Amplifier your marketing message with great Graphic design

How to grab business by targeting a highly specific market

by Al

Shampoo is marketed to specific target markets. I’m going to tell you something you already know. You know it, but I’m going to tell you again, because you probably don’t do it.

First, something to consider…

In our house, if you wander into the bathroom and poke your head behind the shower curtain. You will find quite a number of bottles crammed onto the tiny shelf. Including, not just one, but three separate bottles of shampoo. A white bottle with a blue lid for me, a tall architecturally designed cream bottle with a peach lid for my wife, and a transparent bottle of golden liquid for our kids.

Why the hell do we need three bottles of shampoo? They all do more or less exactly the same thing – clean hair.

We have them because shampoo companies know something. It’s the same thing that you already know.

You need to define your target market, and sell directly to them

Most small businesses, when asked who their target market is, have a version of the same answer.

“Anyone” or “Anyone with money”

The idea being that by targeting everybody, they have a larger potential market. Wrong! This strategy is leaving money on the table.

Back to shampoo… Do they sell less shampoo because one brand is targeted to only men? NO they sell more, a metric boatload more.

By targeting a specific, well defined market, it is easier to understand their problems and communicate how your product or service can solve it for them.

Everyone has hair that needs cleaning, but some have dry hair, oily hair, or an itchy scalp. Those are all specific problems that need solved.

Advertise specifically to your market

My shampoo says ‘for Men with sensitive scalps’. It’s a no brainer… That’s the stuff I need (or at least that I think I need).

By being specific you decommoditize your product or service. A product that fixes a specific issue is more valuable than a generic product.

But the market would be too small

Ok, here’s another example of a sneaky way to get around the problem with a small market. In the Internet marketing world, there is at least one dog training course that is marketed as train your Labrador, train your Great Dane, train your German shepherd and many other popular dog breeds.

It’s the same study course, the only way the course is differentiated is who it is marketed to (Labrador owners or German shepherd owners). Simple tactic but it works because all dog owners know their dog is the best dog breed, and training techniques tailored specifically to their breed is going to be better than general dog training.

Could you market the exact same product to two (or more) specific markets?

Action

Who can you help specifically? Write a list of specific groups of people who you could tailor your product or service to fix their specific problem.

Can you add something to you product or service to make it cater to a specific group?

How-to reports and Tips work great:

‘How to teach your child about bike safety’
or ‘7 critical accounting systems for a new service business’

Try something to reach a niche market.

— Rinse and repeat —

photo credit: Cormac Heron

If you liked this post, we would really appreciate it if you could write a comment below or post it on Facebook. Sharing is what the cool kids are doing!

Oh, and jump over and ‘Like’ our Facebook page

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7 ways to get the best from your Web designer

by Al

I recently wrote a post how to get the best from your graphic designer. This post takes the same stance with web design.

As with Graphic Design, effective communication, along with preparation is key to working well with a web designer and getting the best results. A little planning and education go a long way to ending with a site that looks great, and promotes your business effectively.

Here is a checklist to make sure you stay on track to a great website.

1. Know why you are investing in this website

What is the purpose of your website for your business?
Deciding this is actually easy. There are only a handful of things that a website can do.

Lead generation for offline sales
Supporting information for offline sales
Provide content to position yourself (or business) as the expert in your field
Online sales – make the sale and take the money

Explaining exactly what you want your website to do for you is critical to getting a great end result.

If on the other hand, you are building a site purely to tick the ‘we have a website’ box, then run out and get the simplest website you can as cheap as possible. At least people will find something if they look for you online.

2. Who are your visitors going to be and how can you help them?

What will your site offer your visitors?

You absolutely MUST know what you are offering your visitor to your site and why they are there so you can give them right information.

Visitors to your website are there because they have a problem or at least they have a question. You need to have a good idea of what that problem or question is, and answer it for them as soon as possible, or at least, show that your business can solve it for them

Any successful website includes a strong call-to-action, and it is much easier to convince someone to take an action if they want to do it already.

3. Get inspired

Here’s a license to muck around on the web for a while. Spend some time bookmarking some websites you like the look and feel of. Surf around for sites inside and outside of your industry.

It is great for you to get an idea of what you like and what you don’t like, and be able to discuss them with your designer. Your designer is never (hopefully) going to copy these sites. But it is a great to get an insight into how you view your business.

4. Simple Keyword research

You need people to find your website. Ideally, they will be people who are interested in your products or services. To do some simple research into keywords, you need to jump back on Google.

I recommend searching for your products or services in another large city, maybe in the US or the UK. Take a note of all the search terms you use. Also scroll to the bottom of the results and note the ‘related searches’ suggested by Google. They are recommended for a reason – because they are popular terms others are searching for.

