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<\/a>you work the room and you `press the flesh.’ That’s the way it’s done.”<\/p>\nI took this as very bad news.<\/strong> First of all, it scared the hell out of me. On my own personal scale of, “terrifying experiences to avoid,” I rank “working a room” somewhere between having more children and being trapped in an elevator with Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Secondly, I’m just not that good at connecting cold with people I don’t know. I barely know how to press my own flesh, let alone that of a complete stranger.<\/p>\n So when I confessed to Jack that my marketing approach was instead to, “attract clients to me by sitting in my office and cranking out useful, interesting, targeted E-Newsletters in my area of expertise,” he looked at me as if I had just revealed plans to perform my own dental work.<\/p>\n Now several years later, I’ve learned a few things.<\/strong><\/p>\n First, Jack’s recommendation is not unique.<\/strong> In fact, it’s part of the standard lore of professional service marketing: If you want clients you need to be out there networking at meetings.<\/p>\n Second, Jack’s recommendation is just plain wrong.<\/strong> Wandering around local business events in the hope of meeting future clients is about the least efficient use of your marketing time and money that I can imagine. It’s the sole practitioner equivalent of sending out hundreds of resumes in the hope of finding a job. It may feel like something’s happening, but the hit rate is exceedingly low.<\/p>\n Instead, I recommend (big surprise) an E-Newsletter.<\/strong> Here are three reasons why:<\/p>\n 1. An E-Newsletter is more targeted.<\/strong> Even if there were a potential client at the meeting, the odds of the two of you hooking up are small. You first have to wade through lots and lots of people who aren’t a potential match, many of whom often turn out to be other small businesspeople trying to get you<\/em> to buy their<\/em> services (a situation which my friend Betsy likes to describe as, “all ants and no picnic”).<\/p>\n Your E-Newsletter by contrast, includes only those who have a self selected interest in your topic, and the likelihood of one of these people hiring you is much higher than with a randomly chosen member of the business community.<\/p>\n 2. An E-Newsletter is more efficient.<\/strong> The problem with face-to-face networking is that it requires the presence of your face; you can only physically get in front of so many people. An E-Newsletter on the other hand can be shared and forwarded by an unlimited number of people, and as a result (pay attention, this is important)it does its job without your even being there.<\/em><\/strong> Most of my new clients are people I’ve never even heard of, who contact me after getting a hold of my newsletter and reading it over a period of time.<\/p>\n 3. An E-Newsletter is more<\/strong>. A quality E-Newsletter is much more than just a proxy for the exchange of business cards at a meeting. It positions you as a thought leader; it serves as content you can submit and have published elsewhere; it’s acts as a tool that others can use to accurately describe what you do. It’s archivable; it’s searchable; it’s scaleable; it’s trackable and it’s interactive. You get the idea.<\/p>\n Bottom Line:<\/strong> I’m 100% behind the idea of building a network and systematically staying in touch with as many people in that network as possible. I’m also in favor of attending business meetings \u2014 as a means of staying educated, keeping in touch or simply putting on some nice clothes once in a while and getting out of the office.<\/p>\n But in terms of building a client base, I think it’s time we put this piece of conventional wisdom out of its misery.<\/strong> Until then, I’ll be hiding in my office \u2014 avoiding The Donald and awaiting your call.<\/p>\n – Michael<\/em><\/p>\n