It’s “Wow Wednesday” with another insightful marketing post on a topic I want to learn more about: podcasting! And there is no one better to teach us how to do it than today’s marketing expert, Todd Schnick. Todd is a successful serial entrepreneur and his latest endeavor is The Intrepid Group, LLC. While there, Todd created the wildly popular Intrepid Radio Show. Todd and I met virtually almost three years ago via Twitter and I had the great pleasure of meeting him IRL last year. He’s smart, inspiring, a small business owner and a great  friend.

Todd, we are looking forward to your March Madness post today!

How to Make Prospecting Fun

When I first sit down with a new client, inevitably they proclaim something along the lines of “If only I could just talk to enough prospects, I would be fine. Because, you know, my ability to close the sale is strong…”

Sometimes it feels like everyone is a stellar closer, they just can’t get enough prospects in front of them to actually do it.

“If only I could solve my prospecting problem,” many have quietly whispered.

Well, I will let you in on a little secret. I can help you solve your prospecting problem. And guess what else? My solution won’t cost you much. A few bucks and a little time.

To good to be true, you say?

What if I told you the solution has been around for a long time? It is just something that most people haven’t adopted. Or tried. Or believed could be the answer to their prospecting prayers…

Podcasting.

Podcasting, the Fun & Inexpensive Prospecting Tool

Yes. You heard me right.

I have co-hosted an in-studio internet radio show for two years now. And I have just recently launched a new internet-based podcast on my own blog.

I don’t do it because I like the sound of my voice. I don’t do it because I am trying to speak to an audience of millions. I don’t do it because I have an ego…

I do it for one reason. Prospecting. To provide a vehicle to get to know the people important to me. And it has never been easier.

Let me explain.

To set up the example, imagine you are trying to target John Smith, the CEO of Acme. You’ve determined he is a good prospect for your business. All you need is to get some face time. Here are two scenarios:

Scenario #1 (and what most people are doing):

Cold calling. Again and again. Trying to blast through the gatekeeper…utilizing some variation of the following script: “If I could just get five minutes of his time to explain all the wonderful things we could do to add value to Acme…” Cold calling is a miserable existence. And hard. And time consuming. With a close rate of 1%…give or take…

Or, there is Scenario #2:

“Hi, Todd Schnick here with Intrepid Radio, a business radio show. We are interested in featuring Mr. Smith, and learning more about Acme. When can we get him scheduled to appear on the show?”

Can you see the difference in the approach? Can you see how much easier it is to make that initial phone call and make the ask?

The first is a tough sell to a skeptical and defensive audience. The second approach gets quickly forwarded to the boss, or at least the marketing shop and/or PR hack to get it scheduled.

And yeah, I know what you are thinking.

You can do this. Yes, even you. Getting the equipment you need is easy, and well, likely free. There are plenty of online solutions that will accommodate and record and promote your podcasts. And I pay a measley $17 a month to host my podcast audio files, along with the ability to track downloads and such. And honestly, if you look hard enough, there are probably less expensive solutions. I host my blog on WordPress, and there are literally dozens of simple solutions (plug-ins) to upload and publish podcasts on your web site.

The point is, don’t let technology and “equipment” be a roadblock (or an excuse) to hosting your own podcast radio show.

The real question you should be pondering is getting your choice business targets scheduled on your podcast. That’s the hard part. Er, rather, that’s the fun part.

Why Podcasting Works for Prospecting

But the real secret to why this works as a prospecting tool? Because it is actually the farthest thing from SELLING.

You are providing a service to your guest. You are helping them with their marketing. You are helping promote their business, product, or cause. You are doing them a favor.

Secondly, and more importantly, you are expediting the formation of a relationship with your invited guest. The bond you make and the rapport you develop by spending 15 minutes on a radio show together is invaluable.

Once the show is complete, you are now connected. You are friends. And you have a bond. You have trust. And most importantly, it is now so much easier to transition to the conversation you really want to have.

See, I believe that the critical element of selling is starting a conversation. You can’t sell unless you have a relationship, and those can only start with real human conversation.

