Hi all. I just wanted to say that I decided to spend the bulk of my day marketing my business to try and bring in more clients. I searched the Yellow Pages for local businesses and since I worked for more than 8 years in real estate, I tackled local agencies first by making a list of their contact details and browsing their website. Then I have called them on the phone to offer my services. I am really chuffed with the results of just a couple of hours as I have appointments booked in for next week with a few potential clients.

After explaining my services, I asked for their name again and email address where I can forward details of my website and an electronic version of my flyer.

I thought I'd share because I have just found it to be a great way to contact new people and even if they don't require my services for the moment, at least they have my details to pass on. I don't like to just email people as many (like me) tend to delete emails they do not recognize so by talking to them first, I will have hopefully avoided that problem.

Who else has tried marketing this way and with what results?

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Sabrina L. Williams
Giving You a Bird's Eye View of Your Business

Sabrina - First....LOL....you need to tell me what "chuffed" means. I take it that is something really good?

2nd - I have never had good results with cold-calling. You need to mentor me! One of the main issues I've had is getting past the gate-keeper. What's your secret?

BTW...congrats! That is sooo exciting. Great job!

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Pam Blackman - On My Wings International
Integrated Virtual Business Management Solutions | Mentoring | Coaching

Pam, I literally laughed out loud at your comment. I forget that you use different expressions than in the UK! Chuffed means to be pleased with the result or proud of yourself.

I found that just asking for the owner/ manager first off worked as some of them were available to speak to directly but if not, I explained to the secretary the reason for my call and asked for the manager's name and email address or a good time to call back.

Every single person I spoke to was interested in receiving my flyer and a few even booked appointments for next week so, yeah, it's really exciting. We'll see if I get any new clients after this. I would definitely give it another go.

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Sabrina L. Williams
Giving You a Bird's Eye View of Your Business

Good for you Sabrina. I too was wondering what chuffed meant until I read the rest of the sentence.

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Lee Drozak
My Office Assistant

Sabrina, thanks for sharing. It's great to hear about effective ways to market your business. FYI, I still use the word "chuffed" a lot and get raised eyebrows from most people over here in the States. Some words just stick though and that's one that I plan to keep in my vocabulary

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Linda
Clockwise Virtual Assistance

Hi Sabrina,

I do love the word 'chuffed' and figured it was something good given the context of the sentence in which it was used. My grandmother was from the UK and I recall use of that word. Love to learn new ones!

Congratulations on the cold calling appointments and leads. You have a gift that many clients often seek in VAs.

Please post back and let us know how those appointments go for you.

Janine

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WRITE FAB RFP PROPOSALS & land THE VA job. WinningRFP unveils soon! SignUp www.WinningRFP.com

@Sabrina - I now have a new word to use. I love it! I always use the word "jenky" and usually people don't know what that means...which is the opposite of chuffed.

I'm also anxious to hear how the appointments go. I'll be watching for your great testimonials!

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Pam Blackman - On My Wings International
Integrated Virtual Business Management Solutions | Mentoring | Coaching

Congratulations on your success Sabrina. I have always been apprehensive about this form of marketing. But it seems like you have a pleasant/upbeat personality which I'm sure comes through in your delivery. After reading your post, I may have to muster up the courage to give it a try! Thanks!

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Stacy White, Spectrum Office Solutions
www.ask4sos.com

Hi Everyone,

I think that cold calling is great, but if you have access to the Scott's Directory (used here in Canada for searching business contact details) via your local library like I do, you can send out mass e-mails. The only downfall is that you have to copy and paste each e-mail address into a database or spreadsheet, but is quite quick.

Thanks,

Richard Rinyai
www.virtualofficeguy.com

@Richard - I'll have to check that one out! Sounds like a great resource.

When using these avenues just have to be very careful that one understands the anti-spam regulations and doesn't violate them.

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Pam Blackman - On My Wings International
Integrated Virtual Business Management Solutions | Mentoring | Coaching