Don't get scared this Halloween
Halloween, 2005 is upon us and here’s something really scary – not having a clue where your next gig is coming from. I hear this all the time and it’s not a happy place to be. Folks move from project to project in something of a reactive, haphazard manner. They get all wrapped up in a project and then when it’s a done deal then sit at their desk and wait for the phone to ring or the inbox to jingle. Maybe it will. Maybe it won’t.
To help insure that phone keeps ringing, here are some common marketing mistakes and how to avoid them.
1. Not having a plan
Not having a well thought out, written marketing plan is one of the most common problems I hear about. Lots of indy professionals tend to focus on building and enhancing their technical and/or professional skills and not on marketing and promoting their services in a consistent manner.
Without a plan, marketing and promotion, if it happens at all, is “try this and that and see what happens.” Aside from being more costly, this no-strategy strategy is, at best, hit or miss and erodes branding by typically presenting an inconsistent image.
Make it a priority to draft your plan. When you write things down something magical happens. Things become clearer and you are more inclined toward accountability.
If you’re clueless about how to put your plan together, give me a ring or email me. I’ll be happy to set you on the right path. Or, take a peek at my Marketing Tune-Up post. That will give you the main elements of a proper plan.
2. Not having a crisply defined niche
Without a niche, marketing is significantly more difficult. By trying to be a jack of all trades, one tends to become a master of none. By focusing your efforts on a specific target, you help to position yourself as the big fish in a small pond, rather than a minnow in an ocean of prospects.
Give some deep thought to what you excel at doing and who’s buying those kinds of services. Do you have a lot of experience in a certain area? What are you passionate about? Is there an area that’s under-served within your marketing arena?
Once you define your niche, do some research into whether or not the market potentials are broad enough to make it profitable for you. You want to find a spot that’s big enough to keep you busy, yet small enough so you’re not lost in the crowd.
3. Not correctly leveraging your business network
All business sectors have folks they rely on for other, complementary services. Accountants are often complemented by attorneys, stockbrokers and insurance people. Carpenters are complemented by electricians, plumbers and painters. Designers are complemented by photographers, writers and printers.
It’s all well and fine to work on projects together or shoot the breeze over lunch every once in a while. But, how about getting with your associates and create a systematic method of cross-referrals? When you do that, you all create a team of salespeople touting each others’ wares.
4. Not creating an engaging marketing message
What do you say when somebody asks you what you do? Typically, people reply with their professional title - “I’m a photographer,” “I’m a graphic designer,” “I’m an accountant,” etc. Aside from being just plain boring, there’s nothing there to spark a conversation.
Think about your value proposition, what you bring to the table and what benefit(s) you offer. Maybe you’re an identity designer who works with mid-sized tech companies. How about, “I help mid-sized tech companies stand apart from their competition.” That sort of begs the question, “Really? How do you go about doing that?”
5. Talking more than you listen
Services business exist to help people. You can’t do that if you’re yapping all the time. It’s critical to listen to your clients and prospects to learn what’s important to them, what their challenges are and then devising solutions.
Engage your clients and prospects with open-ended questions that let them spill their guts. Those are the kind of questions where a simple, “yes,” or “no,” won’t do the trick.
6. Not doing some type of marketing activity each and every day
It’s really easy to put off marketing your business when you get busy. The problem is, you tend to end up with feast or famine syndrome - busy for a week, then dry for two. That would be bad.
Find some time each day to do something - write a few letters or emails, post some helpful answers on a discussion forum, attend a networking event, drop some promo postcards in the mail, check in with a client you haven’t heard from in a while, etc.
It’s a good idea to put these tasks down on your calendar and, if you use a software calendar, set an alert so you don’t forget. After a while, it becomes a habit and your marketing activities become a natural, daily routine.
7. Joining the wrong clubs or business organizations
If you’re a photographer, it might seem to make sense to join the local American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) Chapter. A designer might drop some dough for an American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) or a Graphic Artists Guild membership. Joining organizations like this are fine for hobnobbing with your peers. But they’re sort of like preaching to the choir when it comes to finding prospects.