And let’s not forget the secondary value of hosting your own business podcast. You also have a treasure trove of content that you can publish on your blog. This adds a whole new layer of searchable content to be found on the search engines. And then, when your guests publicizes their appearance on your show, you get a whole new round of promotion for you and your show (and your website).

It is a win-win for both you and your guest.

“Todd, wait. I’ve never hosted a podcast radio show. I don’t have the talent.” Let me just say this: if you can carry on a conversation with someone at Starbucks, you can carry on a conversation on a podcast. Trust me, if I can do it, YOU can do it.

And before you go, one final point. Hosting your own podcast radio show is fun. And there’s nothing wrong with having fun when you are prospecting…and learning about and getting to know some fascinating people.

Your guest will have fun too. And that’s the magic secret as to why your relationship with them will be so strong…

Who Is Todd Schnick? Todd is a marketer, blogger, radio show host, speaker, trainer, political strategist and distance runner. Since 2003, Todd has started six companies including The Intrepid Group and Dreamland Interactive; marketing firms serving various markets and sectors. Messaging, strategy, and social media integration fall squarely within his key areas of expertise. Todd launched his career in politics serving as aide to a U.S. congressman. He later served as political director of the Florida GOP during the 2000 recount and has run two state political parties (Nevada and Georgia).  He has completed three half-marathons and won two USTA-sanctioned tennis tournaments…

You can connect with Todd via Twitter, Facebook, his Facebook Business Page, LinkedIn, his website, via phone at 404.931.0969 or by email at todd@intrepid-llc.com.

Welcome to day 3 of March Marketing Madness, a series of posts from marketing experts around the country giving their best advice to entrepreneurs.  Get ready for some information and inspiration. Our guest expert today is Ava Diamond, president of Feisty Women Rock.  Along with many accomplishments, Ava is a renowned speaker and has co-authored books with Stephen Covey and Ken Blanchard. I met Ava at a sales event a few weeks ago. Within ten minutes I knew she was feisty, brilliant and chock-full of strategic information for entrepreneurs.

Ava, thank you for sharing your small business insights with us. And thank you for your free ebook!

3 Tips to Build Your “Know, Like, and Trust” Factor and Make More Sales

“I think I’m going to have to get a real job,” Angela sighed as we had coffee one afternoon last month.  “I’m not getting enough clients.  My pipeline is not even close to full, I meet people at networking events and nothing much comes of it, and I’m just not getting enough business.  I love what I do, but if I don’t have enough clients to make the income I need, then it really doesn’t matter.”

Angela is not alone.  I meet entrepreneurs every week who share her frustration. They’re investing huge amounts of time and money in marketing tactics that are not paying off.  They have limited time, limited budgets, and their marketing efforts are not bringing them enough sales. You might be one of them.

You might be struggling with getting the word out about your business, with building the “know me, like me, trust me” relationship with potential clients, with filling your programs and selling your products, with building your business without sounding “sales-y,” with having a bigger impact and making a difference in the world.

There’s a way to turn all of this around.  Speaking in front of audiences made up of your perfect target market is one of the most powerful ways to grow your business. If you’re not using it as part of your marketing strategy, you’re leaving money on the table!

When you get up in front of a room of people who need your products and services, you have an opportunity to establish yourself as an expert in your field and as someone who can help them.  You can create demand for your services, get immediate prospects and leads, and even get sales at the event itself.

How to Create Your Powerful Message for Audiences

Here are three tips to creating a powerful message that will bring people into your pipeline and result in more sales:

1.  Know Your Perfect Audience

When I ask small business owners who their perfect target market is, they often say, “I can help everyone.”  No you can’t.  If you market to everyone, you market to no one. You have to know specifically who your perfect client is. You need to know everything you can about them—their demographics, what’s important to them, what motivates them, what their values are, what problems and frustrations they have, what they’re focused on.

You can develop your ideal client profile. I actually found a stock photo of my perfect client. I gave her a name, and described her life.  She is who I market to.  She is who I think of when I develop new products and programs.  She is who I craft my messages for.

