Archive for Marketing
Five Tips for Understanding your New Prospects
Posted by: | CommentsIt can be very difficult to see our business from the customer’s perspective. After all, we know our business so well we take so much for granted. Or maybe, you are new to business and are still struggling with some of the common problems.
This past weekend I had an experience that might help you see your customers from their perspective. And once you see your customers from a fresh perspective, your frustrations with challenges can melt away.
This particular challenge is how do your first time callers feel and what might we do better to convert them into a customer?
Here’s a recent experience I had that might be a good example for you to get an idea how a prospect might feel. I was at a large horse fair trying to learn more about what feed to use for my horses. (I have only had horses three years and still find feeding them properly is complicated.)
I stopped at a booth that I thought would be the answer. I found myself tongue tied at how to start the conversation. (This is where a good salesperson or representative could have been a great help.) I was so unsure what to ask first that I almost left the booth.
Tip one: some prospects will not try very hard to get information.
The real question in my heart that I could not verbalize was, “How do I find out about horse feeding options and more importantly, is this the right feed for my horses?”
That is when it hit me! So that’s how our prospects might feel when they call our studios! They do not know how to say, “how do I select a photographer and are you the right photographer for me?”
So naturally our prospects start with “how much does it cost?” This question right out of the shoot makes most of us cringe. Most of us are unprepared on how to handle this smoothly.
We all know that cost is really irreverent when it is a product we want or need (within reason of course). Look at all the money you spend on your hobby. Answering the question of cost does not have to be the first topic addressed.
Tip two: help your prospect get the information they really need.
I was not going to start the process of learning about horse feed by asking the price first. Not only is that not my mindset, it would not tell me what I really needed to know. Your customers could be the same way.
So I, the introvert, struggled and felt weird until the other man in the booth, the nutritionist, took over the conversation from the untrained salesman who did not know how to interact with new people.
Tip three: learn how to interact with new people especially if they are more introverted and need a little help expressing themselves. Be careful who you put on the phone when new prospects call for information. An untrained person can loose many sales for you.
Once the nutritionist was helping me, things went great. He was friendly, an expert, and only looked at me while he talked. He did not try to get to the next person in the booth until he felt that I was completely done and understood on his product.
Tip four: pay attention to your prospect and listen carefully. You will have plenty of time to make suggestions and influence the sale later.
It made more sense for me to purchase feed in my local area. The nutritionist made sure I knew where to go and what type of feed I needed to get. He gave me his card in case I had any additional questions.
Tip five: be helpful and invite them to continue the conversation later if necessary.
So, next we need to talk about how you specifically apply this experience to your studio. We’ll talk about that next week, come join me. Meanwhile, I encourage you to pay closer attention to interactions you have while you shop and see what you can learn.
(c) 2012 Barb Gordon Photo Coach
Strong Headlines while Blogging for Business
Posted by: | CommentsI was reminded how important headlines and the first sentence of a post are when I googled “Iowa Horse Fair” to check next year’s dates so I could mark my calendar. A blog post I did about my attendance at the event last year came up number six on a search. Wow, was I was surprised. But it reminded me how using the right key words are important and how more thought should go into using them.
Writing headlines and captivating copy is not my number one strength, matter of fact, this one was boring, but as I said, it came up as number six (the third one in the screen shot) from matching key words.
The first sentence after the headline is really important! Make it count. You want your readers to continue.
Most of all, share great information. We are not all gifted writers but don’t let that stop you. It is more important to be marketing yourself.
What Not to do in Marketing
Posted by: | CommentsThere are many marketing errors we have all made but I thought I would share four that come to mind fast with you today.
Mistake number one is not putting out an offer. Simply sending out a postcard, brochure, or price list without an offer is not going to get much response. Take a look at advertisements you receive from national chain stores, there is an offer. A percent off, a free something, a bonus of some type something to compel you to consider their product or service.
Mistake number two is giving actual dollars off coupon.
When you create your offer, I would discourage a cash discount. I saw a clothing store send out $50 off coupons. I thought it was a great idea that might catch a high school senior’s eye, or at least their mom’s.
Let’s think this through a little. First of all let’s assume you charge $50 for an 8×10 for this example. Compare giving your customer $50 cash off of their order vs. what it would cost you to “give” them an 8×10. An 8×10 would cost you two to four dollars to make and they would be getting a $50 value. A cash discount of $50 costs you not receiving $50. Buy giving away a $50 value 8×10 instead, you saved $46 to $48 dollars cash money and your client still got her $50 value!
