Cold Calling or Social Media?

Last week, I wrote a blog on a success story on cold-calling.

I used to think that Social Media is just that -- for socializing. It kept the "author" busy. It created a "sense of engagement" with the audience -- but is it really? It did not result in sales, which translated into money.

Recently Dr. Sam from Strategism came to talk to our Small Business Program class at Golden Gate University (sponsored by -- Chevron!) His topic was Business Development. He didn't like cold calling nor door knocking which he did in early years. His company now makes $7 million in sales.

And what works for him is -- YouTube.
And he loves it!
He said with these social media / online tools, he can reach audience all over The States.

Strategism does IT, project management coaching and consulting. For him, reaching NEW clients is the key. Finding untapped NEW areas and quickly MASTER the skills are the other keys.

So, what marketing method works?
It turns out to be: know your clients!
Know where they look.
And find them where they are.

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The methods I used are:


1) Postcards campaign -- I want to proactively reach out to the targets vs. passively waiting while the targets reach out to half a dozen of providers like me.

2) Cold Calling -- I think being able to talk with the business owners is a HUGE plus. From the tone, you have a sense of how the other person is like. It establishes  human-connection.

3) Getting involved with organizations / communities where my target audience are  - since I seek to work with contractors and architects, I go to AIA SF (American Institute of Architects) to do presentation on Quickbooks regularly as a way to build reputation.

4) Get people to TALK about me: I host meetup and mastermind to bring people to me, so that they will TALK about me. I also GO to places where my TARGETS gather, such as AIA SF, so that I am always on top of their mind. 

When interviewing Gordon Chong FAIA for a class assignment, in response to my incessant questions on "Where do you go places to meet people?"
He said, "You don't just go places to meet people. You keep going. You become one of them. You belong. "

4) Publish quality materials to educate -- I started posting slides from previous presentations on slideshare.net. And I also write blogs. These materials once published will do marketing 24/7 forever. It is a great investment.