You can do the same.

When you get out and speak, you want to speak to audiences who are filled with people who fit your ideal client profile.  Otherwise, you’re wasting your time, and you won’t have the impact you want.

2.  Laser-Focus Your Message

Before you get in front of an audience, know what you want the end result to be.  What do you want the audience to think, feel, say, or do as a result of hearing you speak?

Do you want to establish yourself as an authority in your field?  Then you want to create a memorable experience and message that will do just that.

Do you want them to buy a program or package that you’ve created? Then you want to establish the need, and make them feel “the problem” in such a way that they absolutely want the solution you offer.

Do you want to create a connection with the audience that makes them want more of you and to stay connected with you?  Then you want to share personal stories, create trust and intimacy, and make sure you are authentically you on stage.

3.  Have a Kick-Ass Speech

The only thing worse than not getting out there and speaking, is getting out there and doing it badly.  You want to make sure you have a powerful speech that will get the results you want.

Invest the time and energy to get good—really good.  Read books and articles, hire a coach, take a class—do whatever it takes to get good.  It’s not rocket science, but there is a craft that needs to be learned.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Know your audience. Do research on them in advance.  Talk to the meeting planner, send a pre-program questionnaire, talk to a few potential audience members.

• Begin with an “attention grabbing” opening. Don’t start by thanking your hosts, remarking on the location, or boring people from the start.  Begin with a startling statistic, an interesting question, an intriguing fact that is relevant to their problems.  The first thirty seconds are critical.

• Have a well-structured speech. Make sure you’re clear on your message. Make sure you know what your audience’s pain is and how you can be the solution for them.  Limit your major points—don’t try to tell them everything you know about the subject.

• Tell great stories. The audience will remember them long after they’ve forgotten the “facts” you’ve shared with them.  They are a way of creating a memorable experience, and of creating connection with the audience.

• Use powerful visuals. Props, PowerPoint slides with great images and few words, flipcharts, and other methods can serve as visual anchors to make your message stick.

• Never take Q&A at the end of your speech.  Engage with the audience and take their questions a few minutes before the end of the speech.  Then end powerfully.  If you end with Q&A, the energy you’ve built up fizzles.

• Have a power close. The last minute of your speech must inspire your audience. It needs to energize them, and to fill them with a sense of what’s possible for them. It needs to be memorable.  It needs to move them to action.

So stop leaving money on the table!

How would your business transform if you were able to speak to your perfect prospects 50 or 100 or hundreds at a time?  How much would your business grow if you had a steady stream of people who wanted to buy your products and services because they’d heard you speak, and they know, like, and trust you?  How much would your business benefit if people knew you as an expert in your field? I have a free ebook to help you get started. Download “Rock Your Speaking, 7 Secrets to Creating and Delivering Powerful Speeches” here.

Putting together a great speech and getting out there and delivering it to audiences of your perfect target market is a sure path to business success.

What is the first step you will take today to make that happen in your business?

Who is Ava Diamond? Ava Diamond is the President of Feisty Women Rock! and is a Women’s Success Strategist and Passionista™. She focuses on giving women the inspiration, motivation, and tools they need to have successful businesses and to live the lives they crave.

Ava is a popular speaker, giving her audiences great ideas and the know-how to implement them. They find her energetic, inspiring, informative, and funny!   Her first book, Great Quotes from Feisty Women, combines inspirational quotations from accomplished women with Ava’s own insight and down-to-earth wisdom.

In addition to speaking at events and conferences, Ava works with service-based women entrepreneurs to get laser focused, attract more clients, and grow their businesses.  She also helps them use public speaking to get exposure, make more money, and increase their impact.

She is the coauthor of Mission Possible, with Stephen Covey and Brian Tracy, and of Speaking of Success, with Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey and Jack Canfield.

She is an active member of the National Speakers Association, and holds a Masters Degree in Management.

She lives near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with a beagle named Bud.  Ava enjoys hiking, making pottery and jewelry, reading, and traveling. Her proudest accomplishment was completing the Avon Breast Cancer walk—60 miles over 3 days.

