Networking at events attended by your target market can be a good way to make some nice introductions and start gently spreading the word about your products and services. There is a bit of art to this and plenty of bad examples evoking the worst used car stereotypes imaginable.

Keep these simple rules in mind and you will be fine
1) Think, what am I here to give
2) Speak only to educate – don’t sell anything

Scott Ginsberg, also known as the name tag guy, has some great tools on his website for making the art of relationship building a little more fun, particularly for those that aren’t naturally comfortable with it.

His free ebook – 55 Questions to Ask Someone You Just Met is a real winner, and quite frankly, possesses some gems to ask people you already know – like your existing clients.

Another tool Scott uses is something he calls My Card. When he meets someone who has forgotten to carry their business card he whips out a blank My Card and records their information, then he gives them some to use as well. Good stuff, lighten up and go meet someone.

Everybody wants great marketing results overnight, the magic answer, the secret. Here’s the problem – there is no secret and there is no quick fix. I assume you intend to be in business for the long haul, so plan on taking the right steps, in an appropriate order, to get marketing results for the long haul. Do that and you will look up at the end of the year and find you’ve actually built a solid marketing foundation.

Don’t just attempt to throw money and resources at your marketing to get a faster result. It’s a little like birthing a baby I guess. You can’t take nine women and have a baby in a month. It’s a logical progression with one step after the other. Many small business owners could benefit from using a marketing calendar as their primary marketing planning tool. The idea is to keep doing something related to marketing, according to plan, month in and month out.

When you plan your marketing activities using a calendar, your focus tends to be on the long term goal, the due date if you will, rather than on the overwhelming realization that you have lots to do.

Here’s a marketing calendar I use with clients. Download it and send it to your local Kinko’s to have printed in poster size. Pick a major marketing activity each month for the rest of the year and make that your primary marketing theme for that month. Assign weekly tasks and hold weekly meetings to move the tasks forward. Create your marketing strategy this month, your educational content next and your revamped website the month after that.

I know it’s not that sexy but the slow and steady something will always beat the fast and flashy nothing when it comes to the long term health of your business.