Inside the Marketing Mind | Marketing and self promotion ideas and tips

Here are some great tips from Marketing Mentor, Ilise Benun

2008-06-09T12:16:00.004-04:00

Here are some great tips from Marketing Mentor, Ilise Benun. She and Peleg Top will be sharing more at the upcoming Creative Freelancer Conference in August. See my previous post for more info.

8 Tips for Creative Soloprenuers
Brought to you by Ilise Benun and the Creative Freelancer Conference
August 27-29, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago
www.CreativeFreelancerConference.com

Look Closely and You’ll Find Your Market
When building your market, don’t start from scratch if you can avoid it. The foundation of your business should be rooted strongly in something you know well and in which you already have some expertise. Even if you’re just starting out, you’ve got a history. Past employment experience, a recent pro bono or side project, or even a hobby can be used as a diving board.

If you’re making the transition from corporate work, it’s important to build on that investment, even if you are sick of the field you are coming from. It will be much easier to leverage the relationships and the knowledge you already have than trying to do everything at once. Starting a business and approaching a new market simultaneously is double the work. Once you have a business under way, then you can move toward new markets.

Cherry Picking The Best Prospects
One of the benefits of being a freelancer is that you don’t need hundreds of clients. You can afford to target your market very specifically. If your market is non-profit organizations, you don’t have to reach out to thousands of them. Instead, you can choose the ten or twenty-five or fifty you want to work with and pursue only them.

Always keep your eyes open for the choice prospects whose names you come across online and in magazine articles. Then, take a moment to write them a letter, send them an e-mail or just pick up the phone and call to introduce yourself. This is a cold call, yes, but what makes this kind of cold call instantly warm is your genuine interest in this company.

Plus, it’s very flattering to your prospect to hear that you are calling because you have chosen them based on what you’ve seen and what you have to offer. If there really is a fit that you can describe clearly, they just might agree to meet with you. And that may well develop into a lucrative and productive working relationship, either now or later.

How to Get Out of a Conversation
Some people have no trouble getting into conversations; it’s getting out of them that presents the problem. So if you don’t start conversations for fear of not being able to stop them, here are 3 strategies to experiment with:

Get a refill. If there’s food or drink involved in the event, you can always say, “I think I need a refill.” Or you can smile and say, “Excuse me. I need another one of those Swedish meatballs.”
Involve another person. Introduce another person into the conversation. Then say, “Excuse me while I let you two get to know each other.”

Stand up. Sometimes you don’t have to say anything. Just stand up! Your conversation partner is likely to take the nonverbal cue.

How to rate your prospects
Not all prospects are equal. Some are better than others. Some are worth more effort than others. But how to keep track of it all when the phone is ringing and the email is piling up?
The first thing to determine a rating for each prospect. For example:

“C” = prospects with a casual interest
“B” = prospects with a qualified need and a possible project
“A” = qualified prospects with an actual project
“A+” = prospects who have given you a verbal commitment but haven’t yet signed on

Once you know where all your prospects stand on this scale, you can then determine the best way to contact each (and the proper frequency for each prospect). A creative solopreneur typically pursues a “C” opportunity three or four times in the course of one month. A “B” lead is worth a few more tries (and for a bit longer). While an “A” opportunity deserves more persistence for a longer period of time.

Be sensitive to each situation, and temper your persistence with your gut feeling. If the prospect in question travels a lot, or is an extremely busy executive, it’s unlikely she will drop what she’s doing when you call, but she still may want you to stay in touch.

What is Your Money Mentality?
Are you one of those freelancers who is detail-oriented about words or images, but fuzzy when it comes to money?

Do you know how much income you need to generate in order to pay your bills every month, or do you just cross your fingers and hope enough money comes in?

For many creative types, dealing with money is an obstacle to doing business. “I’m bad with numbers,” is a common refrain and, frankly, a common excuse used to neglect essential business tasks like billing.

One fundamental aspect of the financial end of running a design business is the mental attitude you bring to the process. Which of these statements is most familiar to you:

“I can’t stand dealing with money.”
or
“This financial thing is a challenge, but I’m going to learn it and make it work for me.”

How about these:

“I can’t afford to spend money on marketing.”
Or
“What do I need to do in order to afford the marketing I know I need to grow my business?”

It’s up to you. You can choose between an open or closed mentality. Open is better and will facilitate the growth of your business. With this positive mental attitude as a foundation, you can begin planning a business that will support you, your goals, and your future.

Why You Must Not Reveal Your Hourly Rate
In order to run a healthy and profitable business, you must know how long it takes you to do various tasks and projects. In essence, you must know your expenses, and time is a major expense. (That’s why it’s essential to track your time.)

However, your hourly rate is not your price.

It’s one of the building blocks of your price, so you need to know what it is, but use it only for internal purposes. Use your hourly rate to determine what to charge for a project, but never reveal that hourly rate in a proposal or in conversations with your client. Not only is it none of their business, it also wouldn’t mean anything to them. An hourly rate is only relevant in relation to how long a project takes, and they have no idea how long your design process takes. By talking about your hourly rate, you open the door to their assumptions.

So when a client asks you how long a project will take, never say, “This will take X hours.” The only thing they need to know about time is when they can expect to receive the deliverable.

Instead, you say, “Let me check what we have on the schedule, and I’ll get back to you with a time frame. In the meantime, let me know your deadline and I will do my best to accommodate it.”

Use Your Web Site to Weed Out Tire-Kickers
As a freelancer, you don’t have a lot of time to spare. So you don’t want to waste your time with prospects who can’t afford you. But how do you know that before talking to them?

Your web site can serve as a filter.

Post a form on your web site that prospects fill out if they want an estimate or proposal. The serious prospects will take the time to fill out your form. Tire-kickers and those shopping for price will not.

The form, once filled out, also will give structure to the request, help to focus your potential client and put in one place all (or most) of the information you need to get started preparing a proposal.

Beyond that, this structure also gives your prospect a sense of how you work and some of the requirements of working with you. It’s part of your positioning as a professional.

Here are some of the questions you should include on your web site’s proposal request form:

How did you hear of us?
Briefly describe your company.
What is your immediate need?
Do you have a budget?
What is your deadline?
How and when is it best to contact you?

How to Deal With Scope Creep
Scope creep – when uncontrolled changes affect the scope of a project – can be the bane of a freelancer’s existence. If you don’t address it with a client, you easily could squander all your profit on a job.

Scope creep sets in when a project is not well-defined, well-planned or well-managed, or when there is a change in direction. If this happens early in a project, it may be a sign that you didn’t ask enough questions at the outset, or that you underestimated the project.

When this happens, above all, don’t procrastinate. The most important aspect of managing scope creep is communication. As soon as you see that a project is veering off course and that you will be spending more time or more money, you must advise your client immediately and decide together how to handle it.

If, for example, in a status meeting or phone call, it becomes obvious that what you are being asked to do is outside the scope of the project, say so right away: “That is outside the scope of the project as we outlined it in the proposal, so we’ll need to review that and possibly revise the pricing. Are you aware of that?” Then, initiate a “change order” to document the changes.

