I’m a huge believer in spreading your lead sources as wide as possible while keeping them affordable.

Using sponsored links on search engines is a widely used method of generating low-cost leads, as is networking. I’ve been involved in networking groups for years and thoroughly recommend networking as a great source of business. The trap is that too may people look for business from the other group members rather than looking beyond to the people they know.

For many small business owners and salespeople, their anxiety to make a sale comes across and has a negative effect on their purpose and reputation.

As with everything in marketing, there is always a better way, and working a room and gaining word of mouth promotion and referrals is a learnable skill.

My mate Martin Russell has a great book on the topic and I’d recommend it to you as a valuable tool in developing this skill.

Find out about Martin’s book, and why well-known marketers like Jay Abraham and Robert Allen regard Word of Mouth as a vital cog in your marketing arsenal here. The book’s content is excellent and Martin is one of the best networkers I know.

James.

Hello, I’m James Yuille, and I’d like to welcome you to “Coffee with mediaglue” This is the first of what I intend to be weekly posts with observations, hints and tips about business, marketing and websites.

And what better way to start than with a story about coffee, or, more precisely, about The Coffee Club.

Any Brisbanite will tell you about The Coffee Club; a hugely successful franchised coffee shop / café chain with stores everywhere. The coffee is good, the venues are generally very conveniently located, and their advertising catch phrase, “Meet you at The Coffee Club” is brilliant. It’s almost as Queensland as “Make it a Fourex, Mate!”

I digress…

Last Thursday I went to a morning tea networking event put on by the Brisbane Inner West Chamber of Commerce. It was held at The Coffee Club on Given Terrace, Paddington. Although I live in the inner Western Suburbs, Paddington isn’t on my regular schedule, so this venue was new to me.

On arrival, I paid a fee of $5 which bought me a cup of coffee. After meeting and mingling, we sat down for the usual Infomercial session and then were served with a delightful array of juice,  pancakes, scones and savouries. All for just $5.

Surely $5 didn’t cover what we were served? Most likely not, but let’s look at this a little more closely…

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