By Kamea Zelisko
If you’re in business you’ve no doubt had to undertake the task of networking.
To many people (myself included), networking can be a scary task – the idea of having to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger feels almost unnatural, and yes, admittedly awkward, but the results of networking can be very rewarding both personally and professionally if it’s done right.
Networking is about more than just handing out as many cards as possible, it’s about building relationships with people, and that takes time. In fact, it has been said that it takes 7 contacts with someone to build a relationship where they know, like and trust you enough to do business with you.
Below are some quick tips to help ease you into networking:
Start with your current network: One of the best ways to start networking is to start with people you already know. Family members, friends and past and current coworkers can all become the beginnings of your network. Don’t be afraid to tell them what your business is about and even ask them if they know anyone who may be interested in your services. After all if you don’t ask, you’ll never know, right?
Look online: The Internet is a great place to find networking events in and around your area. Check out government-funded networking events, visit sites like LinkedIn and meetup.com or do a Google search for networking clubs and upcoming events in your area, and you’ll soon find a plethora of networking events to attend.
Sell yourself, not your business: When you meet someone, don’t immediately push your services on to him or her in a quick and dirty manner. Be interested in the other person, listen and care about what they say and try to make a connection. Remember, business is all about relationships.
Look, listen and learn: When you meet other people during your networking events, notice what makes them good networkers and try to adopt some of their techniques.
Check in regularly with your network: This is an important and often overlooked step in networking. Be sure to keep in touch with your network to see what they are up to and how you can help them. Give them a call or email, send them an interesting article, invite them to an event you think they may be interested in.
Good luck with your networking efforts!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Marketing Basics, Thanks to Celebrity Apprentice
By Kamea Zelisko
Do you watch Celebrity Apprentice? If not, you really are missing out. Sure, the show is filled with a lot of hype and drama, but it is also full of great little golden nuggets of business and marketing information.
For example, in a recent episode where the competitors had to create a four-page ad spread for Trump’s luxury hotel chain (which both teams ultimately failed at, by the way), one team created an ad that the client referred to as looking like an ad for sleazy nightclubs you’d find on the dash of your car. The other team also had an epic fail in not including any contact information (or, “Call to Action”) on their ads.
While watching, it suddenly dawned on me that these mistakes that seemed obvious (to me anyways) were not immediately apparent to those who are involved in marketing. So, I’ve decided to include some quick pointers to help people avoid making the same mistakes in their marketing materials.
1. Hire a designer.
I can’t stress this point enough. Just because you know how to ad Clip Art to a Word document does not make you a designer. It takes years of education, (and more importantly experience) to get graphic and layout design down pat, and if you don’t have that expertise you run a high risk of making your marketing materials look cheap and cheesy. And the result of that? Your company looks cheap and cheesy.
In fact, even if you have some design experience, I recommend you still hire an outside source who is not so closely involved in the project – they can help provide an outsider’s perspective which will ultimately help convey your marketing message more effectively and efficiently.
2. Editing is crucial.
Not a great writer and/or speller? Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that. While hiring a Writer and/or Editor would be the best choice, we realize that’s not always a possibility. So if you’re going to DIY, here are some quick editing tips to help your company’s marketing copy look professional:
Spell Check it.
Spell Check is a great starting point to help minimize spelling errors (and even some grammatical ones). So make it a point to add a quick Spell Check to all documents before doing anything else.
Read, re-read, and read it again.
Like we said above, Spell Check can be a great starting tool, but it is not the end all and be all of editing. If it were, Editors would no longer exist. Spell Check may catch the big mistakes, but wrong words can still be left in the copy (e.g., “He” instead of “The). And because Word is an American program that has still neglected to add the Canadian spelling choice to its program, you will end up with the American spelling of numerous words (e.g. Theater vs. Theatre). This is enough to drive any cold-blooded Canadian absolutely nuts.
So once you’ve done your Spell Check, be sure to read your copy over and over and over again (three times at least). Also, here’s a great tip – read it out loud. This really helps to not only point out spelling mistakes but also fix grammatical errors and improve the overall flow of the copy.
Pass it Along.
