Persistence of Time...

The best advice I got starting a business was this: spend at least one third of your day networking and marketing yourself. For an 8 hour day, that's about 2.5 hours. Of course, anyone starting a business knows that 8 hours days are more like 12. That being said, its really only 12.5 hours a week. Can we all say we do that? It's hard to stay on top of but I did it for the first year in businesses and now, three years later, thankfully when I network it's more about just saying hi than having to sell myself. If you put in the initial effort for a while, it pays off down the road when you start seeing new business, as current customers start selling you to new customers.

Over time, you can begin to contact people once a month or so to just check in and let them know what you are up to. Success breeds successs and while you may not be doing work for a particular target, it's a magical thing – when they hear that someone else is trusting you with their business, suddenly they are given permission to trust you with theirs. The initial time you put in when first starting out opens the door to come back to people you are targeting to let them know what you're doing for others  – perhaps even their competitiors. It's just like baseball. Think about it, if they are in business, they are competitive in nature. If you are hitting home runs for someone else, then perhaps it would be in their best interest to pay you more to swing their bat.

But it all starts with the time at the beginning. You basically have to put it on your calendar every day: Make calls to... Email so and so... Instant message, Facebook, twitter, etc... this leads me to what I do at e-footprints.com. My company helps companies reach out through the web to get a higher return on the money they are investing in thier websites. It's called pull marketing strategies. It's another effort you can make in that 2.5 hour window when just starting out.

Part of the networking trick is to not pester people. So what I found to work was a simple check in email of jut saying Hi. People aren't stupid, they know why you're contacting them, especially if it's the second or thrid time. So, don't keep repeating your sales pitch and rewriting your resume to what you think they want to hear. Just be friendly. Say hello with a slight nod to an interest in working with them. (Side note: Always say work with not for. Suggesting collaboration is far better then saying 'pay me.') Another thing you can try is a monthy update. A standard templated email that you send out once a month that you cantweak each time with news, updates, revisions to your comany, etc. At the end of the da, all you're trying to do is develop top of mind awareness. Keep in touch. It's that simple.

So, good luck with your business and remember, putting in the time now means less effort for more return later.