Informal Marketing at Presentations
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Whenever you have the opportunity to be a presenter to a group of people, you can use the event as a business development tool. You can very informally help your audience know what you do and what your business is about.
The first and most obvious way to do that is with some marketing materials about your business. Have fliers that describe your work and place them in each seat before the presentation; if folks leave them behind, just gather them up to reuse them. Make sure to have plenty of business cards with you and even write about your free offer and where to get it on the back. Always make sure that all your contact information is on every page of every handout that you give related to the presentation.
If you are introduced at the event by someone else, find out if you can write the introduction. Make sure to include info about your coaching business in the written material or if you tell about yourself. At some point during the presentation, make sure to talk about coaching. People love anecdotes and if you can tell a few clients stories – carefully made confidential – then you will get people interested in your work.
Consider having an evaluation form for your presentation to get feedback on what other information people would have liked to hear, what helped them most and other pertinent questions. You can ask on this form whether people are interested in further information, would like an initial coaching session or would like to be placed on your mailing list. Sometimes I even use this form to have a little drawing for a door prize and only the people who evaluate the session get into the drawing. This can directly bring you clients and indirectly helps you know what the problems and needs are in your niche.
Finally, if you are trying to grow your business, every presentation that is over 90 minutes in length should include a coaching demonstration. There is no better way to get people to want to work with you than to see you in action. No matter what your subject matter, the audience members are struggling with it or they wouldn’t be in attendance. There will almost always be an eager volunteer. This situation lends itself to a 10-15 minute demo with a few minutes of processing with the group. Many coaches are anxious about demonstrating in front of a group, but you will be more critical of your skills than the audience will be. It is too valuable a marketing and learning tool to be avoided because of your nervousness.
Go ahead and find yourself some presentations to do. Make careful plans on how you will maximize your exposure from that event. Make each event be a tool for developing your business another step.
