Re: presentations (marketing)

[Marcia Coulter <notjust -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM>]

>Hi. I'm an indepentdant writer (freelancing). Been freelancing for
>about a year. so far, i've been doing work for people i know or they
know me and trust that i will do a good job, no questions asked.

>I've been getting a few calls from total strangers that want me to
>give them a presentation.

First, congrats on (1) doing good work and (2) doing good enough work
that your clients are telling total strangers about it. (That *is* how
they got your name, isn't it?)

>I'm petrified of the idea. I have a portfolio ready
>and i prepared a presentation package. but, i'm too scared to go
>through with it. what will they expect of me? How long should a
presentation be?

>Any ideas on how to get over the fear?

IMHO a presentation to a potential client has two purposes:

*   to share information about your services

*   to give the client an idea of what it might be like to work with
    you

With that in mind, I only talk about myself for a couple of minutes
before saying something like, "Let's take a look at the system (specs,
whatever) that you're developing."  The rest of my 'presentation' then
becomes a series of stories from related projects, illustrated with
items from my portfolio. Usually, I end up giving them free advice
about how to proceed. But the client knows what it feels like to work
with me. So, I usually get the contract.

Good luck.

---------------
Marcia Coulter
notjust -at- ix -dot- netcom -dot- com