You can connect with Ava via Twitter, Facebook, her Feisty Women Rock Facebook page, LinkedIn, her website, by phone at 970.224.3015 or via email at ava@FeistyWomenRock.com.

If you follow my blog you know I’ve done several posts about relationship-based selling. (I’ll include links below.) At its most basic level, the premise behind relationship-based selling is that you establish a connection with your prospective client based on genuine care and concern, determine what their needs are and tell them how your product or service is going to fill those needs.

I was at a sales event last week conducted by Carolyn Herfurth, the founder of The Biz Truth. Entrepreneurs from all over the country came to hear Carol teach them how to sell. There were several profound learning moments for me in Carolyn’s presentation and what I liked most was Carolyn’s sales philosophy – you can be a successful sales person without being manipulative. At one point she said, “Manipulative selling sucks!” Yeah! In a sea of sales training piranhas, it was refreshing to hear Carolyn, who has had a wildly successful career in selling, share her tips for how to sell the right way.

The Takeaway Sales Technique

When someone in class mentioned this sales technique, Carolyn, well, got a little unhinged – justifiably so.  The takeaway sales technique is when you dangle a carrot in front of the prospective client. Then, when the prospect gets interested, you take the carrot away. Since our Western culture is obsessed with things we cannot have, making something unavailable will usually heighten the prospect’s interest and therefore increase your closing rate. It’s highly manipulative and offensive. In fact, the very first post I ever wrote on this blog was about someone who used the takeaway technique with me. It’s called The Cat Who Killed a $5K Deal.

The “You Don’t So I Won’t” Sales Technique

Another entrepreneur asked Carolyn, “What do I do when I’m sitting with a prospect whose needs I can clearly fill, but they aren’t excited about working with me?” My answer was,

“Just because you can satisfy the need of a client, doesn’t mean the client is right for you.”

You see, the turning point for me in my sales came when I recognized that not every client is my ideal client and that some people’s money is simply not worth taking.  I want clients who are fanatically ready to make massive changes in their business. Further, I don’t want clients that I can just “help.” I want clients that I can partner with and take their businesses to the moon! This mental shift meant I no longer approached sales calls from a need to convince the client that I was right for them. I now approach sales calls from a perspective of a joint interview: the prospect interviews me and I also interview them. And can I just tell you? The results have been phenomenal.

So, here’s how it works:

After I speak with a prospect, I analyze what I think they will or won’t be willing bring to this coaching relationship. My self-talk  (I don’t share this with the prospect) looks something like this:

1. You want radical changes in your bottom line, but you don’t want to change. If you won’t open your mind, you won’t get results. So I won’t take you on as a client.
2. You don’t have a viable business. I’m sorry and I wish you the best. But I can’t rescue this sinking ship and you would be wasting your money with me. So I won’t take you on as a client.
3. You want a quick fix to your issues and don’t want to put in the hard work that’s required over the long haul. So I won’t take you on as a client.

The “You Will So I’ll Bill” Sales Technique

Sometimes my analysis of a prospect looks like this:

1. You are skilled at what you do yet simply don’t know how to run a business. But you are willing to learn. So I will take you on as a client and bill you for the value you’re going to receive.
2. You are capable of achieving super-star success and I believe you can and will do it. So I will happily take you on as a client and the results you’re going to get will be 10 times more than what I’m going to bill you.
3. As hard as it might be sometimes, I believe you will take an honest look at yourself and listen to my feedback. So I will take you on as a client,  tell you the truth and bill you because knowing the truth sets you free to improve.

Folks, this comes from learning to value myself and my services. The best advice I can give you is learn to do the same. Recognize that trying to be all things to all clients will lead to disaster. Accept that having a few raving clients with radical results is better than having a gaggle of clients with mediocre results. I wish you the best!

