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 I can’t believe that we’ve been back from our trip to the Isle of Wight for more days than we were away! It’s amazing how much time you spend looking forward to a trip, and then before you know it, its just a distant memory.
Having never been there previously, many we spoke to suggested that the IOW is ‘stuck in a timewarp’. I guess you could say that. It is very ‘ye olde English’ – but so quaint and picturesque.
Many others suggested that we may get bored. Well, I’m pleased to say that we had more than our fair share of action – what with a fire at the hotel one of the evenings (I kid you not – but thankfully nothing too serious or life-threatening); and dodging hundreds of yachts on the ferry trip home during the Round The Island Yacht Race.
I’ve put a handful of our pics up on the blog if you’re keen to take a look.
What are you planning to do with the summer holidays? We’d love to hear from you and see your favourite pics too!
PS: Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends and colleagues but first please erase the Unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page. This will protect you from being inadvertently unsubscribed from The Marketing Edge by one of your recipients!
 Our Performance-Tuned Networking seminar is less than four weeks away!
Are you a Service Industry Professional reliant on word-of-mouth to grow your business, but anxious because you are not getting the volume of referrals that you are hoping for?
We know that most of you are probably thinking about your summer holidays at this stage, but remember that a key selling season for professionals is between September and October. Many businesses will be spending the last of their 2008 budgets, while others will be starting to plan for 2009. This represents a great opportunity for those with well prepared, powerful marketing strategies!
That is why we are not only offering to save you 25% on the price of a ticket, but we are ALSO now offering to let you bring a friend or colleague for half price!
There are ONLY 20 SEATS LEFT so don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to use half a day of your summer holiday to get your marketing strategies in shape - and get a good way ahead of your competitors!
Time is running out, so click here to find out more and to book your seat!
The Seven Deadly
Sins of Networking
Regular readers of The Marketing Edge will recall my previous articles about how to network (Networking That Produces Results) and where to network (Are You Fishing in the Wrong Pond?). This third article in the series uncovers the mistakes to be avoided if our networking is to produce outstanding results.
Now that you have the how and where all nicely in hand, the last thing you want to do is allow your investment in time, money, and credibility go down the drain by committing any of the following Seven Deadly Sins of networking:
Sin #7: Data dumping
This involves ‘dumping’ the data from all the business cards you’ve collected onto your newsletter distribution list or other marketing list without that person’s consent. I don’t know about you, but I get really annoyed when I suddenly find myself receiving a host of different e-zines that I didn’t ask for, after attending a networking lunch. Just don’t do it!
Sin #6: Trying to sell before building a relationship
Networking is first and foremost about building relationships. We talk a lot about the ‘know, like, and trust’ factor with good reason, so offering your sales-pitch prematurely is pushy and off-putting. Focus on getting to know people first. Play ‘Marketing Relay’ (Principle 1 in The Seven Principles of Professional Services Marketing) by going around the ‘track’ systematically. Remember that if you launch into a selling conversation too soon, you drop the ‘baton’ and have to start again.
Sin #5: Being the centre of attention
We all enjoy talking about ourselves, especially when we have a captive audience, but I can’t stress this point enough: You have to share the attention. No one likes a blabber-mouth who never shuts up or lets others have a word in. Allow others enough opportunity to talk, and really really listen to them. As Toby Keith states so well: Sometimes I wanna talk about ME! (you’ve got to watch this vid!)
Sin #4: Spreading yourself too thinly
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: focus on Quality vs Quantity. To make a genuine success of your networking efforts and get tangible value out of it, you simply have to be an active, visible member of the group/s to which you belong. If you are attending too many different events too frequently, you will have no option but to compensate in other areas. Either by working longer hours than necessary to catch up on your work backlogs, or by committing the #1 Sin ...
Sin #3: Being unprepared
This is another major contributor to committing the #1 Networking Sin. Being prepared has many guises: You must ensure that you have sufficient supplies of business cards, a pen, notebook and your diary (or PDA). How embarrassing if the opportunity to set up an appointment arises and you don’t have your diary, or you have run out of business cards before a conversation with the CEO of one of your major targets.
You must also be prepared with something interesting to talk about. Do you know how to make small talk? Have you read something in the business news or an industry journal that you could use?
Another area where being unprepared, or badly prepared, can wreck your credibility and opportunities for networking success – is not having a decent Verbal Signature. You may call it an elevator pitch, a cocktail speech, or simply your 60 second intro. If your message is garbled, too fussy, overly creative, boring, or simply unclear then you will have to work so much harder to achieve your goals. We make an impression within that first sixty seconds, so ensure that it’s a good one.