It’s also a good idea to include a reference to scope creep in your contract so there are no surprises. A simple paragraph that outlines the process if scope creep starts to happen will plant the necessary seed so that you can bring it up much more easily later.

HOW magazine announces launch of Creative Freelancer Conference in Chicago

2008-06-06T13:11:00.002-04:00

HOW magazine is teaming with creative-industry consulting firm Marketing Mentor to present the first and only business conference for self-employed creative professionals, the Creative Freelancer Conference, August 27-29, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

The event is expected to draw several hundred solopreneurs from a variety of creative disciplines—graphic designers, copywriters, illustrators and photographers, as well as solo practitioners of interactive, interior and industrial design.

“Anyone who makes a living selling creative services on a freelance basis (or would like to) will benefit,” said HOW editor Bryn Mooth. “The business challenges we’ll address are not unique to designers, but they are unique to creatives who are flying solo.”

Those challenges will be addressed by a panel of creative-business experts, including Marketing Mentor co-founders Ilise Benun and Peleg Top. They’ll share best practices for marketing and positioning, talking to clients about money, building client loyalty, crafting proposals and contracts, maintaining a work/life balance and other skills critical to freelance success.

The conference program also includes breakfast roundtables by topic, networking events and optional, one-on-one business reviews of attendee portfolios, proposals and marketing materials.

Online registration is now available at CreativeFreelancerConference.com. Attendees who register by July 15 will save $60 off the $495 registration fee. Groups of three or more will also receive the discounted rate.

Published since 1985, HOW is the creativity, business and technology magazine for graphic designers. It’s also the force behind the HOW Design Conference, the Mind Your Own Business Conference and the In-HOWse Designer Conference.

Marketing Mentor is a mentoring and consulting firm specializing in the creative industry. Founded by Ilise Benun and Peleg Top, their expertise lies in marketing and business development. Their mission is to help creative firms market their services, get their ideal clients and create the work/life balance they want.

Book Review: Decoding Design by Maggie Macnab

2008-03-06T14:14:00.000-05:00

Mathematics, physics, philosophy and psychology. Ah yes, the tools of the visual communication designer. No, you say? Perhaps you thought the tools are Photoshop, Illustrator and the likes. Think again. Sure, software has been a huge help. But, it’s a help in expressing our ideas, not generating them. At least it should be.

In her new book, Decoding Design: Understanding and using symbols in visual communication, author and designer, Maggie Macnab takes you on a journey of symbolism. She pulls back the veil over several logos and other designs to reveal the hidden meaning just below the surface. Meaning that may not be obvious at first, yet is often archetypical and resonates deep within our being.

When I first heard of the book, I figured it would be yet another, “Parade of logos,” promoting their superstar designers. On the up side, great for inspiration. On the downside, vehicles for yet more copycat designs. Not so. This is the stuff that should be the cornerstone for every design curriculum. For veterans, it reminds of why we may have chosen communication design as a profession and the power to have to influence our audiences on behalf of our clients.

Decoding Design isn’t just a lot of heady theory. There’s a lot of meat, but it’s not dried out. The chapters progress, one through ten, where Maggie explains the meaning and symbolism behind each number. She goes on to describe the forms and shapes the reflect its meaning and how it has been incorporated into various designs. I particularly enjoyed how she deconstructed several marks and pointed out how the underlying symbols are used. Macnab also shares her own and other designers thoughts and process about the logos and other designs within the pages.

Back in the day, designers enjoyed a seat in the Board Room. But, over the years, our profession’s standing has eroded. We often find ourselves competing with a client’s neighbor’s cousin’s kid with a copy of Creative Suite. Or it might be the Administrative Assistant with Microsoft Publisher. We’ve all been there. Decoding Design, and the concepts Maggie teaches, will greatly help you to explain and, when needed, defend your work. Plus, it will provide a roadmap for creating better design that is more than simple decoration. It’s ammunition for the thinking designer.

Marketing Mentor & HOW Magazine Need Your Help

2007-12-05T15:00:00.000-05:00

My friend, Illise Benun and her Marketing Mentor partner, Peleg Top, are teaming up with HOW Magazine to develop a conference for creatives. But they need your help. Here's the scoop:

This conference, presented by Marketing Mentor and HOW Magazine, will be created for designers, illustrators, copywriters, photographers and anyone who wants to earn a living by selling their creative services. We're looking to create an event that is focused, affordable and provides lots of networking. But first, we need to know what creative freelancers want/need.

Can you take a quick 3-minute survey *(by this Friday, Dec 7)*
and share some of your thoughts about this idea?

Here's a link to the survey.

Get Rich in a Niche Webinar

2007-09-24T06:31:00.000-04:00

You say your marketing mojo isn’t marvelous? Your promotion efforts are leaning toward paltry and you’re starting to believe “P.R.” stands for “Pitiful Relations.” Your niche is nixed and you don’t know what to do.

Fear not. Marketing maven Ilise Benun and her partner in promotion, Peleg Top, have you covered. Mark Thursday, September 27 down on your calendar and sign up to participate in their webinar, “Get Rich in a Niche,” sponsored by my friends at HOW Magazine.

If your phone isn’t ringing off the wall and your inbox isn’t jingling, you can’t afford to miss this webinar. Here’s just some of what you’ll learn:

• Why you must focus on a market if you want to succeed in business
• How to identify the ideal target market for your design business
• How to choose a market that blends your skills and interests with the needs of the market
• How to determine if the market you've chosen is viable
• How to find and reach the best prospects in your target market

All attendees also get copies of the presentation materials plus easy-to-follow Marketing Mentor worksheets designed to help you zero in on your target market and build your client roster. And, you'll have 12-month access to the webinar, should you want to watch it again as a refresher course.

Need more? Here’s a taste of what you’ll hear:

How to Dominate Your Market
Many designers believe that marketing the widest range of services to the largest possible group is the path to success. You’d rather be a generalist because you think you’ll get more business. And on one level it makes sense: the more opportunities you have to make a sale, the more sales you are likely to make. But in reality it doesn’t work that way. In fact, success comes to those who focus on the smallest number of activities most likely to yield the quickest and largest return.

Look at all you get when you specialize:

Fame: You’ll become known as an expert in your area of focus.
Fortune: You’ll command higher fees for your expertise.
Success: You’ll achieve your personal and business goals
Choice: You’ll get the work you want instead of taking whatever comes along

If you resist specializing, what you fail to understand is that your clients need you to specialize in exactly the service they need. They need to know they are dealing with an expert who serves their particular needs. That’s what will make them feel more comfortable choosing you. That’s what will help them sell you to their managers. So in reality, and in the long run, specializing gets you more business.

But focus doesn’t come naturally. Focus requires ongoing attention and discipline, which is why many people don’t do it. In fact, it’s not something you do once and then it’s done. Focusing means committing, and then recommitting, to your plan every day, refocusing your attention and reevaluating your choices on a regular basis. That’s the way to dominate the marketplace.

Marketing Mentors, Ilise and Peleg, know their stuff. Together, they’ve helped hundreds of designers discover their niche and profit from it while helping their clients become more successful. It’s been said that if you find out how to do what you love, you’ll never “work” another day in your life. This webinar will set you on that path.

