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Moonsail Limited
Making Words Work For You |
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An Overlooked Network
As a freelance copywriter, I rely solely on word-of-mouth referrals and recommendations for my work – I don’t advertise at all - so networking is naturally the most productive way for me to generate business.
Like many of us, I'm a member of various networking groups and business clubs and I always look out for opportunities to promote my business.
There are other bonuses too: I get to meet loads of interesting people I can bounce ideas off, share marketing tips with, compare notes with, and enjoy social events away from the hustle and bustle of work. Fantastic. And I thought I had the whole networking concept reasonably well covered until I recently had a wake up call...
Last weekend my sister-in-law mentioned an acquaintance of hers had been looking for help writing copy for her website and wasn't sure where to look. (Unfortunately, this had taken place some months ago so the ‘job’ had long since gone). I realised that although I THINK I'm doing a reasonable job promoting myself to other local businesses, I haven't been doing such a good job of promoting my work to my own friends and family.
It made me wonder if my network of friends, relations, and ex-work colleagues really know EXACTLY what my business is all about? And if they DON’T know, surely I should be letting them know - so they can refer business my way if an opportunity arises?
Think about it for a second. We all have a circle of friends and acquaintances. How many of those people have a crystal clear idea about what YOU do for a living? Sometimes we’re so busy promoting ourselves to other business people, we can easily lose sight of the potential contacts / leads / referrals we might find if we reminded our nearest and dearest about our business activities from time to time.
How do we do this? Here’s an idea:
Why not spend a few minutes putting together an A4 sized newsletter detailing the kind of work you do (along with a few examples or testimonials if appropriate) and distribute it to neighbours, friends, relatives etc on a monthly basis or quarterly basis? You never know – your next big customer could come from the most unlikely source...
Best regards
Hugh McClelland
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