These days most of us don’t ‘cold call’ – it’s more ‘warm connections’.
You meet people at networking events or through online profiles on a wide variety of sites and, when you need a service, you contact the people you have already met (whether in reality or virtually). They mostly do the same – I know that this works because that’s how my business has grown.
However, sometimes you need more than just a knowledge of someone to trust your business to them. That’s why all the weekly breakfast clubs work so well – as my friend, master networker, Andy Lopata, says “Trust plus understanding equals referrals!” He’s right, but it’s more than that.
When you need information where do you go for it? Most people hit the keyboard. So what’s on the world wide web about you and your brand?
What happens when you type your name or your company name into Google? How much content is out there about you and your business?
Do you blog? Are you active on social networks, social bookmarking sites, Twitter and other microblogging sites, article posting sites and so on?
How many articles have you written about your expertise – and where are they posted? On your own website? On others?
There are ways to short cut all the work that this takes – but, if you want to present your brand effectively you need to do some of this. Sign up to our data service and you’ll find that’s a great start.
