As the world continues to become more and more bombarded with sales messages from every which way your prospects become less and less tolerant of imposed messages.

The old school way of cold calling dialing for dollars and knocking on doors is dead!!!

Ever business or product is a solution to someones problem (if it isn't then it probably won't be on the market for long.)

Therefore your prospects are not looking for the bells and whistles of your product they are interested in a solution to a problem.

The problem with prospecting is that it forces you to manually go around offering everyone your soultion without qualifiying whether or not they actually have a problem.

This is the cause of so much rejection in sales. As you are calling on people whether over the phone or in person the perceive you as just another peddler.

If you are knocking on doors you create the perception of someone in need who hs no clients.

If you actually had enough clients then there would be no need to prospect because you spend your time servicing your clients.

Now you are probably saying to yourself well "how do I get more clients if I stopped prospecting?"

There is a solution to this problem it's called Positioning! This is when you are at the top of a prospects mind when it comes time for them to solve a problem.

Even if they do not think of you right away they at least need to be able to find you at the height of their search in the pursuit of a solution.

You must think of yourself as a solutions provider also known as a consultant not a product peddler. There are many ways to do this lets take a look at a few!

1. The internet- the majority of research is done on the internet this is a great way for you to get yourself found, there are many ways to this as well.

Your Own Personal Website or blog that you own and control that markets you and and your relationship to what you do and not singing your company's praises

-Article submission there are many article submission websites that will publsih your article to tens of thousands of publishers some are even free.

Search Engines- Over 90% of topics researched on the internet are found through serach engines like GOOGLE! Imagine your prosepcts type in a key word or phrase and your website, blog or article comes up and the top of GOOGLE with your contact info on it (this is a whole other lens topic)

Adwords-A great way to drive traffic to your articles blogs or websites. These are the words that appear on the side of the search results. They are also offered on community sites like myspace and youtube etc.

Before getting into the second way of positioning yourself I must say this. The name of the game is content! Good valuable educational content.

This will not only allow you to place higher in search engine rankings but it will educate your prosects on the topic related to your niche in a very non aggressive way. This is called permissioned based selling.

2-Promotional Print Items- this is a great way to get information out about what you do without you being there. This allows prospects to call you if they are interested. The key here is this brings people to you which is the name of the game.

There are several ways to this as well lets take a look at a few.

-Flyer Distribution this is a good way to get the word out about what you do. A nice color scheme and design will attract people to your advertisements.
Try not to go overboard with the desings as the offer is still the most important part.

To key to flyer distribution is a unique offer and a direct call to action. Try using call today to get a free quote! Or hurry will supplies last!

There are many flyer distibution companies that will deliver the flyers for you for pennies on the dollar. Some will deliver a 1,000 for $100 bucks.

Envelope stuffing is another way to to add suspense to your offer. You can have your flyers stuffed in envolpes and delivered directly on the doorstep of your prospects.

Flyers get thrown away all the time but and envolope on the door step will get more attention. Its like doing a direct mailing without the postage.

-White Papers or special reports are an excellent way to position yourself as an expert on the topic of your choice. White Papers are typically more popular in the B2B world but can be used in the consumer market as well.

A white Paper is basically a report that outlines a problem and provides a solution to that problem (also known as your product or service!).

The key to writing good white papers is the same as everything else offering good valuable content that people want to read and can actually learn how to solve their problems with your solution. It is not and I repeat it is not to talk about how great your company, product or serivce is.

You can even incorprate special reports in you flyer distribution or internet marketing campaigns to use as collateral for your prospects contact information.

These are just a few ways to position yourself as an expert in your field. Remember its not about who you know as much as it is about who knows you!

Just as a final thought think about this.Have you ever been at home and had a doctor call you saying "hi I'm doctor so and so and I would like to shchedule some time to come in and give you a check up!".

Of course not because if you feel sick then you look up a local doctor and you go see him, why because you know you have a problem and you perceive the doctor to be the expert with the solution.

Your prospects should perceive you the same way.

The name of the game is to bring prosepcts to you not for you to go to them!