LXer Feature:Survival Guide For Women In FOSS: Drumming Up Customers

Drumming Up Business

We don't want to do that. Here are the things you don't do:

1. Go door to door
2. Launch a big advertising campaign
3. Spam

For a small businessperson, whether you're a lone freelancer, or have a small staff or partners, the key to being happy is to carefully select your customers. That's right, you don't go around hat in hand, tugging the forelock, going all suckup to beg for any business you can get. Target the people or businesses you want to be your customers. There are some jobs you simply should not take, and you'll know which ones these are, just listen to your gut. Don't be afraid to say no and refer them to someone else. It's tempting when you're starting out to take any job you can get. But a bad one will come back to bite you in so many ways you'll wish you had sold your blood to buy food, or gone begging, or eaten leaves and roots, instead.

How do you do this? In the most natural, easy way possible: by building a wide network of contacts and getting to know a lot of people. Networking is everything.

Networking Your Way To The Top

Then work up a 30-second pitch. Tell all these people, except the ones that you think suck and don't want to talk to, that you're open for business, what you do in 25 words or less, and you want either their business or their referrals. Give the ones that are receptive a half-dozen business cards.

The next step is to join groups. Community support is very important, so find some kind of volunteer service to do. Be careful and selective with this, because volunteer work can grow out of control and eat your life. You want to pick something that you can sustain over the long haul, and not get burned out on.

Business networking groups are OK, and you should have one in the mix, but I think you're better off joining groups centered around activities that you like: hiking, sailing, bird watching, stamp collecting, quilting, bowling, softball- you get the idea. Then you'll be doing activities that you enjoy, forming relationships based on common interests, and mingling with real people who aren't trying to sell you stuff. You'll get to know them, they'll get to know you, and then you'll be able to make informed suggestions. Like when the local banker is griping about "danged system locked up hard twice, and corporate support is more useless than feet on fish," you have a perfect opening to say "Maybe I can help you. Can we sit down and discuss a couple of ideas?"

Don't be afraid to say "I'm giving you my business. How about giving me a chance to earn yours?" After all, good business is give-and-take, and you should give your business to the businesspeople and professionals who support you.

All Business Decisions Are Based On Relationships

Sure, there are occasional exceptions to the rule, but it works. Most of your customers are completely uninterested in the technical details of what you do, and for deities' sake shut up about that stuff unless you are 100% positive they really want to know- they just want results, and they want to be confident in you personally. This means don't dither and speculate and blather on about the defects in their system and all the things that can go wrong- tell them "I can do this, it will work fine, and you will be happy." They want reassurance and confidence, not excessive details. Focus on results. Don't tell the intricate details of setting up automatic security downloading and patching, for example; what they need to hear is "I will set this up so that it automatically keeps itself updated with the latest security fixes, and I will monitor it at our agreed-upon intervals, and you won't have to worry about a thing."

I bet you're already thinking "That's the way I talk to people!" Good. Keep doing it. Women techs sometimes think they need to aspire to the geek stereotype of the obnoxious scruffy listening-impaired know-it-all. Well no, you don't. Social skills and courtesy are definitely the right way to go. I don't know how such a negative stereotype became the face of tech, but it's not true for the majority of women and men that I've met, and it doesn't work.

Reputation

Business Card Strategies

-Name
-Business name
-Phone number
-Email address and Web site, if you have one
-Physical or mailing address. Include your city, state, country, and postal code, because in these here Internet days you never know how far your name will travel
-Short descriptive phrase that tells what the heck you do

My business cards are simple. I make my own, which you can do IF you have a good-quality printer and can get good card stock from the office supply. If you have a crappy printer, spend a few bucks at your local business services shop (Kinko's, Staples, what-have-you) and use their good printers. I put a slightly modified Tux on mine because the little guy always brings a smile to people's faces, and Larry Ewing, Tux's creator, generously gave permission to let anyone use Tux. (Google on "Tux gallery" and see what other people have done.)

The copy is simple: Carla Schroder, Ace Computer Goddess. Plain English Spoken Here, followed by contact information. On the back I have a list of services. People remember it, and generally respond positively.

When you're designing your business card, make it OCR (optical card reader) scannable. A lot of folks scan business cards into contact-managers, so make it nice and machine-readable.

Your business card is meant to be used to help people remember you after they have met you. It can't do all of your marketing for you, though it is an important piece. Never ever count on people remembering- give them the card.

Business Name Strategies

Naturally I won't stand in the way of anyone who wants to call their business "XMeh{;", or something equally opaque- that's your choice. Because you have a second chance to tell people what you do with your slogan: "XMeh{; - Dependable, Powerful Supply Chain and Point-of-Sale Technology."

Remember to look at your business from your customer's viewpoint- from this perspective flows wise decisions.

Gearing Up For The Long Haul

Our next fabulous installment of "Survival Guide For Women In FOSS" will cover more kewl stuff like we've been doing. Watch this spot!