As a business owner, consistency is important, whether you are branding your name by offering services to others, or you are promoting a product someone needs. Make consistency a habit with your connections – when attending networking events, sending emails, mailing a note, or following up with prospects. It is an essential part of creating a business your customers feel confident about.
Keeping your name or brand in front of your connections consistently gives them the opportunity to learn more about you, your products or services, and your organization. Each time you “touch” your connections, they are that much more likely to think of you when they have a need for what you offer. They will also have a better understanding of what you are looking for, and refer business to you when one of their contacts has a need that you can fulfill.
I have been a member of several different organizations for business women and local chambers. When visiting a new organization, I consistently attend 3-4 events to get a good idea of whether or not the organization fits my business values and purpose. I don’t join an organization unless I can commit to attending the events consistently. I have found that consistently attending events of the organizations to which I belong provides the best return on both my time and financial investment.
People are drawn to others when they are reliable and consistent in their marketing efforts – it provides a higher level of confidence in your abilities and your business when you are reliable and consistent. For example, if you send a monthly email newsletter to your connections with valuable, useful information, they will come to expect that newsletter in their inbox each month. The same is true of sales, promotions, and events.
You might be thinking that you don’t have time to be a “consistent connector” with each of your contacts. However, I can tell you that it is not as difficult as you may think, you just need a few systems in place to help you make consistency a habit. Once you have a plan, you will be able to stay in touch with your contacts efficiently and effectively. Try the following business tools to get you started:
- Constant Contact– email marketing service that allows you to send promotions, invitations, and eNewsletters to a large number of contacts at once, www.ConstantContact.com
- Send Out Cards– a greeting card service that allows you to send a thank you, birthday, or anniversary card and others. You create a card online, and Send Out Cards mails an actual stamped card to your contact. www.SendOutCards.com
- Hire a Virtual Assistant– hiring a virtual assistant to build your database, and maintain a schedule of how you will consistently “touch” your contacts is another great way to make consistency a habit. You can find numerous virtual assistants through an online search, or through local business organizations.
By following these simple guidelines and staying in touch with connections made during networking events, expos, and other marketing efforts, I have built a database of nearly 2,500 subscribers that is used for email marketing. I was also recently recognized as a Constant Contact All Star, a group of Constant Contact users who set a great example for other email marketers by maintaining sound permission-based email marketing and list management practices.
Building a business through making consistency a habit has enriched my life by allowing me to maintain and build relationships with the business owners I come into contact regularly. In turn, my connections know they can depend on and call on me when they need assistance for their own business. I hope you’ll take steps to Make Consistency a Habit as well!
