Marketing Your Consulting Services.pdf - epiheirimatikotita.gr

128
relations letter to a newspaper, display at a tradeshow, publish an online newsletter,
or advertise in your industry journal, there is a cost. As stated in the section
above, you will need to determine the return on investment. You will need to compare
the cost and the results to determine whether you will continue to use a marketing
tool you have selected.
Of course, resources mean more than just your cash outlay. Resources include
the cost, the time required, and the person who will actually complete the task. If
one of your marketing goals is to target a specific industry, you could do several
different things. You could purchase booth space at the industry trade show, purchase
an ad in the industry’s directory, submit an article to their journal, or take
someone to lunch to identify ways to introduce your services to specific organizations
within the industry.
The first two cost more money than the last two. The booth and the article will
both take several days of your time. The booth and the lunch provide more personal
contact. Submitting an article and purchasing an ad are indirect, but you
could follow each with a copy and a personalized letter. The ad will probably require
you to hire an expert to assist you. You may decide to do all, some, or none
of these ideas.
In the last step we suggested that you use about 10 percent of your sales to expend
on marketing. Use that information as a starting point. You will also need to
determine how much the marketing activities you have developed will cost.
Obtain prices for the various marketing tools you expect to use. This may require
that you speak to some of the specific vendors of these services. For example,
if you decide to advertise in directories or journals, you will want to call them
directly. You can usually find their phone numbers in the publication. Realize that
you will be speaking to sales folks (account reps) and they will push to get your
name and contact information. Ask them to send you their advertising package
with spec sheets. In addition, you can expect them to follow up with you. Instead
of thinking of these follow-up contacts as a nuisance, listen carefully and learn
something from their sales techniques.
As you make plans, take care that you do not commit yourself to one medium
too soon. Most print media (newspapers, yellow pages, magazines), for example,
will sign you up for a series of ads. You might commit to a year of advertising in
the yellow pages at $250 per month, only to find out that the ad does not garner
Marketing Your Consulting Services