Rekiya, a chartered accountant had a great career, for 15 years, in a leading financial services firm. Since launching her own consulting outfit 6 months ago however, finding client business has been tough. <\/p>\n
She\u2019s been offered advice by well meaning friends, relatives, former colleagues and associates. Many recommended calling old school mates, past acquaintances, with whom she\u2019d lost touch etc.<\/p>\n
But they\u2019ll often be polite when you call, and even promise to get back to you. People are like that. Especially when they know you. They wish you well and so will try to be nice. <\/p>\n
But rarely will they respond with the urgency \u2013 and interest \u2013 that a total stranger in need of your solution will!<\/em><\/p>\n Many who\u2019d promised to link her up, or invite her to deliver services\/products to them, had not called.<\/p>\n Yet they\u2019d made her send them thickly bound hard copy proposals, explaining her offer. Putting that together had not been cheap!<\/em><\/p>\n A few who had called back, and asked her to carry out projects for them, were yet to honour invoices she\u2019d sent in, weeks after she\u2019d handed over. <\/p>\n The situation was already telling on her cash flow, which still came mainly from her savings. <\/strong><\/p>\n And her morale was dropping at approximately the same rate as her bank balance. Plus, she wondered what alternatives she could pursue. <\/p>\n I would waste not time in saying... <\/em><\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n That's because I believe every start-up needs to spend less time trying to win over established contacts as clients. <\/p>\n Don\u2019t get me wrong. I do not mean don\u2019t go there. <\/em><\/p>\n Instead, I suggest spending less time looking that way, and invest more time, effort and energy setting up systems to attract NEW people with potential interest in what you offer. <\/p>\n People who never knew you before, but who are looking for your product or service.<\/p>\n When one is on a tight budget, creativity in getting things done without spending becomes a priority. I learnt that the hard way during 10 hard years of struggling as an entrepreneur in Nigeria.<\/p>\n So I began to call people\u2019s bluff. <\/strong><\/p>\n If someone demanded a proposal, I asked him\/her for an email address I could send a PDF document to, that I called a \u201cGeneric Proposal\u201d. <\/em><\/p>\n Basically, it was a document I\u2019d prepared with my desired target audience in mind, based on many past conversations with prospects. <\/p>\n It often contained the information and details that addressed most of the key questions and issues a serious prospect would raise. <\/p>\n If the person demanding the proposal insists I sent it on paper, I often take it as a good sign that s\/he is not really interested or ready. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Why? <\/p>\n Because the kinds of solutions I offer mostly require use of PC and Internet technology. <\/p>\n Any prospect averse to reviewing my offer using that platform is not likely to make a good client. <\/strong>10 years out here have shown me the foregoing is often right. <\/p>\n If you belong to the old school, you\u2019d probably imagine the above stunt got me in trouble. <\/p>\n But guess what? <\/strong><\/p>\n All serious prospects I\u2019ve related with NEVER raised any issues! <\/u><\/em><\/p>\n They readily supplied their email addresses, and I sent them my PDF \u201cGeneric Proposal\u201d. A few then went on to hire me (to develop a Web Marketing System for them or build a custom Excel-VB app). <\/p>\n That left me with more money in my pockets to fuel my car, pay for my Internet connections etc.<\/strong><\/p>\n Using my Internet connection, I diligently churned out educational articles targeted at potential buyers, which got republished to various platforms e.g. Facebook and Twitter. <\/p>\n Most times, those write ups are discovered by people who have NEVER heard of, or read about me before. Total strangers. Quite often they\u2019re searching via Google or other engine. <\/p>\n Typically, they would have clicked a promotional link or two that I subtly inserted to one or more of my products or services sales page. And that would have gotten them hooked. <\/p>\n Next thing I know, the person calls my mobile, and asks \u201cHow much for\u2026?\u201d After I reply, s\/he says \u201cPlease send me your account details so I can make the payment.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n Then I do that via email or phone text message. Suddenly, the email alert arrives on my Blackberry. Sometimes ALL of this can \u2013 and does \u2013 happen in a space of 4 to 6 hours from first contact, to payment. <\/strong><\/p>\n And that\u2019s what happened to Rekiya, 6 months after starting up\u2026<\/h3>\n
If Rekiya was a friend, and she asked my advice on what to do, the following is what I would tell her:<\/h3>\n
1. Forget About Marketing to Those You Know\u2026!<\/strong>
\n<\/h3>\nHow do you do this? Here\u2019s an example of a simple zero cost strategy you can use:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
2. Aim for Those Who Do NOT Know You\u2026!<\/strong><\/h3>\n
In this way, I virtually eliminated the expense I used to incur on printing paper based flyers and other promotional material for my work. <\/em><\/h3>\n
Then I turn up, and they read my piece, and decide to make contact, to ask me questions about what I wrote, and how I can help them. <\/strong><\/h3>\n
Actually, as I write THIS article, it just happened AGAIN, this time with a Farm CEO from Jos, in Nigeria\u2019s Plateau State. <\/h3>\n