Once you’ve poured over the copy until your eyes have blurred over and you know you are no longer useful in your editing role, pass the copy along to someone else who is capable of making any spelling, grammar or content edits it may need. If you have more than one person who can fill this role, then pass it to them person as well – the more eyes the better.
Sometimes mistakes are inevitable.
Even Editors know that mistakes can still get through the editing process, so if you’ve taken all these steps and your copy goes out and there are still mistakes, don’t beat yourself up about it. Editing is a skill that is learned over time, and during your journey you will pinpoint your own editing strengths and weaknesses and be able to fine-tune your editing skills as you go.
3. Never, ever, ever forget to add contact information.
This one should be a given, but apparently it wasn’t to the players on Celebrity Apprentice – ALWAYS include the website, phone number and any other crucial contact information on your ads. The point of advertising is to get the attention of potential clients and to get them to use your product and/or service, so be sure to lead them to where they can do so.
Do you watch Celebrity Apprentice? If not, you really are missing out. Sure, the show is filled with a lot of hype and drama, but it is also full of great little golden nuggets of business and marketing information.
For example, in a recent episode where the competitors had to create a four-page ad spread for Trump’s luxury hotel chain (which both teams ultimately failed at, by the way), one team created an ad that the client referred to as looking like an ad for sleazy nightclubs you’d find on the dash of your car. The other team also had an epic fail in not including any contact information (or, “Call to Action”) on their ads.
While watching, it suddenly dawned on me that these mistakes that seemed obvious (to me anyways) were not immediately apparent to those who are involved in marketing. So, I’ve decided to include some quick pointers to help people avoid making the same mistakes in their marketing materials.
1. Hire a designer.
I can’t stress this point enough. Just because you know how to ad Clip Art to a Word document does not make you a designer. It takes years of education, (and more importantly experience) to get graphic and layout design down pat, and if you don’t have that expertise you run a high risk of making your marketing materials look cheap and cheesy. And the result of that? Your company looks cheap and cheesy.
In fact, even if you have some design experience, I recommend you still hire an outside source who is not so closely involved in the project – they can help provide an outsider’s perspective which will ultimately help convey your marketing message more effectively and efficiently.
2. Editing is crucial.
Not a great writer and/or speller? Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that. While hiring a Writer and/or Editor would be the best choice, we realize that’s not always a possibility. So if you’re going to DIY, here are some quick editing tips to help your company’s marketing copy look professional:
Spell Check it.
Spell Check is a great starting point to help minimize spelling errors (and even some grammatical ones). So make it a point to add a quick Spell Check to all documents before doing anything else.
Read, re-read, and read it again.
Like we said above, Spell Check can be a great starting tool, but it is not the end all and be all of editing. If it were, Editors would no longer exist. Spell Check may catch the big mistakes, but wrong words can still be left in the copy (e.g., “He” instead of “The). And because Word is an American program that has still neglected to add the Canadian spelling choice to its program, you will end up with the American spelling of numerous words (e.g. Theater vs. Theatre). This is enough to drive any cold-blooded Canadian absolutely nuts.
So once you’ve done your Spell Check, be sure to read your copy over and over and over again (three times at least). Also, here’s a great tip – read it out loud. This really helps to not only point out spelling mistakes but also fix grammatical errors and improve the overall flow of the copy.
Pass it Along.
Once you’ve poured over the copy until your eyes have blurred over and you know you are no longer useful in your editing role, pass the copy along to someone else who is capable of making any spelling, grammar or content edits it may need. If you have more than one person who can fill this role, then pass it to them person as well – the more eyes the better.
Sometimes mistakes are inevitable.
Even Editors know that mistakes can still get through the editing process, so if you’ve taken all these steps and your copy goes out and there are still mistakes, don’t beat yourself up about it. Editing is a skill that is learned over time, and during your journey you will pinpoint your own editing strengths and weaknesses and be able to fine-tune your editing skills as you go.
3. Never, ever, ever forget to add contact information.
This one should be a given, but apparently it wasn’t to the players on Celebrity Apprentice – ALWAYS include the website, phone number and any other crucial contact information on your ads. The point of advertising is to get the attention of potential clients and to get them to use your product and/or service, so be sure to lead them to where they can do so.
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