OzDave
July 1st, 2005, 10:12 PM
(I have warned you that this is a very long post)I have spent this last week looking through the archives for information on Marketing on a shoe string. graemlins/kaffeetrinker_2.gif I cut and pasted what I found were good ideas, and thought some of you may like them. Please note that these are not my ideas, but previous posts from fellow grumblers ( I hope I haven't upset anyone with copyrite etc as I have not referenced them.). Maybe some more could be added. :D I hope someone finds them as useful as I have. graemlins/thumbsup.gif
GET CREATIVE...who are your customers?
1) THINK BIG
2) PASSION - passion/drive leads to success
3) LOVE what you do/sell - if you don't why should anyone else?
4) THINK OUTSIDE the box
5) NETWORK - don't be afraid to use those contacts
6) SELF PROMOTION - Never miss an opportunity to brag about your business (look at everything TRUMP is on!)
1. Contact high school sports teams. See if they get team/individual photos taken, maybe a jumper or two, and a diploma. Do they have a school newspaper or website where you could advertise? How much does that cost?
2. Daycare centers...Get in touch with the art teacher and present your plan to use a wall in your gallery for a kid's art show. Have them use a standard size paper (8 1/2 X 11). Meanwhile, precut mats and inexpensive frames. Give the art teacher a flyer telling the Moms and Dads that their child's art is hanging in a gallery & they can come pick up the piece for FREE after the show comes down. Send out a press release to local media (newspapers, TV, magazines) detailing what's going on. Guess how many parents, family members, and friends will be walking through your door to see the show? This takes hard work - planning, establishing relations with the community, a little money, and an excellent product ...your effort will pay off in the form of loyal
3. Spend one afternoon a month hitting the streets!
4. Helpful, caring, knowledgeable and friendly employees
5. Price that represents value
6. Welll-organized merchandise
7. 1 in 4 customers will drive 10 km out of the way for good service.
8. Price will not compensate for bad service.
9. Something like 20% of your customers generate the bulk of your profit - find out who they are and get more like them.
10. Forget the customers costing you profits - let your discount-oriented competition have them and focus on high-value customers.
11. Forget promoting price as your unique selling proposition - love them, wine them, dine them - highlight unique services and merchandise.
12. Find out how they like to be contacted - email, postcards, phone calls, etc.
13. Don't worry about what non-customers think - make it obvious that existing, profitable customers ARE treated special. Make the non-customers WANT to be a customer so that THEY are special.
14. Forget selling for less and make the whole process a positive experience.
15. Educate them - A strong online presence is one way to that. Become part of the "inner circle" of recommendations.
16. Sell handcrafted "art" jewelry (not craft store junk - one-of-a-kind art pieces)
17. Sell original art
18. Contract with a custom carpenter who builds custom furniture, restores and repairs antique furniture and frames, etc.
19. Restore and reproduce old photos
20. Offer conservation and repair services on old or damaged artwork (contract)
21. List framing idea in add campaigns
·
"The embroidered hanky that was "something old" at your wedding framed with your bridal portrait"
· "Your child's first report card, framed with YOURS"
· "Those concert ticket stubs you've been saving since college"
Dont run the ad that don't have a corresponding sample in the store. People really responded to them and also were inspired to come up with creative projects that were meaningful to them.
My sample wall focuses on memorabilia and family photos. The theme is "We all have junk like this stuffed in drawers and shoeboxes. Let's get it out there and on the wall" but of course expressed more eloquently. I show a lot of travel related shadow boxes.
22. Perhaps try an upgrade offer, such as free 2nd or 3rd mat, or upgraded glass, free fillet or bevel accent, etc.
23. Be careful not to be known as a "discount place", so mix up your offers.
24. Included in the newsletter every quarter is a profile on a famous artist. I am amazed how many people are not knowledgable about art. We take our knowledge
for granted and I feel it is our responsibility to be as informative and educational in the newletter as possible.
Upcoming content includes:
definitions of paper art.
How to arrange and hang your pictures
Stacked frames
Color and design trends
object/memorabila framing
Custom mirrors
art/print resorces
Explaining the design process
Inexpensive alternatives for decorating kids rooms
25. I have an annual readymade frame sale (2 for 1) that folks wait all year for.
26. BUT, I try to make my mailings a bit special- I have local artists design postcards with type or cartoons,
27. Generate word-of-mouth marketing. It's still the most power-packed method of marketing because people trust their friends as credible sources of data.
