The Accidental Salesman®

If you hate going to business networking meetings or struggle to find the time then here is a tasty alternative. I picked it up from a great networker many years ago.

He was a board director of a large food company and he wanted to introduce me to one of his contacts. The only problem was that there was no compelling reason for the other person to want to speak to me. My contact just felt it would be useful for us to meet and if we hit it off then something good might come of it.

His solution was to organise a curry night with some of his contacts. I love a good curry but my wife is not that keen so it certainly was very appealing! There is something about having a curry together which seems to be great for relationship building. Anyway, it was a great success and the introduction did, indeed, prove very valuable for both of us.

The 10,000 girls project started off with a little African girl asking Voila Vaughn 'Will you teach me?'

The Dakar Dragons project started off with Viola Vaughn asking Marieme Jamme 'Will you teach my girls business?'

'We don't want charity...' said Viola 'We don't want handouts....what we want is business know how and connections'

Viola has already taught her girls basic entrepreneurship and accounting as part of her wonderful 10,000 girls program based in Senegal. The funding has come from the girls making and selling things. They are already exposed to business thanks to Viola. The next stage in their evolution is for her graduates to become independent business women. Capable of creating and running a sustainable business venture of their own.

Have you have seen the brilliant Marmite adverts on TV? The message is:

‘Marmite: You either love it or hate it!

Too many businesses are failing right now because they are trying to be all things to all people. Why not Marmite your business?

Avoid trying to be all things to all people. Instead find a specific group of people and tailor what you do to please them. Defining and understanding your target audience takes a little effort but is really worth it. Then make your products and services highly relevant to them without worrying what other’s think. As long as your target audience loves it then spread the Marmite thick!

By the way, I am a big Marmite fan and right now I am starting to feel a bit peckish!

I have had a lot of clients lately who have come to me looking for ways to increase the rates they are able to charge clients without losing them. So many are providing a Rolls Royce solution but only charging Lada prices. They realise that they are doing a lot of good work and yet not getting paid enough for it.

They say that the best jobs are never advertised and the same applies to good business opportunities. If you want to be considered then you not only need to be known, but also known as being a specialist. Having a reputation as a ‘Jack of all trades’ is not likely to get you on the list, let alone the short list! What’s more, saying you are a specialist in 101 different things does not fool anyone!

Lets say you have an important project that needs doing. You need to get it right first time and delays are not an option. Are you going to pick up the yellow pages and pick a name at random? Or will you first ask around to see if someone whose judgement you trust knows of someone.

If you are spending £50 then maybe the yellow pages will be fine. Spend £5,000 and you may be a little more selective.