Tag Archives: strategy

How Can I Market Custom Designed Cribs?

Products, , ,

We are a small furniture manufacturing company with an output of +/- 100 baby cots per month. We recently had to withdraw from our contract with baby outlets as we could not compete with import prices. Our product can however carry itself if we can reach the end user which naturally are pregnant women but is unsustainable with shops needing to mark up 120%. How do we reach our target market with low volumes of this type? Opening a shop or advertising in every magazine is out of the question because of low volumes. Do we need to rethink our business or just get out?

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A website is ideal for this.

List your products on eBay, Amazon, etc. You’ll be stressing what makes your cribs unique. Get great close-ups photos of your cribs (including some with happy babies/parents around it).

List your products in online baby catalogs (search online for “baby catalog”). Offer to drop ship the cribs for the catalogs.

However, if your direct-to-consumer price still is higher than the outlet stores, you’ll need to focus on what makes yours better. Position your crib as a high-end model and prove it. Prove why it’s better than all the others.

How Can I Market My Lawn Business?

Services,

I have looked up marketing on the Internet countless times, and everyone wants to sell you something. I don’t care what kind of a tip it is like yellow page ad or flyer tip. Just something to get people to call. Or is there a web site I could get free information about marketing?

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If you already have clients, then ask for referrals.

When you’re working, make sure your vehicle/clothing clearly has your name + contact info.

After you’re done working, go door-to-door and distribute flyers on the same block (your neighbor at 123 Main Street is using us, and we’d love to have you as a client…)

Target new home owners. Welcome them and give them a gift of a free consultation, etc.

Talk to existing lawn people. Perhaps they have too much work or there are jobs they don’t want and would be happy to pass along to you.

Talk to your local garden center. See if there’s a referral board there.

Hold a free class on “How to Make Your Lawn Easier To Care For” (for example). Really give value. The point is that you’ll position yourself as an expert in their eyes.

How Can I Promote A New Film?

Publicity, , , ,

I’m trying to promote a new film for this ad agency I’m interning for…. how should I go about it? Any good ideas ??

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If you’re looking to get web traffic to your film’s site, create teasers/trailers of the film and post on free video sites such as YouTube, Google Video, etc.

Cross-promote it with a relevant partner. If your film is about babies, consider: baby products, new moms’ website/blogs, parenting magazines, etc.

How Can I Have A Successful Website Launch?

eMarketing, ,

I am looking for a clear, concise ‘how to” on the steps necessary to successfully launch a new web site. What are the things I need to think about in terms of my audience (bankers), the press, trade shows, email blasts, direct mail, and other marketing tactics.

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A website is a business. Make sure you have a clear strategic plan for what you’re trying to accomplish, who you’re trying to sell to, how you differentiate yourself, etc. Here’s an article to get you started.

If you’ve already done your planning “homework”, then after your site is up, your next step is traffic. This is a function of targeting your website’s solution to your market’s problem. Each campaign is different, because each market is different and you want your site to standout from the others. In general online solutions can include: emails to existing clients, co-marketing with other sites, back-links from other sites, press releases, white papers, SEO, PPC, videos, eBooks, and articles.

How Can I Better Advertise A Clothing Sale?

Products, Publicity,

I’m faced with the challenge to think of a creative way to promote a sale of my retail products. I want to give the 2nd item off a purchase at a cheaper price (e.g. buy 1 and get the second at 20 or 30% off).

I have thought of conventional means of communicating this.: “Buy more save more”, “More savings with us”, “Your brand, your savings”, but I am searching for a more creative message.

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The key is in the value of the 2nd item. Offer to donate the 2nd item (buy one and we donate one) to a homeless shelter, orphanage, etc. Your client gets PR + a potential write-off, the shopper gets their product (and feels like they helped), and the non-profit can help with the advertising as well.

If the product’s price point is high for the demographic (adults, teens, etc.), you can try another direction. Create a matching service for people who want to buy 1 of the item. You’ll match them with someone else who wants to buy 1, they both get their item for less, and once again you’ve got the opportunity for goodwill + PR. It requires additional work on your client’s behalf, though.

