I’ve been incommunicada for a few days due to the Colorado Translators Association‘s marketing seminar which we held over the weekend. Judy Jenner of Twin Translations did a fantastic job as the featured presenter, and we had a really interesting panel in the afternoon with people from various sectors of the industry: Adam Asnes of Lingoport, Japanese to English translator Chris Blakeslee and Beatriz Bonnet of Syntes Language Group.
I’ll write a more complete post about the seminar later (let’s just say that the marketing to-do list inspired by the seminar is a mile long!), but I did want to pass along a really interesting site that Adam and Beatriz both recommended: Sales Caffeine. Written by Jeffrey Gitomer, it’s a free e-newsletter featuring “fresh brew for your brain.” Admittedly the author’s material is, well, salesy. However, I really like the fundamentals of his outlook on entrepreneurship: in a bad economy you have three choices about how to handle your business. You can a) do nothing b) complain or c) do something. And he’s correct, right? The issue of Sales Caffeine that I just received (#389) focuses on how to create the best scenario for you and your clients in a down economy. Some of these tips are definitely for people who are more on the direct selling end of things, but even for those of us who are peddling words and ideas instead of siding or cars, I think that they hold true. Gitomer advises that in order to keep your business strong in a weak economy, you need to “be the person that others talk about in a positive way when you’re not there,” and “help your customers find customers and resources,” which I heartily agree with. Check it out!
Thanks for the kind words about my presentation. I meant to check out Sales Caffeine as well, and now I really will. I am not a natural salesperson at all, so I am sure I can learn a thing or two and just skip whatever is too “salesy” (great term!) for me.
Those two last pieces of advice are excellent.