Promoting a business of this nature.

[ProEDesigner00]

Hi

I get plenty frustrated when doing cold calls promoting my business and you get inside the door and there is a "No Solicitation" sign on the door. Any one want to share their ideas about this. I know networking is huge However I am new to this area and then to trump it with a new start up business It seams to be stacked against a business at times.

Norb.

 

[TheTick]

Just what kind of business?

 

[buzzp]

Looks like you use ProE for design and are trying to drum up new business. I would suggest doing some mailings with an introduction letter and a couple of samples of your work. This way, you will not bother anyone and you will not waste your time or anyone elses time that is not interested. I would definately honor the no solicitation if this is their wish. You will only upset potential clients and in my opinion, is not real professional. Mailings would be more professional and perhaps, cheaper. You might want to call anonymously, if possible, and get the managers name for the department you are targeting to make it more personal. There is some online freelance websites but they do not have many projects but they do have some. Do a search in this forum for links (I posted them in here somewhere a while back). Good luck.

 

[PVH]

I hear ya. Starting up an engineering and design type business is a hack and I know because I have done it sporadically. My experience is that I would get work by shooting the breeze with managers of companies at trade shows, cold calls, emails and direct letters. I think that the the up front and personal trade show meetings and cold calls had the greatest sucess but at the expense of time and money. Letters worked slightly but my take with them is that you must send several hundred to targeted companies to get a response. Email seems tp work better than mail because it allows an interested party to develop a rapport with you quickly to see if you can be of use to their company. In the end, like they say of most ads, they won't notice it unless they're actively looking for what you got. To this end its a numbers game like fishing and you will need to market hard to start generating word of mouth PR on your business. So in alot of ways its like the old saying, Luck comes to the prepared. If your prepared to market a lot luck will eventually come your way. Be careful what you wish for though, my experience has also been that if a company calls for extra engineering help its because they are strapped for time and they will expect miracles from you.

Phil Van Herle, PE
Zzyzzx, LLC
Huntington Beach, CA
email: pvanherle@hotmail.com

 

[ProEDesigner00]

Greetings.

I appreciate the ideas presented here. I had forgotten that I had posted this question. I have went forward in that I am having some professional bifold mailers made up,about $.70 a piece. So with abit of time put into a cover letter, I will mail these out to targeted companies. I was out looking at different towns website in my area. I noticed the chamber of commerce area alot of these towns had and several had lists of members and then had links to these companies web site. then alot of times in the contacts page of these sites there is a name of a engineering manager to contact. I figure I have just over a dollar in the attempt to get an interest.

I have 3 associates that are owners of their own software and hardware and we have all worked together in the past at different contracted locations. We are kinda independent type of people. However we work well with one another and know each others strengths and weaknesses. So if either of us gets a project that is larger than what we can handle individually we share the work/wealth. We are marketing ourselves sometimes under our individual company names or since I have stepped up to have sometype of publication made they are beginning to use my material. We each are responsible for our own customers as that contact and then as said use each other as needed. a small percent of the gross goes into a general fund that helps pay for resources needed by all and then in the end of the year we have a good supper and divide the left overs as a bonus. It works well its just a matter of having the patients to get it started.

 

[BJC]

ProEDesigner00
Paper flyers are generally a waste of time. They go from the envelope to the wastebasket sometimes without being opened.
I would suggest a trinket of somekind accomping the flyer. You have to select the trinket so it is something that will not be throw away by most people. It has to have your name, address, phone number etc. on it. Look around your own desk at the junk you keep. Engineers and technical types are very suseptable to "Nerd Toys".
They will cost you more money to buy, but if the retention is higher. When someone needs your services they will be able to find you easily. You of course will need to be more selective about passing them out.

 

[ProEDesigner00]

BJC

I have been thinking of this. I look at what I keep and throw away. I have decided that the weight of the "package" makes a different. I have developed a scientific caluculator that I plan on in the very near term to load on a business card sized cd inserted in the mailing. This calcilator will also be available in a free form on my site. Once inside the mailing, the first point I present is an understanding of being equitable, understandable, and simple, second in the cover letter I quickly let the prospective client know I will not swamp him with unsolicited telephone calls. I present my numbers to him and ask him to reply by email in reciept of the mailing and to give an indication of interest for further communication. Since this is "new" to me I will keep track of responses.

I wish I could find a cd with a little magnet imbedded in the plastic so they could "hang" it on the file cabinate after loading the calculator. PRETTY DETRIMENTAL TO COMPUTER EQUIPMENT HEY LOL

Thanks for the reply.

 

[RDK]

I’ve looked into the business card CD’s. They can be almost as cost effective as a brochure to produce. (Around $US 1.25 each) You could replicate your business card on the face of the CD so they would have your contact information handy as well.

You can put about 50 Meg or so on one so that’s lots of room for an electronic resume, some sample programs and examples of your work. I would include a v-card with all my contact information for easy importation into Outlook.

I am in the process of developing an application for construction contract administration (from the consultant’s approach as opposed to the contractor oriented software that I can find.) I will most likely be distributing this in demo form on a business card CD.

A big factor in the business card CD’s is that they are still somewhat of a novelty. That should get people to if not keep them than at least run them once to see what they can do.



Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[BJC]

Business card CDs are about in the same catagorie as brochures. I have so many CDs that I hang them on fruit trees for scaring birds. I am thinking about making a thrower so I can use them for clay piegons.
People are more likely to keep a CD if it has something usefull on it. There is non copyrighted information you could put on one that would make people want to keep it. Say pipe dimensions, viscoity of fluids etc.

ProDesigner00, Be carefull with a magnetic CD. The first time it puts a paper clip in someones CD drive they aren't going to be happy. I think a better deal would be a CD holder that clips or sticks to a computer/ monitor/ cube wall etc and holds a few CDs. Better yet if you design have the patent on it. Once people read your brochue ( and throw it away) they will remember what you do. The nerd toy with your anme and phone number will assure thay can find you when they need you.

 

[ProEDesigner00]

BJC

The expresion "by George I think you've got it" comes to mind while rereading your note to me about the cd holder. My mother-in-law sent me a book for Christmas one year that is quite the story on fad millionaries. It is called How to create your own fad and make a million dollars. By Ken Hakuta. He is the guy who brought to America those wall walkers in the early '80's. you threw it against a window and it hung for a moment then rolled down the window shaped like an octopus.

I apreciate all the ideas and comments
Thanks

Norb.

 

[bvi]

If you mail business card CDs, purchase appropriate business card size plastic cases (they are available) to put them in when you mail them. Otherwise, they will be crushed or at least a fair percentage will be cracked (and mysteriously non-functional to your potential clients) by the post office machinery.

 

[JPatten]

RDK,
If you would like someone to test your construction contract administration software and help debug let me know. I've been in the construction business for 15 years now and have been with a large GC and currently providing consulting services for owners.

 

[RDK]

JPatten

The program is nowhere near ready to be released. I’m still at the outlining stage of the program.

I’m at least a year from being able to field test it. (In large part because I want to write it all myself so that i can support the final program.)

If you want to contact me off line, I’d be happy to discuss some of the features that I am planning.

Follow the link to my web site for my e-mail address.




Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[jherbert]

hi,
join every possible (low price/free) legal organisation you can, where your clients would likely be assembled, chamber of commerce, golf clubs, community groups, etc. etc. Sooner rather than later, you will get to know the various owners, and hence get the referrals.

 

[HaroldW]

Perhaps of some interest and help, perhaps not but maybe a thought provoking idea refer to this site :

http://www.sideroad.com/Marketing/generating_leads-grow_your_business.html

Cheers,
Harold