You have a stack of cards from that business cards… Can you add them to your newsletter or email list?
With Reid Mihalko from ReidAboutSex.com and Cathy Vartuli from TheIntimacyDojo.com.
Cathy: Can you add people that you meet at a business conference to your email list?
Reid: You can, but don’t be a dick about it!
Cathy: Yeah.
Reid: Hi! I’m Reid Mihalko, ReidAboutSex.com. SexGeekSummerCamp.com.
Cathy: Cathy Vartuli from TheIntimacyDojo.com.
Reid: Hi, Cathy!
Cathy: Hi, Reid!
Reid: What’s your advice for people who go to conferences and collect business cards from people and then want to add them to their list?
Cathy: Well, we go to a lot of business events and people pass out cards like candy. Like I’ll come home with a stack this high of people that said they wanted to keep in contact or exchange information. It’s not cool to add people like that to your newsletter list.
Reid: When people go to conferences?
Cathy: If someone gives you a business card to stay in touch, do not add them to your newsletter list! It’s spamming really!
Reid: Yeah, send them an email that says, “Hey, it was great to meet you.” Maybe who you are to remind them, a picture of you guys together, if you’re really on top of your game.
Cathy: Or we met at Brendon Burchard’s Experts Academy.
Reid: Here’s a picture of me shaking Brendon’s cardboard hand.
Cathy: Yes, we do that a lot. That’s tacky too, but we do it anyway.
Reid: But do something that’s in your tone, and then say, “Hey, if you want to join my newsletter or my mailing thing, or if you want to check out my free gift, please do this here. I didn’t want to add you without your consent, because as we know that’s spamming. Love so and so.”
Cathy: Yeah. A lot of people will add you and you start getting all these emails. You don’t remember who they are necessarily or where you met them, and you can unsubscribe, but still it’s not- they have to have unsubscribe’s at the bottom. But it’s still not polite, it’s not good savvy business sense. Inviting them to if they’re interested, or if you can remember, I write on the back of cards with people that I really want to connect with and I put them in a different place. So I’m getting a lot of cards from people that I’m not necessarily drawn to. I put them in one spot. The people that I’m like “I really want to talk to that person,” I’ll jot it down on the back or the front of the card.
That’s one reason why I don’t like the super glossy cards, because they look pretty, but you can’t write on them. So I like the ones where you can write on. I write a note on it and I usually put it in my name tag badge.
Reid: I thought you’re going to say in your bra.
Cathy: In my bra. Yeah, that gets your attention.
Reid: If she puts it in her bra, Cathy’s totally …
Cathy: Yeah, then I’d really …
Reid: Yeah, she’s totally gonna spam you. It’s gonna be great.
Cathy: No, but those are the people I want to follow up. So some people will scan in all- like say you got 300 cards, they’ll scan them all in. They’ll send a group email saying, “Hey, it was great to see you.” That’s fine. Don’t add those people to your newsletter list, but you can follow up with them. Then people you really want to connect with, write a note so you can remember something when you say, “It was great hanging out with you in the Starbucks line. The only reason I was glad it was 30 people long was because I got to talk to you.” Something like that triggers their memory because they met 300 people as well, and you can make a bigger impact.
Reid: Yeah, what it basically comes down to is don’t go to conferences to do list building. That’s not why you should be there; you should be there to network and build community. Then just be polite; treat the people that you meet the way that you would like to be treated. If you are somebody who likes being spammed, then we should shoot another video just for you.
Cathy: Yeah.
Reid: Let us know what your comments are. Hope you like our business advice! Sex Geek Summer Camp!
Cathy: See you there.
Reid: Bye.