How Can I Brand Myself?

Branding, Starting Out,

My niche is self-development / law of attraction and the best I’ve come up with so far is “The Self-Dev Junkie” and “Your Universal Healer”)

I consider my unique talents to be: excellent customer service, creates products that make a difference, strong passion to help others achieve, and friendly, willing to help.

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Are you a coach? Seminar leader? Spiritual Leader?

Before you focus on the branding, tagline, etc. you need to focus on your strategy.

Answer the following questions to start on your strategic plan:

Who is your ideal client? What problem do you solve for them? How do you solve their problem? Why are you the best for solving it?

The rest will flow from your strategy.

Madscam

Book Reviews,

MadScam“People don’t read advertising – they read what they are interested in. And sometimes, it happens to be ads.”
– Howard Gossage

George Parker ‘s very strong opinions on advertising are detailed in his latest book (subtitled “Kick-Ass Advertising Without the Madison Avenue Price Tag”). He rants about the way businesses generally do advertising, what’s wrong, and how to do much better (without spending a lot).

First, if your business foundation isn’t strong (poor quality of service or product), fix it. Spending time and money to create an ad only to have more people dissatisfied by your business isn’t a good idea.

To create a good (or great) ad, you need three things: information (your unique selling/value proposition – USP/ UVP), time (to craft), and money (to spread the message).

Some of his questions to help you craft your USP/UVP include:

  • Are you unique?
  • Can you positively prove it?
  • If you’re not unique, are you better at what you do than the competition?
  • Do you provide provable quality?
  • Do you provide value?
  • Are you totally reliable?
  • Do you give the impression you’ve been around for a while?
  • Do you have solid and reference-proof case studies?
  • If you went out of business tomorrow, would anyone, apart from you, your mother, your dog, and your investors care?

“The consumer isn’t stupid, she’s your wife.”
– David Olgilvy

Great ads aren’t full of clich?©s or say “me-too”. They are edgy ads full of true, useful information (USP/UVP) about your product (or service). They are well targeted. The standard axiom of “it takes 7 impressions to get noticed” are baloney – all it takes is one great ad to get noticed, and hammering a dumb message over and over is insulting to the reader.

Besides discussing when it’s appropriate to create print, radio, television, and online advertisements, he tells how (and who) should create the ads. He’s not a fan of doing it yourself with in-house talent; he strongly believes that you should almost always use a consultant / freelancer (like himself). When creating ads, use “tissue sessions”: a simple idea is shown and you brainstorm the contents with the ad-creating talent.

“I know that half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted.
Unfortunately, I don’t know which half.”
– John Wanamaker

He concludes that you must measure the result of your advertising. When someone new contacts you ask, “Where did you hear about us?”. Use tracking codes or special ad-specific offers to help isolate which ads produced which results. Without measuring, you have no clue if you’re wasting half your money (or more).

It’s Only A Money Problem

Creative Business Ideas, ,

Published in Northbay Biz Logo October 2007 BizTips Section Logo

 

WalletIda, my Prussian grandmother, loved talking with friends and family.

Once, after listening to a friend’s woes, she said, “Oh, it’s only a money problem!”

Her friend sat stunned for a minute and asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well, there are health and money problems. A health problem only God can help with. A money problem is fixable by humans.”

Knowing what’s wrong

We often forget that problems we can solve are a challenge, but not insurmountable.

Let’s start by looking at a list of common business problems / challenges:

  1. Not enough clients. Are you sitting around waiting for the phone to ring?
  2. Not enough money. How is your cash flow? Are you having trouble paying your bills on time?
  3. Not enough time. When was the last time you took weekends (or evenings) off? How about a vacation? How about a good night’s sleep?
  4. Staffing. Are your spending more time dealing with your employees than working on your business? Are you wishing that you could clone yourself?
  5. Competition. Are there more businesses fighting for your customers?

