Vision Of Success

Want a lot of great publicity? Play off of what’s happening in your community.

Qdoba has a great campaign now on their website, Taste Bud Politics.

Enter their site, and you can vote for your favorite U.S. Presidential candidate. At the same time, tell them if you’re a taco or burrito kind of person. They you can look at the results, and see where you stand. Look at the entire U.S. standings, or state by state.

They’ve also placed videos on there, giving away T-shirts to people depending on if they are a taco or burrito. How much did this cost them? Not a lot - just a new web design and the ability to get it out to people that will use it.

How much exposure is it getting them? A ton. From videos on YouTube, to writeups in newspapers and trade publications, they are receiving a to of referrals back into their website.

Now whether this turns into new customers or not remains to be seen. But it is driving traffic.

What can you do to play off current events?

In the past few weeks I’ve written about the doom and gloom that appears daily in the news, and about people hiding their true fee in order to post as low a price as possible.

Well it’s in the news again.

JetBlue just announced that they will now be charging $7 for pillows if you so choose. When will other airlines follow suit (in hours I’m sure)?

Airlines are hurting. If you’ve seen any type of news in any type of format, that’s common knowledge. But once again they are hiding the actual cost of flying in “hidden” fees.

JetBlue originally grew because of their service skills. They were customer friendly, and supplied you with all the extras that somehow vanished from the other airlines. Yet now they are following in the footsteps of their rivals.

If I choose to fly, I must pay a fee for my ticket, a processing fee, a booking fee, a baggage fee, food charges, tv/movie charges, and now pillow/blanket charges. What’s next, a charge for the seat?

So my “cheap” $200 ticket can soar by $100 or more by the time all the fees are added up. Why can’t they just charge me the $300 in the first place? I’ll pay that if I choose to fly; why not give it to me all up front and let me decide?

The name of the game right now is to bring in a customer at the lowest possible price. Then once you have them, tack on every charge you can think of. This isn’t just in the airlines - I’m assuming it’s the rationalization for surviving the recession. Bring a client on board for a low price - then start adding up the extras.

Use this to your advantage. Charge one fee, and stick with it. And advertise it that way.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s sick of bringing out my wallet ever step of the way. 

Ok I’ll admit it. I’m a fan of Sex In The City. What woman isn’t? The clothes. The steamy moments. And of course the shoes.

So last night my sister and I had a night out on the town, and headed over to the newest theater in our area to check it out.

This theater just opened in December. We’ve been there a few times since it opened, and I have to admit I love it. You spend a couple extra dollars on the ticket, but the seats are comfy and leather, there’s free popcorn and sodas - and you can buy wine (by the bottle if you care to) and other snacks in their front cafe.

This isn’t a place where teens run wild. In fact the few times I’ve been there, I’ve never seen a teen. Maybe it’s because of the expense. Plus they don’t run the typical teen-attraction movies.

For a 7 pm movie on a Thursday night, the movie sold out by 6:30. And you should have seen the groups of women coming in. Most were dressed in their favorite outfits, and of course shoes that would make Carrie proud. The theater was packed - every seat, top to bottom. And I counted a big “2″ men in the theater (brave souls).

The women didn’t just have popcorn and soda. I saw wine by the bottles. There was cheering. There was clapping. And there were sighs… ahhhh

Marketing to women? You bet.

1. This movie gets you excited to spend money. You have to have shoes, bags and the clothes, right? (Time to go shopping this afternoon.)

2. This theater promoted it perfect. Half their theaters were filled with this movie. A new show started every hour on the hour. And yes, they were sold out as of last night.

3. Where else can you go with a group of friends, share a great flick AND have a bottle of wine? Other theaters, take note.

4. You can’t please everyone all the time. Define your target market well, and promote, promote, promote.

5. Women talk, share and build relationships well. They share ideas, and talk about everything (good and bad). Give a woman a great experience, and she brings her friends in droves.

Have you gone out for dinner lately? Prices are really on the rise here in the States.

As a business owner, not only do I meet a lot of people for lunch, but I’m also always on the run with my family. So we eat out quite a bit.

I used to love the Quick Casual places because the food is good, and you can get in and out in a hurry.

