Recipe: Meeting People in Person

Getting out of your office to meet people in person can be a welcome break from calling and mailing. (There’s lots more information about this under the “Networking and Referral Building” strategy below.) Keep in mind, though, that you don’t have to go to an official networking event to meet people. You meet new people all the time—at the grocery store, dentist’s office, or your child’s soccer game. Do all these people know what you do for a living?

Get in the habit of carrying your business cards everywhere. Whenever you meet new people, use your 10-second introduction, and ask them a bit about themselves. Once you’ve had some conversation, offer a business card, and ask for theirs if they have one. You may feel awkward about this at first, but if you keep it up, it will soon become natural. If your service is primarily marketed to consumers rather than businesses—wedding planning, chiropractic, or home organizing, for example, this informal way of meeting new prospects can be quite fruitful.

And don’t rule out this tactic if you market to businesses and organizations. All organizations are run by human beings, after all. That guy on the jogging path may turn out to be the marketing director of your city’s fastestgrowing firm, and the woman ahead of you in the espresso line might be the chief financial officer of a Fortune 500 corporation.