Marketing Action Club BLOG

With the holiday season upon us, you might be thinking it’s time to pull back on your marketing and wait to get a fresh start in the New Year.

Don’t Do It!

Take advantage of all the small business marketing opportunities the season has to offer. The greatest of those marketing opportunities is holiday networking. If you’re like most, you’ll see more people in the next two or three weeks than you do all year.

Be prepared to take advantage of holiday networking.

The holidays are a great time to network. Gatherings are abundant and all of them represent potential opportunities to make great connections.

Here are just a few thoughts and ideas to keep in mind for the holiday networking season.

• Don’t waste the opportunity when you meet someone new. Don’t hesitate because you think it’s a holiday party and people aren’t there to do business. The most asked question you’ll get is still likely to be, “What do you do?” Be prepared with your attention getting message – your 10-second WOW! You just never know who you might be meeting.
• Always remember all of your networking etiquette. Practice your networking skills and know-how. Go prepared to ask good questions, listen actively, share valuable information, and know what kinds of connections could be useful to you and your business.
• You don’t have to be all business all the time. Go ahead and ask people if they have any favorite holiday traditions or what they think the best movie or book was this past year. It’s ok to ask people how their business is going as long as you’re willing to talk about other things if they don’t want to go there.
• Be a connector of people. Holiday gatherings are often a time when multiple groups of people end up in the same place at the same time. Introduce clients to each other. Introduce referral sources to each other. Introduce family and friend to these groups of people as well. The connections you help make will be appreciated and remembered.
• Think through your follow-up and stay in-touch plan. It would be a shame to make a great connection and then not see that person again until you both attend the same party or open house next year. Be prepared to share resources of value that help you turn initial attention into building up of interest, credibility and trust.

Enjoy the holidays! And, be productive in your marketing and networking efforts.

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