Know-How Exchange : Strategy

You are being too passive.

You cannot control if your brochures are getting to the wrong hands. So don't even try. They won't. Direct mail is considered successful if it has 3% success, and few in todays world attain it. Save the money and do something more direct.

Do not use Linkedln to reach out to old clients. That is impersonal, insulting and you are undervaluing yourself. Why, would you a company with an established relationship want to resort to tactics so impersonal.

Get on the phone and contact old collegues. Get on the phone and contact new targets.

Do you really think that brochure will attract the attention vs your competitor, who made the effort to call, build a personal rapport with that target? People buy from people they know and like. You won't be that person with the most perfect piece of paper.

Sell Well and Prosper tm

Good Morning.

"Direct mail brochures to companies in our niche" have you checked that the things you are saying on these mailings is optimized for your market? There are ways to do this and they aren't that hard or time consuming.

You have a Facebook page and you have 259 likes. This will take a little time, give it an hour of an evening and you'll get it done in a week. Believe me, it will be worth all the effort. Now as Monmark Group says, clients who've bought before are the best to target. So let's get clever here. Who are these "clients" because a client like that isn't just an amorphous figure that emerges out of the woods without warning. The point is that your best clients will all share at least one character trait. It is as it were a law of nature.

So when you trawl through those who have liked you on Facebook, or those who have engaged, or bought from you. You want three columns:
1) Those who are in the industry and are colleagues
2) Those who haven't bought from you and never will
3) Those who have bought from you and you know - and highlight those who you regard as "nice" customers (your definition: there are no boundaries here).

Discard list #1. Go through list #2 and make a rough list of the things they have liked. Do this for list #3 as well. This will take time with 259, you will be rewarded. Once you have your lists and you (yes, it's best if you do it) you can get a feel for the things they like. You can begin to characterize the different likes into groups - rock music, sports, books, films. If there are any more specific commonalities you will be getting lucky. Remember all of this is you making the rules as you go along. That's fine. Get used to it, it's a skill you won't want to lose. Now go through the lists and mark the most common likes, and those that are within the commonality you have defined for your immediate circumstance.

At the end of this exercise which is time consuming and boring - you will have two character sets. You will have two sets of data* - the likes of group #2 and the likes of group #3. The latter is the things your best customers all like. (*If the data is mush, sorry. Perhaps you don't have enough data. There are other ways, only this is a comment box not my book).

You now have a rough character profile of your better clients. This is something you can use in Facebook and Google Display advertising and realize click-through rates that are out of the box.

Method #2. Ask your best customers (again, your own definition) what they like about your company. A simple open-ended question like "what made you choose FineBlend Media?"

Collate the responses as above using your own definitions. If necessary do this several times to refine your ideas. These things are not easy to define, the evidence is there - all you have to do is uncover it. By the time you have been through the emails/letters you will have discovered a lot of things people like about you, and more importantly the general thrust of their comments.

By the time you have finished this you should be feeling as if you are sitting on cloud 9. And well you should! Your business is your work, something you have built and the relationships with your customers is the most powerful part of this.

CONCLUSION: both of these methods brings you information about WHO your best clients are. As I say, they don't just walk in out of the woods. There are clear commonalities between your best clients - and there will be commonalities with your worst ones (although this is usually more general and they would be awful to anybody!).

The things you have learned from method 1 is where you can advertise, and in what style. This you can also use in the copy on your website (which by the way is pretty boring).

The things you learn from method 2 is WHAT to advertise. Because in offering things that your ever-best customers already like - there is a pretty good chance of getting more of their kind of people. Your website copy is incorrect for one reason: you are talking to yourself. With method #2 you know why people chose you, and using this you can present your company TO THEM and not to yourselves.

The above conclusions work for all media channels. Given that your star clients like (say) 1956 Chevys**, you can tweet about this - and find followers who are customers and not in the biz itself. This info. is fantastic for Facebook and Display network advertising - and as I say, will bring in some red-hot leads. (**Taken from following one of your likers on Facebook!)

You might find that you don't want to expand. You may find that establishing daughter companies in Boston and Chicago is a better idea because you have too much work to handle.

As to keeping up with all this social-media stuff, find someone who loves films in the marketing biz (there'll be someone here who can recommend you someone).

Hope this helps. Moriarty.

Given your target market what about developing case studies showcasing the ROI for their efforts.
Imagine an ideal prospect needs to hire a video production team. Where do they look for a team such as yours'? That's where you want to be. What has been the job titles of people that have hired you in the past? Find the conferences that specialize in these people and have a (virtual) booth. But realize that your (smart) competition will likely also be there as well - so to get an edge, "specialize". Pick a niche and become the knowledgeable go-to video people there. Speak the language, understand their needs, know the players, etc. That'll make you "one of them" and a clear favorite (especially given your history of success to date).

Your problem is you are trying to solve your revenue problem with marketing techniques when what you really need is sales solution. Yes all the techniques people are talking about are okay, but you need salespeople. Your business is one where you might make a contact, but not even get an opportunity for a year sometimes more. You need people to plant the seeds now and harvest them later.

Blogs, social media, direct mail, whatever should be designed to get your salespeople and then your producers in front of potential clients.

I'm really pleased that you got the drift of what I was suggesting. Half the battle is getting guys to understand what I'm on about!

Now: Facebook and Twitter - you're obviously not saying the right things. No doubt you're talking about your biz to yourself rather than with your clients. So put this on the list of questions to ask your customers. You'll get a broader picture that way, and this will work for your website and blog too. Because once you start talking to your customers, your business friends won't be so interested. They're probably just keeping an eye on you!

If you have five customers - how many more do you need? Two?? I mean we are talking my size of business here - that is practically zero. Getting three clients for you would be a 60% improvement! That shouldn't be too hard - and if they are good clients, just how much revenue will they bring to your business over the years? Tens or hundred of thousands? Millions?

Thought of that way and three of them is worth getting in a marketing consultant - view it as investment not spending! My guess is that Harry Hallman thought you were a much bigger business, and sales staff would be part of your set-up. One thing a consultant can do for you is perfect your sales manner to get it more in tune with your customers so that it's much easier and takes a lot less time. Scheduling these things can make life for you a lot easier - like only dealing (phonewise) with new clients on a Tuesday afternoon as I do!

Best of luck to you, and if you put half of this into action you should find new clients without much difficulty.

Take a stroll around here. Give them a call and see what they can do. To be honest, a fifteen minute chat will tell both of you if you are right for each other (or not). If you like the 'feel' of them take it further. Pick three who you like, and within an hour of work you'll have a good idea about them. You will also have learned a lot about marketing. You won't be wasting your time!

You're in Texas - and I'm in the Netherlands. Most of my clients are in the southern hemisphere ...

I think you need to get over the "they're big companies and its not like I can pick up the phone and call them". I've worked with plenty of big companies and the way I did business with them started with a phone call. It was one person that placed the initial order with you. If you are facing call reluctance, you may want to consider hiring someone to do so. I know you said when another suggested that, that you couldn't afford one. You just need one. But I think you can't afford to send out mass mailings with a very little return. A good salesperson with established clients will pay for themself. Don't you think your past customers would want a thank you from you? I can tell you your competitors are calling them, asking and getting their business.

Wayne Gretzky says "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take" , I turned that to my spin, "If you don't make the call you have already lost the sale"

Social networking should be part of your marketing plan, but not all of it. You have some great ideas on network marketing. But people still buy from people.

Sell Well and Prosper tm