If you are working through a high street firm (or firms), it may be that work will come to you as that firm will hopefully have a recognised presence and be known locally.
If you are working
through a virtual firm, as they will often not have a presence on the high
street where you intend to practice it will often be down to you to find your
own work, for example through networking, a website or other channels.
Networking Meetings
There is a multitude
of networking organisations out there to make contacts with a view to finding
work. For the uninitiated, these can seem daunting at first, but after a while
you will get used to standing up in front of complete strangers, honing your
sales pitch and trying to convince them why you should be their first port of
call if they or someone they know wants a will drafted, employment law advice or terms
of business.
Although there are
one-off events that can be useful to go to, I consider it is mostly best to
focus on one or two networking groups and to concentrate on building long-term
relationships with members of those groups. If this is all new to you, try out
a few and then settle on the ones that you like as you'll be more likely to go, and which you consider will
provide a good source of connections for you.
A useful by product
of networking groups is that they can provide moral support and advice as well
as being a useful source of professions and trades for your business and
personal use, e.g. a marketing consultant, web designer, virtual assistant, to
answer your calls or do your typing, stationery provider or a plumber.
Website, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+,Twitter ….
If you don’t consider
any/all of the above then you are missing out on potentially valuable sources
of business. The way that people look for and buy professional services is
changing and the above give you the opportunity to say more about yourself,
what you do and how you do it.
As with all
marketing, you need to give it some thought. If your website looks like it was
thrown together as an afterthought with an iffy photograph, chances are that
you will get little or no business through it.
I have noticed that a
number of clients have checked out my LinkedIn profile before calling me, which
again shows how powerful it can be. They may have instructed me anyway even if
I wasn’t on LinkedIn but who knows ?
Put some thought into the LinkedIn profile and don’t use the photo of you with a bottle of wine to your lips taken when you were on holiday in the Med – really, I have seen this !
Don't Use Just One Source
If I was to draw a wagon wheel of where I get business from, although some sources are more useful than others, there is no one source that gives me enough business, so I think it's important to try various methods. Also, what happens if you have a good source and it dries up.
Coming up next ...
In my next post I'll talk about coping financially - now, where's that glass of (virtual) Rioja ...
Put some thought into the LinkedIn profile and don’t use the photo of you with a bottle of wine to your lips taken when you were on holiday in the Med – really, I have seen this !
Don't Use Just One Source
If I was to draw a wagon wheel of where I get business from, although some sources are more useful than others, there is no one source that gives me enough business, so I think it's important to try various methods. Also, what happens if you have a good source and it dries up.
Coming up next ...
In my next post I'll talk about coping financially - now, where's that glass of (virtual) Rioja ...
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