Every Client Starts As A Prospect
“One secret of success in life is to be ready for opportunity when it comes”.
– Benjamin Disraeli, politician
In Issue #192
- Guest Essay: Every Client Starts As A Prospect by Ilise Benun
- Resource Referral: A Prospect Feeding Frenzy
- Quick Copy Tip: Make Meaningful Contact
Guest Essay: Every Client Starts As A Prospect
by Ilise Benun
It’s all about the list.
It may seem obvious, but when you introduce yourself to a new market, the most important tool at your disposal is a list of your prospects. Without that list, there’s very little you can do.
With that list, there is much you can do. You can make cold calls. You can send personalized sales letters and e-mail messages. You can do a mailing of your brochure or promotional package. Or, you can do all of the above. In other words, you can use that list for a marketing campaign.
There are many resources for a list of prospects, especially if you don’t need thousands of them. But the most effective list for most independent professionals is one you create yourself, based on the criteria you’ve chosen, such as the industry focus, size of the company, revenue or the number of employees. Although it requires a bit more work on your part, compiling and collecting names for your own list will make for a much more effective and profitable list.
You probably have access to lists that you may not be aware of, so look first to your own resources, which may include:
- Industry and trade group directories. Almost every trade group publishes a directory, either online or printed. As a member of a group, one of the benefits you get is access to (and inclusion in) the member directory. (Some groups make their directories available for a fee, so you don’t even have to join.) You may not realize it, but this is one of the most valuable resources and best reasons to join a group. Directories are invaluable because they pre-qualify your prospects and give you the name of someone to start with, which saves your valuable time. Calling a company and trying to find the person who hires or buys the services you’re offering is very time-consuming.
- Attendee lists to industry events. Often, a list of attendees will be published and distributed to attendees of an industry event or conference—it’s one of the perks of attending. This is another invaluable resource that you should do more than just glance at to see who’s in attendance. Make this list your bible. At the event, use it to find the people you want to talk to. Get familiar with the names. Mark it up. Write notes to yourself about who you met, as well as who you didn’t meet but can follow up with later. Then, when you get home, use that list. Make cold calls using the conference as your connection. If you didn’t meet them, your opening line when you call or e-mail could be, “We both attended the AMA meeting last night but we didn’t have a chance to meet, so I thought I’d call and see what I can find out a bit about what you do.” That connection usually makes them open to listening or reading further. (There is usually a caveat not to use the list for “mass marketing,” but you can use it to make contact with people.)
- Resource lists published in trade publications. Many trade publications offer (usually around year-end) annual lists of the top players in a particular industry, complete with contact information and details about the products and services offered by the company. This is not only a great source of prospects, but also a good overview of an industry that you may be considering getting into.
One last note…be wary of someone selling “prospect lists.” They sound good and are often very inexpensive, but they rarely deliver. More often, they are full of outdated information and cold leads. But if you do the work to develop your own list of warm prospects and apply your best marketing and networking efforts, you can transform them into hot clients in no time
It’s not too late to register for Ilise’s upcoming Creative Freelancer Conference, the first and only business conference for "creative solopreneurs," slated for August 27-29, 2008 in Chicago and presented by HOW Magazine and Marketing-Mentor.com. It will be a high energy networking melting pot of copywriters, graphic designers, photographers and anyone else committed to making the freelance life work. A panel of creative-business experts, led by Ilise Benun and Peleg Top, will share best practices for pricing, marketing, building client relationships, crafting proposals and contracts, maintaining a work/life balance and other skills critical to freelance success. Plus, there are still spots left for the Live Business Review, where you can get professional feedback on your portfolio or marketing materials.
Check it out: Creative Freelancer Conference, August 27-29, 2008, Hyatt Regency Chicago
Bring 2 friends and you each get $60 off!
Resource Referral: A Prospect Feeding Frenzy
The best place to find an entire hotel ballroom full of warm prospects – not to mention names, numbers, and even a crack at a paying assignment – is the AWAI bootcamp.
Not only will you learn the ins and outs of becoming a copywriter, you’ll make important connections and build real relationships – and along the way, you’ll start generating a healthy and productive list of prospects. If you tend them over time, they could become the backbone of your business.
For this reason – and about a hundred more – there’s simply no better, faster or more effective way to launch or build your business than showing up in Delray Beach, Florida, November 12-15, 2008. Find out more and register today (they’ve been selling out the last few years – so don’t delay!)
Quick Copy Tip: Make Meaningful Contact
So once you have a name and contact information – or better yet a warm lead and a handshake – then what?!
Make contact. Drop an email. Make an occasional phone call. Forward a relevant article on a topic your prospect would appreciate. When you work from home, you’ll rarely see your clients, and may never meet your prospect before you land an assignment. In place of power lunches and company picnics, you’ll need to create opportunities for meaningful and regular contact without becoming a demanding pest.
The email you’re tempted to send – you know, the one where you remind them you’ve written them three times and haven’t heard a word back – should never see the light of a prospect’s inbox. Instead, tease them out. Intrigue them. Get to know them. Develop a real relationship and you’ll see how quickly a potential prospect turns into a happy client.