Become thy prey, O Zen Master

If you really want to get crazy about sales and make a life out of it, everyone knows you have to stay close to your customer's community. If you're going to sell your services to computer geeks for the next ten years, you really should consider taking a programming class, read their magazines . If you're in the stuffing industry, and you're recruiting investment bankers (my heart goes out to you), you should read up on exotic derivatives and take up yachting. Become thy prey, O Zen Master.

Another method of digging into your industry is by doing this. Blogging. Yes, you may have heard the news. It's a nice way to demonstrate your knowledge. You could host it anywhere. Blogger.com, Wordpress.com, doesn't matter. Your prospects and clients will marvel at your insight and crave your association. But let's assume a ridiculous circumstance: you have no knowledge. Here's a quick idea for you. Don't try to be an expert. But do be useful.

You don't have to be an expert in your field. Check out local news stories, jobs, employment figures, good training programs, etc... and mix them into your RSS feeds of jobs. Use twitter.com to get updated on articles that your customers will find interesting, and email 'em. Over time, your pool of readers/ prospects will see you as an essential part of their community.

You don't have to have their particular expertise to have them read you over their morning macchiato. Now about how to start that RSS feed...

Based on a blogpost by Miles Jennings