I’ve been talking to various people today, and I wanted to point out the huge contrast between a couple of them. First, let’s talk about one of the calls I tried to make, from contacts I made at a business mixer this week. I picked up a copy of my card (yes, this person had no card), with a name and number scrawled on the back, and it went to voicemail.

Except it didn’t.

The message was “this customer has not yet initiated their voicemail service. When you speak to this customer, please remind them that they need to configure their voicemail.”

Wow. There’s a marketing impression.

Now, I know stuff happens. There’s probably no marketing sin that I haven’t committed at some time, I’ve just learned better in some cases. It’s easy to overlook details, but having your voicemail set up is a good basic to get out of the way. If you haven’t already grabbed it, the free Small Business Marketing Self-Assessment does remind you to check that you have a clear phone message (or phone reception) set up. Plus over 40 other things to check.

Now here’s the contrast. I email and phone Earl, who’s managed to give me not one but TWO of his business cards at the same mixer (good job, Earl!). Earl would like to hone his marketing presentations, so he’s offering to present to my Weekly Marketing small business marketing groups. Now Earl is a professional, and he knows that I’m going to be cautious about who offers information to my customers, so he offers up a sample video of himself teaching the topics my clients need to learn – Internet Marketing on a Budget. Earl talks about building traffic, taking action, and the sales funnel. Earl’s presentation is really good, so I’m sharing it with you.

“If your website is a giant, glorified brochure, or worse yet a giant, glorified business card, it’s time to change it.”

– Earl Flormata
www.eflormata.com
www.buddhaboard.com

MSA 2011 Earl Flormata Proposal by Buddha Board. from Earl Flormata on Vimeo.

There’s a huge difference in the preparation level of these two entrepreneurs. Which would you rather do business with?

About the author

Karilee

I'm a big fan of entrepreneurship. Most of my learning, teaching and business is focused on effectively creating "freedom businesses" that allow you to focus on your strengths, and bring what you're really good at to the world - profitably. My clients are looking for more of the right customers - and I show them how to make that happen. I help them develop their web presence through their website, SEO, social media and other marketing tactics.