Fri Jun 01, 2007
Franchise Marketing Help Needed
For the last 18 months I have operated a two-man electrician service franchise. Growing my business has not come as easily as I thought it would. Initially, I spent money I didn’t have to advertise and made some mistakes trying to market myself. This quickly ate up resources, but didn’t increase my business. We work hard but we can’t seem to compete with other electrical contractors in the area. Now I am at a crossroads: I need to increase my customer base or relinquish my franchise and my dream of independence. Can you help me?
Chris F.
Plainfield
Chris, don’t beat yourself up too badly. The first thing to do is take a positive, proactive attitude. You CAN do this. Next, if you don’t have them already, get a toll-free telephone number and a web site. Then get truck signs made (or get your truck painted) advertising your toll-free number, your web site and the towns in which provide your services. Keep your web site address is short and easy to remember (for example www.energywizard.com or www.electricalexpert.com) Make sure this information is clearly visible on both sides, and on the back, of your truck.
Then I would invest in a good-quality truck wrap using a creative photo that tells potential customers exactly what you do. This is an excellent way to attract attention and it provides you with a way to market yourself 24/7 because it’s basically a mobile billboard. On weekends, park the truck so that everyone who drives by can see it.
There are a number of other small, but effective ways to promote your business:
· Offer a free service. In your case, offer free safety evaluations for both residential and business customers.
· Differentiate yourself from your competitors by choosing to perform a service that your competitors do not provide. You will then become an expert in that particular service and it’s easier to promote yourself when you’re the expert.
· Post helpful, educational tips and articles on your web site.
· You can also submit articles to local trade publications.
· Join a local professionals referral board and include its logo on your web site.
· Consider giving lectures to homeowner associations, senior groups and apartment dwellers about the dangers of circuit overloading, how to conserve energy and related topics.
· Establish partnerships with local electrical dealers .
· Set up a professional call center so your customers always get a real person and customize your “hold message” so that it outlines the benefits of your services and isn’t the standard “I am not in right now” message.
· If you run a print ad, use it to provide helpful information (an “advertorial”) instead of using it to talk about your business.
Best of luck and keep following your dream.
Kip
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Mon Mar 19, 2007
Searching for your Niche
Last year I fulfilled my lifelong dream of owning a catering company. I knew that I wasn’t the only catering company in the area and I understood that many of my competitors are well-established and have big-name clientele! But I thought my cooking skills were the only thing I’d need to make my business grow – after all, everyone raved about my cooking!
But after three months, I realized that it wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought. My competitors seemed to be getting the business I so desperately needed to survive. One day a friend asked me what my “niche” was. My immediate reply: “My food is great!” He said that while my cooking skills are definitely part of being successful as a caterer, I also needed to stand out in some other unique way. This rocked my confidence! I wasn’t sure what to do, so my question is: how do I figure out my niche?
Bill S.
Hadlyme, CT
Recommendation:
Bill, nine out of every 10 business owners face the same problem. The best way to carve out your niche is to discover the “WOW FACTOR” of your product or service. What do you offer that is different from your competitors, yet also desired by consumers? Once you figure that out you will be one giant step closer to success. A good way to do this is to spy on your competition. You want to learn not only how they operate, but also where they are weak. What DON’T they offer? When you have a good handle on who your competition is and what services they don’t provide, you can come up with ways to introduce new products and services, or modify the products and services you already offer.
For example, you might discover that none of your competitors cater to diabetics or offer low-carbohydrate foods. Or maybe you don’t focus on catering parties but could add office catering or something similar. Either of these ideas could be your niche! Doing what you do in a slightly different way will create your “WOW FACTOR.” In this way, you will develop a specialty customer base and will be known for that specialty.
Once you have your niche, you will need to dedicate sufficient, but not extreme, financial resources to alert potential customers. Do as much as you can for free, but don’t give too much away as it devalues your products and services. Effective ways to do this include posting recipes on your website; collecting email addresses from those who would like to receive free recipes; and passing out literature to local diabetic clinics, weight loss centers and gyms.
This will start a buzz about your business in the community. Advertise within your budget, send press releases to local media, network at Chamber of Commerce events and, last but certainly not least, tell your friends and business associates. Everyone enjoys being part of a success story.
If you would like your marketing questions answered email Kip at adworksct@sbcglobal.net before February 15th 2006.
Kip Gienau, Owner of Advertising Works CT LLC
Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach
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Tue Dec 05, 2006
Market Like a Raging Bull
Today’s business owner is never sure when it’s a good time to market their business. The answer is every minute you can.
