Selling Yourself: Making Money with DV
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Dog And Pony Shows
We seek and accept chances to give "dog and pony shows" whenever we can. For any kind of group that will have us, we'll put on an especially tailored and adjusted short presentation. The audience will view you immediately as an acknowledged expert in your field. Somebody "hired" you for this gig. Right?
I believe the most effective presentations start with showing the group some short tape, with almost no intro, and then making a very few highly relevant comments before asking for questions from the floor. Involving your audience actively immediately galvanizes them. Keeps them alert and paying attention. Have the nerve to do this. It works.
Let them guide the rest of the presentation by their questions. They will guide the discussion towards what they want to know. There is no better way to keep their interest than by telling them what they want to know -- and not necessarily what you came planning to say. Plan on staying long after the meeting, seemingly puttering slowly while wrapping your gear. Be casual and approachable while you wrap. No rush. No intrusion. PUT DOWN your junk if somebody comes up to you. That will signal him that he's more important than your efforts at wrapping. You're in no rush....
Remember, the giving of the presentation in the first place was "the presentation of the bait", The question time was "playing the lure" to make it live in the fish's mind, and the guy who buttonholes you after the meeting with his special question is the very reason you came! One deft, small, snappy jerk on your fishing line and you "boat" him. Set up a meeting at hisplace or yours tomorrow -- don't let much time pass -- and you'll get a contract. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, his specific question is unimportant. He just wants to meet you. Forget wrapping your junk. Meet him.
Part of the value of short presentations is that they leave plenty of time for questions, and plenty of time to meet the people. Almost everybody who gives such D & P shows talks much too long about things that interest only themselves. Be different. The very best advice ever given about knowing when you're losing your audience is in the movie "Mass Appeal", starring Jack Lemon. Go rent it. You'll never forget the lesson.
Some Tips On Giving a Presentation
Don't give one. Deny it's a "presentation". Insist it's just a few informal remarks about your field, that you hope the audience will find useful. People hate pomposity, and the very term, "presentation" starts to induce yawns.
I always admit to a group at the very beginning that I don't speak to groups very often, and to please bear with me if I seem a bit nervous. Then I remind myself to breathe regularly. This takes the pressure off me to be The Great Professor Harold Hill. I can just be plain old imperfect awkward me. I work from very brief 3x5 card shirt-pocket notes. Never more than one card. You didn't come to read aloud a paper to them .... Ask them leading questions from the very beginning. Involve them. Call on a specific person with a softball question that they can hit out of the park. Everybody will sit up a little straighter. You might call on them!
I move around the room as I speak. Never allow yourself to get planted behind a lectern. Let the other stiffs use it. You are the communications expert. You get personally in touch with your audience. Get close. Watch Phil Donahue or Bill Clinton do this. It's such a transparent gimmick. But it works.
If you need a mike, the group is too big. Speak up, and you'll be all right -- except in the very biggest of rooms. Me, I've never been called on to do a really big room. I'd probably turn it down. With a too-big group you'll get mobbed at the end, and nobody will get quality time to schmooze.
We've given lots of these things over the years. I don't remember one ever where a client didn't result -- not just a job, a client. Many jobs over time. They never happened immediately. But at some point, every single dog and pony show has paid off handsomely.
Teach A Seminar
Teach a small, semi-private seminar. I never learn so much about a subject as when I prepare to teach something about it to others. Something like, "Developing Effective Use Of Advanced Video Production Methods In Improving High Technology Product Sales".
Position it to inform National Sales Managers as to how they can flog the hell out of their existing video supplier to do better work. It just might occur to them that maybe they should give you a shot at bidding on their next one -- right along with that existing supplier. Or, better still, it may spontaneously occur to him that maybe you should help them develop the show's script. The seminar must have plenty of "insider" real, and usable, content. It must be truly valuable. It may cause your friendly competitors some small distress. Sorry. Nothing personal. Just solid, truthful content. Be open. Suggest a seminar title they might teach.....
Name, Rank, And Serial Number -- -Only
DON'T MARKET OR SELL TO YOUR COMPETITION! This is an easy trap to fall into. Chances are you belong to a professional group. Good. By all means support your local professional group. It can do some very, very useful things for you. By all means take small "institutional" ads in your local group's newsletters. This benefits everybody. And it won't hurt referrals.
But as far as your specific business activities are concerned, stay at periscope depth, rigged for silent running, as far as telling all your competitors what you're up to. Let 'em find out when they lose a bid to you. Skip submitting to the "NewsyTidBits" column in that pro group newsletter. Often, your arch-competition will show up suddenly in your most prized client's outer office. Although this should never be a real problem. You're taking such good care of that client (see: "Quality Sales") that there is literally no crack wide enough for them to get through except by super cut rates. Right?
Don't be paranoid; but do be discrete.
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