Take the steps necessary to ensure your success. At $69 this webinar is not only affordable, it’s an event you can’t afford to miss. Landing one gig through the techniques taught in this webinar will pay for itself over and over.

Click here to sign up.

HOW Magazine's Mind Your Own Business Conference

2007-08-25T09:04:00.000-04:00

Mind Your Own Business Conference
November 1-4, 2007
Loews Coronado Bay Resort, San Diego
www.MYOBconference.com

HOW magazine and Recourses, Inc. present the Mind Your Own Business Conference, taking place November 1-4 at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort in sunny San Diego.

MYOB is the only business retreat tailored exclusively for principals of design and creative-service firms-where the country's foremost business consultants are on hand to answer your most-asked questions about your business. In just 3-1/2 days, you'll get the expert advice you need to increase efficiency and profitability for years to come.

Registration is now open. Visit www.MYOBconference.com to secure your spot.

Sign up by the August 31 Early-Bird Deadline to save $100!

At MYOB, you'll meet a dream-team panel of business consultants and strategy experts, and participate in exclusive presentations and workshops guaranteed to help you take charge of your firm's future. Visit www.MYOBconference.com for complete program details.

Plus, you'll rub elbows with 300+ fellow principals eager to talk shop about best practices, worst mistakes and other topics too taboo under any other circumstance. You'll share e-addresses, business forms and battle scars-in a been there, done that atmosphere you won't find anywhere else.

Visit www.MYOBconference.com to register now using HOW's easy and secure online form.

The Mind Your Own Business Conference is simply the one business retreat you can't afford to miss.

HOW 2008 International Design Awards

2007-07-30T20:16:00.000-04:00

HOW, the leading creativity and business magazine for graphic design professionals, issues a Call for Entries for its 2008 International Design Awards.

The competition is open to all graphic designers, illustrators, photographers and students from anywhere in the world. Any original graphic design project created between January 1, 2006 and September 4, 2007 is eligible. Entries will be accepted in 15 categories including Annual Reports, Posters, 3D Objects and Letterhead/Identity.

The competition's Best of Show winner will be profiled in HOW's April 2008 International Design Annual and will win a trip to the 2008 HOW Design Conference in Boston. All winning entries will be featured in the International Design Annual, and some may be showcased on the HOW Web site.

For rules and official entry form, visit www.howdesign.com, send an email to how-competition@fwpubs.com or call HOW Magazine at 513-531-2690 ext. 1328.

Suspects, Prospects and Leads ... Oh My!

2007-07-21T11:53:00.000-04:00

The other day, I posted a ditty on BoDo, titled, “Hunting Down the Elusive Prospect.” Here on Inside the Marketing Mind, I thought I’d elaborate on that topic a bit.

Different people have different definitions and placement of targets within the sales process (You do have a sales process, right?) For some, it’s starts with a "suspect." For others, the first step is called a "lead." However you choose to label the contacts in your process, some definitions are in order.

For me, it starts with the “suspect.” This is simply a company or person within a company who might just be needing what I’m offering. For all intent and purpose, it’s an educated guess. I see a product on a store shelf that fits what we do in packaging and it could use a little help. I nab the company name off the package and any other info they have there and pop it into my Palm. Or maybe I’ll read a story in the business press about a company, in one of the industries we serve, who just brought on a new Marketing Director. I fire up my browser and check them out. These are simply folks who might be a good fit for our firm. More research and a first point of contact are needed. It might be a phone call, but usually a letter of introduction followed by a call.

Other times the tables are turned and the suspects contacts me as a result of our various marketing and public relations efforts. Either way, there’s an inquiry and now I have a suspect.

I talk a bit with Joe Suspect after he’s read my letter and perhaps visited our site. I find he does, in fact, buy what we sell. I learn he works with creative shops on a regular basis and likes the type of work we do. Nifty! All of a sudden, Joe Suspect moves up to Joe Prospect. We’ve made contact and I’ve begun to qualify him as a good fit. He has experience working with a creative shops, he understands what things cost, the chemistry, so far, feels right and his company offers the potential for us to create excellent work in an industry we know.

As we build the relationship, I work on becoming a valuable resource for Joe. I keep in touch. Maybe we have lunch here and there. I send him an article or two I think will be useful to him. The idea here is to build trust and rapport, while demonstrating your talent, knowledge and abilities.

Eventually, Joe has a need. It might be a brochure, some site work, a package design, etc. Once Joe has a need for our services, he moves up to “lead.” We meet to discuss the project, timetable, budgets and goals. We’re invited to whip up a proposal and make a presentation.

But, before we dump a load of time and resources into drafting a proposal and putting on a dog and pony show, we need to determine if the gig is good for us. Is the timetable doable within our workload? Is the budget livable ... and profitable? Does the project offer us the opportunity to do an excellent job? Can we realistically under-promise and over-deliver? Can we make Joe look good? If we can honestly say, “yes” to questions like these, we can move forward.

The proposal, presentation and subsequent close of the sale are really beyond the scope of this post. A good starting point is my post, "The Potent Power of Proposals."

HOW Magazine Hosts The 2007 In-HOWse Designer Conference

2007-07-18T15:05:00.000-04:00

The editors of HOW magazine have assembled a powerhouse line-up of today's hottest art directors, creative managers and industry experts for the 2007 In-HOWse Designer Conference — September 9-11 at the Hyatt Regency Austin, Texas.

It's the business event for in-house creative managers you can't miss — 3-days packed with intense workshops, professional advice, creative rejuvenation, and even a little group therapy.

Registration is now open at www.inhowseconference.com. Last year’s event sold out quickly, so be sure to sign up right away to reserve your spot.

You'll enjoy exciting, inspiration-filled sessions from a select panel of experts, each with their own unique background. They'll share what's worked for them and what hasn't, and identify best practices on everything from rediscovering "play" in the workplace to refining your operational processes.

You'll network with hundreds of your peers all facing similar in-house challenges and identify methods for balancing your multiple roles. And you'll leave feeling revived with all the insight you need to build and manage a creative team that's downright indispensable to your company.

It's going to be a real lifesaver.

Don't miss out on this one-of-a-kind business conference. Registration is now open, and super easy with our secure on-line form at www.inhowseconference.com. Plus, we're offering deep discounts for 3 or more registrants from the same company.

Don’t delay ... register yourself (and your co-workers) today.
www.inhowseconference.com.

What’s new with Neil

2007-07-14T13:15:00.001-04:00

Well, it been a while since I’ve posted here on Inside the Marketing Mind. Yeah, I know. I’m bad. But, I have a good excuse, or, rather several of them. As I wrote earlier, I was in Fort Lauderdale on family business. During that time, Cat Morley, Jay Wickham and I launched BoDo. When I got myself back to Ohio, it was catch up time, followed by an interesting turn of events.

