Marketing Tip for small businesses that does not require social media.

Many small and solo businesses offer a highly niche product or service to a very small and easily identifiable client group.  But they might only want this specialised service or product once in a blue moon. Therefore you have to keep in front of them, nicely, not intrusively but often enough for them to remember you when the need arises.

Okay, let’s park that wee thought for a bit.

In all those idle hours waiting for the phone to ring you read the plethora of posts and marketing materials extolling the virtues of Social Media and new-fangled ways of connecting and tear your hair out wondering how you will apply those. Maybe even be tempted to try them and then wonder why they don’t really work for you.

Here’s something that will work for you if you fit the description in paragraph one. The Old Fashioned Way! The way those old enough to remember, did it before the electronic explosion: 

1)      Gather all your prospects into a nice manageable format – the olden days was a Rolodex. The 21st century way is a CRM system (Customer Relationship Manager). Even Outlook will do if you only have a small’ish number of prospects.  Hubspot is excellent, works in the Cloud and is totally free and completely intuitive, even for the technically challenged.

2)      Get as much information about each prospect as you can and record it against each business

• Name of Gatekeeper, his or her likes and dislikes, hobbies, holiday spots, kids……
• Name of the Decision Maker and ditto above
• Record of when you spoke to them and what was said

3)      Plan to be in touch with them regularly by a mix of email, letter, visit, phone call. Mix the methods and occasionally throw in a Random Act of Kindness to create Me2 moments

4)      Practise your Open Questions to keep gathering information

5)      Just do it

6)      Have patience and it will do one of two things – it will work or you will eventually receive a clear “no thank you” and you can move on 

Come to think of it, the old fashioned way would probably work for a multitude of business owners. It’s not all Facebook and Twitter.