IT marketing requires knowing lots of people and getting them to trust you. One way to do this is by joining and becoming active in a couple different types of organizations. In this article you'll learn the three different kinds of organizations that most computer consulting businesses do really well in.
Don't join more than one of each, but look at each of these categories and figure out where your best fit is.
o General Business Organization
This could be a chamber of commerce. This could be Rotary or Kiwanis. It could be a group like Le Tip or BNI or a lead club. The whole idea here is it's not really targeted by industry or occupation. It's just a group where you're going to find a lot of other small business owners and managers.
o User Group.
If you find that your store wants to specialize in installing Windows-based networks, you may want to look around for a Windows server type of user group. If you have someone on staff that wants to specialize in security, you may want to look for a security user group. This allows you to go out and meet people who have similar interests that are either consultants or like-minded IT professionals.
o Targeted Business Organizations/Trade Groups
This category represents the clients you are seeking after. If it is in the medical field, you may be looking at medical organizations. Find out what kind of events are coming up, if there's an expo, and if there's a newsletter that you should be reading.
IT Marketing: Become Part of a Niche
The whole thing with IT marketing by way of referrals is becoming more active. The more you can become part of a niche, the higher the quality of referrals. Remember, this is a people business. It's about who you know. It's not what you know.
Of course, when you're selling technical services such as LANs and WANs and Wi-Fi and security and VPNs and client server database development and web-based applications, you must have technical expertise.
IT Marketing: It's about Relationships
But what's going to make or break your IT marketing relationships isn't going to be how strong your technical skills are. Even if your technical skills are really just mediocre, relationships will get you through - relationships with partners, relationships with subcontractors, relationships with other vendors that you can cross-refer work to, and by all means, relationships with people who can send business your way.
The Bottom Line on IT Marketing
Personal referrals are great for your IT marketing efforts. To get more referrals, you need to know more people. So join organizations in different categories and see more referrals through your IT marketing.