Aside from doing a lot of writing for BoDo and writing a feature article for HOW’s December, 2007 Business Annual, I merged my business, Tortorella Design, into Odell Advertising/Marketing, Inc. After 21 years working under the moniker of Tortorella Design and being pretty dang on my own, it was, needless to say, a huge step and a wee bit scary. But, it’s been great. The staff are a bunch of really nice folks and Monty Python fans. I mean, really, how can you not like a Monty Python fan? When I walked in my first day it was like I had been there for years (and I mean that in a good way). Plus, the office is less than 3/4 of a mile from my abode. Heck, my car doesn’t even have time to warm up during the commute from here to there.

At Odell, I’m the Senior Account Manager. That’s a fancy way of saying my job involves generating new business and managing projects. Actually, we don’t do much in the way of broadcast, so Odell is really more of a design firm than an agency. Right up my alley. Plus, I’m still keeping my fingers in the creative pot. I couldn’t turn all suit in one fell swoop. Speaking of suits, if you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend David Parrish’s book, T-Shirts & Suits. Great stuff about being a businesslike designer. I wrote a review of it on BoDo.

So, given my nifty new responsibilities, I thought it would fun to share what I’m up to at the firm, here and there. Hopefully you can glean some useful insights from my activities and maybe even my blunders. I’ll also be writing about this on BoDo.

Here goes.
Odell isn’t a new kid on the block. The firm was started back in 1944. Yup, we’ve some history. Actually, I think we’re the oldest, no, strike that, “most mature” (sounds better) agency in the local area. But the business and competitive landscape has been and is changing. Historically, NE Ohio has been a hardcore manufacturing hub. As such, many Odell clients were in that arena. We still do pretty well, but a reinvention / re-branding is in order to to remain competitive, relevant, really reflect what we’re all about and what we can do for our clients.

Dean Crawford, Odell’s Senior VP, Sales and I have rolled up our sleeves and started to look at our strengths ... and our weaknesses, along with threats to the firm and opportunities. Hey, that has SWOT Analysis written all over it. I guess that’s because that’s what it is. I would behoove you to do something similar. A SWOT can be an enlightening process. There’s a section devoted to it in my book, Marketing Tune Up, which is available on BoDo.

Anywho, we’ve been going through past work to find out where we shine. Ever try going through over 60 years worth of stuff? Holy smokes! What we’re finding is that Odell has a lot of strength and experience in branding for household products, food and healthcare. That’s going to be our focus. That doesn’t mean that’s all we’ll do. It simply means that’s what we’ll promote.

Speaking of promotion, we’re working on several points of contact to reach our prospects. These include a new, beefy site with lots of useful stuff for clients and prospects, an e-newsletter and a targeted public relations program. All this will compliment the usual sales tactics that include sending out intro letters, phone follow-ups, face time and just keeping in touch.

So, bookmark this blog or sign up for the feed, hop on and follow us on the wild ride.

HOW Magazine Hosts 17th Annual Design Conference

2007-04-03T15:11:00.000-04:00

CINCINNATI: The 2007 HOW Design Conference will be held June 10-13 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. This annual creativity, business and technology conference for graphic designers will feature 54 speakers, 49 sessions and 11 three-hour workshops.

Many industry experts and well-known designers will present at this years Conference, including Steff Geissbuhler of C&G Partners, type designer Chank Diesel, environmental graphic design pioneer Deborah Sussman and color expert Leatrice Eiseman.

Attendees can choose from sessions in six tracks: Creativity & Inspiration, Design Disciplines, Business & Management, Career Development, In-House Issues and Technology & Production. Conference extras include 11 pre-Conference workshops on revolutionary digital camera tricks, tracking color trends, integrating Photoshop and Illustrator with Flash, becoming a better communicator and more; a networking lunch with the HOW editorial team; and two Atlanta Design Studio Tours with stops at various interactive or print design firms across Atlanta.

The Conference will also host a Design Resource Center with exhibits featuring paper, stock photography, computer hardware and software, and other resources for designers and a Portfolio Review for both students and working designers.

More than 3,000 graphic designers, art directors, creative directors, illustrators and other design professionals are expected to participate in this years Conference.

The 2007 HOW Design Conference is presented by HOW, the creativity, business and technology magazine for graphic designers. HOW is published by F+W Publications, Inc. in Cincinnati, OH.

For registration information, call (513) 531-2690 ext. 1450; fax (513) 531-0798; email or visit HOWconference.com.

Maketing missteps

2007-04-02T14:51:00.000-04:00

I had the opportunity to speak to the Cleveland / Northcoast Chapter of the AMSP last Thursday (3/29/07) evening. An interesting thing about public speaking ... it’s ahead of death on the “stressful things to do” list. None the less, I get some oddball kick out of it and it seemed a good time was had by all.

During my talk, I went over some of the more common marketing faux pas many creatives make ... and indy pros for that matter. Here’s a recap:

1. Not doing anything
Sorry kids, just sitting there, waiting for the phone to ring doesn’t cut it. You need to be proactive if you plan on eating and paying for a roof over your head ... not to mention buying that 60" hi-def tv you've been eyeing..

2. Not having a plan
Without a plan ... a written plan ... you’ll never know if your achieving your goals. For that matter, odds are, you’ll be guilty of committing the heinous sins of #1 and probably # 6.

3. Not focusing on a niche or specialty
Trying to be all things to all people usually results in one becoming nothing to everybody. Focus on becoming the big fish in a small pond.

4. Not understanding your audience
If you don’t know who you’re talking to, your message will likely be off base or at best, diluted.

5. Placing all your hopes and dreams in one activity
Here’s a personal fav. I see this happen all the time. They call it a “marketing mix” for a reason. One postcard, ad, press release or whatever usually won’t have the world knocking at your door. Do several things ... and do them well.

6. Nervous rabbit syndrome
Here’s the opposite of #5. This one’s about trying this and that and not giving any one thing enough time to work ... or be sure it’s not working. You end up darting hither and yon, spending a bunch of dough and end up with nothing to show for it, except a shrinking checkbook balance.

7. Not having a referral system in place
Referrals are the life blood of a service business. They’re usually pre-sold because people people tend to believe what their friends and associates tell them about a business. They believe it much more than anything you tell them. Make it a point to ask for referrals. Put a system in place to insure you don’t forget.

8. Not marketing to current clients
This is the 80/20 Rule in action. Odds are, 80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients. Market to them Talk to them. Be visible. They may not know all the services you offer and they tend to forget about you until they need your services again.

9. Not leveraging the power of your business and personal network
When developing your referral system, don’t forget about non-business-related folks like friends, family and neighbors. They know people too. Your second cousin twice removed on your mother’s side just might live next to Mr. Big at the place you’ve been trying to get into for the past couple of years.

10. Forgetting that even though you’re a Graphic Designer, Photographer or other independent professional, you’re really in the business of marketing
You do this or that. Great. Have a ball. But, don’t forget that, as a service professional, new business is the other part of your life blood. You’re in the business of marketing and promoting. You need to become your own best client. If you don’t, you won’t be able to do this or that. Well, at least not for money.

For a more detailed dissertation on these points, visit my series on BoDo – Business of Design online.

Brand Jammin': A review of Marc Gobé's new book, Brandjam

2007-03-22T10:07:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was down in Fort Lauderdale for a few weeks. Getting there and back required I spend some time sitting in airports and crammed into jets. But, that afforded me the time to read Marc Gobé’s new book, Brandjam.