28. Influence people who can influence other people. That's exactly what Nike is doing when they give free shoes to athletes and coaches.
29. Go for share of mind over share of market. The intensity of a consumer's relationship to a product reflects better than market where the real strength of the brand. Example: Harley-Davidson customers who tattoo the brand's logo on their bodies and become permanent walking billboards.
30. Focus on what's most important to your target audience. After all, they don't pay attention to marketing, but they pay rapt attention to whatever interests them.
31. Expand your advertising with direct marketing and public relations. These give you the opportunity to put forth personalized and believable messages.
32. Utilize the guerrilla media. By the time consumers figure out that the sidewalk stencil is actually an ad, it's already too late. You're hit home with them.
33. Mount and frame the wedding invitation and gave it as our wedding gift.
34. I learned something a month or so ago, from a retired Levi Strauss executive. "When people first walk into a retail store, most will turn and go to the right or look to the right. Don't know if you can use that, but it is interesting.
35. The way it would work is - when you have commercial or business customers who often give gifts to their customers/clients, offer them "inkind gift certificates." They can purchase (for instance) a $50.00 gift certificate from your store for $25.00. (You determine what amounts you would/could honor.)
36. Clip out articles in the paper about these business people and frame them up--deliver their "gift" IN PERSON (along with your card and flier) to their business. I don't care if you have to start closing early one day a week to do this, or open later--whatever. Just make sure that the gift looks gorgeous and doesn't break you in the process. I speak from experience here when I tell you that sooner or later someone is going to hand you their certificates off of their wall and ask you to reframe them.
37. Put together a couple of classy designs and e-mailing them to the clients. Professional service is impressive! Deliver them and hang them when you are done (In a very timely manner). Your goal here is to impress.
38. You just have to make a list of all the POSITIVE things you've got going for you and quit focusing on the death-to-your-business negatives! Let the past go.
39. Just remember, people support the winning team--few people sit in the bleachers for a downtrodden team. You had better LOOK successful and ACT successful, because people want to be associated with the best. Figure out what it is that you do best and sell that! ALWAYS BE POSITIVE.
40. Walk Straight and Tall
41. After you get out there and get a reputation established among the people who are on the "cutting edge", they will LOVE to tell others how they have "discovered" this hot new talent and then people will be looking for your location.
42. If you start going to them, you will choose your customers and your location will no longer be an obstacle. Later you can address that. I'm telling you that you can do this and it WILL work.
43. Speaking of banks, some banks here will occasionally have a framed piece on an easel on display. See if they will let you create a "frame of the month" display. I've done this in the offices of the local schools, too.
44. And about the flyers. I was speaking of creating a "Fabulous Framing 'Folio" with lots of photos of your (our) best work. With the digital cameras many of have now, it's a breeze.
45. My newsletter featured a shadowbox with (I think) 15 antique fishing plugs. That alone brought in several jobs with about a couple of months worth of work, and a shadowbox with about 20 photos. In fact, I'm still working on some of it.
46. When and if you do some marketing material….you need to think about the benefits that you can offer potential customers…..doing a flyer with pictures of you “best framing” is just not good enough…….you are only selling features by doing that and nobody buys based on features they only buy based on benefits…..now this is a particular challenge to people who are selling a service…..like “picture framing”……give us an example of what you think some of the benefits of having something framed are….
47. I sell reprints of old local buildings and historical places that I mat into standard sizes. Some are pre-1910 postcards and the other is pictures from the local County 1876 atlas that was reprinted 20+ yrs ago and extra pages were run off. Found those at local Historical Society. I have them in my shop and at antique store with my stickers on them w/ $10 or $20 off framing depending on size ( 8x10 to 16x20). I don't pay for rented space, just on commision, which is lower then her standard price b/c of refit deal.
48. I also cut mats for local high school art students to use for area competitions and display. Flat fee of $8 for #921 single opening mat no matter size under 32x40. I also have started putting a $ off coupon into bag so they can come back to get framed when the art is finished traveling. Have not seen a response to this but busy season coming w/ end of term just around corner.
49. How many [customer]have only been in once?
50. How many new customers are you drawing in? From what source? Are you asking each new customer, "Where did you hear about my shop?"?
