If you work with Internet consulting, it’s likely that most of the business you do is online. Most clients who already are web savvy enough to get online and go hunting for the help they need to make their businesses a success won’t necessarily require you to meet in person. In fact, the beauty of working online is that it means that you can expand your clientele to around the world. Even if you live in Texas, there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t be able to work with clients in Singapore or South Africa or anywhere in between. The only limit is time zones!
However, if you’re reading this article, it means that you’re interested in trying to network with a different genre of client, the ones who are not yet on the Internet. Even for people who are offline that would like to make the switch to a virtual marketplace might not necessarily have the skills or the equipment to work with you over the Internet.
This is all well and good – as a consultant you’ll be able to instruct those who are unsure of how Internet marketing works and help them get the virtual presence that’s all but required of businesses in the modern era. The trouble is that with offline customers, you’ll often have to make the first steps in an offline fashion. Which, essentially, means getting back to basics and wooing clients the old fashioned way.
If you’re looking to make a dent in the offline consulting world, as yourself an honest question: are you comfortable with meeting clients face to face? With so many methods of communication available through the Internet these days, it’s not surprising that many who work in online marketing never eve see the people that they’re working with. But if you’re looking to recruit clients from a group of people who might not even have personal computers, you’ll have a bit of a hard time doing business with them over the Internet. This means that you’ll need to brush up on your social interviewing skills – as well as your ability to schmooze in person. Remember those networking classes you took in high school and college? Now is the time to put them to work!
Some of the necessities for those who are looking to work with offline clients include reliable transportation, a good wardrobe, and emergency plans for things like childcare. IF you’re working with clients face to face, you have to be able to carve out time in your schedule to attend only to them. Many who work virtually have forgotten about these basic business tenants – but if you want to transition back to the offline world in order to find clients, your business practices will have to make that transition as well!