Question:
My small business faces many up and down cycles due to my tourism clientele and the weather. Because of these unknown factors it is very difficult to set up and maintain a constant marketing effort due to changes in my revenue. How can I get more business without going broke doing it?
Sue Salem, CT
Sue, what you have described affects many businesses large and small in Southeastern CT. First let me start by saying this problem is only temporary, if you develop a Market like a Raging Bull attitude.
Many business owners like your self-start out with the best plan and goals. One could imagine you’re unstoppable in your quest for success. This is often short lived and is replaced by fustration, dwindling resources and lack of customers. All of these factors force you to find new ways to stretch that dollar even further than you have in the past.
The most common move is to drastically reduce or put your marketing on hold until things get better and more customers start coming in to purchase your products or services.
When business is slow marketing/advertising dollars are reduced and when business is really good you feel you don’t need any more customers so you reduce your marketing/advertising dollars.
As a business owner you should constantly focus on ways to decrease spending and increase profits. The problem is in most cases that by doing nothing the end result is you will get nothing in return
.
Let’s face it there are many ways to let customers know you are open for business, your sign, lights are on, phone is working, employees, promotions, advertising, air conditioning, heat and so on.
The point is each item is a necessity for your business to operate properly and yes it involves an expense. Now when reviewing these items why is marketing/advertising less important than say your lights or heat? The truth is they are all needed as part of your business operating system, they all work together in unison to attract a customer to your business. Take one of them away and all the others start to suffer.
In good times and in an economic downturn a solid marketing plan with a monthly marketing calendar to guide your success and consistent dedicated resources then and only then can you approach and enjoy success.
As a marketing bull you understand the obvious cycles of business and you are prepared to face it head on confident and ready.
The secret is simple: When you have less customers market like crazy. When you have too many customers market like crazy, because what is most important is constantly reinforcing customer loyalty and maintaining your visibility to capture that loyalty to reinforce what you are offering when their buying cycle is initiated.
Kip Gienau, Owner of Advertising Works CT LLC
Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach
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Fri Sep 22, 2006
Networking for Business or Relationship’s
I love meeting people anywhere anytime this affords me a unique opportunity to observe people. Personally spending many hours weekly networking I have noted how other business people react when meeting someone for the first time.
Instinctively I survey the area where people are gathering many have the expectation of receiving business. As an Expert Networker it is easy to spot those who in my opinion have no idea that their behavior may secure a sale or two, but will carry no longevity.
Picture someone walking around the room shaking hands, not taking the time to listen to the person they are meeting. Their goal is to say their sales pitch and hand off their business card then vanish as quickly as they appeared. They have never learned the value of a strong relationship; this is where you can excel by not following this style of networking.
First of all think for a minute how you feel when someone ask’s you a question and listen intently to what you have to say. This is the first stage of starting a relationship it also arms you with information that others have failed to harvest, because they don’t understand the true value it represents. As this relationship strengthens the likely hood of doing business will increase, if the person trust’s you and has a true need for your product or service. Think of this process as a courting ritual where you couldn’t wait to learn everything possible about that new person, you were drawn to. A great business relationship is the result investing your time, attention and sincerity to develop this strong and enduring connection.
Treat customers as friends and they will reward you in ways you never dreamed of and they will introduce to their personal network. So if you are networking sales
indivual you may want to consider using these tips to increase your market presence.
Kip
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Thu Jul 27, 2006
Networking and Honeymoon's
Wow! It’s great to be back from my two-week honeymoon in Costa Rica we really loved the country and even invested in some property. Now what you are about to read may not apply to everyone so proceed with caution. The real cool part of my trip was developing opportunities to network with business owners and develop potential business contacts. My new wife was very understanding because she knows I thrive on networking and meeting new people, so she didn’t get upset when I needed some me time.
After doing some research about businesses in Costa Rica and locating emails I sent out information about my business and pending visit to a few web sites. I received two email replies for potential meetings once we arrived and reviewed our schedules.
The next thing I did was to speak to managers, owners and marketing executives at every place I visited and as a bonus left them a 4 minute DVD of a project I was working on and requested their email for later follow and comment. I gave out ten DVD’s on my trip and have six firm email exchange opportunities for potential business.
The only time this really took was saying hello to someone and starting a conversation. Then just when things seemed as good as it could get I boarded my flight home and sitting in the emergency isle (we like the leg room) I introduced myself to a gentleman sitting next to me.
It turns out we both enjoy sales and he is the national rep for a large security company, we exchanged cards and the two hour flight seemed like twenty minutes long. The conversation was great, entertaining and informative we agreed to stay in touch. Today I stopped by my office to update this blog and found a short message from my on plane networker giving me an address to send a report I had promised him.
