How to Be a Personal Concierge

Letting the world know your business is up and running will bring clients your way. Start by attending some casual business functions and passing out business cards. For instance, find out when your local chamber of commerce, Rotary Club or Toastmasters group holds meetings. Often, they hold breakfast meetings that can be good "meet and greet" opportunities. If you have the time, start your own networking group. You can hold meetings at a local restaurant or even line up a seminar room at a college or university and publish a print or e-mail newsletter to keep members informed of meeting times and dates.

Put ads in the paper. A few of the concierges we talked to had some luck with newspaper ads, while others found they had better results from listings in the Yellow Pages. If you're trying to cut costs, you might not want to spend all your money on expensive advertising. If that's the case, have fliers made up and get permission to post them on bulletin boards in community centers, doctors' offices, dental clinics or in break rooms and cafeterias of large companies. The fliers route is one of the least costly, depending on how much you spend for the printing. You can also send sales letters to potential clients.

Of course, there is always (gulp!) cold calling. Nobody ever looks forward to cold calling because of the fear of rejection. Admittedly, it's no fun calling 10 people in a row who say no to your pitch. But if you stick with it, that 11th call could bring a yes and lots of new business.

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There are many other ways you can get the word out. You can send informational packets or brochures about your company to the human resources departments of large corporations in your area or deliver brochures to smaller offices. You might also join a mailing service and send your sales letters and other materials to people on mailing lists. Mailing lists focus on all types of demographics, and you can request any particular one you want to target. Dual-income families and successful businesspeople are two groups that are more likely to need concierge services, so keep this in mind when you're selecting mailing lists.

Resources

Associations

• American Errand Runners Organization
• National Association of Professional Organizers
• National Concierge Association

Concierge Consultants

• Holly Stiel's Thankyouverymuchinc.com
• Concierge Atelier

Newsletters

• The NCA Newsby the National Concierge Association
• NAPO Newsby the National Association of Professional Organizers 

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