Re: Practical Thread: Advertising to businesses

>>>>> "Faber" == Faber Fedor <[email protected]> writes:

    Faber> One of the things I've been struggling with is "how does
    Faber> one advertise to find more clients?".

_You_ don't.  _You_ knock on doors.  Search the archives, it's (of
course) one of the "Tom Lord is getting _very_ hungry" threads.  I
think Brian Fox was the one who described the process, Ian Taylor may
have been in it too.

Ian's answer in this thread is similar to what I recall of that
thread, but that one was more pragmatic, included some of the actual
elevator patter IIRC.

>>>>> "Faber" == Faber Fedor <[email protected]> writes:

    >> (if you do decide to get it, of course please do not buy it
    >> online).

    Faber> Huh?  Why not? I could have understood it if you said
    Faber> "don't buy from Amazon" but "don't buy online"? :-?

Two reasons.  One is that small business is good for society---it
creates more jobs, it mentors more independence, it makes for a more
interesting downtown than big business.  (Ever noticed how corporate
headquarters say "keep out" and department stores say "frivolity 'R'
you" just by their facades, but small businesses---even plumbers---say
"door's open, come in and play"?)  Please support your local small
businesses, case-in-point, bookstores, by _going in_.

Second.  While you're there, _case the joint_.  Bookstores are
inventory-intensive, inventory is accounting-intensive, accounting
uses IT.  Bookstores have idiosyncratic needs, FOSS is customizable by
design.  I think you can draw your own diagram, now.  :-)

    Faber> I hadn't thought of their sales course!

Are you sure you want to run a medium-sized business?  You seem to
have all the wrong instincts.  Maybe somebody else should run it, and
you be CTO.

    Faber> Now do you see why I asked my first question about the
    Faber> necessity for having a large nest egg? :-)

Yes and no.  You obviously focussed on the money immediately, and so
you asked about it.  You probably asked them "how did you start your
business?" and they said "well, I got XXX dollars and bought this and
rented that and the customers came."  And you said, "where'd you get
the money?" and it was all downhill from there.

Gumby said "ask them how they got _customers_".  Customers don't come
because they know you have money.  By definition, they have more money
than they can "eat"; they want to trade it in on something _useful_.
Once you figure out how you're going to get a steady flow of
customers, _then_ you worry about where to get the money to implement
your plan.

    >> I went to your web site and I see you're at a conference.
    >> That's great.  But I notice that you pitch to the already-sold
    >> prospect.

    Faber> Hello!  You just pointed out something to me that I was not
    Faber> aware of.  Could you please elaborate?

Do your own homework here.  _The nose for when you're selling the
wrong people is exactly what you need to develop._  The best way to
reply to this comment is "omigod, now that I look at in that light..."
because it means the instincts are latent.  The next best way is
"....  Is that what you mean?"  Coming along rapidly ....  :-)  The
answer may change from one day to the next; noticing this is the
difference between running a business and merely investing in it.

    Faber> getting it into a sound bite to convince a business person
    Faber> is something I'm still working on.

Sound bites aren't for convincing.  They're for getting lunch dates.

    Faber> Linux New Jersey: Open Source Solutions for New Jersey

Exercise #2: How does this correlate with "selling the already sold"?
Exercise #3: Find something that properly targets the _potential_
customer.  It doesn't have to be good.  (Because once you've got the
_first_ idea, improvements will tumble out of your brain faster than
you can type them.)

(Re: #3.  I've got one for you I think is pretty good; you show me
yours, I'll show you mine.)

Caveat: all of the above is machine-generated formal analysis, and may
have nothing to do with practical reality.

-- 
Institute of Policy and Planning Sciences     http://turnbull.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp
University of Tsukuba                    Tennodai 1-1-1 Tsukuba 305-8573 JAPAN
                               Seeker, too.
There's a young man who I know ... Someday soon, goin' with him, someday soon.