Last week, I attended a speed marketing event in
Jerusalem organized by Helena Baker as part of her English Speaking Networking
activities. It was the first time I had experienced such a format and found it
quite promising. The full day involved a series of 4-minute discussions with
rotating partners as well as two roundtable discussions with relevant business
people, each of 40 minutes. The main marketing activity consisted of short introductions
and question asking in order to learn more about the other person. Of course, there
was more than enough time before the sessions, during lunch and after the formal program to
have more in-depth discussions. It was an intense day but three elements stand
out as I look back: the marketing opportunity, the wide diversity and the
importance of brevity.
The event was an ideal way to physically meet
potential customers, direct and referrals, from all occupations and locations.
The best marketing involves a personal element, selling oneself if you will.
The challenge is to overcome the difficulty of finding relevant and interested
businesses, the issue of geographical distance and the significant amount of
time involved in developing those contacts, which may or may turn out to be relevant.
In this speed marketing format, business people from all over the country
choose to gather for a few hours, listen and learn. An entrepreneur can make a
strong impression on many relevant customers in a short period of time. For
freelancers, the opportunity to attain direct customers and, even more
significantly, future referrals is priceless while the financial cost is quite
minor. Speed marketing is a viable and valuable marketing tool.
One of the most striking impressions of the attendees,
over 150 of them, was the sheer diversity. Women represented a slight majority,
which reflects the actual distribution in many of the freelance niches, notably
translation and interpretation. The people were of all ages, from students in
their twenties to people past standard retirement ages. The occupations covered
a wide spectrum of services from standard ones such as accounting, law, real
estate and finance to more personal ones such as business coaches of all kinds
and media experts as well as some unique ones. I was the only translator there,
which is good. As this was in Jerusalem, many religious businesspeople also
attended, also reflecting Israeli reality. The common goal, to market oneself,
unified a very diverse audience.
In terms of actual marketing, every attendee
introduced himself/herself multiple times, which, in effect, helped the
participants understand and fine-tune their marketing, not sales, message.
During a short lecture and workshop on presenting oneself, the importance of
short and clear messages, including what makes a person or business special, was
highlighted. As the day progressed, each participant began dropping the
generalized description of the occupation and went directly to the
distinguishing element and how that has helped their customers in the past. For
example, one financial advisor briefly explained how his company had helped a
client arrange the current and future financial needs of his children while an
interior director explained how she had renovated a house to allow full access
to a recently handicapped person. This method has the double advantage of
clearly expressing the competitive advantage of that individual while avoiding
“sales talk shutoff” since the person is telling an interesting story, not
trying to persuade you to buy something. It was amazing how deep and effective
a one-minute message could be.
Thus, speed marketing is an effective method, helping
both the speaker and listener. Its financial payback derives not only from
direct sales but from referrals from the attendees. Participants listen, learn
and gain an impression of a large number of potential contacts within a short
period of time. In many cases, the freelancers would have find these contacts
using standard marketing methods, especially if they live far away. It is a
great opportunity to meet a great diversity of potential contacts and learn the
power of brevity. In short, the ESN event crossed all the T’s, notably opportunity, diversity and brevity, even while
dotting all the I’s.
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