The simple fact represented here is that anyone can network anytime with anyone no matter where you are or what you may be doing. All one needs is the desire to connect with other people and nature will do the rest, so give it a whirl talk to a stranger, shake a new hand and you will be on your way to possibly creating new networking opportunities for yourself.
Kip
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Wed Jul 12, 2006
Make the Gatekeeper a Partner
Trying to contact a CEO in a company you would like to do business with? Only a diligent gatekeeper stops you cold in your tracks. Many people in business view this person as an adversary but I contend that they make a much better ali, keep in mind that this person has power beyond your imagination.
This individual has the power to say no to what ever you are offering but lack the authority to say yes, and in most cases will pass those same opinions along to the CEO. This person is the shield between you and their boss they can and will make recommendations based on how you treat them and if your product warrants consideration.
When you first make contact with this person keep in mind that you could be following a long line of others such as yourself trying to leap past them and secure your prize that all allusive meeting with the decision maker. Treat this person not as an annoyance but a real person that you must have compassion for. Consider dealing with hundreds of interruptions daily and fielding basically the same questions you would in all probability become a bit on edge yourself.
You need to make a friend not just a fake gesture but also a real attempt to understand the difficulties they face daily doing their job. Give that person encouragement and admiration because you know that you wouldn’t want to do that job day after day. When you speak to them either in person or on the phone use their name to build this relationship, engage in small talk about how the benefits your service or produce can help that company operate more cost effectively. Offer to mail a report or product sample with a small fun gift also address the package to the gatekeeper personally for her review and possible forwarding to the decision maker.
Working smarter to gain this individuals confidence will go a long way if there is no present need for your product or service ask permission to recontact at a later date and then ask is they might know of any other companies to recommend for your product or service. Always follow up each encounter with a personal note thanking them for their time and for being so considerate.
Kip
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Tue May 09, 2006
Small Talk Skills and the Networker
Many people feel that small talk is a waste of time and is a skill they don’t have the time to learn, well I have news for you nothing could be further from the truth. Small talk is more than just idle chatter that in some cases the other party soon finds boring. To get started think about some of the things people ask you when you first meet them, do you have a list of prepared answers?
Commit some answers to memory so you can state them clearly and effortlessly in a very relaxed way. Sometimes people tend to ask the same questions that everyone has asked previously, this creates a boredom bridge driving the person you are meeting further away. A better way to learn about someone new is to take a moment and look for visual clues that can be used to kick off the conversation, find four interesting things about the person that will be less threatening for them to speak to you about.
Some ideas include are they sunburned? Ask and they may have returned from a fantastic vacation and will share the experience with you, are they wearing unique jewelry? are their clothes unique? how about their shoes? Possibly wearing a cool hat. Your first mention in this new conversation should be about them using some of the examples above, once you get the other person talking about themselves that initial fear of meeting someone new is diminished. Keep in mind to pay strict attention to what they are sharing with you these are important clues about this person; also you don’t want to ask a question just for the sake of asking that’s rude.
The other thing you can do is review news and current events so you will have some conversation starters based on daily knowledge and awareness. If during this discovery process you uncover something interesting you can research further and send this new acquaintance this additional research, document or information, this will let them know that you were paying attention to their comments. Practice small talk get good at it and leave those mediocre networkers in the dust.
Kip Gienau
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Fri Apr 21, 2006
Do You know what you're Unique Selling Position really is?
Do you know what your "Unique Selling Position"or niche is? I thought I did until the other day and on many occasion would proceed to tell anyone who asked me what I did for a living. The funny thing was as I look back now it must have appeared pretty silly, going into a calibrated yet methodical list of why my company was so different from my competitors.
After memorizing the key points that by the way I gleaned from my professionally written marketing plan: yes even an advertising agency such as mine needs a plan. One must always walk the walk and talk the talk, as I committed these newfound pearls of wisdom to memory, I felt strengthened and enlightened. I soon became more efficient in the delivery of my company’s unique market advantages. I welcomed every chance to tell anyone about this new revelation, my strength’s as a guerrilla marketer and a media buyer seemed untouchable and almost beyond compare.
Recently during one of my networking seminars and unknown to me at the time, I was about to be confronted with the fact that I was indeed wrong as to what my actual U.S.P really was. Now you should understand that I was only following instructions of a professional that was I thought more versed in this area than I was. Who was I to question his ability and disregard all the hard work that brought me to this very crossroad? How many of you are facing a similar situation? Well I have the solution as I remarked earlier during my seminar, someone in the audience asked the question that changed everything and that included my opinion of my company.
