Cross-marketing is a process whereby you integrate marketing activities, so that each activity draws from and feeds into other activities. For instance, I hand out invitations to my Breakfast Club (which include free breakfast coupons) when I’m at networking functions, so that people I meet have an incentive to come to my monthly workshops. And, since those who attend are making conscious decisions to be there, the marketing message has a higher level of impact than it would if I contacted those same people through some other activity, such as a mailing.

Taking this concept one step further, you can develop team-marketing initiatives that combine and leverage the strengths of individuals to increase group results. (Solo practitioners can do this as well, if they have trusted business colleagues who are willing to collaborate.)

For example, assume for a moment that three people at your company are responsible for business development, and that:

• “Jane” is an accomplished public speaker, who regularly presents at association meetings and corporate functions.  

• “Tom” is excellent at research and writing, and focuses on getting articles published to establish name recognition and credibility.  

• “Joe” is a networking dynamo and adept at telephone prospecting.

You might tie these activities together in a host of ways. Here are three examples:

1. Whenever Jane gives a presentation, Tom can attend and take notes about the questions being asked by the audience. This will give him information for his articles, and he’ll gain a better understanding of the issues his readers face. Good speakers almost always get approached after their presentations, so if Jane meets someone who would be a good interview candidate for one of Tom’s articles, she could introduce them immediately.  

2. In Tom’s articles, he can quote questions from Jane’s audiences. This gets Jane’s speaking services some exposure and adds credibility to the material. In addition, Tom’s articles can be handed out to Jane’s attendees, or placed on a table in the back.  

3. When Joe is prospecting, on average he’ll end up in voicemail about 80 percent of the time. Instead of leaving voicemail sales offers (which almost never work), he can leave brief messages inviting executives to be interviewed for Tom’s articles. Or, he could invite the executives to attend Jane’s next public-speaking engagement.

Admittedly, if you’re a solo practitioner, you have it a bit tougher, but it takes only one collaborative effort to substantially increase your success rate. So find another “soloist” you trust and respect, and analyze your individual efforts to find the areas where they can be integrated to the benefit of both parties.

One of the nicest things about team marketing is that it’s strategy-intensive but not time-intensive. So once you figure out the best ways to integrate your efforts, you can greatly increase the frequency and impact of your marketing message, while only slightly increasing the time you spend marketing.

Have a great week!

Gill