[nabentre] nabentre - blind business owner

[Mary Ellen]

Your business sounds intriguing and the questions you raise are thought
provoking.

Although going door to door would be possible for a blind person, I believe
it's difficult for anyone.  For one thing, much of the work would need to be
done in the evening, since most adults work during the day.  Also, many
people are becoming increasingly wary of anyone they don't know who knocks
on the door.  
I agree with you about cold calling.  It's a discouraging, and not
particularly effective, way to meet new clients.  

Having said that, a very successful salesman friend once told me that if I
walked up to enough people and said "You wouldn't want to buy my product
would you?" I would eventually make sales.  Naturally, he didn't recommend
that technique.

Your present clients could be a gold mine, even though they're not a source
of continuing referrals.  They might be willing to write brief testimonials
recommending your services which you could use in a brochure or other
promotional literature.

Have you tried joining groups like the Chamber of Commerce in your
community?  It takes time, and a lot of schmoozing, but business groups will
eventually help you meet new clients.  You might also consider business
networking groups.  The members themselves may not be interested, but they
might know people.  
Community fairs and other trade shows are really tough venues for blind
people, since passers by tend to pass by people who don't make eye contact
and such places tend to be noisy.

What about going to local merchants and offering a draw for a prize of some
sort.  In our business, we offer free magnetic massages.  I don't know what
sort of prize you could offer that would compliment your business, perhaps
free financial makeovers.  People could put a form with their name, address
(either email or street) and a contact phone number.  Since this is back to
school time, you could target families and offer a draw for $100 worth of
school supplies.  Then you could phone the people and tell them that,
although they haven't won the grand prize, you would be happy to talk with
them about planning for their financial future and the postsecondary
education of their children.  Obviously, one family will really win, and you
could publicize their story, without giving any identifying information.  

If you live in a small enough town, you might be able to interest a local
community paper in doing a profile of you and your business.  Papers always
like good news stories, and a financial planning company with a solid track
record of service to clients is truly a good news story these days.  This is
one instance in which your blindness could help you, since it would give the
reporter a somewhat unusual angle.  You'll have to work hard to make sure
the focus is on your skill as a financial adviser, rather than how you can
pour a cup of coffee as a ablind person.

You write well.  Have you considered asking the local paper to hire you to
do a weekly or monthly financial column?  Even if you have to write it
without compensation, the exposure will make it easier for potential clients
to view you as a trusted expert.

Others on this list have more background in internet marketing than I have,
but my instincts tell me that yours is a business based on relationships.
I'm not suggesting that you need to be boosm buddies with your clients, but
people tend to choose their financial advisers out of a sense that they're
personally trustworthy and good people with whom to do business.  It's
harder to convey that personal warmth over the internet.  You might,
however, consider a tasteful advertisement on local web sites.  Most
communities have web sites touting the virtues of their community .  In
Kelowna, we have www.castanet.net and www.ilovekelowna.com (or .ca, I can't
remember which.)  You could place an ad for a month or two and test your
results.  I think, though, that doing a financial column for your paper or
for one of those web sites would net you more in the long run.  Also, you
probably wouldn't have to pay to do the column, since it would enhance the
attractiveness of the web site.

Although they aren't usually very well attended, an open house might get
your business name in front of the public.  If you're located in a public
building, you might work with the other tenants to do a building wide open
house.  In that way, you could meet potential clients who have come to the
building to support another business.

If you have a cause or charity that is particularly important to you, your
business might spearhead a community fund-raising event for that group.  In
doing so, you can get recognition and free publicity for your business while
doing good at the same time.

As for how to deal with blindness, I think you're right on target.  When you
meet people, blindness is the elephant in the room.  Dealing with it
positively and directly in the beginning clears the air and lets people know
how comfortable you are with the subject.  If you're comfortable, they will
become comfortable eventually, too.  I don't think, though, that it will do
you much good to talk about your blindness in promotional material, except
in the case where you're being interviewed by the press.  In that context,
you can work with the reporter to make the references to your blindness
positive.  I don't think it's particularly relevant in how you do your job,
except that your computer talks to you.  Putting too much emphasis on
blindness is the opposite end of the pendulum from ignoring it completely;
either extreme has difficulties.  If you choose to have a picture of you in
your promotional material, you could always show yourself reading Braille or
traveling with a cane or dog.  Doing that would say that you're blind
without making it an issue.

If I think of other networking possibilities that will help you market
yourself with little or no cost, I'll pass them along.  Please keep us
informed on what you do and how your strategies are working.  Your
experience could be helpful to a lot of people.

Mary Ellen Gabias
 

-----Original Message-----
From: nabentre-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabentre-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Daniel Meek
Sent: September 1, 2011 8:49 AM
To: nabentre at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nabentre] nabentre - blind business owner

Hello,

My name is Daniel, and I've been following this list for about a year.  I
would like to introduce myself, as well as, ask for some feedback.

I am a 38 year old blind business owner.  Actually, I have 3% of my vision
left; however, it is easier just to tell most people, "I'm blind".  I'm
certain you can relate.

I was very fortunate to start my business right out of college.  Through the
right contact of a retired insurance agency owner, I formed a partnership
and started an investment management company.  Basically, I supplied the
investment management and my partner supplied his referrals / long time
client base.  We began in 1998 and had phenomenal success.  Since my partner
already had a loyal relationship with his old clients, they took his
recommendation and came on board.

Around 2002, we pretty much secured all his old book of business and focused
on serving our existing clients and growing through their referrals, which
kept us growing steadily for a few more years.

IN 2008, my partner left the business and moved into a retirement center.
My client's average age is in the upper 70's and are not active in the
community anymore, thus, I do not receive anymore referrals.  I feel I serve
my clients well, and still have my original clients from 1998, but that fact
doesn't supply growth.

As of now, my business is slowly dying, literally.  My clients are passing
away, and their children either have existing relationships with other
advisors or just spend their inheritance.



In summary, I was fortunate to start a business and extremely grateful for
the opportunity.  However, the way we started the business did not give us a
normal structure (i.e. we had no marketing plan or long-term mission).

As other blind business owners I would appreciate your feedback on the
following.

1.        Marketing:  companies like Edward Jones, go door to door to local
businesses to market / prospect.  I really do not feel this method of
prospecting fits a blind person.  Additionally, telemarketing tends to
irritate me, so that leaves out cold calling.  In what ways have you
experienced success in marketing and prospecting?  Note: my marketing budget
is limited.

2.       My Blindness:  In your opinion, should we project our blindness as
an asset in business?  Obviously, in a face to face interaction my blindness
is addressed in the beginning.  However, on the internet, in print, or even
on video my blindness would be undetected.  Should we project our blindness
in our business?

3.       The Internet:  It seems like everybody claims internet marketing is
the greatest thing.  Have any of you had success with online marketing?  I
created a blog several months ago at www.functionaladvice.com , and have
mainly been visited by spammers.   How do you feel about blogging and social
media?



I appreciate any feedback you can offer, and look forward to being an active
participant on the list.

Daniel



--
Daniel Meek
Investment Advisor

"Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the
way." -  Abraham Lincoln

Synergy Capital Management
Office: (405) 495-0100
Mobile:  (405) 760-7727
Email: dmmeek at gmail.com
Web:  FIadvice.com

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