This person stated that I presented logic for overshadowing my competitors but they wondered if I had drawn a wrong conclusion, as to what was really the best I had to offer. I stood braced waiting for the question, she proceeded what do your customers and those that know you think your U.S.P is? I must admit I had no idea then I did a bold thing I asked everyone in the room to give their answer based on present or prior knowledge or an association with me. The almost overwhelming answer rang out in the room. From my dynamic personality coupled with the assumption that as an expert networker I knew everyone and was considered by many to be the go to guy. Talk about being shocked this information was indeed extremely important as to how people perceived me.
By now as you may have already guessed each of us needs to risk asking customers, prospects and even strangers how they view us day to day and as this example has shown each of us that we can always learn something new just by asking a question.
Kip
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Roger C. Parker Coming to Connecticut
Friday May 19th Roger C. Parker the "32 Million Dollor Author" will conduct a discussion using excerpts from his new book "design to sell". The topic will be "7 Truths about design you must know before creating your own marketing materials" After the discussion Roger will have a book signing, the event will take place at Borders Books in the Waterford Commons mall in Waterford, CT at 2PM. On Saturday May 20th there will be a wine and cheese event where you can meet Roger C. Parker and sample a few of the authors favorite wines and have your book signed. This event will take place at Thames River Wine & Spirits 84 Bank St. New London, Ct. If you would care to attend either events on this awsome weekend it is FREE! hope to meet you there.
Kip
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Tue Mar 21, 2006
New Book Release
Roger C Parker interview March 2006
"Design to Sell" By Roger C. Parker
Purchase at Amazon.com TODAY!
Best Price $18.89
or Buy New $18.89
We ask Roger C. Parker about his latest book "Design to Sell"
Recently, we spoke to Roger C. Parker, author of Design to Sell: Using Microsoft Pub-lisher to Plan, Write, and Design Great Marketing Materials.
What's your latest book, Design to Sell, about?
Design to Sell shows how to save money while attracting better qualified prospects. Reducing costs, by itself, is not the whole answer. The key is to save money plus attract qualified prospects that fit your "ideal client" profile.
One of my clients, Gene Paltrineri, a professional photographer, used the principles de-scribed in Design to Sell to cut $10,000.00 a year from his marketing budget while elimi-nating "price shoppers" and attracting prospects who valued quality more than low prices.
Why did you write it?
Because business owners and managers usually do not have the design or desktop pub-lishing skills needed to promote their expertise. As a result, they are unable to take ad-vantage of several low-cost, highly effective, marketing tools.
Who should read it?
I wrote Design to Sell for individuals with marketing responsibilities but no previous de-sign experience. This includes owners of start-ups, self-employed professionals—like coaches and consultants--and corporate product or sales managers with marketing responsibilities.
Why would you write a book about print design in the Internet Age?
Design to Sell is not about "design," it’s about using design to create a platform- - a way to consistently and tangibly promote your expertise and differentiate your business from your competition.
In the Internet age, it’s more important than ever for individuals to know how to make their expertise obvious on a single piece of paper that can be shared with others and read in a car, a bus, or in bed.
What about websites, blogs, and podcasts?
Websites, blogs, and podcasts are great ways to tell stories, but Internet marketing works best in conjunction with postcards and small ads which can drive targeted prospects to your blog or website. Downloadable newsletters and tip sheets provide reasons for visi-tors to return to your website each month.
Why Microsoft Publisher?
Microsoft Publisher is the least-expensive page layout program available that’s capable of top-quality results. In addition, Publisher is already installed on hundreds of thousands of Windows-based computers, so there’s often no immediate software investment needed.
Why do you only describe four types of publications?
Many design books go "wide, instead of deep," describing everything from billboards to business cards. I "went deep" and described, in step-by-step detail, exactly how to create the four best ways to target your message and maintain consistent visibility.
Once readers have learned how to use Publisher and the basics of design, readers can ap-ply the lessons to other types of publications.
How does Design to Sell differ from your other books?
Design to Sell is my first book to combine the "Why's?" of design with the "How's?" of a particular software program. Readers learn not only what to do, but how to do it. Design to Sell combines design and Publisher basics with the skills necessary to write effective copy, create a marketing plan, and track results.
Anything else different about Design to Sell?
Design to Sell is my first book created in conjunction with a companion website. Www.designtosellonline.com will contain self-scoring assessments for each chapter, downloadable templates and worksheets, additional resources keyed to each chapter, plus additional text and graphic examples.
How can readers "try before they buy?"
A table of contents and two free sample chapters are available from www.designtosellonline.com
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