by   Victoria Ring---Bio-

One day last week I stopped by to visit with my friend who is a bankruptcy attorney.  During our conversation I was shocked to find out that a few people who had purchased my Bankruptcy Book had actually contacted him and tried to market their bankruptcy forms processing service.  (They found his name in my book.)

Although it is not unethical to contact my friends and business associates for work, the first mistake these people made was in pursuing my market. Why? Because the bankruptcy attorneys that I know and work for are dedicated customers.  The chances of someone getting work from an attorney that I have spent years building up a solid working relationship with are non-existent; so it was a waste of their time.

Secondly, one of those persons who purchased my book actually had the nerve to ask my attorney friend to purchase Best Case software for them. My attorney friend was just as embarrassed as I was over this.  Who in their right mind would make this type of offer to a customer?  Can you imagine someone knocking on your door and asking: Would you like for me to mow your grass this summer?  You tell them that you would like to hire them.  Then, they reply: I will be happy to do it if you will buy me a lawn mower.  How would you feel? Would you slam the door in their face?

The only explanation I can come up with for this insane approach to marketing is that the people who approached my attorney friend must have never spent one minute of research to understand what owning a business is all about.  People who work for employers their entire life know that employers supply the tools an employee needs to work for them. But when you own your own business – you buy your own tools.

The customer that pays you for your services is paying only for your services – not your software, computer, printer, pens, paper and other supplies.  Those are expenses you must invest to start your own business and run your own company. It is the same thing as Wal Mart asking you to buy the shelves the merchandise is sitting on before they will sell you a box of cereal. I am sure you would be offended if Wal Mart asked you to do this – and this is exactly how the attorney felt when the people who had purchased my book approached him asking him to buy their software.

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER ask an attorney, mortgage company or any other customer you plan to work for to purchase your office supplies and overhead expenses.  This will put you out of business very fast and you will have to return to working for an employer.  Unfortunately, these people who contacted my attorney friend will never know why no attorney in Columbus, Ohio will probably ever hire them.  Why?  Because my friend has already told his other attorney friends about this incident and passed along the names of these parties.

So, be careful what you do. The real estate industry as well as the legal industry has a small-town attitude.  Everyone knows someone, who knows someone. If you demonstrate poor business and marketing techniques to one person, hundreds more will find out through the close contacts and networking that people within these two industries implement.

My suggestion is to attend the teleconferences and join the Bankruptcy or Notary Club. Each week we have interesting special guests who reveal the marketing techniques they used to build their own companies. You can learn everything you need to know from successful people so you can duplicate their efforts.  And if you decide to try a marketing technique you are not sure about – feel free to join in on the weekly teleconference and ask the experts before you go out and make mistakes that could be detrimental to your future as a business owner.