Ideally, your web designer will do more exhaustive research than this, but it is excellent to have a place to start from.

5. Take ownership of the content

All too often, the content is left to last, after everyone is happy with how the website is going to look.

Content is King…

The words and images of your website are what speak to your visitor, answer your visitor’s questions, solve their problems and they are what sell to the visitor.

Your web designer can guide you through what content you need and help make the copy web friendly (or recommend a professional copy writer). But the original content needs to come from the industry expert (that’s you). You know your business better than your Web designer…

6. Collate your resources

Create a folder with all of your current branding and resources. Your website designer is going to need copies of your company branding (logo etc), and standard imagery you use.

Examples of your current promotional materials are excellent for a designer to ensure the web design is consistent with your current branding. While it is nice to have the latest in website design, it needs to be consistent with your total brand.

7. Keep the lines of communication open

You should be getting regular progress updates from your designer throughout the process. Constructive criticism is important to a successful end result. Give opinions early, even (especially) negative ones. It is much easier to make broad changes earlier in the process than towards the end.

Making decisions quickly will prevent the project from getting stale. If you have a larger organisation, make sure one or at most two people have the authority to make the calls when they are needed.

Conclusion

A website is an integral part of marketing in todays business environment. To get your business represented in the best light on the internet you need to have a good relationship with your web designer. As I mentioned, earlier, clear communication and a little preparation help the process run a lot smoother. Helping your designer understand your business and your goals is a great place to start.

photo credit: mecookie

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How to use Facebook places to market your local business

by Al

Facebook Places just went live here in New Zealand yesterday.

I just posted this Cinchcast which covers, what Location services are, how they work, and why they are important in marketing your local business online.

Heres what you need to do now.

1. Go and make sure you are listed on Facebook places (and Foursquare for that matter)
(Beg or borrow a smart phone from a friend if you don’t have one yourself…. or go buy an iphone because you should have one anyway.

If your business isn’t listed, then add it.

2. Go to www.facebook.com/places and claim your listing
(just follow along with the instructions)

3. Encourage people to check in to your business. Put up a sign, ask customers as part of your sales process. Especially customers playing with their nice new iPhone in the queue.

Could you do me a favour and leave a comment below. Tell me if you found it helpful or if you have any other questions.

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7 ways to get the best from your Graphic Designer

by Al

A Graphic Designer can take your business to the next level. Slick, well designed promotional materials speak volumes to your clients and prospects about your professionalism and quality of service (or products).

Your relationship with your graphic designer and the quality of your communications, can make all the difference to the final result.

Here are 7 tips to get the best possible work from your designer:

1. Know what you are trying to achieve with the design

When you are paying for an advertisement in a newspaper or magazine, what is the goal of the ad? To sell something? To position your business in the market? The end design will have a different feel and calls to action depending on the goal.

If you don’t know the goal of a given promotion, STOP. Don’t bother asking your designer to come up with anything until you know what you want it for.

2. Who is your target market and what is the aim of the work?

A design targeted at 18 year old mountain bikers is going to look different to one aimed at 40 year old mothers. That is pretty obvious, but important.

Are you wanting to inspire, educate or shock your audience? Great graphic design elicits an emotional reaction from the viewer, and different groups are going to react differently to colours and imagery.

The old cliche, ‘If everyone is an audience, then no-one is your audience’, holds true. You are better to be loved by some and hated by others rather than ignored by all.

3. An idea of what you want it to look like.

Stop here for a minute. I don’t mean you should turn up with the design already done. But it can help a designer greatly to give some examples of work you like. Or even better, some of your current promotional materials as this helps with continuity within your brand.

“I’ll know it when I see it” doesn’t help.

There is nothing worse for a designer to work hard on some concepts and you all of a sudden realise that they are nothing like what you had in mind – tell them what you have in mind from the start and discuss it with your Graphic designer.

Do some research of design you like online (even from different industries). Ask yourself how adventurous are you willing to be to stand out from the crowd?

4. Make sure you have the information your graphic designer will need to complete your job.

Each job will be different, but most will at least need these in some form or another.

High resolution logo
Any images you use.
Examples of your current branding or promotional materials (to make sure the branding is consistent).
The copy you want to use including a call to action and contact details.

It’s a great idea to keep all of your resources and marketing materials in one folder on your computer, so you always know where they are. Once you have an ongoing relationship with a designer, they will likely keep these on file as well, but it pays to keep your own copies, just in case.

5. Set a reasonable timeframe

Tomorrow is not reasonable.

Allow for time to review and critique the designers concepts as they supply them to you. Constructive feedback is critical to get the end result that you want.

