Of All Shapes and Sizes

This past Friday I went to a major business symposium.  One portion of it featured a massive speed networking that guaranteed that each participant would meet at least 20 people.

This is where you not only hear everyone’s elevator pitch, but, obviously, get their business card.

The annoying part is there is always someone (plural) who hands you something bigger than a business card.  It might be a postcard, a brochure, or a flyer.  Or, gulp, it could be all three.  (Note to self – write a blog some time about the people who say, “I actually don’t have a business card.”)

I know, as an entertainer you’re going to tell me, “But what about my headshot?!”  Or, “What about my CD?!”  “How am I going to stand out if all you’re telling me to give them is my business card?!”

All the business cards get transported back to the office in a nice orderly pile.  Some people might put a binder clip on them to hold them together along with maybe a note indicating the event where they all came from.  A rubber band also does the trick so that they’re tidy and in one place.  But that darn postcard, that brochure, and/or that flyer just messes everything up.  And so the recipient gets annoyed.  And then your not-a-business-card item gets tossed.  Yes, as in, tossed into the garbage (or recycling).

The proverbial separation of the men from the boys happens in the follow-up.

Most people, sadly, let those business cards pile up without doing the follow-up.  It makes me wonder why they went in the first place.  They wasted the first opportunity and now are passing on a second opportunity.

That follow-up email that helps your business card stand out (“Oh, let me pull this person’s business card out”) is enhanced by something you noted about this potential new client.  Wait, you did make a note about this person you’re now following up with, didn’t you?  (“I was impressed by the momentum your venue is showing, relative to the 40% increase you referenced during speed networking.”)

Don’t make that person remember you by saying, “I was the one who passed around a 5x7 flyer for a special event taking place a week from this Saturday.”  They will read it, grimace, maybe remember tossing it, and move on.

Instead, make your follow-up count by recognizing it as the start of a relationship.  You’re not writing to them to ask for a sale then and there.  Trust me, if you go into it with the mindset that you’re at the beginning of doing business over time with this person, you’ll get an opportunity to give them your CD or headshot or whatever other clever promotional item you have.

I know those things cost money and you’re proud of them.  Just make sure you get your ROI by getting them to the right people at the right time.  Don’t litter a hotel ballroom with them thinking that everyone’s going to want to read it.