Related posts:

• 5 Reasons You Don’t Need to Cold Call Me
• Smores and Sales – The Value of Customer Experience
• 5 Marketing Lessons From Crack Dealers

Alicia Arenas is a business coach and corporate trainer. When she’s not singing or song-writing, she helps her entrepreneurs increase their sales through coaching and her business boot camp. Alicia is based in San Antonio, Texas, and coaches people nationwide.


Photo courtesy of mattjiggins via Flickr.

Anytime someone uses the phrase “social media guru” it cracks me up because really and truly, it’s not that hard to build a strong following online. You don’t have to be a guru and it certainly doesn’t require 10,000 hours of mastery. You must, however, understand that building influence online is about building relationships. You’re not going to get immediate sales, that is not how social media works. But sales will come…over time.

So start with the basics:

1. What do you love? HR, fencing, hairless chihuahuas? Figure that out first. And by the way, hopefully, that thing you love is also what you’re selling.
2. Find 5 people who love the same thing. Not people who like the same thing, but people who are stark-raving crazy about it. People who live it, breathe it and would die without it. Find those people and follow them.
3. Listen to their conversations. See what they are talking about and with whom. Yes, it’s technically eavesdropping. But in the social media space, eavesdropping is not only allowed – but encouraged.
4. Talk to them. Don’t sell them anything. That is spam and will more than likely get you blocked. Ask them questions, send them a link that will help them, answer one of their questions.
5. Retweet their posts. Retweeting is when you copy something they’ve written on Twitter and send it out to all your followers. Retweeting gives a person exposure beyond their regular follower base and builds up good will. This is called social media capital. We don’t trade with money online, we trade with influence.

Please note I said to start with five people, not 100 or 500. You can’t build strong relationships with 100 people at a time. Start with five, get your relationship established and then find five more, and then another five. This is the strategy that worked for me when I wrote my first Tweet in 2008. I have over 8,000 followers today and can attribute more than 80% of my sales back to relationships I developed on Twitter.

Are you ready to make it happen? Have any other Twitter tips for entrepreneurs? Please share them in the comments.

Related posts:

• 5 Ways I Won with Twitter
• I’m OK – You’re OK: Social Media Self Esteem
• 5 Reasons You Don’t Need to Cold Call Me

Alicia Arenas is a business coach and corporate trainer. When she’s not singing or song-writing, she helps her entrepreneurs increase their sales through coaching and her business boot camp. Alicia is located in San Antonio, Texas, but coaches people nationwide.

Disclaimer: I have never used illegal drugs and do I not advocate the use of illegal drugs or controlled substances illegally. Drugs and the repercussions of their use, do irreparable harm to the user, their families, their coworkers and the community at large. Stay clean, stay sober or stay home.

One of the things I love about teaching Sanera Camp is I get to hear the awesome ideas the recruits come up with. This was one of them.

Earlier in class this week, we talked about building relationships versus push marketing and how technology has helped us do that better than ever because the new tools allow us to share information across wider audiences. We also talked about the shift in mindset from protecting our information to sharing our information so more people can get to know us, our level of expertise and what it would be like to work with us.

Then this conversation broke out:

Person 1: Alicia, I was thinking that drug dealers are a great example of this.

Everyone else: A combination of silence, belly laughs and dropped jaws.

Me: How?

Person 1: Well, they’ve given out samples for years and years and it works. Their prospects know what it tastes like, what it feels like and the quality of the product.

Person 2: You’re right! I never thought about it before.

Person 1: Look at it. It’s a successful, multi-billion dollar industry that has world wide distribution. The use of illegal drugs has increased, not decreased even though it’s against the law. Their clients know where to find them, know how much the product costs and they tell everyone else about it. It’s perfect word of mouth advertising.

Person 3: But what we’re selling isn’t addicting.

Person 2: But can’t we make it addicting? If we give out some of what we have to offer, won’t people want more?

They are right. It’s hard to find a better example of how giving things away can drive revenue. But Person 3′s observation is pivotal – certainly one advantage the drug dealers have over us is that their product is physiologically and sometimes immediately addicting. So what can we do to drive our revenue without breaking the law and harming others?

