see, regardless of the long arm of the World Wide Web, many of us still like to work with people from our own local area. Let’s say you are looking for some widget training. You’ve found two companies that can do it for £250 a day. One is located the other side of the country and the other is just around the corner, which would you choose?
Keep a record of your mailing list and what has gone to them because once is never enough, you need to get in front of them as many times as you can so they will think of you when the time comes. If you’re worried that you’re wasting your time and money then give them a call and politely ask them if they would like to continue to receive correspondence from you – you never know, it could spark up a relationship at least!
5. Join small online social networks – I’m not talking about drowning in the Facebook pool. I’m talking about small free networks like my women’s peer network where you can get to know people and join their groups and actually interact. You can make connections and even learn something new.
Just one health warning – An opportunity that may well come knocking is the sheep in wolf’s clothing with a, never to be missed, get rich quick scheme. If it sounds too good to be true, then it usually is!
Comments
5 Comments on Don’t wait for Business Opportunities to knock – you’ll wait forever!
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Marian White on
Mon, 1st Feb 2010 8:24 pm
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uberVU - social comments on
Mon, 1st Feb 2010 10:59 pm
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Pat Sutton on
Mon, 1st Feb 2010 11:32 pm
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Tweets that mention Don’t wait for Business Opportunities to knock – you’ll wait forever! : Pat Sutton's Blog -- Topsy.com on
Thu, 4th Feb 2010 11:53 pm
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Teth Witening Rviews on
Sat, 6th Feb 2010 4:19 am
Very common sense tips that we sometimes forget. I also use Vistaprint and believe they offer great quality for the price. I have used more expensive companies for marketing postcards and found out there was no need to pay more.
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by patsuttontarot: Don’t wait for Business Opportunities to knock – you’ll wait forever! – http://b2l.me/e4w45 (via @TheBizWoman)…
Marian, thank you for your comments, so pleased you found them useful, kindest, Pat
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by John Luce, Warwickshire People, Lynda Kettle, Patricia Sutton, Pat Sutton and others. Pat Sutton said: Don't wait for Business Opportunities to knock – you'll wait forever! – http://b2l.me/e4w45 (via @TheBizWoman) [...]
I must say nice work guys .keep up with your good work.We always look forward to your work.
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