This coupon might work just fine for a retail store but I tried it and realized that it was a big mistake for me.
Mistake number three is not including a call to action.
When sending out a promotion, a short deadline is a must to urge the client to act promptly. You do not want to have an offer without an expiration date, you want them to call now and not set your promotion aside and think about it. The words “Call today” or “Call Now” are common.
Mistake number four is a big display ad in the Yellow Pages.
Most referrals for service based businesses like ours comes from word of mouth. Print ads do not seem to have much impact. The phone book seems like a big waste of money.
In my area of Cedar Rapids, Iowa there are a lot of display ads for photographers. I noticed in the Des Moines, Iowa phone book area there are no display ads for photographers. What is the difference? It actually becomes a competition between photographers of the same area. Understandably each photographer is trying to get noticed over the others. This is great for the yellow page ad representative in Cedar Rapids, but it is only draining the advertising budget of the local photographers. The Des Moines group is smart and saving a lot of money.
Where are most people going to find you? Ask them! But I bet they will tell you it is word of mouth, and the internet will be the biggest responses.
Tip to market your business
Posted by: | CommentsHave you stepped out of your comfort zone lately?
This week has been a stretch for me on two levels, business and personal.
First, I gave a talk at our local hospital to a cancer support group. I started a blog for cancer survivors in which I photograph them and they write blog posts on different aspects of the cancer experience. The support group chairperson asked me to share with others about the project and how it is going. It is called www.PortraitsAndStories.com if you are interested in seeing it.
As if public speaking in general wasn’t enough, the local television station was there doing a feature piece. So before my talk, I was interviewed in front of a very scary big camera.
Second, I loped (or cantered) on my new horse that I have only known for five weeks. You would have to know my background and timid personality to understand how big of a deal this was for me. It might be equal to someone else’s jumping out of an airplane. Well, sort of.
It is difficult to set yourself up for uncomfortable things on purpose. To call someone up and say, “I want to give a speech,” if you are nervous, or terrified of public speaking is highly unlikely.
The key is, for me I guess, is not to automatically say no to an opportunity just because I am not confident. Say yes and then figure out how to pull it off. You will grow from the experience and gain so much more self confidence. I know I learned a lot about how to prepare for my next television interview.
And the best part? I survived both experiences. I didn’t pass out, sweat through my jacket, or fall off my horse. It was a good week. God Bless.
About Barb
Barb Gordon, of www.BarbGordonPhotoCoach.com, is a Master Photographer, Photographic Craftsman, and Certified Professional Photographer with the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) to which she has belonged since 1984. She is a nationally published and award winning photographer, entrepreneur, speaker, and author including being published in the prestigious PPA Loan Collection 2006, PPA Showcase 2003, twice named Iowa’s Top Ten Photographer of the Year, 2010 Iowa’s Master Photographer of the Year, and 2010 PPA’s Photographer of the Year, Silver Level.
About Barb
Barb Gordon, of www.BarbGordonPhotoCoach.com, is a Master Photographer, Photographic Craftsman, and Certified Professional Photographer with the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) to which she has belonged since 1984. She is a nationally published and award winning photographer, entrepreneur, speaker, and author including being published in the prestigious PPA Loan Collection 2006, PPA Showcase 2003, twice named Iowa’s Top Ten Photographer of the Year, 2010 Iowa’s Master Photographer of the Year, and 2010 PPA’s Photographer of the Year, Silver Level.
About Barb
Barb Gordon, of www.BarbGordonPhotoCoach.com, is a Master Photographer, Photographic Craftsman, and Certified Professional Photographer with the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) to which she has belonged since 1984. She is a nationally published and award winning photographer, entrepreneur, speaker, and author including being published in the prestigious PPA Loan Collection 2006, PPA Showcase 2003, twice named Iowa’s Top Ten Photographer of the Year, 2010 Iowa’s Master Photographer of the Year, and 2010 PPA’s Photographer of the Year, Silver Level.
About Barb
Barb Gordon, of www.BarbGordonPhotoCoach.com, is a Master Photographer, Photographic Craftsman, and Certified Professional Photographer with the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) to which she has belonged since 1984. She is a nationally published and award winning photographer, entrepreneur, speaker, and author including being published in the prestigious PPA Loan Collection 2006, PPA Showcase 2003, twice named Iowa’s Top Ten Photographer of the Year, 2010 Iowa’s Master Photographer of the Year, and 2010 PPA’s Photographer of the Year, Silver Level.
