A Different Marketing Strategy: Participation on a Panel

Leveraging different ways to market your business is important to keep your name and service offerings on top of your target audience's mind. It also helps you diversify your marketing portfolio and measure the results of your activities to determine which methods work best for your business.

One way to market your business is by sharing your expertise through public speaking. By sharing your knowledge and experience with others, you are helping your target audience solve problems they desperately want answers to, and at the same time, you are establishing yourself as the "go to" expert. Once your target audience sees how knowledgeable you are, they will likely want more information from you because they see you as the best service provider for the job.

Round conference tableIf you are shy or not quite ready to be front and center on stage, consider joining a panel of experts. By participating in a panel at a networking event, workshop or seminar you will have a chance to speak to your target audience without having to prepare a formal presentation and have "all eyes on you". Panels offer you the chance to answer questions and share your point of view with the other participants; yet still showcase your expertise.

For example, we have an annual home and garden show in the Bay Area. If you haven't been to one of these shows, there is typically one major project where many companies can participate. This project is usually a model home built in the event arena. So this showcases the builders, interior designers, alarm installation companies, landscapers and home theatre stores (just to name a few).

During the event, visitors can tour the home and there are business cards placed throughout the exhibit. Then, on the last day, there is usually a Q and A session with the participants about the home they built, the materials they used, the cost, etc. With everyone joining in on the panel, it's a great way to educate the audience on the project and their expertise. Additionally, this gives the panelists a way to interact directly with their target audience and find out what their challenges are by listening to the questions they ask.

I've had the opportunity to participate on a number of panels and have really enjoyed the experience. It's a great way to connect with complimentary service professionals and create "Power Partner" relationships. ("Power Partners" is a concept taught by BNI that entails complementary service providers partnering together to serve each other's clients). In addition, each event has created great exposure for my business, allowing me to further build my subscriber list and attract new clients for my programs and private coaching services.

Put forth the effort to seek out panel opportunities either in your local area, via online radio shows or industry events. Let those in your network know that you're available to contribute to a panel. And reach out to event/meeting planners at industry events to offer your support. You may also suggest ideas for a panel presentation that you know would be of value to the audience and then assist in inviting other professionals to participate.