I’ve been following up with the hundreds of ad sales folks at these various magazine publishers. I’m sure by this point I am beginning to annoy a few people. But I guess that’s the fine line I need to walk when trying to sell a new service nobody’s ever heard of to busy people who need to forward my emails to the correct people in different division. Well, I am continuing to get a few more bites from these big magazine publishers. Just a couple days ago, I received an email from a senior consumer marketing executive at Hearst Magazines who is interested in hearing more about what we’re offering and wants to set up a call for after Thanksgiving. I also received an email from some new business development folks at Conde Nast, who also want to set something up for after vacation. I think they’re from Golf Digest, which would be pretty cool.On another front, a friend of mine from Cornell who works in marketing has a close friend who works at Meredith Corp, one of the large magazine publishers I’m trying to get in touch with. She is going to put me in touch with this gentleman to talk more about our business and how we are hoping to work with Meredith. Hopefully, something will pan out from that conversation. Again, all this (everything it seems) will pick up after Thanksgiving so I’ll let you know how it goes in a couple of weeks… Bottom Line: For entrepreneurs trying to network into large corporations, be patient. I’m not a patient person, and this process is very humbling and is teaching me to take one day at a time. As I’m finding, the sales process is neither easy nor quick. The two things that have helped me get any traction are resourcefulness and persistence. And that’s what I would recommend. I have no idea if it will pan out, but initial signs are showing that resourcefulness and persistence will give you the best chances of success. JT
