Are You Taking Advantage of Every Opportunity?

Do you take advantage of every opportunity to market your business? Are you prepared to talk about who you are and what you do no matter where you are and what you are doing?

If you are an entrepreneur you need to be. For a business owner, especially in today’s world, there is no such thing as turning it all off.

I have been at the grocery store shopping for milk and eggs and ended up trading business cards with the person in line with me. My partner has exchanged business cards with the guy handing him his coffee at the Starbucks Drive Thru window.

But I have also attended workshops and when talking to someone else that was attending this same event I asked them if they had a business card and they said “No I didn’t think to bring them since it is Saturday and I am not working today.”

That person missed an opportunity to market their business to me. Even though I had a pad of paper with me, I did not take the time to write down their information. I did not take the time to write down their web address so I could go look at what they had to offer later. But if I had been able to get a business card with that information I would have that information at my fingertips.

Also there is more to networking than just shoving a business card in someone’s hand. The first step is to actually talk to someone.

If you attend a live event do you go to the event, check in and go sit down in your seat and wait for the event to start?

This is what most people will do. They will check in and then go wait for the event to start. They will sit quietly in their seat and check their phone for new email. They will surf their Facebook using the app on their phone. Maybe they will talk to the person they came with quietly.

Today I was attending an event where everyone was just like this. Everyone quietly sat in their seat and waited for the event to start.

That is everyone accept one person.

One person in the room found their seat, put their stuff down to claim that seat and then walked over to the closest person and introduced herself.

She walked up shook hands and introduced herself. She then asked them about what they did and why they were at the event today.

She did this with EVERYONE in the room. At one point after she had met everyone that was currently in the room, she moved over by the door and greeted everyone new as they entered the room.

Now even in the face of this opportunity, no one else in the room took advantage of the opening she provided. They all talked to her. Everyone had what appeared to be a pleasant conversation with her. But as soon as she moved on to the next person they each went right back to sitting quietly waiting.

If you do not talk to the people around you how are you going to know who you are in the room with.

There is a thought process that says that every single person you need to know to make all of your dreams come true, no matter what they may be, is already connected to you in some way.

So if you have a goal in your business, there is a possibility that the person you need to meet to make that goal happen is sitting next to you in that conference you were sitting in this weekend. And if they are not the person, they may be friends with that person.

But you will never know because you didn’t say hello.

I hear people everyday in today’s world complain about the volume of work they have. They say they are not getting enough new customers or enough business. But they close their business at 5 each night and go home and relax and take weekends off and only have their business cards with them during office hours.

So my parting words to you are…

“If you want a different result you have to do something different…”

What are you doing today to market your business and change your future (and current) reality?

About The Author:
Cindy Clemens is a mom, author, speaker, marketing consultant and Co-Founder of Your Marketing University. Her goal is to teach marketing in a simple easy to understand format that businesses can use to help gain marketing ideas & market their businesses to boost sales.

Are you marketing in sequence? Are you following a strategy or focusing on tactics? Claim your copy of our free “Small Business Marketing Roadmap Report” by my partner Ely Delaney to find out.