I do a lot of bass and trout fishing around the country and up in Canada. One thing I learned early on is that no matter what type of fishing I do, I'll catch more fish if I concentrate my efforts in an area where I know there are fish, rather wasting my time fishing all over the lake or stream.

The same holds true when it comes to cultivating business: 80% of your marketing dollars ought to be spent prospecting those who know you and who have confidence in your business ability, rather than on "fishing blind." Today, that means two sources: your Sphere of Influence and the 10% of the sales associates out there who are doing 90% of the business. Here are a couple of tips for using today's technology to reach the latter group, top sales associates in your area and around the country.

First, ask local heavy hitters if you can send them a multimedia presentation via email whenever you get a "hot" listing. Create a PhotoShare multimedia presentation or a Picture Works NetCard and attach it to an email sent to these folks. Oh: don't send a blanket emailing to all members of your association. Those who haven't caught on to the value of using today's technology to capture market share either ignore your marketing effort or, worse, will send you a nasty email in return telling you not to send any more. Go figure!

Second, "fish" smart when you go to local or national meetings. You'll find a number of top sales associates present, so come prepared with promotional materials that will have an impact on those you give them to. Distribute a special brochure created in Microsoft Publisher or PREP Presentations. Have a multimedia slide show of your area and your services ready to give out on disk, nicely labled. Again, PhotoShare is the software of choice for doing this.

Finally, remember the power of your Web site. If you've got a good site, one that you can modify at will, you can put up some special material geared to the group attending the meeting. You can get attendees to your site to see the material via a special business card or brochure printed solely for the meeting, a multimedia presentation given out on disk or emailed, a follow-up personalized email to the group using WorldMerge or Outlook, etc.

In short, don't go to your meetings empty-handed as so many do, and don't waste your marketing dollars on folks who won't maximize your prospecting efforts.

Fish where the fish are!

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