How To Market Like a Crack Dealer

1. Know your target customer

Who wants your product/service? Better yet, who craves it? Who needs it so badly that the moment they get it, they will have an insatiable desire for more of it?

2. Analyze your market

Where does your target market hang out? What kinds of activities are they doing?  Is it in a certain zip code, metaphorical “corner,” in an industry meeting or somewhere online?

3. Make distribution easy

Ensure your target customer knows who you are and where to find your products/services. Make the purchasing process as simple and seamless as possible. You will jeopardize your chance of closing a sale if you make them:

• Talk to lots of people
• Click too many times online
• Give too much personal information
• Look at too many options

4. Give away the right samples

Here are some examples of things you shouldn’t give away:

• Cheesy tchotchkies that people are going to throw away. If you’re going to give away promotional items, make sure they are things your prospects will use and value.
• Proprietary information. Enough said.
• Low quality products. I know this sounds obvious, but come on. How many of you have received a sample and discovered that it was someone’s attempt to get rid of their non-selling inventory? It’s happened to all of us. You will be associated with your samples. What do you want people to say about you?

Some things you should give away:

• Consumables – when they run out, they will want more from you.
• Useful, actionable information. This is not limited to service industries. If you are in retail or a product-driven environment, you have valuable information to share about your store, your products, care of your products, upcoming sales, etc. Err on the side of education & information vs. “selling.”
• A piece of what you want them to purchase. Giving “everything” away eliminates the incentive for your prospects to want more.

5. Give them to the right people

If you give everything away, you won’t make money. Be selective. Find the influencers, the people who will spread the word and give to them.

It’s pretty unconventional, but think about it. Any lessons here you can apply to your own business?


Special thanks to Nora Frost, Denise Sample and Rob Hatton for their creative ideas and discussion. Keep the conversations going!



Photo courtesy of demibrooke via flickr

Have you ever faced rejection? Perhaps your cold calling hit a dead end or your proposals have been rejected?

Some people told me I shouldn’t write this post. Their concern was that I might look bad or I might discredit myself by telling this story. But the truth is that we all face rejection. And the more we talk about it, the more help and understanding everyone gains (which is the purpose of this blog).  So the spirit of learning from other peoples’ experience, here is the story I wrote several weeks ago:

————————————————————————————————

Life is funny. My last two posts were about building relationships (here and here). And then today happened.

I was at a networking event two weeks ago and met a super-smart woman who moved to San Antonio from out of state. She opened up a brand new business three months ago. After the meeting she expressed an interest in my services. We had a short conversation and I followed up with an email. Normally, I would follow up my email with a phone call. But because I was impressed with her and excited about her new business, I took my own advice and decided to be extraordinary.  So I marched myself to the store, bought a card, a gift bag with tissue paper and put a small gift inside it. In the card, I wrote a note congratulating her on her new business and wished her the best.

I dropped by unannounced and she wasn’t at the office. Her assistant told me she would be back in an hour and I told him that I would run some errands and come back.

An hour later, I happily walked into her office with the beautiful gift bag in my hand. Seeing her, I smiled, said hello and shook her hand. I said, “I brought a little something for you,” and handed her the gift.

She looked at the bag like I was handing her a bucket of swine flu. She blurted out, “I’m not going to use your service so you don’t need to give me anything!”

Me: Excuse me?

Her: I don’t plan to use your services right now, so you don’t have to give me a gift.

Me: That’s not why I’m giving you the gift. I bought this for you because I wanted to congratulate you on your new business. If the time isn’t right for you to use my services, that’s okay.

Her: Silence.

I shoved the gift in her hand and I think out of guilt, she started to make small talk.

I wish I could tell you that I shook it off, but unfortunately, it got to me – a lot. I drove 40 miles (one way) to see her. I spent $25+ on the gift bag, tissue paper, gift and card. I wanted her to feel special; yet in that moment, she was rude and uncaring and I was deeply hurt by her response. She took my gesture of kindness and pooed all over it. It was a slap in the face.

I began to doubt myself and wondered, “What did I do wrong?” “What did I do to deserve that response?” “Was it something I said?”

