Maximize Your Networking Efforts

I’ve been networking for years, using various avenues to meet as many people as I can. I be long to several organizations, including the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Southern Wayne Country Regional Chamber and DADBA (The Downriver and Detroit Business Association) to name a few.

These organizations host meetings and events monthly that make networking very affordable and easy. Although attending the meetings and networking when you are there is an important part of building your business, you really need to go one step further after you have made contact with a new prospect.

Simply – Follow Up!

This is an area that I often failed at. Since I really hate being called the day after a networking event and harassed, I never ever called someone that I’d met at an event unless they asked me to. So I am spending money attending these events meeting 100’s of people and not following up with them.

Sure I could blast them an email and take a chance of getting fined for spamming them, or I could call them and cheese them off and drowned any hopes of making a sale. Or I could follow up using a great marketing tool like Send Out Cards. I was turned on to Send Out Cards over a year ago and have been following up with prospects and clients very cost effectively and with little effort.

I have set up various campaigns in my Send Out Cards back office that do all the follow up for me. My “Nice To Meat” you campaigns sends out a post card immediately after the event, then sends a card three weeks later, with a great promotional product tip, then 4 weeks later another tip and the hits keep coming at 60 days, then 90 days and 120 days later. This particular campaign costs me just under $5, sending out 6 different direct mail pieces. I also plug in a reminder midway through this campaign to send the prospect a custom printed promo item as another great angle to keep my name in front of them.