I was reminded the other day that with all this new school marketing through websites, e-mail, Facebook & Twitter that many either have forgotten a fundamental tool marketing. I am actually convinced that many are actually hoping that this old tool is a thing of the past. What am I talking about? Face to face connection.
When I graduated from college back 30 years ago (seems like it’s been more than 100) I spent my first five years working as an insurance agent. It was absolutely great training. Jim Gaffney, the man who trained me, had been in the business for more than 40 years and had a very distinct set of rules that he lived by when it comes to getting new business. I thought I might share his ideas with you.
1. Be your own biggest promoter. If you don't like you, why should anyone else? If you aren’t willing to tell people what you do & why you do it, you only have yourself to blame for your failure. His point was that you should be proud of what you do & that opportunity would come as you
2. Go places where people hang out. You can be a little picky but by becoming a part of the local Rotary, Kiwanis or BBB, you may just meet some really great new people. Church works too for those who have a spiritual bent but let me say clearly that if you just see it as a place to make contacts, most people will see through your charade. Many of the people you meet will certainly be interested in what you know. Jim always said, “You never know, you might just meet your next best friend.”
3. Take every business card someone hands you & add them to your list of contacts. If someone is willing to share his life with you, they are also probably interested in what you know as well. They might not need you now but it may happen later or they may share your name with someone they know. Keep a list of them. Put them on your email list. (I promise if they don’t want you to communicate with them, they will let you know.)
4. Carry tons of your own business cards & hand them out like candy. I get young men & women in my shop all of the time who need my help. They are people who want to start businesses or make their businesses work better & they hand me a card as an introduction & then when they are near the end of the visit; ask for it back. It always strikes me as funny but they seem to think business cards are something rare & precious. I just bought another set of cards. My second set since October. They cost me around $40 for 2500. I figure that will last me about 6 months. They might generate a lead or they might not. But this much is certain, how many people do you need to take your card home & check out your website or start following you on Twitter for you to consider it to have been worth it.
5. Never turn down an opportunity to get yourself invited to schools, clubs & charities so that you can share what you know. As I see it, a teaching opportunity is a teaching opportunity. Hopefully I don’t have to explain how or why this works. And I believe I will still need business years from now when that elementary school kid becomes a young man or woman.
6. Never judge a person’s wallet by the clothes he wears or the car he drives. The richest man I ever met lived in a very modest house. He wore old clothes that he bought at Goodwill, a Timex watch and Red Wing shoes. He was genuinely a nice man with a lovely wife. I didn’t think he was poor but I would never have expected that he was worth more than 10 million dollars (1980 dollars). I found this out later after he died and his obituary hit the newspaper. I am sure that I could have gotten him to buy more insurance but I never suspected that he had the ability to pay. I had judged the book by it’s cover. What a mistake.
7. Pick the brains of successful people. Of all the things I’ve leaned in life, I am glad I listened to Jim Gaffney on this one. People who are good at what they do have discovered how to get things done better than most. I have made it my ambition to meet those who have been successful in pouring concrete; fixing computers; laying carpet; building homes; designing machinery; flying planes; playing golf & other sports; sales people; fireman; nurses; doctors; lawyers & well I hope you get the picture. I’ve also learned a lot from the things coming from the best minds in history; like Thomas Aquinas; Thomas Paine; Thomas Jefferson; Blaise Pascal; Steven Crane; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Alexandre Dumas; Søren Kierkegaard; Winston Churchill; SunTzu and so many more. In the last few years I have read from the brightest minds of our generation as well including John Maxwell; Jim Collins; Steven Covey; Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner; and most recently Chris Guillebeau of the Art of Non-Conformity. Lastly, on a personal note, my favorite teacher has been and will always be Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Bible.
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