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Thank you so much for all your suggestions, I am definitely going to hit the streets hard and will look into doing some of the things you suggested. I appreciat

Thank you so much for all your suggestions, I am definitely going to hit the streets hard and will look into doing some of the things you suggested. I appreciate it greatly.

orangethirty 14y ago
Get busy and report back to my email (click on my username). Some office buildings wont let you in to some floors. Bribe the security guards with samples. A good way to do this is to just hand out a sample before even talking. Hand it out, and tell them about what you do. Don't forget that these guys are also customers.
- larrys 14y ago
  You ideas (your parent comment) are excellent I've made the same recommendations over the years to people in similar situations. Put feet (and free product) on the street. Most recently with a local cupcake bakery. "Go out and give your cupcakes to all the offices in the area". (Free sweets? What's the chance that the office workers won't stop by for more if they are good?) One thing though that I've found is when you give good ideas to people you'd be surprised at the amount of excuses they have for not following up on suggestions. The lack of "oomph". What I'm saying is this. It's easy for someone to write a plea (as was done here) for help on HN (or anywhere). That takes almost no effort at all (like a magic "diet pill" when you want to lose weight). Let's see if the entrepreneur actually follows through on the advice that you gave. (If you do a follow up post or anything on what happens here please email me in case I miss it because I'd like to know the outcome positive or negative to the outbound sales effort).
  - Sataysfied 14y ago
    I totally agree Larry. I am definitely taking the intiative. My plan of attack right now, unsure if this is the right idea, is to take a large sample to upcoming meetups for people to try my food, hit up companies via email, twitter, etc... past clients that are willing to go direct, and lastly hitting up nearby startups for sure. I am totally committed to doing whatever I can right now. My whole business is at stake. Going to spend all night tonight to strategize and make a list of companies to reach out actually. Appreciate the comments. This is incredibly hard for me to admit public. I will hustle.
    - orangethirty 14y ago
      The publicity will help. In fact, go and open up a free blog and write about it. People tend to eat this off and it will be you sales. Realize that people love underdogs and want to be part of happy endings. By sharing the process with them they will become emotionally invested and then be obliged to root for you (which means more sales). All startups go through scramble mode. It's normal.
    - thaumaturgy 14y ago
      Have you seen any of the Kitchen Nightmares UK episodes? They're all on YouTube. (Not the U.S. version, it's terrible.) A lot of the episodes have at least one part where Ramsay gets out and puts samples in front of people ... I'm not even in the food business and I find these things helpful to watch from time to time for learning customer engagement.
      - Sataysfied 14y ago
        I have only watched a few US version. I am definitely going to put more samples out there, starting by hitting up meetups and getting people to try my food. Thanks a lot for the suggestion.
        lifeisstillgood 14y ago
        Hitting meetups is a really good idea, but can I say that orangethirty said get out now, today, before lunch. Hitting meetups - well it might be a good excuse to wait. You know, that meetup tonight is not so big, I will do Thursdays. Plus Thursdays, well the venue does its own catering and won't let me in till .... Get outside the nearest two pre made sandwich places - and success is selling twenty lunch packs to people who otherwise would have bought a sandwich - this lunchtime. Get out if the office and get out now. Good luck :-).
        Sataysfied 14y ago
        I definitely appreciate the feedback. I am planning to work day and night at the moment on reaching out to people online in many different sources from email, twitter, facebook, etc. As it is the weekend and many business are closed, I wanted to maximize my time in this way and also make a list of things to prepare for next week, so I can hit the ground running on Monday.
  - orangethirty 14y ago
    In the age of online marketing, those who master the offline variant are kings. A sales message delivered by a real person outsells the same message delivered by a gadget.

Thank you so much for all your suggestions, I am definitely going to hit the streets hard and will look into doing some of the things you suggested. I appreciate it greatly.

orangethirty 14y ago

Get busy and report back to my email (click on my username). Some office buildings wont let you in to some floors. Bribe the security guards with samples. A good way to do this is to just hand out a sample before even talking. Hand it out, and tell them about what you do. Don't forget that these guys are also customers.

larrys 14y ago
You ideas (your parent comment) are excellent I've made the same recommendations over the years to people in similar situations. Put feet (and free product) on the street. Most recently with a local cupcake bakery. "Go out and give your cupcakes to all the offices in the area". (Free sweets? What's the chance that the office workers won't stop by for more if they are good?) One thing though that I've found is when you give good ideas to people you'd be surprised at the amount of excuses they have for not following up on suggestions. The lack of "oomph". What I'm saying is this. It's easy for someone to write a plea (as was done here) for help on HN (or anywhere). That takes almost no effort at all (like a magic "diet pill" when you want to lose weight). Let's see if the entrepreneur actually follows through on the advice that you gave. (If you do a follow up post or anything on what happens here please email me in case I miss it because I'd like to know the outcome positive or negative to the outbound sales effort).
- Sataysfied 14y ago
  I totally agree Larry. I am definitely taking the intiative. My plan of attack right now, unsure if this is the right idea, is to take a large sample to upcoming meetups for people to try my food, hit up companies via email, twitter, etc... past clients that are willing to go direct, and lastly hitting up nearby startups for sure. I am totally committed to doing whatever I can right now. My whole business is at stake. Going to spend all night tonight to strategize and make a list of companies to reach out actually. Appreciate the comments. This is incredibly hard for me to admit public. I will hustle.
  - orangethirty 14y ago
    The publicity will help. In fact, go and open up a free blog and write about it. People tend to eat this off and it will be you sales. Realize that people love underdogs and want to be part of happy endings. By sharing the process with them they will become emotionally invested and then be obliged to root for you (which means more sales). All startups go through scramble mode. It's normal.
  - thaumaturgy 14y ago
    Have you seen any of the Kitchen Nightmares UK episodes? They're all on YouTube. (Not the U.S. version, it's terrible.) A lot of the episodes have at least one part where Ramsay gets out and puts samples in front of people ... I'm not even in the food business and I find these things helpful to watch from time to time for learning customer engagement.
    - Sataysfied 14y ago
      I have only watched a few US version. I am definitely going to put more samples out there, starting by hitting up meetups and getting people to try my food. Thanks a lot for the suggestion.
      - lifeisstillgood 14y ago
        Hitting meetups is a really good idea, but can I say that orangethirty said get out now, today, before lunch. Hitting meetups - well it might be a good excuse to wait. You know, that meetup tonight is not so big, I will do Thursdays. Plus Thursdays, well the venue does its own catering and won't let me in till .... Get outside the nearest two pre made sandwich places - and success is selling twenty lunch packs to people who otherwise would have bought a sandwich - this lunchtime. Get out if the office and get out now. Good luck :-).
        Sataysfied 14y ago
        I definitely appreciate the feedback. I am planning to work day and night at the moment on reaching out to people online in many different sources from email, twitter, facebook, etc. As it is the weekend and many business are closed, I wanted to maximize my time in this way and also make a list of things to prepare for next week, so I can hit the ground running on Monday.
- orangethirty 14y ago
  In the age of online marketing, those who master the offline variant are kings. A sales message delivered by a real person outsells the same message delivered by a gadget.