51. Do you do active marketing on your own wherever you go?
52. Do you look at the framing in other businesses and make any suggestions about what you can do for them?
53. Do you ever just walk into a store and introduce yourself and hand them a business card with an invitation to try out your services?
54. Do you keep your ears open for a chance to promote your framing in some unlikely places like church or the local neighborhood?
55. Are you attending C of C meetings and marketing your business with other business people?
56. Do you wander into stores or look around and offer your services to them for framing when you have an opportunity?
57. Have you sent out notes or promotions geared just to your customers and worded them to reflect your gratitude for their business?
58. Are you marketing your services to targeted groups? Right now is the prime time to be approaching high schools with graduation promotions. Bridal framing is now. Mother's Day is too late but Father's Day is coming up.
59. Get some wedding announcements and frame them and hang them in your shop. Get at least one bridal portrait and hang it in your shop. Hang a graduation certificate or a graduation announcement with the school colors reflected in the matting and a tassle and a photo of a graduate in your shop.
60. What is your area noted for? Hang a shadowbox with some Bronco memorabilia in it in your shop.
61. Find out if there is an advertising media that actually WORKS for you in YOUR area and use it.
62. Attitude adjustment, yes, well that is a high hill of sand isn't it? You know most of my thoughts on attitude by now. My punchline to most negative attitude is, "Don't give up, give in, or feel sorry about your situation. Do something about it!!" You'll find that, when you throw a pity party, you hardly ever get alot of people showing up for the party. Some will take this as a cruel statement but I think that you understand where I am coming from and what I mean as I have talked to you about it in the past.
63. When I sold cars for a living (lasted 2 weeks) there was a woman there who was a top seller. She said that she went through 10 times the business cards that any other sales rep did. She put one in every power bill and bank deposit. She handed one to her dentist and his receptionist EVERY time she saw them. One to the check out person at the grocery store. One to .... well, you get the idea. She put her name in front of every single person she dealt with, every single day. Notice she didn't give each person one card once. She did it whenever she saw them! And who did they think of when they were ready to buy a car? You guessed it!
64. The second greatest impact on our business is our "relationship marketing." This involves "ME" being involved in the, well, I was going to say "community" but "the world" is a more correct term. I talk about framing all the time. I engage people in conversation everywhere I go
No, it is not easy, but it WILL work. It will not be overnight, but you will build a foundation for your business and you WILL get referrals. People can get stuff framed anywhere these days. You need to deliver superb customer service with ease, grace and style! These successful people are BUSY!! and they appreciate people who can make their lives easier!
GET CREATIVE...who are your customers?
1) THINK BIG
2) PASSION - passion/drive leads to success
3) LOVE what you do/sell - if you don't why should anyone else?
4) THINK OUTSIDE the box
5) NETWORK - don't be afraid to use those contacts
6) SELF PROMOTION - Never miss an opportunity to brag about your business (look at everything TRUMP is on!)
1. Contact high school sports teams. See if they get team/individual photos taken, maybe a jumper or two, and a diploma. Do they have a school newspaper or website where you could advertise? How much does that cost?
2. Daycare centers...Get in touch with the art teacher and present your plan to use a wall in your gallery for a kid's art show. Have them use a standard size paper (8 1/2 X 11). Meanwhile, precut mats and inexpensive frames. Give the art teacher a flyer telling the Moms and Dads that their child's art is hanging in a gallery & they can come pick up the piece for FREE after the show comes down. Send out a press release to local media (newspapers, TV, magazines) detailing what's going on. Guess how many parents, family members, and friends will be walking through your door to see the show? This takes hard work - planning, establishing relations with the community, a little money, and an excellent product ...your effort will pay off in the form of loyal
3. Spend one afternoon a month hitting the streets!
4. Helpful, caring, knowledgeable and friendly employees
5. Price that represents value
6. Welll-organized merchandise
7. 1 in 4 customers will drive 10 km out of the way for good service.
8. Price will not compensate for bad service.
9. Something like 20% of your customers generate the bulk of your profit - find out who they are and get more like them.
10. Forget the customers costing you profits - let your discount-oriented competition have them and focus on high-value customers.
11. Forget promoting price as your unique selling proposition - love them, wine them, dine them - highlight unique services and merchandise.
12. Find out how they like to be contacted - email, postcards, phone calls, etc.
13. Don't worry about what non-customers think - make it obvious that existing, profitable customers ARE treated special. Make the non-customers WANT to be a customer so that THEY are special.
