Dating sites have been around for almost as long as the Internet itself. A newer phenomenon is business networking, in which you arrange to make new acquaintances at meetings set up through business social network sites, such as Linkedin, Tribe and Ryze. Business social networking is extremely valuable when you want to expand your circle of contacts and possible business partners. When used with a company that sells leads, you have the prospects of engendering new business with people that fit within your chosen demographic segment.
For instance, you could purchase a list of sales leads from a reputable vendor that is concentrated in certain industry sectors and local geographical locations. Then use a business networking site (we’ll focus on Linkedin, which in some ways is the easiest to use) to reach out to your sales leads and arrange to have a sit-down meeting at a private room at a local restaurant or a rentable business office. Linkedin lets you set up separate social circles for different purposes, which may be exactly what you need.
To find out how effective this strategy was, I interviewed Danny F., a fish merchant looking to expand his direct sales to restaurants. Danny had inherited the family fish business when his father passed away, and it became immediately apparent he had to expand the business in order to survive. He purchased a list of sales leads in the restaurant sector, concentrating on his business location of San Diego, California. Using that list as a starting point, Danny tracked down half a dozen owners of restaurants that featured seafood on their menus. He picked another restaurant to have the meeting, since he already did business there.
Surprisingly, all the invitees showed up and were enthusiastic about Danny’s ideas. They had to work through several stumbling blocks having to do with delivery schedules and pricing, but the atmosphere at the restaurant (a small French bistro) was warm and conducive to conversation. The owner sat in on the meeting and confirmed that working with Danny was a very positive step for his restaurant. After many courses of food and bottles of wine, Danny came away with two firm commitments and several soft ones. The price of the dinner was approximately $1500, and the sales leads cost another $500. So for $2,000, Danny lined up several new clients for his fish business – a very cost-effective strategy. The use of Linkedin was crucial to the success of Danny’s plan. Perhaps you can adapt Danny’s strategy for your own business.