“Dear Vita” — September 2010
Dear Vita,I know I need to be marketing to grow my business, but I just don't know what to do. I wake up in the morning sad and unmotivated because I know I should be doing marketing, but I am not even sure where to start. Please help.~Amanda L., Chicago, Il.
Dear Amanda,
There is no question that if you want to grow your business, you must market yourself. Think of your marketing plan as a pizza pie, or a marketing pie. The pie has 10 slices - hence 10 marketing areas. These 10 areas or slices are: traditional networking, referrals & testimonials, editorials & awards, personal branding, partnerships, speaking, social media, online marketing, outside-the-box promotions, and direct marketing.
Here's a brief explanation for each:
- Traditional networking is going to physical networking meetings like trade associations, chambers, business card exchanges, and leads groups.
- Referrals & testimonials include asking existing customers to help you spread the word about your business.
- Editorials and awards are about being featured in local and national magazines, garnering media attention, and promoting yourself through public relations.
- Personal branding is about making sure that everything you do in your design business reflects who you are - from your business card, to how you dress, to what you say, etc.
- Partnerships serve to secure complementary and non-competing businesses to work together because you share the same clientele.
- Speaking is getting in front of small or large groups and making a design presentation.
- Social media is using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flikr, and YouTube.
- On-line marketing is having the effective web-site (notice I didn't say pretty, I said effective) and using on-line newsletters to communicate with existing and potential clients.
- Outside-the-box promotions allow you to be really creative with trunk shows, show houses, and real-estate programs.
- Direct marketing is about going to consumers through such direct ways as direct mail, phone calls, and flyers.
Finally, know that regardless of how many years you've been in business and how many customers you already have, you should never forget about your existing clients (whether you have 1 or 101). Remember that the most effective path to a new best client is through your old best client.
Vitalia (Vita) Vygovska is the award winning owner of Vitalia, Inc, an author, and a window treatment & productivity expert. Her company is devoted to giving home furnishings professionals productivity resources that help them make more money, save time, and run a productive and profitable business. To check out her programs, products, and FREE resources, including FREE CD: 101 Window Treatment Ideas, visit www.VitaliaInc.com.
