Connecting with potential clients

One of the hardest things that business owners and entrepreneurs find difficult is connecting with their market place. Small businesses do not have unlimited budgets to get their name out in the public domain.

I remember last year Peter Jones on the Dragons' Den, lambasting one of punters for only having a £5000 annual budget for his product. Peter Jones said that he can blow £80,000 in a day on marketing.

That said, we should not be deterred by Peter Jones, but we should strive one day to be as well-heeled as he clearly is. But how do we make those all important connections?

For the small businessman, it's important to play the percentages. Which organisations can introduce you to your target market demographic?

Ecademy is one of the most established social networks for business. Although it's an international business network, there are opportunities to message like-minded contacts and there are regular face-to-face network meetings in and around London and the South-East. Basic membership is free but there is also a paid subscription which introduces additional benefits.

BusinessLink is a good organisation to join. Again, it runs regular workshops on business issues, like taxation, marketing, exporting etc. There are always opportunities to network at these events. Meeting face to face, without any pressure on either party, is an excellent method of establishing who you would like to work with. Membership is free and they contact you via email on forthcoming events.

Each town usually has a small business club which meets about once per month. Usually, each meeting has a speaker (delivering on a hot business topic) and a networking session where people get together over drinks and light refreshments. There is usually a small annual subscription for this type of club.

Each town also usually has a small business breakfast club which meets once per week. This is a big commitment for small businesses, but certainly worth consideration. The network exists to generate business leads for other members in the group. Word of mouth recommendations and referals are the least inexpensive form of marketing. All it costs is the price of a cooked breakfast in a well appointed hotel.