With an important job such as a company logo, that will be the face of the company for potentially years in the future, allow time for discussion and back and forth changes.

6. Discuss issues early.

If the design isn’t going in a direction you are happy with, let your designer know as early as possible. Throwing out a couple of hours work is a lot easier than an entire days effort. And cheaper, as the final cost is based on creative time spent.

7. Care about the design you are asking for.

If you don’t care about it, your designer can tell and you won’t get the best results.
It is hard to put in 100% effort for someone that isn’t going to appreciate it.

How do you let your designer know you care?

Sell your business to your designer, tell them where you are going and what you are going to acheive. Get them excited about your business and they’ll do their best to get you there.

Oh, and do all of the steps above…

Conclusion

What a Graphic Designer does… is make things look cool… but more than that, they aim to relate the work to the target audience through colour, images and text. They are trying to tell a story of your business or offer and entice the viewer to engage with it.

The more work you do with a designer, the better they will understand you, your business and your goals.

Do you have any burning questions about working with a Graphic Designer?

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My Forehead-slappingly obvious lesson in Marketing

by Al

Once upon a time, not so long ago, I was a Strawberry Farmer.

As with most horticulture businesses, I had a hand in every part of the operation, which was great for understanding the whole picture of running a business.

Some parts of the business I am glad to be finished with, such as getting up and starting work at 6am (and finishing at 6pm). But I really enjoyed the grass roots marketing of the berries.

Talking to customers, working out pricing (which changes daily in the fruit and vege game), and coming up with marketing strategies and promotions. this was the interesting stuff for me.

I recently got a lesson in PR from Mary and Ian who are now running the Farm

It is funny how when you are busy running around in your business sometimes you miss the “slap myself in the head” obvious stuff.

The beginning of last season, the strawberry packing team weighed in a monster Strawberry at 78 grams. That’s a pretty big strawberry… Three of those and you’ve filled an average punnet.

Super impressed with their 78g berry, Mary mentioned it to a local reporter… And just like that, they had a story run in the local Newspaper.

How is that for publicity?

But it gets even better… The local newspaper is part of the Fairfax media group here in New Zealand, and it must have been a slow News week because before you new it, Fairfax papers republished the story throughout the country.

Seriously… National exposure of their strawberries, just because they grew a large strawberry.

Funny thing is, Monster strawberries are pain in the arse… I know because, here’s the kicker, when I was running the show, our record was 105 grams!!!!

That’s about the size of a small apple.

But here’s the thing. When we weighed our mega-berry, we thought, that’s cool, we showed it to a handful of customers, and then gave it away (or ate it, I can’t remember). That was it!

What’s the lesson?

If you find something in your business that you think is cool, somebody else probably does as well. Don’t assume that no-one else cares. Ask them to find out.

Ok, sure, if I had told a friendly reporter about our 105g strawberry, it’s possible they would have said, “so what”. And obviously you won’t necessarily get massive exposure – but you might!

When it comes to marketing and publicity, sometimes it is hard to know what will strike a cord and take off. Take the “double rainbow” guy on YouTube… Who would have thought that would get 24.7 million views?

With Social media, you can publish things with a couple of clicks

Publishing news (or stories and quirks) about your business online is as simple as a few clicks, and while it might not make you front page news, they might just get you front of mind with some potential customers. And what can be more valuable than that?

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3 things all top influencers do on Twitter

by Al

Twitter continues to grow at a phenomenal rate. And still the mainstream struggles to get it. Meanwhile others are building huge audiences and loyal fans all targeted to their particular industry or niche.

Twitter becomes more interesting the more followers you have. While engagement is the goal, more followers increase the readership of each update you post.

Over the years I’ve been on Twitter I have noticed some common characteristics of popular tweeters.

Here are 3 characteristics of top influencers on twitter that you should be emulating

1. Tweet more than average

By tweeting a lot, you increase your visibility. If I only log in to twitter a few minutes per day, I’m more likely to see your tweets than others. BUT before you run out and start tweeting like mad, influencers don’t tweet a lot purely for the visibility, their volume is related to spending the time on the points below.

2. Engage in conversations with others

Conversing with others shows you to be a real person with real opinions. It shows you are listening to and willing to engage with the community. The best tweeters really do build and maintain valuable relationships, which often lead into ‘real life’ relationships and opportunities.

On twitter, conversations has the added bonus of being public – you are sharing your audience with those you’re talking to, again increasing your exposure to new and wider audiences.

3. They promote others

Reciprocity is valuable on twitter as with all networks whether online or off. Nothing gains loyalty from someone faster than promoting them or their cause. Hailing someone as an expert or someone worth listening to is a huge compliment. And it is as simple as passing on their content or mentioning them in a tweet.