Brandjam came to me at a time when, to be cuttingly honest, design had lost much of its excitement for me. Crank out another website. Whip up a logo. Shoot out one more brochure. Yawn. Same, same. After doing this stuff for 30 some odd years, the thrill of it all seemed to have gone out the window. Marc’s book changed that by giving me back the desire I seemed to have misplaced.

Brandjam brought the human aspect back into the picture. As a matter of fact, the subtitle on the cover is, “humanizing brands through emotional branding.” The book is an extension and continuation of his previous, and highly popular work, Emotional Branding: The New Paradigm for Connecting Brands to People.

So, what happened to branding and marketing over the years? Here’s point-in-case. A few years ago, I walked into the lush conference room of a new client. Not a huge company, but not Lilliputian either. In walked their Director of Marketing. She was a nice enough lady, decked out in a gray worsted wool business suit. Without missing a beat, she started talking about stratified samples, non-response bias, quantitative measurements and ROI. Not a word about humans and their needs as consumers. She seemed to have forgotten that the folks she was trying to sell her company’s wares to are ... well ... living, breathing people, not simply numbers on a spreadsheet. And that is just what Brandjam reminds us. We design for people to meet their needs and help fulfill their expectations, desires and experience with our clients’ brands.

Gobé uses a metaphor that hit home for me – jazz. I play guitar and enjoy listening to jazz, although I confess that I don’t play it well. I’m better at Dylan. None the less, it’s an apt metaphor for branding in the 21st century. He refers to companies needing to “jazz up” their brands by incorporating instinct, along with research and finding new and inventive ways to touch the consumer on an emotional level.

Jazz is about innovation and improvisation. It’s about creating new and unusual harmonies with others. It’s about not being afraid to take risks to create something new and different. Something that stands out from the pack. Through numerous case studies, thoughts, ideas and concepts, Gobé will shake up what you thought you knew about branding and making a true impact on the audience.

Brandjam speaks to the notion that branding is a collaborative effort. It’s a partnership, not just with clients, designers, writers and the research crew, but also with the consumer. It’s about enhancing the consumer’s experience and building real trust. To do that, the old rule of buying more media in an effort to cajole consumers to buy stuff they don’t want doesn’t apply anymore. The idea is to find out what people really want, design it right and then find a way to bring it to them.

We live in an over-communicated world with smart chips in just about everything, in an effort to make things “easier” for us. But, here in the West, things tend to be fast-paced and high-stress. The research says we’re bombarded with roughly 3000 marketing messages each and every day. We have way too many choices when it comes to products and services. What will we buy and where will we spend our money? It’s my belief that the brands that win the consumer are going to be those that adopt and implement the concepts found in Brandjam.

49sparks podcast

2007-03-05T05:44:00.000-05:00

I’m down here in sunny Fort Lauderdale, FL. Not exactly a vacation, but that’s another story. Fort Lauderdale’s my family home and I’m painting the bathroom, fixing this and that, washing windows and the likes. Beaches? We don’t need no stinkin’ beaches. Not when we’ve got a can of paint and a bucket of soapy water.

Over the weekend, representing BoDo, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Chris Ritke of 49sparks.com. 49sparks is the recently launched collaborative community for designers and illustrators. Great site. We teamed up to discuss BoDo’s mission and goals, along with touching on other topics of importance to the design community.

During the interview, Chris and I discussed why BoDo was started and what it’s all about. In addition, we discussed the importance of community for designers and the challenges faced by those just starting their business. We also talked about BoDo’s audience and what they can expect from BoDo great roster of visiting authors.

Have a listen. The podcast can be found on the 49sparks site at www.49sparks.com/podcast=44 . Poke around 49sparks and check out the other excellent podcasts and videos.

BoDo Launches!

2007-02-27T08:35:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been a bit busy working with my partners, Cat Morley and Jay Wickham, building BoDo – Business of Design online.It's been over nine months in the making and the past few months have been a flurry of activity. Below is the skinny on the project.

Many designers setting up shop have searched for answers and assistance by posting questions on various forums, emailing pros for advice, reading everything on offer and googling when it’s not. Yes, forums, books and blog postings are helping to address this issue, but from our vantage point, concentrated help was needed.

As a Creative Latitude response, the Business of Design online (BoDo) was created.

Conceived and developed by Catherine (cat) Morley, Neil (nt) Tortorella and Jeanette (jay) Wickham (the BoDo team), BoDo’s aim is to provide a focused wealth of information, tools and techniques for successfully managing and marketing a design practice.

That’s right, there won’t be a Photoshop tutorial in sight.

On BoDo you’ll find continuously updated resources for running a design shop, including select e-books, business forms, excellent articles and more.

Although the team will contribute regular blog posts and the occasional series, we feel a big part of our strength will be the growing list of visiting authors.

On the design side, BoDo’s visiting author line-up includes Creative Latitude’s Graphic Make-overs host Alina Hagen of Alina Design. At Alina’s In-sights, Alina will post about life in-house. At Erin’s Review, studious Erin Harris of Sanguine Theory will share thoughts on various business of design books. As they happen, at Bean’s Biz, Stefan Bean of Pulse Creative Partners, Inc., will mull over the experiences of a new(ish) business start-up. Sometimes weekly, always monthly, Thomas (Tom) Stephan will have us grinning away in the work place at Dyer Straits.

As designers do not run their businesses in a vacuum, rounding out the discussion will be non-design authors such as writer and blogger ME “Liz” Strauss of Successful Blog, Letting Liz Be, Liz Strauss.com, The Blog Herald, and Performancing.com. Liz will talk about all things business writing at Write with ME. At Creative Conversations, Dr. Tammy Lenski of I Can’t Say That! and Lenski Strategic will share wisdom about conversations and conflict on the client and colleague front. At Creative Coaching, trained psychotherapist and creative coach Mark McGuinness from Wishful Thinking will instruct on the subject of creative thinking, communication and collaboration.

To get things started, we’ll begin with a bite, a nibble, a BoDo Niblet if you will, the “Starting Out and Setting Up” series. The two week series, pulling in advice, will tackle knowing when you’re ready, managing money, equipment, location, etc. In alphabetical order, those helping out were Abhijit Nadgouda, Alina Hagen, Chris Tomlinson, Danita Reynolds, Tammy Lenski Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua, ME “Liz” Strauss, Mark McGuinness, Stefan Bean and of course Cat, Neil and Jay.

Coming after will be two series running side by side - “Top 10 Marketing Missteps” (by Neil), covering marketing faux pas. And “Designer’s Working With” (by Cat). The “Working With” series talks about how to effectively work with other creatives such as writers, photographers, marketing professionals, illustrators, programmers, printers and pre press specialists.

In between will be Podcast Humpdays (wink, wink for all you Australians and Europeans out there), Resourceful Fridays, Weekly Recaps, Sunday Stressbusters, and a poll. Jay will come in with, what else, Ask jay, to answer individual business questions.

