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Posted by adam.dada on June 7th, 2006
I tried something a little over a month ago just as a test — I had about 500% more business cards printed than I usually do. I like to carry 10 cards with me at all times (3 for my websites, and 7 for my main business). I usually give business cards out to people who are interested in my work (they’ll ask for my information). In the past 6 weeks I’ve handed out over 700 cards to family, friends and people I just randomly meet while out and about. Even when people didn’t ask me for information or even what I do for a living, I ended the conversation with a card and a one sentence rundown: “I own this business, if you need my services or know anyone who does, please consider giving me a call or passing on my name.” Most people I know already know my business, but not all my friends and family have been good referrals for work. Some probably never even mention me when problems for other arise.
In the 6 weeks that I’ve passed out, on average, 20 cards a day, the response was greater than I had expected: I received 12 phone calls and 19 e-mails from people I never met and had no connection to. They all received my card from people I mostly didn’t know: “My friend Gus gave me your card the other day when I told him I was having a problem. He thought you could help me.” I have no idea who Gus is, unfortunately, but I thank him nonetheless. Out of the 31 responses I received, I’m sure to gain at least 3 customers. If I’m lucky, responsible and productive on bringing in more customers, I might double that number. This is free business for me, I spent only a nickel or so on the advertisement, and used word of mouth as the force behind the marketing.
I keep hearing from other friends of mine on how slow business is right now. Many of them are doing nothing to change that, they’re waiting for yellow pages listing to be found, or waiting for old customer to remember their numbers. I never look at a past customer as a future customer unless I take a step to help them refind me. Even my monthly contracts are not set in stone: when they expire, I have to propose to them to bring me back. This is how life is — humans are focused on themselves, and it is very easy to forget others. We even tend to forget our own families that live with us.
I was relatively shocked that every response (but 2) came from people I don’t even know. One person I met while leaving my favorite tobacco shop gave my card to another person who gave it to the person who called me! That’s networking, even though not a single person in the chain actually knew if I was any good or if I knew what I was doing. My card worked hard for me, and so did people down the line.
The cards that failed the most were cards I gave to business clients — they already get so many cards from suppliers and customers that they tend to end up in a cardfile and become forgotten. They weren’t good marketing tools, yet. The cards I’ve given to friends and family have always brought me in a few customers over the years, but I don’t have high expectations. Once someone is familiar with you, their tendency to talk about you actually goes down. The best time to get word-of-mouth referrals is usually right after someone meets you, hires you, or has you do something “miraculous” for them. The rest of the time you’re put on the backburner of the stove that’s being tossed at the side of the road. Expect this to happen, and continue to work to get your name and card out.
Even my website cards have brought an increase of traffic, some of which have returned more than once. While I can’t verify that this is necessary the case, it is easy to see when someone finds my sites without a search engine (no referrer) and they’re local. I have to assume someone either told them about me verbally, or they gave them my card. It’s a win either way.
Don’t ignore those who you don’t know, they can be your best assets. They haven’t known you long enough to know your negative side, and they may run into someone who needs your services soon after you first met them. Ignoring these potential advocates of your business is a very unwise thing to do — whether you run a real brick and mortar business, a consulting company or a website.
Discus this article at the Be The Boss forum.