I'm Trying to Get My Foot in the Door

He shined one shoe, gift-wrapped it, and mailed it to a man who wouldn't return his calls. This is one of the stories from my "301 Do-it-Yourself Marketing Ideas" book, which I wrote years ago.

A travel agency owner tried for two years to get a meeting with the executive director of a large trade association. Thirty calls. Not one returned.

Most people give up well before thirty. (I might have too.) Instead, he went to Goodwill, bought a pair of black wingtip shoes, shined just one to a mirror finish, gift-wrapped it, and had it couriered over with a handwritten note: "I'm trying to get my foot in the door."

The executive director laughed, called him back, and took the meeting. That association now spends $80,000 a year with his travel agency.

Persistence alone doesn't get you in the door after thirty unreturned calls. Neither does giving up. What works is doing something specific and human enough that it can't be filed under "sales pitch" in someone's head.

Next time someone won't call you back, ask yourself: what's your version of one shined shoe?