The Business Generator An introduction, by Paul Johnstone

I was talking to a group of people at Newmarket Racecourse this weekend, we were all that for the first classic of the season the 2,000 guineas. The race was won by Sea The Stars an outsider who came home at odds of 1-8.

After the race we chatted about sport and the vagaries of it which is why we watch, for its uncertainty. At that point a chap I did not know made a telling point. “Why can’t people in business get a result like that, an outsider winning a contract or just getting to the final presentation, let alone presenting without competition.”

This was a point well made and got me thinking about how we can achieve this.

Generating business or How To Achieve A Bigger Business Footprint has always been my aim. I figured that networking was by far the best way to do this. You could employ more sales people to get out and kick down doors so the business community know who you are.

Or you could spend money on an advertising campaign. We all know that there are some great deals right now, mews media are bending over backwards to attract advertisers. The last figures I saw showed a 55% reduction in advertising in news print.

Or we could hire a smart Marketing guru or business consultant to generate interest in your business. Alternatively you can network and utilise the opportunities to get your name into the wider business community to build a Bigger Business Footprint.

Lets look at the cost implications for the 4 strategies. Sales force, well by far the most expensive. Even if you go down the commission only route the time involved in managing sales people effectively can take chunks out of your day. If you employ directly that is a gamble on investment V return and often short term it is expensive.

This is a recession and the supply of money is tight so taking on additional staff is a danger. Advertising is always money up front even with the deals its still a fairly large investment. Now if you could guarantee the response then it would be a good deal. Unfortunately you cannot guarantee anything in the world of advertising. Networking on the other hand is a known quantity and a pretty well known expense.

A friendly word of Caution: Given the range and variety of networking events chose the type that is right for you.

Much more on The Business Generator in following blogs covering topics like,

How much will it cost.
Which sort of networking is right for me,
Word of mouth Marketing,
Being natural,
Making the right sort of connections,
The Hub,
Attraction Magnets
Giving is getting,
Follow through,
Putting the work into network
And lots more

Paul
 
And remember to put the work into network