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Marketing your services (and a quick Sambo's note)
Subject:Marketing your services (and a quick Sambo's note) From:Yvonne DeGraw <yvonne -at- SILCOM -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 22 Mar 1996 09:12:25 -0700
Richard Farley <rtfarley -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM> asked:
>What means do you find most effective when marketing your services. I
>presume you do some initial mailings, followed by phone calls. You have the
>prospective client on the line and need to get "the need seed" planted. What
>works for you?
So far, I've found word-of-mouth and networking with STC members and other
technical societies to be the best source of leads. Cold mailings and cold
calls are tough -- you don't have a "connection" with the person to whom
you are talking.
"Shenson on Consulting" (by Howard Shenson) calls this "Indirect
Marketing". Focus on building a good reputation. That makes selling
yourself easier. Networking helps you find companies that have a need, and
so will be more receptive.
I've also found interesting local companies by cruising lists of business
members at local Internet Service Providers. If their Web site needs work,
they probably could use a technical communicator or two.
-----
BTW, there is still one "Sambo's" restaurant left. It's in Santa Barbara
(where the chain started). I haven't seen any "Little Black Sambo" stuff
there, but then I'm not under age 12. They do make *great* pancakes,
though.
Yvonne DeGraw, Technical Services o Web Authoring
yvonne -at- silcom -dot- com o Technical Writing http://www.silcom.com/~yvonne/ o Database Design and Publishing
Tel: 805/683-5784 o User-Interface Design
(Check out the "NanoTheater" I built: http://www.di.com/Theater/Main.html)
