The most important thing you want is for people to know the name of your company and how to contact you if they are interested in your products or services – or in the case of a start-up, investing in your company.
The next thing you want is for people to know what your company does, how long it has been doing it, and whether it does a good job. This takes education. Education is not an overblown exclamation. It is a subtle process that ends with an implied image. Therefore, if you want people to want to do business with you, what image will appeal to them? Is it an image of a wild-eyed sales warrior waiting to lock them into a deal, any deal at all that costs a lot of money? Or is the appealing image one of quiet quality, trustworthiness, expert knowledge, and the likelihood that the company will be around next year?
Recently, a lot of people have been marketing their goods and services because the economy appears to be rebounding and they want customers to do business with them first. Most of these marketing campaigns are hard-sell in-your-face that tell me the person or company behind the push is really desperate. Do business with me NOW before I go out of business! This is very bad business strategy. It drives people away rather than attracts them.
Start-ups need to educate first, too.
The same is true with trying to get your start-up funded. Don't hit people over the head with how great your company is and how much you will pay them to bring you money. Go out and get a bunch of bankers, attorneys, doctors, dentists, and anyone who is a golf fanatic and put them on your Advisory Board. Hold meetings at Starbucks and teach them about your company - get them excited about your company. Then let THEM tell their friends about it. Let them tell their friends how thrilling this new start-up opportunity is and how they had to get involved because it is so wonderful. What have you done? You have educated an important group of well-connected people in the value presented by your company as a start-up, and your likelihood of funding has grown exponentially.
Remember: Exponential growth is not based on the number of e-mail or print ads you send out or the circulation of the publication containing your ad, it is based on the willingness of people to contact you or to pass your information on to someone they know will be interested.
Educate first - then sell...
Victoria Duff is a business strategist and management consultant with over 20 years experience in top-tier Wall St. Investment Banking. She sits on the Boards of numerous companies and is a well-known writer on the subjects of Internet business strategy, traditional business strategy and management. She educates through several online discussion lists she runs, and sells through her businesses: www.aBusinessPlan.com and www.BoldVenturesGroup.com.