An exercise that many of our subscribers, and all of our clients have gained tremendous value from is working through the audio programme Transform Your Networking With a Verbal Signature™ and its accompanying workbook. If you haven’t done so yet I suggest you make it your number one priority after reading this article. Download it from the private subscriber’s area on our website. If you aren’t a subscriber yet, then go to our homepage, input your details into the signup box, and you will receive a link to that download page.
Sin #2: Poor information gathering
This doesn’t mean that you didn’t collect enough business cards – it means you failed in gathering relevant information to support what is printed on those cards. Who is the person behind the name? What do they do (that the card doesn’t tell you)? How will you remember what they look like when you bump into them again? What information have you obtained to help you in building a relationship with them? What did you talk about? This is one place where your pen and notebook become more than unused props at the event. In fact never mind the notebook even – scribble some info right on the back of the business card. As an example, if I just met David at an event, the notes on the back of his card might be something along these lines: ‘Bald. Handsome ;) South African. Sat next to me at lunch. Planning huge business expansion.’ – get the idea?
If your information gathering is deficient you have also undoubtedly committed other ‘sins’ too and will almost certainly go on to commit THE NUMBER ONE DEADLY SIN of networking:
Sin #1: No Follow Up!
There are a number of ways to follow up with a networking contact (which I’ll address in a future article and in great detail at our seminar next month) but a simple idea is to send an email or a postcard with a ‘nice to meet you’ type message. Or pick up the phone and say the same. These are such easy, well mannered, gestures that it’s a real pity that less than 1% of networkers actually do this. But I assure you that those that do reap the rewards.
©Vanessa Deakin and Zee2A Limited 2008. Would you like to reprint this article? You may do so as long as you include the copyright notice and the following paragraph: Vanessa Deakin, Operations Director at Zee2A, is a Marketing Coach who works with Professional Service Executives frustrated and disappointed with their current growth rates, marketing efforts, and business profitability. Through one-on-one and group mentoring programmes she helps them to skyrocket their results and break their own best records. To learn more, sign up for her e-zine, or make an enquiry please visit our website at www.zee2a.com.
Do you attend a lot of networking events? Are you disappointed by the low ROI of your time and money? Wish you were getting more (or better quality) referrals and business from this medium? You need to attend our Performance-Tuned Networking seminar on 5th August in Basingstoke! Book one of the 20 remaining seats today!
(If you're unfamiliar with the concept behind Front2Back 2Front please go here to read the explanation in our launch issue.)
We have a fantastic contribution for Front2Back2Front this issue, which is a perfect complement to our feature article! Jonathan Schneider from St Louis, Missouri shares his top networking tips.
‘‘I find people really enjoy when I:
Accidently have my shirt open to show a Superman Logo shirt underneath and say, ‘oops! I guess the secret's out.’
Ask in a trembling voice, ‘you wouldn't happen to have any anti-depressants with you?’
Keep looking around nervously and ask if the person has seen any KGB agents around.
Wear tin foil on my shoes and tell people that they keep me safe from government mind experiments.
Tell people how great it is to finally be let out of my box for a couple of hours.
(comment deleted – our spam filters would have a field day!)
Repeat ‘you have business?’ over and over in broken English with an unidentifiable accent until the person walks away.
Do nothing but quote lines from ‘Caddyshack.’ (David can't see the problem with this, as he spent a networking lunch recently comparing Gollum-voices with a new colleague ... Whaddya think, Ben? Did it convince you of his professionalism?)
Make a raspberry noise every time I take a step.
Listen intently to someone tell me what they do and then shake like I have a chill while hugging myself and say ‘I'm going to need to take a long shower after hearing that!’
Tell people I work for a certain government agency and my official title is ‘cleaner.’
Say I'm an undertaker and then look the person up and down and comment how they would fit in a ‘number 6.’
Send thank you notes and end with a statement that I may be pregnant and believe they are the father (whether it's a man or woman).
For some reason, people tend to remember me.’
Thanks a million Jonathan – we are still wiping away tears! If you have other tips to share (serious or humorous), please add them on our blog.
Would you like to share your story or experience with fellow Marketing Edge Readers? Please submit them HERE. (We reserve the right to publish or to refuse publication of any content provided.)
- 5th August: Our Performance-Tuned Networking seminar. There are only 20 seats left so book yours NOW! And bring a friend or colleague for half price while seats are still available!
- 21st August: FREE 90 Minute introductory teleclass for all those considering joining Vanessa’s Marketing Mastermind Programme. 3pm (UK); 4pm (South Africa); 9am (Central). If you aren't local, call in via Skype to save money. Click here for full details and to register for the call.
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Subscribers receive as a free gift an Audio workshop entitled 