14. Forget selling for less and make the whole process a positive experience.
15. Educate them - A strong online presence is one way to that. Become part of the "inner circle" of recommendations.
16. Sell handcrafted "art" jewelry (not craft store junk - one-of-a-kind art pieces)
17. Sell original art
18. Contract with a custom carpenter who builds custom furniture, restores and repairs antique furniture and frames, etc.
19. Restore and reproduce old photos
20. Offer conservation and repair services on old or damaged artwork (contract)
21. List framing idea in add campaigns
·
"The embroidered hanky that was "something old" at your wedding framed with your bridal portrait"
· "Your child's first report card, framed with YOURS"
· "Those concert ticket stubs you've been saving since college"
Dont run the ad that don't have a corresponding sample in the store. People really responded to them and also were inspired to come up with creative projects that were meaningful to them.
My sample wall focuses on memorabilia and family photos. The theme is "We all have junk like this stuffed in drawers and shoeboxes. Let's get it out there and on the wall" but of course expressed more eloquently. I show a lot of travel related shadow boxes.
22. Perhaps try an upgrade offer, such as free 2nd or 3rd mat, or upgraded glass, free fillet or bevel accent, etc.
23. Be careful not to be known as a "discount place", so mix up your offers.
24. Included in the newsletter every quarter is a profile on a famous artist. I am amazed how many people are not knowledgable about art. We take our knowledge
for granted and I feel it is our responsibility to be as informative and educational in the newletter as possible.
Upcoming content includes:
definitions of paper art.
How to arrange and hang your pictures
Stacked frames
Color and design trends
object/memorabila framing
Custom mirrors
art/print resorces
Explaining the design process
Inexpensive alternatives for decorating kids rooms
25. I have an annual readymade frame sale (2 for 1) that folks wait all year for.
26. BUT, I try to make my mailings a bit special- I have local artists design postcards with type or cartoons,
27. Generate word-of-mouth marketing. It's still the most power-packed method of marketing because people trust their friends as credible sources of data.
28. Influence people who can influence other people. That's exactly what Nike is doing when they give free shoes to athletes and coaches.
29. Go for share of mind over share of market. The intensity of a consumer's relationship to a product reflects better than market where the real strength of the brand. Example: Harley-Davidson customers who tattoo the brand's logo on their bodies and become permanent walking billboards.
30. Focus on what's most important to your target audience. After all, they don't pay attention to marketing, but they pay rapt attention to whatever interests them.
31. Expand your advertising with direct marketing and public relations. These give you the opportunity to put forth personalized and believable messages.
32. Utilize the guerrilla media. By the time consumers figure out that the sidewalk stencil is actually an ad, it's already too late. You're hit home with them.
33. Mount and frame the wedding invitation and gave it as our wedding gift.
34. I learned something a month or so ago, from a retired Levi Strauss executive. "When people first walk into a retail store, most will turn and go to the right or look to the right. Don't know if you can use that, but it is interesting.
35. The way it would work is - when you have commercial or business customers who often give gifts to their customers/clients, offer them "inkind gift certificates." They can purchase (for instance) a $50.00 gift certificate from your store for $25.00. (You determine what amounts you would/could honor.)
36. Clip out articles in the paper about these business people and frame them up--deliver their "gift" IN PERSON (along with your card and flier) to their business. I don't care if you have to start closing early one day a week to do this, or open later--whatever. Just make sure that the gift looks gorgeous and doesn't break you in the process. I speak from experience here when I tell you that sooner or later someone is going to hand you their certificates off of their wall and ask you to reframe them.
37. Put together a couple of classy designs and e-mailing them to the clients. Professional service is impressive! Deliver them and hang them when you are done (In a very timely manner). Your goal here is to impress.
38. You just have to make a list of all the POSITIVE things you've got going for you and quit focusing on the death-to-your-business negatives! Let the past go.
39. Just remember, people support the winning team--few people sit in the bleachers for a downtrodden team. You had better LOOK successful and ACT successful, because people want to be associated with the best. Figure out what it is that you do best and sell that! ALWAYS BE POSITIVE.
40. Walk Straight and Tall
41. After you get out there and get a reputation established among the people who are on the "cutting edge", they will LOVE to tell others how they have "discovered" this hot new talent and then people will be looking for your location.
42. If you start going to them, you will choose your customers and your location will no longer be an obstacle. Later you can address that. I'm telling you that you can do this and it WILL work.
