Need Ideas - 10 new contacts a day

Originally Posted by WayneR Hi folks, I need some networking ideas on how to/where to find "x" number of contacts daily.

My philosophy is, the more you give to your community, the more your community will give back to you. With this in mind, here are 2 ideas, Wayne.

The first idea is to hold weekly seminars for homeonwners. You can invite business men in the community to speak about their area of expertise that is interesting to homeowners. For example. a plumber may speak about the importance of preventitive maintenance for plumbing and aplliances that are hooked to it. The local home security expert might speak to options in home security and the particular security needs of your community. You could hold a series with an advertised agenda that would help to insure a larger audience for your seminars.

The second idea involves your website. You mention having a website but did not say how it is used. If you are simply listing homes for sale on it, it will only be interesting to people who are looking to buy a new home. Remember, the number of people who have websites is substantially larger than the number of people who are using them effectively. I like the idea of providing new content regularly that gives people a reason to come back often. You can do many creative things onthe internet. The seminar concept is also adaptable to the web. You can post the transcript of the seminars on your website for those who couldn't attend to read. Another idea is to give people in your community an opportunity to discuss issues that affect them on your website, sort of like this forum. The point here is that simply HAVING a website doesn't necessarily mean it will contibute to your overall objective.

Originally Posted by Incidentally Waynes 10 new contacts approach is wrong, so he should scrap it: You see sales is a fast, moving numbers business, and in some respects you own a quarry or goldmine [yourself] and have to move, and crush 25 ton of ore just to find one nugget. . .

I am going to respectfully refute this notion, Incidentally. Wayne was clear that he was looking for contacts, not necessarily leads. He doesn't say what his objective is but I can think of several.

In your description of the reason to scrap the idea, you point put that you have to crush 25 tons of ore to find one nuggett. Maybe if you tried gardening instead of mining, your sales would not be as difficult to come by. With a little cultivation of the market, rather than trying to cherry pick the lowhanging branches, you might find that your garden will produce more fruit than your mine will produce nuggetts.

As I mentioned to Wayne ina an earlier post, I believe that the more you put in to your community, the more your community will give back to you. I honestly believe that if we concentrate on making a contribution to our communities rather than focusing on making sales, the sales will take care of themselves. As a consumer (as well as a salesman), I would much prefer to give my business to someone whom I believe to be contributing to my community than to a marketer who is just out to make a buck.

Originally Posted by rlabston I am going to respectfully refute this notion, Incidentally. Wayne was clear that he was looking for contacts, not necessarily leads. He doesn't say what his objective is but I can think of several. In your description of the reason to scrap the idea, you point put that you have to crush 25 tons of ore to find one nuggett. Maybe if you tried gardening instead of mining, your sales would not be as difficult to come by. With a little cultivation of the market, rather than trying to cherry pick the lowhanging branches, you might find that your garden will produce more fruit than your mine will produce nuggetts. As I mentioned to Wayne ina an earlier post, I believe that the more you put in to your community, the more your community will give back to you. I honestly believe that if we concentrate on making a contribution to our communities rather than focusing on making sales, the sales will take care of themselves. As a consumer (as well as a salesman), I would much prefer to give my business to someone whom I believe to be contributing to my community than to a marketer who is just out to make a buck.

Wayne, have you thought about forming relationships with experts that serve homeowners?

Once you have a good relationship in place, you could leverage THEIR network of contacts through some joint ventures.

-Terri