Meet Up

How do you advertise your business or product, meet new people, business professionals and friends? For us, it's all about networking and word of mouth. We have a fantastic group of local business owners in our community that have formed a local MeetUp group. We meet every third Tuesday of the month at different locations to discuss current events, share experiences and network with other people interested in business. The support and turn-out is phenomenal but we have to "work" the crowd. We have to make the effort to talk to as many individuals in the room as we can and we have to create that personal connection to not only be remembered but remember the connection as well. Nothing's worse than coming home with a stack full of business cards and not being able to put a face with the name. We are often reminded in our networking groups that it's not NetSIT or NetEAT, it's NETWORK. We have to work to make an impression.

As I said, we do a lot of networking but we realize that other forms of advertisement are necessary. I received a very memorable tip sheet from a printing company that I'd like to share with you. It's called "How to Kill a Business in 10 Easy Steps:

1. DON'T ADVERTISE - Just pretend everybody knows what you have to offer.



2. DON'T ADVERTISE - Just assume everybody knows what you sell.



3. DON'T ADVERTISE - Forget that there are new potential customers who would do business with you if they were urged to do so.



4. DON'T ADVERTISE - Tell yourself it costs too much to advertise and that you don't get enough out of it.



5. DON'T ADVERTISE - Be sure not to provide an adequate advertising budget for business.



6. DON'T ADVERTISE - Tell yourself you just don't have time to spend thinking about promoting your business.



7. DON'T ADVERTISE - Convince yourself that you've been in business so long customers will automatically come to you.



8. DON'T ADVERTISE - Forget that you have competition trying to attract your customers away from you.



9. DON'T ADVERTISE - Overlook the fact that advertising is an investment in selling - not an expense.



10. DON'T ADVERTISE - Forget that you have to keep reminding your established customers that you appreciate your business.