Marketing Your Consulting Services.pdf - epiheirimatikotita.gr

Each of these ideas will give you a great excuse to connect with someone you
haven’t been in touch with for a long time. Once you hear that person’s voice on
the other end of the line, you will wonder why it took you so long to call.
TIPS FOR SENDING A KEEPER
A “keeper” is a novelty item that you send your clients. You have done such a great
job of selecting it that your client wants to “keep” it. In our office we call these items
“geegaws” and they can range anywhere from animal-shaped paper clips and coffee
mugs filled with coffee beans to xylophones and ZIP code directories.
Getting Started
If you would like to send a keeper, these nine steps will get you started.
1. Decide the purpose of the novelty item. Will it be given away at a trade show
or sent as a thank you to your clients for Thanksgiving?
2. Decide who will receive the mailing. Will everyone on your mailing list receive
the item or will it be sent to a select number of people? For example,
you might want something special if a couple dozen of your clients wrote endorsements
for a book you recently published. How many items do you need?
3. Determine the budget for your mailing. How much will you invest in this
marketing tool? Divide that amount by the number of people and you will
have an approximate cost per item. Note: Remember that if you have the
items personalized (which I HIGHLY recommend), there will be an additional
personalization and set-up fee charged.
4. Select a novelty-item catalog and page through it looking for items in your
price range. Several companies that we have used were identified in Exhibit
5.3. They will be happy to send you their catalogs or you can check them out
on the web.
5. Once you have selected an item or two, brainstorm a few catchy messages that
you would like to deliver to your clients with the item. For example, perhaps
you have decided to send your clients a questionnaire, as suggested in Chapter
Three. You have selected a round tape measure as one of your items. Your
phrases might include things like, “We’re checking to see how we measure up,”
Tools of the Trade: What Works; What Doesn’t? 99