A better choice would be joining groups where your prospects and clients hang out. For the examples above, better choices might be a local ad club, American Marketing Association (AMA), Business Marketing Association (BMA) or even Rotary, Toastmasters or the local Chamber of Commerce. Perhaps you have found your niche. Odds are there’s a trade association that would be an ideal spot for you to join ... and become active.
Becoming active is important. It makes you visible and, by working on a few committees, or better yet, chairing a few, people get to know you and see how you work.
8. Practicing “me too” marketing
“Me too” marketing is doing the same stuff your competitors are doing. Although core marketing principles and tactics have proven themselves over time, it helps to get creative and put a different spin on things.
Zigging while the competition is zagging will help you stand out in the crowd. If you don’t differentiate yourself, everybody starts to look the same from your prospect’s point-of-view. When everybody starts looking the same, typically the only way to compete is on price. That’s a lousy place to be.
9. Forgetting to market to your existing clients
While new business is the life blood of most service businesses, it’s also the most costly to acquire. Don’t forget about your existing clients. You already have a relationship and selling to them can be a load easier than to the new guy.
Make it a point to keep in touch even when there isn’t a project going on. Shoot off some links to useful information, send holiday cards (oddball holidays are even better, like Groundhog Day), send off a survey, invite them to lunch and such.
Also, clients like to pigeonhole service suppliers. So, it’s a good idea to promote any other services you may offer. For instance, say you’re a writer and do mostly ad copy for a client. They might be clueless that you also offer PowerPoint presentations or scriptwriting for videos.
10. Not seeing things from the client’s point-of-view
What you do for a living is pretty darn important to you. And it should be. It’s how you pay the rent and eat every once in a while. But focusing too much on your business and not your clients’ can get a bit myopic.
When you see your client as just a brochure gig, another headshot or accounting spreadsheet, the relationship is destined to be paltry at best. When you start to see things from your client’s point-of-view, you can begin to anticipate their problems and challenges. Then, you can begin developing solutions and ultimately initiate new projects, rather than just waiting for them to ring you up on the phone.
When you get to that level, you’re not only insuring a steady stream of work for yourself, you’re creating real value for your clients.
To help insure that phone keeps ringing, here are some common marketing mistakes and how to avoid them.
1. Not having a plan
Not having a well thought out, written marketing plan is one of the most common problems I hear about. Lots of indy professionals tend to focus on building and enhancing their technical and/or professional skills and not on marketing and promoting their services in a consistent manner.
Without a plan, marketing and promotion, if it happens at all, is “try this and that and see what happens.” Aside from being more costly, this no-strategy strategy is, at best, hit or miss and erodes branding by typically presenting an inconsistent image.
Make it a priority to draft your plan. When you write things down something magical happens. Things become clearer and you are more inclined toward accountability.
If you’re clueless about how to put your plan together, give me a ring or email me. I’ll be happy to set you on the right path. Or, take a peek at my Marketing Tune-Up post. That will give you the main elements of a proper plan.
2. Not having a crisply defined niche
Without a niche, marketing is significantly more difficult. By trying to be a jack of all trades, one tends to become a master of none. By focusing your efforts on a specific target, you help to position yourself as the big fish in a small pond, rather than a minnow in an ocean of prospects.
Give some deep thought to what you excel at doing and who’s buying those kinds of services. Do you have a lot of experience in a certain area? What are you passionate about? Is there an area that’s under-served within your marketing arena?
Once you define your niche, do some research into whether or not the market potentials are broad enough to make it profitable for you. You want to find a spot that’s big enough to keep you busy, yet small enough so you’re not lost in the crowd.
3. Not correctly leveraging your business network
All business sectors have folks they rely on for other, complementary services. Accountants are often complemented by attorneys, stockbrokers and insurance people. Carpenters are complemented by electricians, plumbers and painters. Designers are complemented by photographers, writers and printers.
