Networking with a Marketing Plan

Networking with a Marketing Plan ShareShare1 Heres a technique that can make networking less stressful and more successful: using a Personal Marketing Plan to start upbeat, productive conversations. In my last post Networking: Organizations vs. Openings, I discussed the importance of focusing your networking on gathering information about your target companies or organizations. To guide you in doing this, create a document like this sample: Joe Jobseeker (Contact information) MARKETING PLAN Regional Sales Manager Seasoned Manager and Sales Consultant in construction and energy management with experience as Regional Manager for Fortune 500 energy firm and as Owner / President of startup (grew to $200K by second year) (etc. but keep it short!) Competencies: Energy Management | Team Leadership | (etc.) | (etc.) | (etc.) | (etc.) | (etc.) Position Sought / Criteria Position Sought: Regional Sales ManagerIndustry: EnergySize: Large Fortune 500 company, or green energy company of any size over 100 employeesLocation: East Bay, South Bay, San Francisco; or Denver, CO area Target Organizations: ABC Big Energy Green Innovators, Inc. (etc. about 50 organizations) Then use this document in the following ways: To focus your networking efforts. Your goal is to gather information and contacts that can help you get a job in any of these companies. To help your networking partners see how they can help you. If you tell me Im looking for a job, I have no idea how to help you. If you tell me, Im looking for a job as a sales manager in a large energy company in the Bay Area or Denver, now I know what kinds of information to search for in my mind and my address book. To refer to when asking for a meeting. Ive written a marketing plan for my job search, including a lists of organizations Im interested in, and I wanted to show it to you and get your reaction to it. Can I buy you lunch or a cup of coffee on Friday? You may find that this opening line gets a better response than others. Its very low-pressure; your contact knows theyre only being asked for their reaction to something you have prepared. This approach can make networking less nervewracking and more productive. And your contacts are more likely to remember you, since theyve had a more complete introduction to you and what youre looking for. In my next post, Networking with a Marketing Plan #2, Ill provide very useful tips for using this method. To ensure you dont miss it, you may want to subscribe to my blog. Networking with a Marketing Plan ShareShare1 Heres a technique that can make networking less stressful and more successful: using a Personal Marketing Plan to start upbeat, productive conversations. In my last post Networking: Organizations vs. Openings, I discussed the importance of focusing your networking on gathering information about your target companies or organizations. To guide you in doing this, create a document like this sample: Joe Jobseeker (Contact information) MARKETING PLAN Regional Sales Manager Seasoned Manager and Sales Consultant in construction and energy management with experience as Regional Manager for Fortune 500 energy firm and as Owner / President of startup (grew to $200K by second year) (etc. but keep it short!) Competencies: Energy Management | Team Leadership | (etc.) | (etc.) | (etc.) | (etc.) | (etc.) Position Sought / Criteria Position Sought: Regional Sales ManagerIndustry: EnergySize: Large Fortune 500 company, or green energy company of any size over 100 employeesLocation: East Bay, South Bay, San Francisco; or Denver, CO area Target Organizations: ABC Big Energy Green Innovators, Inc. (etc. about 50 organizations) Then use this document in the following ways: To focus your networking efforts. Your goal is to gather information and contacts that can help you get a job in any of these companies. To help your networking partners see how they can help you. If you tell me Im looking for a job, I have no idea how to help you. If you tell me, Im looking for a job as a sales manager in a large energy company in the Bay Area or Denver, now I know what kinds of information to search for in my mind and my address book. To refer to when asking for a meeting. Ive written a marketing plan for my job search, including a lists of organizations Im interested in, and I wanted to show it to you and get your reaction to it. Can I buy you lunch or a cup of coffee on Friday? You may find that this opening line gets a better response than others. Its very low-pressure; your contact knows theyre only being asked for their reaction to something you have prepared. This approach can make networking less nervewracking and more productive. And your contacts are more likely to remember you, since theyve had a more complete introduction to you and what youre looking for. In my next post, Networking with a Marketing Plan #2, Ill provide very useful tips for using this method. To ensure you dont miss it, you may want to subscribe to my blog.