The joys of a 30 second infomercial

Those of us in small business who have ever thought about joining a networking group or attending a networking event will have faced the question: “What do you do?” Probably we have all sat in line as the creeping death of everyone else’s introduction works it’s way inexorably around to us. Maybe we have had the experience of the group leader saying: “OK, let’s all give our 30 second infomercials and we will start with……..Jerry.”

However familiar we are with giving our well practiced speech there is always a slight frisson or excitement in this process. Perhaps we are one of the last to speak and by the time it gets around to us there have been three other people in a similar line of business who have already explained why they have the best products and the best customer service. So, what do you say that makes you stand out?

Think about your best testimonial - that is the place to start

In my experience most people answer the “what do you do” question literally i.e. with a list of what they do. The difficulty with this is it makes you sound the same as everyone else and it is all about YOU. Think about the best client testimonial you have received. If it is in writing go back and look at it again. If not, you might like to talk to your best client and ask them again what they love about you, specifically.

I bet you won’t see many testimonials that include things like: “He had services I had never heard of before” or “What clinched it for me was she was based on 103rd street” or “I’ve never met anyone else who has been in business a combined 55 years - wow!”

Now I am being flippant and exaggerating for effect BUT I have heard all those statements made as reasons to do business in a 30 second introduction.

So what is in a testimonial that I can use?

Usually testimonials include how you made someone’s life better, or a particular unique feature you provided to your client but it will be about them. How you helped, what you did that improved their life etc. Look more deeply than comments about  great customer service and find out what that means specifically - took away worry, helped me sleep at night, solved a frustrating problem. There is your uniqueness and there is how you can help other people who match your ideal client profile.

Hint: Stop talking about yourself and base your message on what your clients get personally from the experience of working with you.

OK, I’ve heard of it? What should I do next?

Probably most of us have heard about Linked In. Many of us have a profile and some connections but the most common statement I hear about LI is something like: “I received a few invitations to connect and I have a profile but I don’t know what to do now”. So, we end up with a dead profile, couple of connections and it never goes anywhere.

So, what’s the point?

I encourage you to look into Linked In as a means of practicing networking best practice. Huh? What does that mean?

Think about LI as a tool. Once again, we have talked about marketing tools here before and encouraged you not to rush straight to the favorite tool of the moment. LI is a networking tool and all the rules of face to face networking also apply here. Namely: Give to get (give value and information and don’t expect to join a group to harvest leads from day one), it requires commitment, you need a goal, you need to know why you are doing it, it really helps to be genuinely curious about other people.

How does that work on line?

LI is set up to allow you to find people of interest and therefore you should complete your profile as fully as possible. This means that you have to complete a summary of what you do. Bearing in mind this is a business site primarily, this means you have the chance to write about your business. Hint: the rules of marketing apply here - this is a means of grabbing attention therefore the focus should be on the issues of your client and not a list of your services and how great you are.

How to add value - there is a section called “Answers”. Search it for keywords in your area of expertise and give freely of your thoughts and experience. Give is the operative word here - share your knowledge and people will be more interested in you. Again, this can’t be self serving. Please don’t go into a question and write: “I can help you on this, here’s my website” as I don’t think that will work well.

Enter a conversation - you can ask questions too. When you get answers you should enter a brief dialogue with the person who responded and thank them. They may be future partners with you.

Revisit goals

I’m often asked something along the lines of : “what business have you had from linked In?” This is a fair question but difficult to answer directly. I know some people who can point directly to such business. In my case I know of contacts made that have attracted attention and got us talking which led to business. I know people who spoke to me directly after viewing my profile on LI. Here’s the thing for me - that is my goal. I want to be more visible and have people develop an extra way to contact me. LI isn’t the only thing I do by any means but as a tool it fits well into my marketing toolkit. It may well be worth checking out for you too.

Are you a card collector?

It’s been said (can’t remember where, but I am sure I read it) that a business card is one of the most effective marketing tools you will ever use. Certainly it is hard to imagine going through business life, or life in general without them. Indeed I was planning a quiet day recently and to my endless embarrassment I was caught without my usual supply when asked for one. Note to self: Make sure that never happens again.

So, on balance I agree that your card says a lot about you and your company. However…..I have been to numerous networking events where there was a lot of card collecting going on. In other words people handing out cards and taking them almost as if it were a game - who can give out and/or collect the most by the end of the evening.

Why are we exchanging cards

Try asking that question if you are genuinely not sure of the answer. Many times in the past I have been given a card BEFORE any connection was established or we had discussed where the relationship went next. Of course, cards allow us to connect after the event but, let’s be honest, how often do you go through your card collection and think: “Hmmm. I wonder who that was?”

Left Pocket, Right Pocket

Kevin has a great approach. If he knows why he has a card and what the follow up is it goes into his right pocket and then into his follow up process. Left pocket? Don’t know what the next step is, goes into a stack of cards with no detailed follow up.

Make sure you know why you might want to follow up with a contact. Find out what they do and what their concerns are - is that person a good target/prospect/referral partner/resource for you and what can you do for them? If you find that out at a network meeting, by all means swap cards and agree the next stage of discussion.

Then you will save on cards and make sure more of the ones you give out make it to the right pocket!