Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Differentiating Myself As A Better Ad Guy?

Posted by Anonymous on 9/14/2007 at 10:34 PM ET 125 Points
I am a new independent marketing/advertising/graphic design firm. I do not intend on trying to go head-to-head with the bigger guys (in a large market) on reaching larger clients. My strategy is to reach out to the small business owner who could never entertain the idea of hiring an outside firm (because of cost) but lacks the in-house skills to do it right. I also am thinking of strategically linking with non-profits in the community (who have on their boards some strong business types who could lead to awesome referrals). I would do free or low-cost design or marketing campaign work in hopes of building up a strong creative reputation. I have alternative income so I feel I can do this for a while until the reputation leads to many referrals.

What do you think about my chances of succeeding?

What is the best way to advertise my own creative services to these small business owners? Cold calling? I have thought about hand picking several business who have dated logos, or who I think could benefit from a creative campaign maybe for the upcoming holidays....then take the idea (not FULL idea, but a teaser) and see if they make take the bite...any thoughts?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 9/14/2007 at 10:56 PM Author
    Thanks for the quick responses! I'm new at MarketingProfs so I am encouraged by your feedback.

    DO I CLICK ON "ACCEPT THIS RESPONSE" after EACH ENTRY or just on the one I like the best? (This would be hard right now...I've been encouraged by all of them.)

    -RandyV
  • Posted by SRyan ;] on 9/14/2007 at 11:04 PM Member
    Randy, keep your question open for at least a couple of days. Then pick your favorite responses by clicking the "accept this response" box, followed by clicking the "accept answers and close question" button.

    The points you assigned here will be equally distributed to those people whose answers you accepted. We live for points. Crave 'em. Someday there will be a 12-step program for MarketingProfs members who can't let a day go by without earning a few endorphin-producing Expert points.

    Shelley ;]
  • Posted on 9/15/2007 at 8:51 AM Author
    Thx Shelley....Now I see....this is nothin' ore than a forum for junkies! Glad I signed up! My wife has been saying I have needed something like this!

    I will keep the Q open....so please respond!
  • Posted on 9/15/2007 at 11:10 AM Author
    Thanks Bill for your specific ideas...great help!
    RandyV
  • Posted on 9/16/2007 at 1:20 PM Accepted
    As a small business owner, I've learned from the marketing/advertising/graphic design people I've tried to hire that I'm my own Chief Marketing/Advertising officer. I've found a lot of companies that say they do marketing, but really only do logo & business card designs and might lay out a brochure if you have all the information properly worded already.
    Decide what it is that you actually do, be specific, do a great website & then stop by some businesses & hand out business cards. Businesses need to know to go to your website. Remember, it is not about what you do, it is about what you can do for me.
    If you only do logos, business cards and maybe brochures, you might lay out a little brochure of your own, laying out your services with prices. Make sure when you meet with clients that your price only includes a certain number of revisions or you will be working for free.
    I've spent a lot of time on these boards because most of the advertising help I've hired really don't do what I expected and I've realised that I can learn a lot here.
    At some point many small businesses give up getting marketing help and just look for services so that we can implement our own marketing plan or we do it ourselves. If your plan is services, make it easy to shop with you. I sometimes need a flyer/brochure & would pay, but often do it myself. (I would rather pay someone, but haven't found anyone who makes it easy to shop with them)
    If you actually develop the marketing plan/ideas for your clients, make that easy to. I think a lot of small businesses would pay someone to come in and consult. Most small businesses don't have big budgets, but they do have some budget. If you are actually consulting on how to grow their business through advertising, tell them that is what you do. You could offer to do a marketing/advertising assessment for a small fee. Guarantee that your plan will have at least 10 ideas to help grow their sales and then include the price of implementing the ideas. Small businesses often want to do something, but the truth is they never get past ideas. When it comes to marketing I always am reminding myself: If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten, is that enough?
    You could poise yourself as the one who will get them farther.
  • Posted by k.pohlman on 9/17/2007 at 8:44 AM Accepted
    Randy,

    Looks like you have enough ideas for your advertising and branding so I'll hit on the target audience. =)

    I would approach your local chapter of the United Way. The UW represents most of the non profits in cities so you could kill a lot of birds with one stone. However, it's important that you care about the cause---don't offer to join their board just for the business opportunities.

    I represented a charity on a United Way board at my prev job and found that it not only gives you a better understanding of what the agencies do for the community, but the networking possibilities can't be ignored. There is usually an allocation board full of company execs. that would make a great resource.

    Perhaps even 'donating' your services to a local charity or two would help with your branding plus give you a warm fuzzy feeling for helping them out. They will undoubtedly appreciate your efforts.

    Hope that helps a bit.
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