Starting out with a full schedule, the team looks forward to your comments and input on BoDo. It’s a win-win offer actually, as it’s our goal to help others wade through the new design business quagmire.

So come on down,

The BoDo Team

cat - nt - jay

Is it time to tweak your rates?

2007-01-13T12:30:00.000-05:00

Well, the holiday hiatus is over and the new year is upon us. Now is a good time to consider your rate structure and see if it needs some tweaking.

Rates are an often overlooked part of the four “Ps” of marketing – Product (or service), Price, Promotion and Place (distribution). But, they are also a big part of positioning. It’s similar to buying a car. You can buy an economy deal for a paltry price, or you can buy a cushy BMW. Both will get you where you want to go. It’s simply that one will get you there in a lot more style. BMWs are well-made cars, but the price also conveys a sense of quality and style that’s worth the price.

In the minds of your clients and prospects, your rates and fees can position you as a low-end pair of rented hands or a valuable, high-end project partner. A lot of it has to do with your own sense of worth.

Let me share a story to illustrate the point. I have two clients. One is a well-known designer with a high profile practice. He never went to art school, but is innately talented, has won loads of awards and attracts clients with deep pockets. He knows the value he brings to the table and is confident about what that value is worth. He can easily command tens of thousands of dollars for a logo and his clients are happy to pay it.

The other, Amy Mantione of Element Graphic Design, is an excellent designer, but also one who’s just coming out of a divorce and overcame significant health problems. Amy had been charging a typical rate for the most part, but also had some clients who were charged a lot less. We needed to run the numbers to see what she really needed to charge to cover her target salary, overhead and make a profit.

When we ran those numbers, we found, based on her specific situation, she needed to up her hourly rate by roughly $20/hr. She said to me, “Nobody’s going to pay me that!”

And therein lies the rub.

What Amy had been through on the personal side was effecting her sense of value on the business side. It happens to indy pros and it happens often. Lots of business consultants say you need to separate personal stuff from business stuff. That’s true, I believe, but only to a point. Sure, you should have separate bank accounts, phone lines and such. But, the reality is that when things are stressful on the personal side, it’s going to effect your business and can easily effect your sense of worth and value.

Amy and I had just done a promo mailing which brought her several new prospects in her niche. I suggested we use one as an experiment by quoting the new hourly rate. She was, shall I say, a wee bit doubtful but finally willing to give it a try. Off she went to the initial client meeting.

During the meeting, she presented her value proposition and held her ground. The result? A new client at a higher rate ... and the client didn’t so much as bat an eye when she quoted it. Amy had just given herself a $20/hr. raise. Not too shabby. Pretty soon she’ll be charging fees like my other client.

The moral of the story is to accurately calculate your rate so you know your making money. But, you also need to develop the courage and confidence to quote that rate. Then, seek out those clients who understand the value you bring to their project and are able and willing to pay for it. That, in turn, means being selective about the prospects you woo and doing the background research to insure they can pay your hefty fees for your brilliant work.

When thinking about your value, consider this. Clients come to us because we have knowledge and experience they don’t possess. We can do something they can’t. It’s the same reason you hire an accountant, lawyer, financial advisor, plumber or mechanic.

Beyond this, consider the return your client gets for your labors. Let’s say you design a direct response package that yields a few million dollars for your client. Yet, you charged a fee of, say, $500. That’s pretty disproportionate. Maybe it’s a logo you did for a new company. They, in turn, skyrocket to fame. Your logo design suddenly becomes very valuable as their face before the public.

You’re worth more than you may think. Don’t sell yourself short.

For more about calculating your rate, read my article, How Do You Rate: Figuring your real hourly rate. At the end of the article is a link to a rate calculator I developed. You simply pop in your numbers and the spreadsheet will handle the rest.

Building and managing your contact list

2006-11-10T10:05:00.000-05:00

One of your most important business assets isn’t your phone, fax or even your computer. This asset helps you to pay the phone bill, buy a computer and upgrade your software. It’s your contact list. A good contact list enables you to keep in touch and promote your business so the projects keep rolling in.

You could buy or rent a list, but often they aren’t as up-to-date as you’d like. Plus, if you rent a list, you’ll need to re-rent it each time you do a mailing or follow up. That can get pretty pricey quick. A better idea is for you to build your own. As you build it, you can get a bit chummy with your contacts, prospects and associates and learn about their business, their challenges and their needs. That alone puts you in a better position than the other guy who’s playing dialing for dollars with a rented list of names that’s two years out of date.

Before you start gathering names and contact information, you’ll need to have a system in place to manage it. This is critical. Without a system, things will fall through the cracks and you’ll miss opportunities. Your system might be as simple as a digital address book and calendar, or a robust contact management application like ACT! There are several on the market for both Windows and Macs. A Google or Yahoo search will help you find one that’s a just right fit for your business. I’m on a Mac and have been using Chronos contact manager software for years. Currently, I use Organizer. Before that it was called Consultant. I can pretty much tell you what I was doing on any given day going back several years.

One nifty thing about these apps is the ability to subdivide a general list into groups. For instance, you might have one group for hot prospects, another for media and yet another for associates,friends and such. Many will log your phone calls when you dial through a modem. There’s also a spot for notes, setting alerts, important contact info like birthdays, spouse names, etc. For example, you can pop in a note about a phone discussion, or when you mailed something and then set an alert to remind you to follow up down the road.

Once you have a workable system to help you put things on autopilot, it’s time to begin to gather your contact information. A good place to start is your friends, family, business associates and current clients. Odds are you know somewhere around 200 people. Those 200 each know 200 more. Those are some pretty catchy numbers when you do the math.

Next comes new business contacts. There are loads of places to dig up that information. Web searches will yield many potential prospects. Trade association sites often have membership directories. If you belong to local business clubs, like Rotary or the Ad Fed, you should have received a membership list.

A day at the library can also get you on your way. The Reference Librarian can become one of your best friends. Ask them to point you to the directories. There are a bunch of them like The Million Dollar Directory, O'Dwyer's Directory of PR Firms, Gale's Encyclopedia of Associations and my personal favorites, The Red Books. Their formal titles are The Index Guide to Advertisers and the Index Guide to Advertising Agencies. These two tomes are jam-packed with not only contact info, but also annual budget breakdowns, what they buy and more. That’s valuable stuff to know.

So how many contacts are enough? Well, the more the merrier, but I’d say shoot for 300 - 350. But, make sure they match in well with the type of work you want to do or niche area.

Another good place to find some names is the business section of your local newspaper or the newspaper in the largest city near you. Business journals like Crains and BizJournals, are great, too. You’ll find all sorts of nuggets like who was recently promoted, who took a new job, what companies are opening new offices or otherwise expanding, who’s launching a new product and such.

All of a sudden 300 contacts doesn’t seem like all that many to find.

Check your local newspapers and business publications for the names of reporters and editors to begin to build your media list for press release distribution.

Once you entered everything into your contact manager, it’s time to put it to work. Here’s how. Let’s say you start off your marketing blitz with a postcard or letter of introduction. You make a note about what was mailed and when in each contact’s pane. Then you set an alert to remind you to make follow up calls a week or so later.

