The business of getting business - case study of how a home-based businesswoman promoted her business

Home Office Computing, April, 1991 by Sarah Steinman

When my husband took a job in Washington, D.C., and we moved there from rural Sharon, VerMont, the most difficult change was leaving my full-time job as an associate producer at a corporate video facility and starting my own video-production business at home.

Of all the steps involved in getting my business off the ground, the one I've dreaded most has been marketing myself in a town I don't know and that doesn't know me.

I've tried direct mail, cold calling, and networking to drum up business. in the first three months I've found one strong revenue-producing job and a few smaller projects. Business isn't booming yet, but my monthly income is slightly higher than my salary was as a full-time employee.

My first marketing effort began before I left Vermont. I borrowed a Broadcasting Yearbook and made lists of companies, top management, addresses, and phone numbers. I also gathered company names and addresses from advertisements in trade magazines and from friends.

I sent out about 200 cover letters with resumes; five people responded. Three of those initial contacts led to jobs. In one instance, Jonathan Park of Atlantic Video sent me a letter explaining that he rarely hired freelance producers. I sent him a short note thanking him for his consideration and asking him to forward my resume to any of his clients who might need my Services. He did, and I have been working for an Atlantic Video client almost exclusively since I moved here.

Those letters also made it easier to make a sales pitch after I arrived in town. People had already heard my name. Refreshing their memory gave me a way to open the conversation. Some calls turned into on-the-spot interviews. For example, I called up a production company I hadn't heard from and asked to speak with the president.

"Mr. Hillmann, my name's Sarah Steinman," I said. " I sent you a letter and resume several weeks ago letting you know I was moving to the area and would be available to freelance."

"Uh-huh," he said, not indicating whether he remembered or not. Making these cold calls is the toughest part about being self-employed for me. I am not a salesperson. I don't like to sell; I like to work. But I keep telling myself this is the one way to get jobs. I pushed on.

I was working as a newscaster and associate producer on a computer show in New Hampshire, and I'm looking for similar work freelancing as a producer, writer, and talent." I hoped my quick summary would jog his memory.

"Do you speak Portuguese?" he asked.

Do I speak Portuguese? Where on earth did that come from, I thought. This has actually happened to me quite a few times when I've called production companies. I tell them I'm looking for work and they say, "Can you fly a plane?" or "Do you know anything about electrical engineering?" Obviously they have a project that requires specialized knowledge.

So, I said to Hillmann, "No I don't, sorry. My specialty is high-technology videos. " Then he surprised me: "OK, if you can tell me what DVI stands for, then maybe I'd like to take a look at your stuff. "

DVI. OK, Sarah, this is your specialty, right? Don't choke now. DVI-I knew it was Digital Video something. Digital Video Interactive," I blurted. "We had some guys on our show who were running one of those programs on an Amiga not long ago. Are you interested in that type of work?"

"I think it's the wave of the future for video production. if you can even speak intelligently about it, you're ahead of the game," he said.

He asked to see my tape. The interview didn't lead to a job immediately, but I did work closely with Hillmann on a video news release for another client. He provided sources for interviews and contacts for video crews capable of shooting the sometimes tricky computer screens.

I keep a diary to track these calls. I doggedly pursue some people for weeks before actually speaking with them. When I finally do, it takes every bit of restraint not to express my annoyance with them for not returning my calls. Cold calls work-eventually-but I hate making them.

THE OLD-SCHOOL NETWORK

Another major source of work came from two people who did contact me when I first sent out those letters from Vermont. Both went to my alma mater, The Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. At Newhouse people were always touting the great Newhouse Network, but this was the first time I had seen it in action.

So this is networking, I thought when I met with a busy radio producer for the first time. She sat at her desk and flipped card by card through her Rolodex, writing down names and numbers of people I should call.

"Do you belong to Women in Communications (WICI)?" she asked. I didn't. She reached into her desk and yanked out an application. She was vice president of membership for WICI and was also involved in the D.C. Newhouse Chapter.

One of the names she gave me-that of a talent agent who runs a home business called Casting Call-led to a job. I sent her my resume tape, and within two weeks she called to hire me to work on a series of training tapes for Blue Cross/Blue Shield.