————————————————————————————————

Fast forward to today. Time brings the benefit of a clearer perspective. The questions that I ask myself now are, “Did her assistant tell her a salesperson came by?” “What kind of awful experiences has she had that would cause her to react in that way?” “Was I the recipient of her frustration with things that had nothing to do with me?” I don’t know the answers. But I do know this:

What I’ve Learned From Rejection

1. Giving extraordinary service can sometimes result in extraordinarily negative reactions. Let’s face the facts. Not everyone is ready for innovative, creative and different. It freaks some people out.

2. A past failure is just that – in the past. We don’t have the luxury of wallowing in the aftermath of bad experiences. Just because one person doesn’t care for our brand or approach, doesn’t mean other people will reject us too. Figure out how or what to improve. Then resolve to move on and stay the course.

Do you have any rejection stories? What rejection advice do you have for small business owners?

Photo courtesy of gogoloopie.

Caveat – I believe in relationship- based sales. If that’s not how you work, this post may not be helpful to you.

Something extraordinary happened the other day. Someone cold-called me! It was such a shock that I had to think hard about the last time it happened and I realized it had been months.

Why You Don’t Need to Cold Call Me

Through social media, you can discover my interests, where I’m speaking, which associations I belong to and which non-profits I support. And I’m not alone. There is information about your prospects all over the web.

1. LinkedIn:

This is a rich resource for information about your prospects. You’ll learn about their work history, read about the associations they belong to (which if you’re local, you can visit) and if they are updating their profile, find out their recent activities. LinkedIn has groups where online conversations are happening. Join a group your prospect is in and start conversations there.

2. Blogs:

A crucial part of sales is being able to get in the mind of your prospect. If one of your prospects has a blog, read it diligently. You’ll get valuable information about their philosophies and their pain points – all of which will help you understand how to approach them. Most blogs allow for comments. Leaving a comment is another great way to start a relationship with a prospect. Finally, there are four words every blogger wants to hear: “I read your blog.” Here’s the thing, even if you’re lying (which you shouldn’t) you have told your prospect that you know enough about them to know that they have a blog in the first place.

3. FourSquare

The reason that people are fearful about using FourSquare is the very thing that will help you connect with prospects. FourSquare is like an electronic Dora The Explorer tool that helps you find great places to eat, drink, get your clothes dry-cleaned, etc. It also allows you to see where your friends or other people you’re linked to frequent the most. Many of the participating businesses have discounts or specials only available to FourSquare users. The most popular aspect of FourSquare is it’s badge promotion. Think of Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts badges – every time you accomplish a specific task, the Scouts are rewarded with a new badge. FourSquare has a ton of badges you can collect based on how many times you visit a place, if you’re there with lots of friends and you can even become the “Mayor” of a venue. There is a how-to video on their home page if you’d like to learn more.

My point about Foursquare is this – it can help you discover the things your prospects like and the places they frequent. Let me be very clear. I’m not suggesting you stalk a prospect. However, knowing this information can warm up a call.

4. Twitter

Twitter is another fantastic place to start conversations with your prospects. (Please note I said “starting conversations” versus sending spam notes like “Buy my new great ABC.” That will get you unfollowed very quickly.) If you’re using TweetDeck or Seesmic, you might consider having a column set up just for your prospects. Read what they are saying. If there is a conversation happening and you have input, join the conversation! Send the person a tweet or suggest a website that is a good resource on that topic. Twitter is a powerful relationship building tool.

5. Relationships, Relationships, Relationships

People want to do business with people, not spammers and definitely not obnoxious salespeople. If you want to increase your close ratio with prospects, start the conversations online, but don’t stop there. Take the conversations to the IRL (in real life) world. And it works! In 2009, 80% of my business came as a direct result of relationships built in Twitter.

These are just four of the hundreds of social networking sites. If you have another method (or site) for building relationships with prospects, let us know in the comments.

Is cold-calling dead? Probably not. Is it necessary? That’s an entirely different question that is up to you answer…

Photo courtesy of Trace Meek via Flickr