Next, maybe you write a news release about an award you won or other newsworthy ditty. That gets sent to the media folks on your list, but it’s also emailed to your friends, family and business associates – folks you already know. Don’t email it to cold prospects unless they’ve “opted in” and given you permission. What you sent and to whom all goes in the contact manager. A few days later an alert pops up to remind you to send a birthday card to one of your prospects. You read in the paper that Mr. Smith was recently promoted to Mighty Marketing Pava at Mondo BigCorp. You send a congrats card and make a note in the contact manager.

You get the idea.

It’s important to remember that this isn’t a one-time deal. Your list should be a work in progress. Some contacts will drop off. New ones are added.

Effectively and efficiently managing your contacts will keep you on the radar screen when a prospect’s project time comes rolling around or one of your friend’s friends needs a logo design for their budding business.

The problem with sales letters

2006-10-27T12:16:00.000-04:00

Using sales letters can be an inexpensive way to connect with your prospects. You should have letterheads, envelopes, business cards and a printer, so all you’ll need to shell out for are some stamps. You can’t get much cheaper than that. You just whip up some poignant prose, drop your letter and card in the envelope, slap a stamp on and voila. Off to the post office you go. Then you sit back and wait for all those prospects to hand you over their juicy projects.

I talk to a lot of solopreneurs who do just that. The only problem is, the phone doesn't ring.

What happened? Or, more accurately, what didn’t happen? In most cases, they failed to ask the critical question after reading back their letter – “So, what?” When writing a sales letter, postcard or other promo piece, you need to put yourself in the prospect’s position. But, most indy pros are too busy focusing on their business. Bad idea. The prospect doesn’t give a hoot. They’re interested in what’s in it for them. Tell them.

Always include an offer within your letter. Maybe it could be a free consultation. A web designer might offer a site critique. Give some hard thought to what you can offer that’s of value to your prospect. Don’t forget to extoll the benefits. Benefits are about the prospect. Features are about you.

Next comes a call to action. This’s simply where you tell the reader what to do next. Usually, it will be to call or email you so you can set up a meeting or provide more information. None the less, also include a stamped reply card. They help boost response rates.

A lot of sales letters I see are are short little ditties that say something along the lines of, “I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Joe Schmo Design. We’re a yada, yada, yada ... I’ll give you a call in a few days to arrange a meeting.” But the research shows that longer sales letters sell better. So, include the usual background, but also include some testimonials and some of your clients. To avoid any readers thinking, “Hmmm ... doesn’t seem like this guy understands confidentiality,” make mention that the clients listed gave you permission. Of course, get permission.

Finally, include a secondary offer. These are often a “P.S.” Secondary offers can be tip sheets, a report, maybe even an e-book. Again, they should be something with real value.

Why a secondary offer, you say? Well, most of the recipients won’t have a current need for what you’re selling or they have a supplier. So, you need to wait for something to change. But, your secondary offer might be just what the doctor ordered to get them to contact you. You get their info and add them to your contact manager software. After a few days, give them a call and ask if your report, tip sheet, etc. was helpful. That helps to keep the dialogue open. When you call, also ask if you can put them on your list to receive other helpful stuff from you. These can be links to articles on the Web and such. You become positioned as a resource for them. Odds are, when project time rolls around, you’ll be on their mind.

Building buzz – The power of word of mouth

2006-10-21T13:40:00.000-04:00

A first cousin to referrals and the holy grail of marketing is word of mouth. Get enough people talking about you and you won’t need to build a better mousetrap. The world will still beat a path to your door. On the flip side, you might be the best dang whatever, but if nobody’s talking about you, you’re not going to get too far.

The thing about word of mouth (WOM) is it’s trustworthiness. Friends talking to friends about their experience with you. Hopefully, the buzz is positive. That means having excellent client service, being good at what you do and going the extra mile.

WOM doesn’t need to be passive. You can actively pursue it by implementing some tactics and techniques. But, remember trying to manipulate things by deliberately spreading false information or paying some people to talk you up is less than ethical.

Before you can get people talking about you, you’ve got to give them something to talk about. Here’s a few ideas:

Provide tools that make it easy for folks to talk, like industry research or survey results
Offer a new service or put a different spin on an existing one
Do something nice and unexpected for your clients
Help a client out of a jam
Build new relationships with movers and shakers
Get active in some clubs and organizations
Post insightful, thought provoking comments on blogs that target your audience
Post helpful comments on industry forums

Let’s take the first item above. Do some digging about a topic that’s important to your clients. Write a report and email it out to them. Be sure to include a line that says something like, “Please forward to friends and associates who would find this useful.”

Perhaps you have an early meeting. Stop by the bakery on the way and pick up a dozen or two doughnuts. I had a printing rep who always did this. Did I talk about him? You bet I did.

Those are just some tactics. Visit the Word of Mouth Marketing Association site and pick up some more ideas. Their WOM 101 is a good place to start.

The referral redux

2006-10-11T13:32:00.000-04:00

If you look over your client roster, odds are most of them ... and probably the best ones ... came to you by referral. Referrals are great. They tend to come pre-sold, don’t cost you much, if anything, and the referring party sang your praises so you’re sitting in the spotlight from the get go.

But, for most service providers, referrals are a passive activity. Well, actually a non-activity. You’re just sitting there, the phone rings and bingo! A cushy project just falls into your lap. It’s nice, but you can do better by moving things from passive to active.

I’m a subscriber to Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor. If you’re not a subscriber to this e-newsletter, you should be. My friends (and clients), Ilise Benun and Peleg Top give excellent insights and advice. In their most recent edition, Peleg shared how he put his firm, Top Design, into active mode when it came to referrals.

Peleg was able to turn an investment of roughly 300 bucks, for some chocolate and well-designed packaging, into $160,000 worth of business in two months. I’d say that’s a pretty darn good return. Click here to read about how he did it. Or, click here to listen to the audio version.

How to go from low ball clients to high rollers

2006-09-26T13:29:00.000-04:00

Here’s a quandary many designers and other creatives face – you want to break into higher paying projects, annual reports for example, but when it’s show and tell time, you come up wanting because you’ve never done one.

What’s a creative to do?

Well, you could do what most do – sit there, fingers crossed, wishing and waiting for Mondo Big Corp. to ring you up and drop their annual report in your lap. Don’t hold your breath. Another thing you could try is showing the work you do have, lay it on thick during the sales pitch, and hope Ms. Prospect will bite. Or, you could take the route that well-known designer, writer and speaker, Ellen Shapiro took.

Shapiro started her firm, Shapiro Design, back in 1978. After a few years, she took a long, hard look at her business. She was working on too many small projects with small budgets. She needed a change in direction. One of her business plan (you have one of those, right?) objectives was to tap the report market. But, it didn’t take too much research to realize that the competition was stiff for the Fortune 500. The fact that Shapiro Design didn’t have a single report in its portfolio didn’t help things, either.

Many other designers would have stopped there. Too tough a nut to crack. Not so for Ms. Shapiro.

In a classic case of zigging while the others zagged, Ellen targeted the smaller enterprises with revenues of roughly 300 million. Big enough to be profitable for her and a small enough niche where she could make her mark.

