For a year now I have, through sheer grit and determination, grown my business English Speaking Networking.
Honestly, when I first started the business - almost a year ago, eek… I had thought sales would be fairly easy. Here’s the thing - I know networking works - it’s how I grew my very own copywriting business all those years ago. Even now, I still get a referral once a month from a connection back in good ol’ Blighty.
More than that, and I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - I do believe I offer the best English speaking networking in all of Israel (I’d argue the best networking in the entirety of my new home country, but language barriers mean my experiences are fairly limited…)
However, it wasn't quite as easy as I had first thought. The problem is that people here were used to free networking, or they didn’t understand the concept at all. They wondered what this overenthusiastically British girl with too many curls was on about. That being said I am awfully close to 60 members, so for your edification, I thought I would review the sales funnels I have used, and what has worked for me, starting with the least to the most successful.
Paid Mediums
Now, there are a number of media channels that are aimed at the Anglo community exclusively - circulars and mail outs alike. The most well-known would be Janglo and Torah Tidbits, neither of which I have advertised with, though I have heard good reviews in the business community about Torah Tidbits and I do plan on investing there post seger.
That being said, of the various mailing lists and circulars for which I have paid for, I have only ever had one new member. So far, so not good.
With all of these circulars you do need to be advertising consistently - four or five times in a row to see any form of return. A fact hindered by the fact that many of them are extremely expensive - I’m looking at you Janglo. That being said - they are a great way to increase your brand awareness and for B2C - I think they are a very good option.
2. Instagram
Now, I have invested outrageous amounts of money on my Instagram - on training and photoshoots. However, my Instagram account @networkwithhelena was never really about gaining new members for ESN. Although I have gained two as well as a handful of visitors. For me, Instagram is part of a long term strategy. I am hoping to do more and more paid speaking gigs and I suspect that having a robust and serious Instagram following will help support me in this particular endeavour. Also, to be honest, I want people to send me free shit #sorrynotsorry. That being said it’s nice to see it bringing in new members and rather justifies my little vanity side project.
3. Facebook
Something I have started doing only recently is searching on Facebook groups for example - Insurance agents in Hertzliya - and inviting them along to a meeting. I have to be honest when I first tried this out I really didn’t think it would work at all. If I’m really honest I thought I would get a lot of F**k you, but surprisingly it has been a fantastic way to gain new members (and visitors actually.) Most people are fairly receptive and, even the nos have been inordinately polite. Having spoken to other business owners I know I’m not alone in using this tactic, and I do recommend giving it a go - that being said I’m not convinced it would work outside of Israel where Facebook is considered an extension of your professional page.
4. LinkedIn
Now, when I say LinkedIn - I use LinkedIn sales navigator for which I pay a pretty penny per month. Now, whilst LinkedIn can be incredibly glitchy, which certainly includes Sales Navigator, it’s inordinately good at allowing you to be very specific about your search - narrowing down geography, title, headcount etc. This useful tool has allowed me to reach out to a fair number of business owners and converted a decent amount. In truth, whilst it goes against everything most advisors would say on LinkedIn - I simply copy and paste a template (whilst watching something mindless on Netflix) which has worked fairly well the past year. Certainly, it’s been worth the investment and also means I now have 22,000 connections.
5. Facebook Ads
I have to be honest I have very little to do with the implementation of this marketing strategy. I paid an expert and off we went. Now, whilst certainly, Facebook Ads have worked - they are incredibly expensive ($10 a day) and for the past few weeks I have had 0 leads from them - this is a pattern I often see, famine followed by feast. I also wonder if my lack of knowledge means I’m unable to truly understand what’s even going on and if they could be used far more effectively. But, still they are almost at the top so, overall, a thumbs up from me.
6. Social Media/Networking
Last, but by no means least is social media. By this I mean that I have a number of members that I met at networking events before I even started ESN or who I ‘met’ on social media and were, finally, convinced to come along due to my persistent posting on Facebook and LinkedIn. I was actually quite surprised that this came in top place. Often, I wonder why on earth I spend so long on my social media strategy, but it was a little gratifying to see that it’s not a total waste of my time.
Before I sign off and implore you all to follow me on Instagram, I would like to add that for all of these sales, the original lead may have come through one particular medium. But, for 80% of new members they didn’t simply join after the first meeting, I then had to call them, remind them, convince them. There was still a ruddy lot of hard work that went on before converting them to a paying member. Ultimately sales isn’t about how you get the lead, but what you do with them once they enter your pipeline.
In my case that is chasing whilst always being polite and respectful. I will call, but space out those phone calls. And when I receive a 'no' I accept that for what it is.
This means that more than once, a member has visited my group and joined much much later.
Though, in truth, I do think my British accent helps - even when I'm swearing I do sound terribly polite.
What are your best sales tactics? What works for you?
And for some more content all about being a business owner, oleh and woman in Israel feel free to follow me @networkwithhelena
