Your Best Sales Tool

If I could only have one sales tool in my tool kit it would have to be my business card.  Why?

• First, I can carry business cards in my pocket or wallet - AND I do!
• It is easy to pass along to others and small enough for them to put in their pocket or wallet.
• Business cards can define who you are and what you do in a small space.
• They are cheap.  I am a fan of Vistaprint.com and there are ALWAYS deals for business cards.

How often are you asked for your phone number?  I never just blurt out my number.  I get out a card and give it to the person asking for my number.  You wouldn't believe the times folks have said, "Wow, you're a storyteller!".  If I have something I need to write down for someone... you guessed it.  I write it on the back of my card.


As I am talking with someone and they ask what I do I simply reach for my card.  They read it immediately and usually comment.


Business cards are easy to place in a letter or card.  Anytime I send a "Thank You" I enclose a business card.


When I perform I always have a stack of cards I pass out to those who ask.  It is a lot cheaper than handing out brochures.  I DO keep a few brochures or postcards with me and pass them along to folks who have a serious inquiry at a gig.


IMPORTANT TIP: Always give someone who asks about scheduling more than one business card.  At the end of a gig give the person who invited you several cards and ask them to pass the cards along.





 Stephen Hollen is an award winning storyteller, humorist and Mark Twain Impersonator living in Beavercreek, Ohio.  He performs and tells stories in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, West Virginia, Michigan and throughout the USA. 

No one around here ever hires me!

No One Around Here Hires Me!!

Do you ever voice that lament?  Do you hear it from other storytellers or performers?


Your question to start the week:  WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT IT?


The last blog entry dealt with Top of the Mind Awareness.  Lets build on that idea and think about what you are doing to change that.  Here are a few questions to get your planning on the right track.

  

• First of all, have you done an inventory of all the possible venues within 30, 60 and 90 minutes of your home base?
• Have you identified the decision maker at each venue, including phone number, e-mail and address of the venue?
• Sure, it sounds redundant, but do you have this information in a user friendly database?  Can you do letters, e-mails, labels with your database?
• Can you track the contacts you make with each venue as well as noting when you do gigs for that venue?
• Have you ever called just to introduce yourself?
• Do you make some sort of contact on a regular basis?  Frequency is the key here.  Why not develop a plan to mail postcards 4 or 6 times a year, send e-mails quarterly, send invitations to events you are doing locally?

Don't be a pest!  This is not suggesting you call monthly and hassle them. The idea is to put information in front of the decision maker with enough frequency that they will think of you when they think of storytellers.

The Bottom Line:  If they don't know you 

they won't hire you!



 Stephen Hollen is an award winning storyteller, humorist and Mark Twain Impersonator living in Beavercreek, Ohio.  He performs and tells stories in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, West Virginia, Michigan and throughout the USA.