How do I get in front of the right people to share what my business does?
I'm a 22 year old mobile marketer and QR designer. I can create artistic branded qr codes for musicians, mobile app companies, and other mobile based companies.
How do I go about getting in touch with the right people to show them what I can do? I've tried e-mails, post cards and other ways of getting people's attention. I simply need a chance to get in front of people to show them what I can do. I know what to say I just don't know how to get in front of the right people.
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Thru marketing and sales process. There is direct marketing mentioned below. Maybe you could setup some deal with marketing agency, so they have more customers, and maybe better paying, also I would max the website potential by telling how much is one picture, and make order form or quote form. – Andrew Smith 12 years ago
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Hello Andrew, I was actually looking into different marketing agencies, but more so overseas since they have a history of using the codes. Appreciate the advice. – Qrezy 12 years ago
3 Answers
You've created something very cool!! You mention emails, postcards and other ways. Have you tried calling them? With a real person-to-person phone call?
This is a quick tactic I'd try (and you might already have). I'd make branded QR codes for fortune 500 companies, put your art QR code on a postcard (no need to open an envelope to see the message), and send 10-15 of them per company, to various key executives (the ones listed on the companies' websites + the top VPs listed on Linkedin). Explain how QR codes work on the postcard, have people try it with their own phone, make the QR code a link to a landing page on your site, and tell visitors what cool QR codes could do for them. I think you'll have a lot better chances with large corporations first, and then music artists and other startups. Besides, a large fortune 500 might pay 100K for just the QR code; and that'd buy you some time for expansion.
Keep in mind that the bread and butter of business is the phone. I would also reconsider your definition of "the right people"; may be there's more to it. For starters, the right people listen. So keep looking.
PS: I think your site is too slow to load, but I understand why. I'd rebuild the mechanism to load the pictures so that you're only loading one picture initially for a quick page rendering, and then load more with ajax after the initial rendering is complete.
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Please refrain from posting website feedback in an answer, as it is [against site policy](http://answers.onstartups.com/faq) and distracts from the real question at hand. If you would like to take the time to provide such feedback, you can 1) pull the conversation into our chat room if the other person has at least 20 rep, 2) leave it as a comment, 3) contact the person directly via the information provided in their profile. Thanks! – Zuly Gonzalez 12 years ago
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Thank very much Frenchie. Your right I should at least attempt to pull in the bigger companies and I should call more companies. I appreciate the advice! – Qrezy 12 years ago
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Alright, good with your business. I think you've got something that'll sell! – Frenchie 12 years ago
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@ZulyGonzalez in this case I think it's acceptable. Frenchie is speaking to the fact that the "right people" are ones with very little patience/time on their hands. I think this is relevant to converting potentials into valid customers. – John Z 12 years ago
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@JohnZ I was referring to the P.S. portion of the answer, which is added as an after thought and is not part of the answer (i.e. the site loads slowly). That was not in reference to the right people; it was a separate, unrelated thought. If someone wants to be nice enough to provide website feedback, that's fine. The point is that it doesn't belong in an answer. There are better mechanisms available for that. – Zuly Gonzalez 12 years ago
From your question it isn't clear who "the right people" are....or why you want to show them what you can do. You probably have a good idea of who you want to talk to and why but I don't. So assuming you know who you are targeting and why here is some generic advice....
1) Warm intro's are best...
This means getting a referral from a mutual acquaintance. If you don't have a mutual acquaintance make one. Get to know someone who knows your target, earn their trust and respect, to get the referral you want. This takes time.
2) Use social media to make a connection
This also takes time. Follow their blog, post interesting and valuable comments. Follow them on twitter. Retweet their tweets. ETC. Then when you send an email or a tweet asking for something you are a "known" . Also, takes time.
3) If/When you send an email - cold or warm - keep it really, really short....and
Put your ask in the subject line! For example I did a social media button t-shirt a while back...Here is my subject line "May I use your social media button icon on a t-shirt?" It's smack yourself in the head with a two by four obvious but it worked for me with Posterous, Bebo, Behance, etc...
There's a lot more to it and not everything works all the time but those are really good starting points. Good luck.
have you considered creating a dribbble page? Submitted an article about customized QR codes to any of the design web newsletters (smashing magazine / webdesigner depot, and that ilk)? IMHO, It would seem that agencies would want to combine their project with your qr code more than a company would just go to you for a qr code.
