E-Tip 252 - How to get FREE Word-of-Mouth Advertising

We all know that word-of-mouth advertising is one of the cheapest and most effective types of advertising you and your company can get. In order to make this happen, you need to get out of your office and network with people. Many people like to go to their local Chamber of Commerce or a business card exchange event. But the reality is that very few people go there to buy anything.

When You Are Networking, You're Not Selling.

When you are at a networking event, don't focus on trying to sell to everyone. Look at it as an opportunity to be a teacher, a center of influence and a fountain of knowledge for buying what you are selling. By making a few changes to your approach, you can become a center of influence in any industry and in effect, generate a considerable amount of word-of-mouth advertising.

Go Into A Networking Event To Do Just That. . .Network.

One of the biggest mistakes most people make when they network is trying to sell someone (this happens whether or not they are showing buying signals). This is the LAST thing you should do. Don't talk about how great you are or why someone should buy from you. Just have a general one or two sentence overview of what you do and the type of people you work with. Tell people this, along with how much fun you have doing it and you will find people asking you more about what you do. If you go into a heavy sales pitch, you will only end up pushing opportunities away.

People Buy From People They Like and Trust.

Networking is one of the best ways of increasing your field of influence to help promote what you sell. Moreover, the reality of being in business is that people do business with (and recommend) those that they like and trust. To facilitate this bond, you should help people get what they want.

Take An Interest In Other People.

Experts have proven that people like those who are interested in them. One of the fastest ways of getting someone talking is to ask them questions about what they do. So, what type of questions can you ask someone? Here are a few questions you can ask at your next networking event (write them down on a small card and read them before you go into your next event):

• What is your name?
• What line of work are you in?
• Do you own the company (never assume that people are at the low end of their company)?
• Where are you located?
• What made you start your own company (owner question) or how long have you been working for this company? This keeps the conversation rolling and provide you with some interesting background data.
• What makes you or your business different from someone else?
• I know a lot of people here, what type of person would be a good prospect I could introduce to you? Once you ask this question, you will be shocked at the positive effect this will have on the conversation.
• Ask everyone for a business card and his or her permission to send your newsletter to them.

By asking these questions at your next networking event, you will quickly get to know someone and learn what they do. Now don't stop here. Get out a pen and write down on their business card some key information about them. When you get back to the office, enter their name in a CRM tool like ACT! or Goldmine so you can keep track of these people electronically. This will make it easier when it comes time to send them electronic newsletters or direct-mail campaigns.

Summary: If you do this at every networking event you attend, the word will spread rather rapidly that YOU are the person everyone needs to turn to when buying what you are selling. You can also leverage your sales by developing a bi-weekly or monthly e-mail newsletter (or direct mail newsletter) you can send to your database of clients and prospects. By implementing this simple approach, you will find that when you walk into a room, people you have never even met before will come over to talk with you so they can learn more about how you can help them.

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