GetReal, GetGoing: Meet Your Neighbors!

Now that the pandemic is subsiding, more of my clients are opting to abandon Zoom in favor of face-to-face sessions at my office. As the businesses around me open up again too, it’s been fun to reconnect with owners and employees at my favorite local restaurants and shops. In many cases our friendships stem from when I first moved in and was getting my practice off the ground: I made it a point to go out in the area surrounding my office and walk in, introduce myself, and give a gift basket to every business with an open door. The baskets, filled with brochures, muffins, chocolates, and business cards, were a great ice-breaker and opportunity to make an initial connection. 

I got this idea from the book Getting Business to Come to You: A Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Attracting All the Business You Can Enjoy by Paul and Sarah Edwards and Laura Clampitt Douglas. The book’s 1998 publishing date makes it dated now—especially when it comes to advice involving technology!—but I found that this particular strategy, which they called “Walk Around the Neighborhood” marketing, was well worth my effort. Some of the people I met became referral sources while others gave me suggestions for other people to reach out to. I also took the baskets to local churches and schools.  Some of those organizations are also still active referral sources to this day. 

And work aside, introducing myself and  greeting my office neighbors often resulted in lovely interactions and over time, my initial sociability resulted in having several familiar and friendly faces near my work, which is a real plus in a profession that can sometimes be isolating. 

So today’s business-building advice is: Be friendly! People will usually welcome someone from a nearby business saying hi and letting them know about the services they provide. As a corollary, when you drop by, also be curious! Learn about the other businesses in your office neighborhood too. It’s valuable to know who’s doing what in your community and maybe send some business their way, too.

You can learn more about how to network in an organic way, and how to hone a natural-sounding message by reading Chapter 8 of my book, GetReal, GetGOING: The Definitive Roadmap to Starting the Private Practice of Your Dreams.