Two bonus tips:

4. Have a core message

Aside from the conversation and promotion of others, influencers have a core message. They specialise in one or two topics and become a hub of information and discussion around these topics. While they may make up less than 25% of their tweets these topics are consistent themes. It is much better to be a specialist rather than a generalist on Twitter (until you get at least 30 thousand followers).

5. Produce valuable content outside of Twitter or Facebook

Whether it is a blog, video on youtube, or photos on Flickr, consistently producing great content that people can use is the number one way to gain credibility in a field. It reinforces a core message and gains links and notoriety as it gets passed around Twitter and the wider web.

The most influential tweeters have most if not all of these factors in their twitter profiles.

How many of these characteristics apply to you?

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Who are you selling to in Social Media?

by Al

When did you last go to a networking event looking to buy a product or service?….. No me either, and neither does anybody else. Ivan Misner calls this the Networking Disconnect.

So you aren’t buying at networking events, and neither is anyone else, why do so many people go along to events with the goal to sell something to those they meet? There is no hungry crowd to feed.

The same is true of Social media.

Why are you on Twitter and Facebook? Do you have something you want to buy? – If you are honest, probably not. Sure you might follow Dell or some account that offers regular discounts, but of all the people you follow or friend what percentage are these? (and have you bought anything?)

If no one is there to buy, why bother?

Networking, whether online or offline, offers something more than a one off sale… It is the opportunity to build credibility in your industry, to create an audience and rally a tribe.

By providing as much value as you can you will gather others around you who want to spread your message and recommend you to others. The wider you spread your net, the more customers you are likely to catch.

Here’s an everyday example…

I don’t go to a barbecue and start selling to my mates over a beer, but what I do is build great relationships and I listen to them and find out about them and their business. And I tell them what I do and how I help people.

When I need some wine for a party, some electrical wiring done, or my car painted, I’ve got friends that I’ll go to without even thinking about any of their competition. I go to them because I know them, I like them,and I trust them. I also know when they need a product or service I offer, or even some advice, they will come to me.

I am NOT saying you shouldn’t be selling on Social Media OR that no one is buying – Just that no one is there with the intention to buy so you should be connecting and selling yourself first.

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New Zealand businesses slow to invest in the web

by Al

I just read an article on the TVNZ website about the incredibly low rate of New Zealand businesses having websites. According to a survey run by MYOB as of right now, only 34 percent of New Zealand businesses currently have a website.

I have to admit, that this astounds me. The internet is the biggest opportunity in a generation. in little more than 15 years, it has changed the way we communicate, find information and has broken down traditional barriers.

Even for small, local business, the internet can’t be ignored. As explained in the article:

“The way we shop today is very much just popping on to Google and tapping in a quick search. It’s really key for a business to think how they might use the internet to support them.”

MYOB says a business can just use a directory listing online but the evidence shows that a good online presence is a strong driver of business growth.

Opportunities

With only a third of all NZ businesses having a website, the internet landscape still has relatively low competition. In other words if you already have a website, or are moving to get one soon, you are still well ahead of the curve.

The web moves fast

Things change quickly online. Savvy businesses are already using Social Media to build an audience, foster relationships and create loyal fans. How hard is it going to be for latecomers to catch up?

Does your business have a website? Why do you think New Zealand businesses have been so slow to move online?

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Stop forcing your customers to pay twice

by Al

I watched a movie a couple of days ago with my wife. I’m not going to admit what movie it was, other than to say it was a chick flick…. ok a teen chick flick.

Anyway, my wife actually bought this movie so she can watch it over and over again whenever she feels the need (oh please no more).

But heres the problem

We load up the dvd, watch the dolby intro and the ‘pirates are costing you money’ announcement (don’t get me started), and 10 minutes of ads…

What the hell?

Five movie previews that we can’t fast forward!

Did I mention we paid for this dvd? not rented Bought! But now here we are spending our recreational time being forced to watch ads for the studios latest movies or special behind the scenes whatever…

I know someone worked out that we are now a captive audience and they should let us know of other titles we can buy off them… That is plain stupid. We paid for the movie, now we have to watch SPAM.

Heres what they should have done

Don’t force me to watch these Previews Ads. Stick them as a menu option, right beside the deleted scenes. Call them something like ‘similar movies’ or ‘suggested films’ (or probably something much better).

Now they’re not spam anymore, they are added value. Why? because we have the choice to watch them. The crazy thing is we would probably watch them happily.

What examples do you have of post sale silliness?

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Branding, marketing, web and design leaders, Marlborough New Zealand

How to grab business by targeting a highly specific market