Networking

I am competing in an industry filled with large competitors.  These are companies with office buildings, billboards, notation newspaper ads, etc.  As a small business, it's impossible to reach as many people as they can.  Instead, you will need to find or target the right people and get yourself introduced through networking.  More often than not this will cost you nothing (well... a lunch, maybe) and can get you everything.  Here are three easy networking tips to get you started:

1) Look at your own network first.  You may be surprised how close you are to your target customers.  Social networking sites like Linkedin are great ways to see who you are only one or two handshakes away from.  Ask your connection to make an introduction for you or set up a coffee with the three of you.

2) Strategically align with other service providers.  As a document scanning company, we do not shred documents, but we do have connections to a couple of them should someone ask us for a referral.  They in turn refer business to us.  Think about all the services you don't provide, but are related to yours and contact those business about a mutually beneficial relationship.

3) Pay Commissions.  If you don't have the network or the sales chops, then find people who do and get them to work for you.  As long as you are only paying on success, this isn't costing you anything extra and you can inflate your costs to absorb the commissions if needs be.  It's a win-win.

Thanks for reading.

L