She got a copy of Inc Magazine’s list of the fastest growing companies and started digging for some good matches. She further narrowed things down to hardware and software, biomed and consumer products. The final list was about a hundred.

Next, she created comps for an imaginary company in each industry. Shapiro created a 4-page, color mailer and targeted it to address the needs of the CEOs and CFOs within her audience. Off they went. Ellen picked up the phone and made follow up calls.

The result? In the first year she landed three reports. The following year she landed five. Not too shabby.

With some work, some savvy and creativity, she successfully turned her client base from low profit to high profit. In addition, this new market allowed her to produce exceptional, high visibility work with a lot of potential for growth.

Smart lady.

Richard Armstrong's "How to Make More Money by Writing Less"

2006-09-16T10:03:00.000-04:00

I recently read a paper by copywriter Richard Armstrong titled, How to Make More Money by Writing Less. It’s thought provoking and I suggest you read it.

In the report, Armstrong mentions a potential client he didn’t want to take on. So, he jacked up the price tag ... way up ... and told the guy he couldn’t possibly start the job for at least a month. The client said, “No problem.”

Armstrong was stunned and learned a valuable piece of information – if people believe you’re good and can solve their problem, they’ll dig deep into their pockets, if need be. Plus, telling a prospect that you’re booked a month or more in advance tends to prompt the thought, “Gee, if this guy’s booked that far in advance, he (or she) must be pretty darn good.”

This isn’t something to test when your project roster is dry as a bone in the Mojave Desert. But, if your busy and care to to test it out you might be surprised at the results. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

As service providers, we sell intangibles. People buy our services based largely on their perception of us. That perception is created by word of mouth, press coverage we receive, papers and articles we write, awards we’ve won, our work for other clients and how we position and present ourselves.

What’s your clients’ and prospects’ perception of you and your business? This isn’t something for a gambled guess or what you think they think. It’s something you need to ask them about. Perhaps a client survey is in order. If you find the perception isn’t what you want, it’s time to start respinning your image and brand.

Marketing & promoting when times are slow

2006-09-15T08:11:00.000-04:00

If you’ve followed the news, you know the economy is slowing down in many places. You may have already felt the pinch. In August, manufacturing lost 11 thousand jobs, after shedding 23 thousand jobs in July. Another sobering fact is that manufacturing has lost more than three million jobs since 2000. The housing market is backing down as well and belts are starting to tighten.

There’s still work out there for the creative crew, but what I’m hearing from designers and others is that the projects are small and the phone isn’t ringing as often.

So, what does this mean to you and your business? It means a couple of things. First, if you haven’t been aggressively marketing your practice, you’re already behind the eight ball. Second, and this is mostly for creative enterprises, you’d better start educating your clients about what to do to help insure their success in a slow economy.

Research has shown, over and over, that the successful companies are the ones who maintain, or better increase, their marketing activities during slow times. Typically, one of the first things to be cut during a slump is marketing. So, while the competition is cutting back and losing market presence, the ones who step things up are the ones who increase their visibility. Plus, because of this increased visibility, they’re poised to be in a much better position when things start to recover. Often, they can overtake a top gun who cut their budget.

But, for many independent professionals, marketing dollars are already hard to come by. So, it’s time to use brains instead of bucks and savvy instead of spending.

Here’s a few ideas to help get you through the tough times.

1. Build your list without spending a buck
It’s always best to build your own list, rather than renting one. When you build your own, you do the research and learn a lot more about your prospects’ companies than just a name, addresses and maybe a phone number. When you know about your prospects, it’s easier to tailor your message to address common problems and challenges.

2. Use your list
This is a no-brainer, but if you don’t use your list, all that time building it was a waste. It’s always nice to mail out a snazzy 4-color piece or a slick promo package like the ones that grace the pages of HOW Magazine’s Self Promotion Annual. But, if times are slow, consider a well-written letter of introduction along with your business card. You can do the jazzy thing later when the wampum’s flowing in.

Be sure to follow up by phone. This is the critical area where lots of folks fail. Without a follow up plan, even the cost of some paper and stamps can be squandered.

Another tactic is burning CDs with your promo instead of having it printed. It’s a bit more expensive than a simple letter, but, since you can create them on demand, it’s usually less than a printed piece.

3. Focus on industries less effected by a slow down
Think about what people are always going to need when things are slow. For instance, if you now focus on construction and housing, you might start promoting to the healthcare market. People are always going to need medical care.

4. Expand your horizons
I live in an area that has a heavy industrial/manufacturing base. When things slow down, they cut back spending and the work dries up. It was important for me to expand my marketing area. Now, only about 10% of my clients are local to me.

If it’s looking like your local area may not be able to sustain you during a sluggish period, it’s time to start thinking about expanding regionally or even nationally.

5. Get some press
If you’re getting slow, consider using this time to put together your press kit. Send it out to your local media and also trade magazines within your niche.

Look for things that you can put a newsy spin on and write a release. Have you joined a committee for some community or nonprofit project? Offering any new services? Maybe you just completed a project that would make a good case study for an industry publication.

6. Get back in touch with former clients
Pick up the phone and renew some old connections. Maybe get together for lunch or just coffee. Learn what they’ve been up to. Find ways to keep in touch. How about an e-newsletter or occasionally emailing them some useful links to articles, sites and such? Become a resource.

7. Dialing for dollars
Cold/warm calling is a numbers game, but it’s still one of the quickest ways to nab some new business. If you’re slow ... or worse, stopped ... use this time to make some calls each day. It beats sitting at your computer playing solitaire.

8. Get active
Join and get active in some community groups and/or business organizations. Get on a committee or two. Or, better yet, chair them. This will increase your visibility and get your name around. Working on committees also lets others see how you work.

9. Suggest project ideas to your clients
If you’re on top of your clients’ businesses, and you should be, find ideas that will help them out. Perhaps they have a new product or service that could use a brochure or news release. Maybe their site is stale and needs a lift. Be proactive about helping your clients become successful. When they're successful, so are you.

10. Upsell at every opportunity
So, you’ve got a gig. Great. Maybe it’s a brochure for a new product. Could they also use an ad? Perhaps you’re doing a menu. Your client might also need table tents to feature the new entrees.

Remember the 80/20 Rule – 80% of your business usually comes from 20% of your client base.

For instance, one of my clients called me in for some marketing consulting. We hashed some things around and I suggested news release about a particularly successful joint venture. I wrote the release. Upgrade number one. The release was picked up by a trade publication. It was my client’s first press mention. They were pleased as punch and it generated some inquiries from new prospects.

On the heels of that success, I suggested they do a press kit and shoot it off to their [small] media list. Upgrade number two. We sent out the kit to the six editors on their list. That resulted in two feature stories and one invitation for my client to submit a feature. Guess who writes that? Upgrade number three.

The feature stories resulted in several new inquires and customers. The new customers included companies in Asia – an entirely new market for them.

When you’re upselling, though, it’s important to keep in mind sound ethics. Don’t try to sell them something that they don’t need and won’t help them. You might get the gig but lose the client when it fails.