My company is a Microsoft partner and was invited to speak at a small and disadvantaged business seminar in Miami. Our company was tasked with presenting the benefits of the new ribbon inside Microsoft Office 2007.

Normally, I don’t accept these types of events, because our target market isn’t going to be there. Recently, I’ve been trying to find new ways that I can directly help my community, instead of just sending the obligatory check to my favorite charity. I guess they called me on the right day, after I had the right epiphany.

(Shameless plug: Our target market is South Florida companies with 75 employees, two to five offices, continuous computer problems and an IT guy who is in over his head and / or almost on his way out. (If you know somewhere like that, tell them to contact us.)

I Said “Yes”

Ben stayed up late the night before making the presentation and hand-outs, and woke up early to get them printed. Ben did a stellar job according to the people involved with the event:

Thanks very much for sharing your expertise with the Miami Dade College Small Business Education Program. There were quite a few people (including me) who you enlightened re:Office 2007. The trick on color coding in excel was excellent – it is something I have always had to do by hand with IF functions. Your sacrifice of a precious weekend to help these business owners is greatly appreciated.
I really look forward to working with you and will certainly recommend that Miami Dade College use you in their upcoming programs.

Once again, thanks – Jane Zucker

This was great news to me, since Ben said that he had to dance a little bit when they asked him to present different material than what he prepared.

I don’t know if it was originally supposed to be part of the deal, or if we were offered it once they saw Ben speak, but they asked us to come to their small business expo in Miami and setup a table to promote our business.

As late as the morning of the event, I was debating with myself on whether I should drive all the way down to Miami to go to this thing when it “wasn’t our target market”.

I Said “Yes” (again)

I decided that this would be the day to do a test-run launch of our new DedicatedIT Extreme Network Makeover promotion… we are going to give away a network to a worthy business.

I typed up a quick flyer and ran to Kinkos to make 75 copies of it. Then, I hopped in my car and headed to the event. I walked into a room full of tables where people had beautiful displays, and all I had were 75 pieces of paper – and it wasn’t even nice card stock stuff.

It was a little daunting at first, but I kept my eyes out to see what everyone else was doing and then, deferring to my entire plan for this year, I become the “Purple Cow”. I didn’t have pens to hand out, I didn’t have little games to play, I didn’t have a nice tablecloth and I didn’t leap up like a dog at the dinner table as soon as they made eye contact with me.

My Approach

I waited for people to walk by, and I’d say “good morning”. When they said “good morning” back, I asked them how their day was and then what exactly they were hoping to get out of the expo. The reaction was amazing – they paused for a second, almost waiting for me to begin spewing my sales pitch, and then they would tell me exactly what was the most important thing on their mind.

I would offer advice on anything that I knew about, even if it did not directly benefit me or my company. Actually, I think I sold more for the woman in the booth next to me, selling Constant Contact, than I did for myself. (Sandi Abbott- Xpresso Marketing)

I talked to a college kid who is thinking about starting his own business. I told him that it was the best thing I ever did, even though it is stressful, had long hours, and I hated my boss. He asked me for advice, and I told him that he should find a mentor and never be afraid to ask questions, and that I have had my business for more than eight years and I  learn something new every day.

I talked with a woman who is a grant writer for non-profit businesses and also runs a foundation in her daughter’s name. Actually, she just had her first scholarship recipient complete law school and land a position with the state attorney’s office. (Winifred D. Browne – 786-728-5924)

I talked to Tonez – the urban marketing genius/soon to have a major record label/self proclaimed “bridge between corporate America and the music scene”. He was really interested in a blog and and how to promote himself using Web 2.0/social marketing.

These encounters kept me entertained all day.

Finally!

Then, a group of people who work for a property management company, that has nearly 150 different companies with an average size of 12 people, walked up to my table. I started the same way I did with the others. They told me that they were looking for things to offer their tenants. I explained the DedicatedIT Extreme Network Makeover, and that I thought it would be beneficial for both of us to offer it to all of their tenants.

They loved the idea. I’ll be calling them next week to set something up. This one introduction alone could make the trip to Miami worth it and then some.

Stay Tuned – Big Ideas Coming

I collected business cards from the people who I met throughout the day who interested me in some fashion or another. I don’t know how yet, but I’d like to find a way to help them… somehow.