43. Speaking of banks, some banks here will occasionally have a framed piece on an easel on display. See if they will let you create a "frame of the month" display. I've done this in the offices of the local schools, too.
44. And about the flyers. I was speaking of creating a "Fabulous Framing 'Folio" with lots of photos of your (our) best work. With the digital cameras many of have now, it's a breeze.
45. My newsletter featured a shadowbox with (I think) 15 antique fishing plugs. That alone brought in several jobs with about a couple of months worth of work, and a shadowbox with about 20 photos. In fact, I'm still working on some of it.
46. When and if you do some marketing material….you need to think about the benefits that you can offer potential customers…..doing a flyer with pictures of you “best framing” is just not good enough…….you are only selling features by doing that and nobody buys based on features they only buy based on benefits…..now this is a particular challenge to people who are selling a service…..like “picture framing”……give us an example of what you think some of the benefits of having something framed are….
47. I sell reprints of old local buildings and historical places that I mat into standard sizes. Some are pre-1910 postcards and the other is pictures from the local County 1876 atlas that was reprinted 20+ yrs ago and extra pages were run off. Found those at local Historical Society. I have them in my shop and at antique store with my stickers on them w/ $10 or $20 off framing depending on size ( 8x10 to 16x20). I don't pay for rented space, just on commision, which is lower then her standard price b/c of refit deal.
48. I also cut mats for local high school art students to use for area competitions and display. Flat fee of $8 for #921 single opening mat no matter size under 32x40. I also have started putting a $ off coupon into bag so they can come back to get framed when the art is finished traveling. Have not seen a response to this but busy season coming w/ end of term just around corner.
49. How many [customer]have only been in once?
50. How many new customers are you drawing in? From what source? Are you asking each new customer, "Where did you hear about my shop?"?
51. Do you do active marketing on your own wherever you go?
52. Do you look at the framing in other businesses and make any suggestions about what you can do for them?
53. Do you ever just walk into a store and introduce yourself and hand them a business card with an invitation to try out your services?
54. Do you keep your ears open for a chance to promote your framing in some unlikely places like church or the local neighborhood?
55. Are you attending C of C meetings and marketing your business with other business people?
56. Do you wander into stores or look around and offer your services to them for framing when you have an opportunity?
57. Have you sent out notes or promotions geared just to your customers and worded them to reflect your gratitude for their business?
58. Are you marketing your services to targeted groups? Right now is the prime time to be approaching high schools with graduation promotions. Bridal framing is now. Mother's Day is too late but Father's Day is coming up.
59. Get some wedding announcements and frame them and hang them in your shop. Get at least one bridal portrait and hang it in your shop. Hang a graduation certificate or a graduation announcement with the school colors reflected in the matting and a tassle and a photo of a graduate in your shop.
60. What is your area noted for? Hang a shadowbox with some Bronco memorabilia in it in your shop.
61. Find out if there is an advertising media that actually WORKS for you in YOUR area and use it.
62. Attitude adjustment, yes, well that is a high hill of sand isn't it? You know most of my thoughts on attitude by now. My punchline to most negative attitude is, "Don't give up, give in, or feel sorry about your situation. Do something about it!!" You'll find that, when you throw a pity party, you hardly ever get alot of people showing up for the party. Some will take this as a cruel statement but I think that you understand where I am coming from and what I mean as I have talked to you about it in the past.
63. When I sold cars for a living (lasted 2 weeks) there was a woman there who was a top seller. She said that she went through 10 times the business cards that any other sales rep did. She put one in every power bill and bank deposit. She handed one to her dentist and his receptionist EVERY time she saw them. One to the check out person at the grocery store. One to .... well, you get the idea. She put her name in front of every single person she dealt with, every single day. Notice she didn't give each person one card once. She did it whenever she saw them! And who did they think of when they were ready to buy a car? You guessed it!
64. The second greatest impact on our business is our "relationship marketing." This involves "ME" being involved in the, well, I was going to say "community" but "the world" is a more correct term. I talk about framing all the time. I engage people in conversation everywhere I go
No, it is not easy, but it WILL work. It will not be overnight, but you will build a foundation for your business and you WILL get referrals. People can get stuff framed anywhere these days. You need to deliver superb customer service with ease, grace and style! These successful people are BUSY!! and they appreciate people who can make their lives easier!