Warm receptions from cold calls
Welcome to Week 25 of my adventure of following the Start Up Version of the Grow Your Business Marketing Plan + Calendar. In my posts, I talk about my voyage down the road of self-employment as a virtual marketing assistant, my achievements and roadblocks along the way, and I include a weekly recap at the end.
Of the 4 calls I made today, I spoke to 3 people in person. Yes, they were cold calls, but I got some very warm receptions.
First of all, this cold calling thing is definitely not as bad as I thought. (Anyone agree?) The less I sound like a robot, and the more I let my personality come through, the better it seems to go.
It’s getting easier. And I hung up from each call with a giant, proud of myself smile on my face. All three web designers I spoke to today were incredibly friendly. Here's a recap of the calls:
Call 1. I had a fantastic conversation. She usually works with one copywriter but sometimes gets busy, and if my rates and samples are good she’d be happy to get me involved. We got into our backgrounds, our feelings on self-employment, and had a few laughs as well. She thanked me, genuinely, for calling her!
Call 2. I had another fantastic conversation. This guy was ready for me! He asked all sorts of questions about my background, almost as if he had a qualifying sheet in front of him. I happily answered his questions and he said he’d be glad to look at some examples of my work and get me into the rotation.
Call 3. I had yet another fantastic conversation! Only this one I won’t be sending my samples to. He said he already has a network of copywriters from an organization he belongs to: njcreatives.org. He told me it’s a great organization, there’s a meeting coming up, and I should consider attending. So I looked on their website, and guess, JUST GUESS which event he’s talking about? The one on June 30th in Wayne, NJ where our very own Ilise Benun will be speaking! SMALL WORLD!
Week 25 Recap: I’m making cold calls, and it’s getting easier. I’m actually enjoying it. I’m networking on Biznik (connect with me?) and continuing to research new prospects. How are you doing? Anyone have cold calling, networking, or marketing success stories to share?
It's so great to hear this about the dreaded cold calls! It sounds like you've gotten comfortable enough to be real, so these phone calls are more like "chatting with your peers" than "cold-calling prospects". You're inspiring me to aim for this myself.
Posted by: Virginia | June 25, 2009 at 08:38 AM
Deidre - I'm writing about my own adventures in networking/marketing on my blog and am finding that following your posts are helping me along as well. It's funny but as a typical introverted writer, I never wanted to have my photo published with my work, but I have to say having my photo published alongside my weekly business column in our community newspaper has opened so many doors! It's turned out to be a tremendous marketing tool with little effort and it's given me the confidence to get out there and actually network with folks one on one. Keep up the great posts! I really enjoy reading them.
Posted by: Alysia | June 25, 2009 at 12:57 PM
I second both of the above comments. Your posts are always a joy to read, honest and affirmative about marketing and life generally. They always give me the courage to keep going. All the very best to you!
Posted by: TurtleBlueBird | June 25, 2009 at 02:41 PM
Virginia, Alysia, & TurtleBlueBird, thank you so much for the kind words. To think that I could "help" someone, "inspire" someone, or give them "courage" ABSOLUTELY blows my mind. The support means to much!
And Alysia, I just took a quick look at your blog and it looks great! So glad you let us know about it! Can't wait to read more...
Posted by: Deidre | June 26, 2009 at 11:52 AM
Congrats, Deidre! And Alysia, I have been dragging my feet on getting my own photo up on my site, so thanks for the nudge.
Posted by: Merry Perry | July 07, 2009 at 03:55 PM