Do you sometimes find yourself putting marketing at the bottom of your to do list?

Is it because you view marketing as a gargantuan, overwhelming, and onerous task?

Are you keeping your results small due to fear of putting your message out there for people to see, and perhaps judge or reject (which is not unlike a fear of public speaking)?

The sad fact is that you might have superior products or services; but this does you absolutely no good if you are afraid (or perhaps too disorganized) to get your messages about them out into the world.

People cannot buy something about which they know nothing, or feel comfortable signing up for a service with someone they don’t even know!

So what is a person to do?

What you can do is to adopt some mini marketing moves that create the kind of relationships that have the potential to bring you mega results.

Mini Marketing Move #1

Set up an easy to use system to keep track of the people with whom you connect, including their names, contact information, the date of each connection, the gist of your exchange with them, and the date you need to connect with them again.

To make it easier to keep track of both business cards and my interactions with people, I use the following two strategies:

1. A Contact Relationship Manager (CRM) or an Excel spreadsheet can be an easy place to keep track of names, contact information, notes on each conversation (using the wrap feature found in the Alignment section to condense notes into a cell to refresh your memory when you are ready to connect again) and a suggested follow-up date or action to take.
2. Avery Business Card Pages 76009, which hold business cards in a clear plastic sheet that you can keep in a binder for easy reference. I use dividers to separate the sheets into sections for the various places and events where I meet people.

Mini Marketing Move #2

Each time you connect with someone new (at a networking event or business meeting, for example), the next day at the latest, invite that person to connect with you on LinkedIn. Be sure to write a personal invitation rather than using LinkedIn’s impersonal default option. Label each new person a friend to simplify the process.

Mini Marketing Move #2 on Steroids

If a follow-up appointment is appropriate, invite the other person to take out his or her phone and set an appointment to connect again right then and there.

Mini Marketing Move #3

Set a goal of contacting a certain number of people each week, and then divide that goal by five to make it much more manageable to accomplish. If you feel really resistant to doing this, how about contacting one person a day, or do five in one day and call it a week’s worth of calls That could even make it easier to do more the following week..

Mini Marketing Move #4

Commit to a marketing discipline of scheduling your calls and your LinkedIn outreach at a specific time every day, Monday-Friday.

Mini Marketing Move #5

Write a personal thank you note to anyone who  meets with you for a consultation, has sent you a referral, signed up to do business with you, or has done anything else worthy of note.

Since so few people actually write notes that require an envelope and a stamp, you will definitely set yourself apart from the crowd in a powerful way. I like to buy decorative stamps and hand address the envelope. This tactic alone creates a strong personal connection with a current or potential client.

Mini Marketing Move #5 on steroids

Since so few share street addresses these days, writing a snail mail thank you note becomes a virtual impossibility, not to mention the time it takes to do it.

I recently discovered an incredibly effective system for sending videos to people, either in emails or on social media. The videos get sent as a gif so they upload very quickly once people click on it.

The system is called Dubb. It allows me to send a personalized video to people, that then links (if I so choose) to a promotional page containing a video explaining how I support people in achieving their communication goals.

If you are open to seeing the marketing video that I created using Dubb, sharing how I help people gain confidence and poise in reaching out to people; you are welcome to check it out here. 

This marketing video page not only includes links for my calendar and a free gift, but even a link for replying to me on video. What fun!