It’s all well and fine to work on projects together or shoot the breeze over lunch every once in a while. But, how about getting with your associates and create a systematic method of cross-referrals? When you do that, you all create a team of salespeople touting each others’ wares.
4. Not creating an engaging marketing message
What do you say when somebody asks you what you do? Typically, people reply with their professional title - “I’m a photographer,” “I’m a graphic designer,” “I’m an accountant,” etc. Aside from being just plain boring, there’s nothing there to spark a conversation.
Think about your value proposition, what you bring to the table and what benefit(s) you offer. Maybe you’re an identity designer who works with mid-sized tech companies. How about, “I help mid-sized tech companies stand apart from their competition.” That sort of begs the question, “Really? How do you go about doing that?”
5. Talking more than you listen
Services business exist to help people. You can’t do that if you’re yapping all the time. It’s critical to listen to your clients and prospects to learn what’s important to them, what their challenges are and then devising solutions.
Engage your clients and prospects with open-ended questions that let them spill their guts. Those are the kind of questions where a simple, “yes,” or “no,” won’t do the trick.
6. Not doing some type of marketing activity each and every day
It’s really easy to put off marketing your business when you get busy. The problem is, you tend to end up with feast or famine syndrome - busy for a week, then dry for two. That would be bad.
Find some time each day to do something - write a few letters or emails, post some helpful answers on a discussion forum, attend a networking event, drop some promo postcards in the mail, check in with a client you haven’t heard from in a while, etc.
It’s a good idea to put these tasks down on your calendar and, if you use a software calendar, set an alert so you don’t forget. After a while, it becomes a habit and your marketing activities become a natural, daily routine.
7. Joining the wrong clubs or business organizations
If you’re a photographer, it might seem to make sense to join the local American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) Chapter. A designer might drop some dough for an American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) or a Graphic Artists Guild membership. Joining organizations like this are fine for hobnobbing with your peers. But they’re sort of like preaching to the choir when it comes to finding prospects.
A better choice would be joining groups where your prospects and clients hang out. For the examples above, better choices might be a local ad club, American Marketing Association (AMA), Business Marketing Association (BMA) or even Rotary, Toastmasters or the local Chamber of Commerce. Perhaps you have found your niche. Odds are there’s a trade association that would be an ideal spot for you to join ... and become active.
Becoming active is important. It makes you visible and, by working on a few committees, or better yet, chairing a few, people get to know you and see how you work.
8. Practicing “me too” marketing
“Me too” marketing is doing the same stuff your competitors are doing. Although core marketing principles and tactics have proven themselves over time, it helps to get creative and put a different spin on things.
Zigging while the competition is zagging will help you stand out in the crowd. If you don’t differentiate yourself, everybody starts to look the same from your prospect’s point-of-view. When everybody starts looking the same, typically the only way to compete is on price. That’s a lousy place to be.
9. Forgetting to market to your existing clients
While new business is the life blood of most service businesses, it’s also the most costly to acquire. Don’t forget about your existing clients. You already have a relationship and selling to them can be a load easier than to the new guy.
Make it a point to keep in touch even when there isn’t a project going on. Shoot off some links to useful information, send holiday cards (oddball holidays are even better, like Groundhog Day), send off a survey, invite them to lunch and such.
Also, clients like to pigeonhole service suppliers. So, it’s a good idea to promote any other services you may offer. For instance, say you’re a writer and do mostly ad copy for a client. They might be clueless that you also offer PowerPoint presentations or scriptwriting for videos.
10. Not seeing things from the client’s point-of-view
What you do for a living is pretty darn important to you. And it should be. It’s how you pay the rent and eat every once in a while. But focusing too much on your business and not your clients’ can get a bit myopic.
When you see your client as just a brochure gig, another headshot or accounting spreadsheet, the relationship is destined to be paltry at best. When you start to see things from your client’s point-of-view, you can begin to anticipate their problems and challenges. Then, you can begin developing solutions and ultimately initiate new projects, rather than just waiting for them to ring you up on the phone.
When you get to that level, you’re not only insuring a steady stream of work for yourself, you’re creating real value for your clients.
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