What’s interesting about all of these problems is, they’re really just symptoms. And if you spend your time trying to fix the symptom rather than fix what’s actually wrong, the result will only be temporary.

So what are some of the underlying problems?

  1. Lack of Planning. Many businesses start serendipitously. You create a product or service for your own needs. Someone notices it and wants to buy it. You sell it. They tell their friends. You sell more. You’re in business! Gradually, you notice you’re selling less. What happened? Do you need to advertise more? Reduce your price? Strategic (focusing on vision) and business (focusing on action) plans are necessary to help you identify goals and achieve them.
  2. Not Knowing Yourself. What core values underlie your business? This is the “soul” of your business and attracts the right clients to you. These qualities inform all your actions; including your message and your image.
  3. Not Knowing Your Clients. Who are your potential clients? How easily can you find them? Clearly define your niche: New mothers who love yoga; children who like classic movies; recently divorced men. The narrower your niche, the easier it is to find customers, and the easier it is to create a message tailored just for them. If you have multiple niches, you’ll need different messages for each group.
  4. Wrong Message. Your clients don’t (initially) care about you and your products. They care about their problems. Solve their problem, and you have a potential client. Have them trust your solution (and price the solution’s value well), and you have a new client.
  5. Single Income Stream. Are you stuck working by the hour? If you’re not working, you’re not earning any money; taking a vacation becomes a dollars-and-cents trade-off, not a quality of life issue. If so, then you don’t have a business-you have a job. A business can make you money while you’re asleep. Likewise, if you business is cyclical (for example, gardeners in spring and summer), you need other services or products for the “off-times”.
  6. Working on the Wrong Things. What are you good at? What do you like to do? Whenever possible, focus on your likes and delegate everything else. Doing too much of the things you don’t like is a sure-fire path to early burnout. You need to understand all the parts of your business, but you don’t have to be an expert at all of them (or be the one to do them) .
  7. Not Measuring Your Actions. How can you tell if you’re spending your time or money effectively? By constantly measuring your results to find out if you’ve been getting a good return on your investment (ROI).

Fixing what’s wrong

Once you’ve identified the underlying problem, how to do you solve it? The good news is, you’re not expected to know how to solve everything in your business. But you are expected to come up with a plan, implement it and measure its results (repeat as necessary).

You’re the expert in what you’re offering. So unless you want to be an expert in the “other stuff,” it’s best to get some help. If you’ve done your research (books, magazines, peers, experts) and you’re still stuck, it’s time to put on your creative thinking cap:

  • Detail The Problem. How long have you had it? What have you tried? What worked? What’s the benefit of solving the problem? What’s the underlying reason for solving the problem (money to payoff debt? Lifestyle change?) Do you really want to solve the problem (or is there an emotional block)?
  • Imagine Your Problem Solved. What would you have: more money, less effort, higher quality, better clients, more time for other things? Is this future truly compelling? If not, odds are you won’t successfully solve the problem .
  • Palpate. Gently explore the problem and see what’s true. Find your blind spots. Have someone interview you about the problem and start offering quick suggestions. How would someone in another field solve it? A child? What would you do to prevent the opposite of the problem from happening (for example: If I had too many clients, I would: be surly, wouldn’t answer the phone, do a bad job, etc.). Are your assumptions really true? Have you seen anyone else solve it? Who do you admire, and how would they solve it? Will the problem go away if left alone?
  • Evaluate. Generating solutions to problems is easy. Doing something about them is harder. Make sure to implement solutions that have measurable results. Learn from your mistakes.
  • Get Support. Making change requires new routines. It’s easy to slip into familiar patterns.

Be thankful that you “only have a money problem.”

How Can I Advertise My Business For Free?

eMarketing, Publicity, Starting Out, ,

I want to advertise my business on the web.

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There are lots of places to advertise on the web. The question is, where are your potential clients looking? What problem do you solve for them? How do you solve their problem? Why should they trust you?

Before wasting your time posting, figure out your strategic marketing plan. Then, you can advertise for the right customer at the right place at the right time (and stand out from all the other free advertisements).