#R2 ?
Merlin,
"isolation"….Hmmmm…I always thought I bought that ol' line about "The
Passing of Remoteness" with the coming of the computer age and our good ol'
information highway….then again, I've learned
[ The Hard Way ] that you can't always rely on what you've been told
or promised whether it's face to face or on CIS. Generally I've
pretty much given up on trying to "Sell" Electronically….It just
doesn't work very well. Oh..There's a _lot_ of great people on this
forum but I think that's an exception as I have tried traveling to
other forums and the "Flake" factor has increased expotentially. <g>
This forum seems to have more professional people..but then your
preaching to the choir so what's the point? We need to get the word
out locally and regionally for the least amount of money. Since most
of us are small or startup businesses. I'm certainly open to ideas as
my last two months have been shit. The last quarter was unbeleivably
Great though so I shouldn't really complain it's just that I started
to beleive that kind of money was going to keep coming in….BIG
MISTAKE! I've been running 4" x 5" ad's in the regional Business to
Business Magazine called "MarketPlace Magazine"…It's costing me
$187. per month and since January I've gotten 3 calls as a
result..two from Architectural Students looking for work! I've got a
14 month contract but unless I find some different ad copy that grabs
em' they won't get me on that one again either. I've been somewhat
successful by trying to network with other non-related type of
dealerships sales departments and trading leads.
Of course I got bit big-time once on that but overall mostly there pretty
straight folks. Schools are worthless!
and while students do usually get hired someplace…by the time they could
return any favors you'd be out of business waiting.
What works best has been the old fashion cold calling and qualifying
with follow up letters and visits but just like you I really hate
sales…It doesn't show though because I've been relying on my sales
ability for many years despite the fact I hate to do sales grunt
work. As I get closer to my 50's I feel this type of work is better
suited to the younger men and women that like to go
golfing…sports…schmoosing type of stuff, I've lost my patience
for that kind of thing. Don't get me wrong…I love people…It's
just that I can't be phoney….If I don't really care about the "Big
Game" I'm not gonna get all excited about sitting in some smoky
sports bar for lunch watching the pre-game B.S. " I also don't smoke
or drink…so that kind of intimidates people who do…sometimes. I
did all my Smoking and Drinking on the back of a Harley in the 60's
and 70's. Ya' Know..Been There….Done That!…NEXT! HEY! I got an
Idea MR. Wizard!….Let's do an UnderGround Biker Video and either
sell it to Easy Rider or Advertise in the Rag's and market the beast
independently….Any Thoughts? Murph' Formerly (MAX of FatBob Land).