Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Dear Glinda,

You think you're in the IT business but you're not. You're in the list building and peace of mind business.

Stop selling IT and begin selling peace of mind, security, and demystification of everything IT. People are NOT buying IT services, they want you to fix their network problems, get them online seamlessly, integrate their printing and back ups, and everything else behind the scenes. They don't want to know about you, they want to know about themselves.

You've tried tried local papers (which I'll admit can be expensive) but did you try negotiating with the ad department? Did you ask for discount insertions? Did you play hard ball with them?

No, probably not. So play one publication against another. Ask about discounted rates. Give them the runaround. Make them wait until the eleventh hour for art work and make them work FOR YOU.

And as for flyers on doors that didn't work, how many times did you place these things in people's line of vision? If you just did it once or twice and declared it didn't work, you're MISSING THE POINT!

Marketing works when its message connects with people on their terms, not on the terms of the marketer.

Think of more creative ways to fix the issue. Become your own guru. Use free press. Offer monthly contracts to small businesses for one low price: everything all in; get your name known, recognized, trusted, and respected and people will begin coming to you.

Contribute to local online forums. Start your own local forum and make sure people know bout it. Use Twitter and Facebook to make connections.

Give free open classes to small businesses on common IT issues and use plain English. Demystify the process and make it human.

Partner with your local technical college or school and build some kind of loyalty program or business building program. Offer to write a column for your local paper on IT in exchange for a link to your store, website with some kind of byline.

Marketing works but it takes time to get your name to the tops of people's mental lists as the first place or person to call. Stick at it and keep things fresh. Tell stories of how you saved someone's data, business, or whatever from IT hell.

It's not easy, but it's an investment that will pay off.

I hope this helps.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

run a adwords campaign.. and see terms that generate traffic..
monitor your analytics and see terms that are sticky.. visitors actually consume your content.. This is how i create successful adwords campaigns in local markets.

Drop keywords that are too general and drop keywords that don't convert to clicks in the first 100 Impression.

At the end you will have a nice list of keywords to use from your online audience to use in other media.

;)
Paul
[URL deleted by staff]

Despite what some people say, traditional media relations is not dead. Provide information in the form of news angles (top five most common IT problems and how to approach their fixes) and pitch to local print and broadcast media. This is good for broadcast because you could sit down with a reporter behind a computer and show him/her some of the easy fixes.

Don't forget about social media. Provide quick tips and IT advice via Twitter and a Facebook Fan Page, just to name a couple, and educate and entertain followers. Connect to locals via LinkedIn and answer some industry-focused questions to show your knowledge.

Word of mouth will grow via both of those tactics as well.

What sort of guarantee do you offer? Why should someone trust you to come into their house and fix their problem (and not make it worse)? How often does the average home computer user need your services? Your company is akin to a hospital/doctor visit. When you're not feeling well, you want to be seen by someone you trust that can get you on the path to wellness quickly. At that time, you don't want to pay less - you're in pain and can't work/play. Same with your home computer - when it's broken, you want it fixed yesterday, by someone you trust with your "delicate" hardware (and private data).

Good evening,

I would have to suggest you consider all the above advice, that you must define your line of business and services you offer. If you are really in the computer repair, you may want to go back to advertised, but this time be more consistent, identify and target your market and perhaps offer a catchy draw such as a computer fair n which you give free computer diagnostic.