Tonight we stopped in at Macaroni Grill. Food was great - and the prices weren’t that much higher than the Quick Casual places. Wow. Do the Quick Casual place really have that much more expense level that they need to raise prices? With oil on the rise, I know their pricing will continue to rise.

Could the sit down places use this to their advantage? From a marketing perspective, keeping their prices as low as possible - and letting consumers know about it - may actually help them bring in more customers.

So what can they do?

1. Keep prices as low as possible. With oil on the rise, they will obviously have to raise prices. But keeping costs low will ultimately give people more of an option.

2. Tell people about your low prices. During hard times, its important to keep up your marketing. Companies die faster in hard times simply because they quit marketing.

3. Bring people in on special promotions. Trusting an old favorite is sometimes more important than trying something new. The last thing someone wants to do is waste their money.

How would you describe your marketing? Do you jump in full force with an idea, only to start in on another idea a week later?

The problem with this type of "marketing" is you’ll never get enough traction to make it work. No matter what you do, if you don’t commit to it, it won’t have a chance to work for you.

So if you create a website and don’t touch it for a year, it won’t work.

If you create a blog and don’t touch it for a year, it won’t work.

If you create a MySpace account and don’t touch it for a year, it won’t work.

Marketing is all about commitment. Case in point is a wedding photographer  from Berkeley, California. He doesn’t have a blog. He hasn’t scored big on YouTube or MySpace. Yet he has found tremendous success by committing to posting on one site.

Commit to your marketing - it will make a difference.

Lori

Monthly Marketing Program

Step 5. Do it again.

Once you’ve tried a marketing tool, and analyzed how well it’s working for you - do it again!

Some things work; some don’t. The important thing is to keep trying. Even if something fails, the worst that has happened is you’ve spent money and learned. If it doesn’t work, don’t assume nothing will. It’s a matter of finding the right message in the right place in the right time.

Lori

Step 4. Test everything you do.

For many creative professionals, they throw money at a form of marketing and continue to do so for years. I attended a networking party put on by a magazine. I sat next to a gentleman that had been advertising in the magazine for years. When I asked him his results, he said, “I’m busy. I’m not sure where my clients are coming from. But I have a great relationship with the editor and would never leave this magazine.”

Having a great relationship with a magazine salesperson is great. But if you are wasting thousands of dollars a year, is it worth it? Wouldn’t it be better to invest those thousands into something that brought in a lot more business?

Choose your marketing tools wisely. And test them. Find out how people are coming into your business. Keep the tools that work - stop the tools that don’t.

Lori

Step 3. Become a better marketer.

Marketing is a game that must be played throughout your business career. As long as you are in business, you must market!

Many creative professionals make the claim, “I hate marketing” or “I just don’t have time to market”. Yet that is their lifeblood.

Add into it all of the different methods - especially with  online marketing techniques, and it’s easy to see why it can become overwhelming.

The important thing is to understand it. Then make a committment to do something about it. Understand it enough to hire the people to help you. Or purchase services that will make you marketing efforts easier. But you must understand it to make sure what you are buying has value for your company.

Step 2. Set your goals.

Once you see your future, it’s easier to put it into place.

Start out by writing your general goals on a piece of paper. For example, if one year from now you see yourself with 20 clients, each spending $10,000 USD, write that goal down.

These are your large goals. But large goals are hard to achieve because they are so large. 20 clients at $10,000 each sounds great, but if you are having trouble getting one client through our doors, these 20 can be a monumental goal.

Underneath this large goal, start breaking it down into more manageable tasks.

• Attend a networking function.
• Increase my prices.
• Offer bigger packages.

Write down as many tasks as you can think of that will help you achieve your goal. Do this for every goal you have.

Lori

Want a step by step plan to help you become a better marketer?

Marketing is really an art form. It’s something that takes time and dedication. But if you follow these steps - and keep with it - you’ll be well on your way.

1. Create a vision.

When people say they don’t have a marketing plan, they usually haven’t thought about what their business means to them. Start by looking at your business in the future. Where do you want it to be one year from now? How about five? Really think about it, and write down exactly what you see. What type of clients do you have? What are they spending? What is your profit? What are you doing with those profits?

The more you can “see” your business, the easier it will be to get excited about it!

Lori