Making Connections, Making Connections and Introductions, marketing consultant, online advertising, Passion, sales

The Perks of Networking

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While I’ve done contract marketing and market research work in the past — during times when I was looking for a permanent position in my field — it’s been about six months now that I’ve devoted my energies full-time to making consulting work my permanent employment.

Trying to get a consulting practice started is not for the weak of heart, particularly a marketing consulting practice.  Part of the reason for this is many organizations I approach about the expertise I can offer already have a marketing agency or consultant in place.  If they are an organization that’s been around for any length of time, marketing is essential to their well-being and it’s likely they’ve already solicited outside help to optimize marketing efforts. In fact, many have long-term contracts in place with marketing agencies that can’t be easily severed.  And, I’m also finding the newer, start-up businesses are difficult to identify and many use family members or friends to help them out on a pro bono or low-rate basis while in start-up mode.

Bottom line of all the above is that, in order for me, or any business offering consulting or other services to make a successful go at it, we have to be skilled at networking. It’s imperative that we use our connections or the connections of our connections to get our feet in the door.  Being more of a strategic behind-the-scenes person, that’s a challenge for me, but I’m rising to the occasion and I’m glad my business is causing me to grow this skill for a couple of reasons.

First, as a marketeer, even if I didn’t need to be out there trying to make sales and there was a sales team in place whose work I supported with marketing materials and activities, it’s very beneficial to understand the challenges, roadblocks, questions, concerns, etc. that a sales team faces on a daily basis. Secondly, the need to network is causing me to reconnect with individuals with whom I worked closely and had strong friendships with at different points in my career.

30

I’ve been working in the Boston area now for about thirty years.  Thirty years.  After studying in France my senior year and graduating from UCONN with a French degree, I attended the Katherine Gibbs’ three-month entree program. I always refer to it as a program that gave liberal arts majors the office skills they needed to get jobs. I will say attending the program served me well. After completing the program, I was able to obtain temporary office work at great organizations like Stone & Webster and Dana Farber, and soon landed permanent jobs at BayBank Harvard Trust and Fidelity Investments. After obtaining my M.B.A., mostly at night, I’ve been employed at Market Facts, Berklee College of Music, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of MA, Bay State Federal Bank, Best Doctors, Network Health, and BMC HealthNet Plan.

I list all of the above because it’s a good reminder that I’ve worked a lot of great places and made a lot of strong friendships and working relationships throughout my career — of which I should never lose sight.  I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people (since I’m a transplant from CT to MA, many of my closest friends are former co-workers). The need to network has caused me to reconnect with some of the many individuals with whom I haven’t stayed as closely in touch, but with whom I really enjoyed working. It’s been so much fun learning what former colleagues are up to, both professionally and personally.  So, I’m grateful that networking has prompted me to “catch up” with these people.  There’s nothing like tight schedules, heavy workloads, and what seem like impossible challenges for forming strong bonds.  I’m really enjoying revisiting those bonds. If you aren’t already doing so, I encourage you to reach out to former co-workers. I know you’ll benefit in a variety of ways from the experience.

brand promise, differentiation, diversity, integrated marketing, keeping up with trends, marketing consultant, Memorability, staying current

To Make Sure You Relate, Integrate

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I’ve been working with a real estate firm to grow the number of individuals who list properties with them as well as to identify prospective customers for the firm’s listings, which include commercial properties for purchase as well as for rent. Because of how critical it is for organizations to have a strong online presence and marketing program, we put a lot of our initial energies into Google AdWords search and display advertising, social media, and Web content.  The firm’s online marketing and communications activities were minimal and causing them to miss out on opportunities.

While online marketing has generated some leads for my client, a small recent incident reinforced something I’ve always believed and regularly share with prospective and existing clients.  You never should put all your eggs into one marketing basket. While a large percentage of individuals do search for business or personal information or needs online — and for them, it’s likely that digital and online communications are their preferred means of communicating and/or gaining information — there is likely to always be some percentage of the population who prefers to obtain information or communicate by other, more traditional means.

The incident I referenced above was that the client had sent out a flyer to a very targeted list of prospective customers we had pulled from a public database — individuals who, because of their line of business, we thought might have some interest in a particular property.  This “direct mail” initiative ended up causing a strong prospective customer to contact my client, and reinforced that there are still people out there who will open, read, and take action related to a direct mail piece — whether it be a postcard, letter, or some other format.

Right now, my client and I are also looking into print advertising opportunities. Yup, good old-fashioned newspapers and magazines because, again, there are still prospective customers out there that prefer to or enjoy getting their information through print media.

fishing

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I believe I may have already shared this in one of my blog posts, but one of my favorite marketing sayings is “fish where the fish are”.  It’s really important to know what type of fish you are trying to catch, and then, what types of and what bodies of water they like to swim in. This will allow you to develop and execute an integrated marketing campaign that repeats messaging, creative, images, etc. across a variety of vehicles and media that are appropriate. This will ensure that each of the types of fish you are trying to catch are spoken to via a vehicle or media to which they can relate.  And, of course, you’ll get the benefit of repeated exposure by your fish to your messaging by employing many vehicles. Remember, the average fish doesn’t always stay in the same area of the lake. In fact, they may regularly travel between a river and an ocean, and like both fresh and salt water.  Maybe I should have titled my blog post “integrate with the right bait”.