The Marketing Mix | official blog of the Marketing Mentor community

Tired of working alone?

Exciting news for solopreneurs in New Jersey… NJ Coworking just got final approval to occupy 5,000sqf on the campus of Kean University – for NJ’s first Coworking space scheduled to open in November or December!

NJ Coworking is for designers, developers, writers, artists, entrepreneurs, scientists, educators, small business owners, telecommuters, marketers, videographers, game developers, non-profits, students, and more.

Basically, if you work from home or a coffee shop, coworking is for you. Coworking is about working side by side with like minded poeple. No more boring lonely workdays from your basement.

If you're interested in coworking in NJ, now is the time to get involved. At the minute, NJ Coworking is building the community of people who are interested, and the community is working together as a team to create branding for this exciting space. Get in touch, find out more and fill out a quick survey at http://www.njcoworking.com/.

Difficult clients in a tough economy?

Here is a question (and my answer) from one of the attendees at last week's CFC webcast, Finding and Reaching the Right Prospects.

It's one I get a lot these days, so maybe it's been on your mind too:

Q: During this difficult economy, should one discriminate against difficult potential clients or is there a way to make the relationship work?

A: It depends, of course. You can sometimes make it work, but only if you have strong boundaries, clear policies that you enforce and excellent communication skills.

That said, my general advice would be to pay attention to red flags and, whenever possible, steer clear of difficult clients. Faced with the choice between a "bird in the hand" or a bird out there somewhere, unless you have no food on the table, I'd choose the the bird out there (i.e. marketing). It's a better use of your time to go to a networking event or make a round of calls than to accept a client who will make your life difficult with little financial reward (remember, difficult clients often suck up more time than you estimated.) The more marketing you do, the more prospects you'll encounter, the more choice you'll have between the difficult ones and the good ones.

Anyone have experience to support this idea?

Marketing Plan Group - Ready, Set, Go!

Welcome to Week 38 of my adventure of following the Start Up Grow Your Business Marketing Plan + Calendar and Week 1 as a member of the Marketing Plan Group. In my posts, I talk about my voyage down the road of self-employment as a website copywriter, my achievements and roadblocks along the way, and what I’m learning from my group experience.

This week is a new beginning.

As you know, I’ve been following the Grow Your Business Marketing Plan + Calendar for 38 weeks so far. I’ve come a long way, but in order to get that extra push I need, I joined the Grow Your Business Marketing Plan Group for extra support. And, I’ll be blogging about it along the way. The group meets every other week, and on alternate weeks, I’ll be meeting with my “group buddy.”

Today was the first group phone call.

There are five of us in total – four graphic designers and myself. We did some introductions and started learning about the basics.

Here’s what we are learning this week:

1. In a nutshell, marketing is about keeping the conversation going with the people we can best serve. We’re going to learn exactly how to do that.
2. We can’t be everything to everybody. So, we are learning who our target market is, and how to focus on them.

Here is a great concept I’ve taken from today:

• It’s ok to have an experimental point of view when you’re growing your business. Every person you call, every new client, is an experiment to help you figure out what works and works doesn’t. I don’t need to get it right the first time. It’s a learning process and I love that!

I can tell that this group is going to have a lot of personality. I’m already refreshed to be part of a network bigger than myself with people who share similar goals. I can see it’s going to be a cool, productive, motivational environment based on realistic steps and a practical approach to marketing.

To my fellow group members: What did you think of Week 1? What did you learn? What are you looking forward to?

The Magic of Marketing Time

I’ll confess it right now. I flunked the Marketing Plan + Calendar this year.

I started out with the best of intentions. I was really going to do my marketing work this year. I was going to get in the habit of doing it every day, following the directions, reading the books, listening to the podcasts, and checking off that wonderful little box next to the words “I did my marketing today.”

I was doing pretty good until about mid-March, when a wave of the type of projects I really love started rolling in fast and furious. I missed a day or two, then a week, and pretty soon the calendar was sitting on a shelf gathering dust.

The problem was I was still doing marketing when I “had time.” It’s easy to work up the motivation to do it when business is slow and you’re feeling a little desperate, but if you don’t keep at it when business is good, you’re only doing part of the work.

Three months ago I started the mentoring process with Peleg Top. We quickly realized that the identity I had chosen when I took the plunge into the freelance world seven years ago wasn’t working for me. I needed to re-invent my identity, redefine my position, write new versions of my vision and mission, and—you guessed it—do a lot of marketing work to launch the new concept. It wouldn’t be enough to do the work where I could catch a few minutes between jobs.

Then Peleg hit upon a solution that made the necessary time appear like magic. He said: “You need to get out of the house.”

Your work life could be so much easier

Ask a creative which marketing tools they use and they can rattle off a quick list: web site, blog, email marketing, networking, twitter and sometimes even cold calling.

But ask a creative who their target market is and you get a blank stare. I know. I've seen it often.

If that is you, I submit that you have no idea how much easier your work life could be.

You see, once you have found your market, a sense of peace will wash over your work life. It doesn't happen overnight, but once you decide where to focus, the answers to the questions you are struggling with reveal themselves: where to go, which groups to join, who to "follow." Everything else falls away.

I know this from personal experience, which is why, more and more lately, instead of just talking about "choosing a niche," I am coaching and teaching the nuts and bolts of how to find the living, breathing human beings who are going to give you the work you want (and pay you well for it, to boot). After all, you can't build relationships until you have found the actual people. And finding the actual people is critical to the growth of your business.

So if this is an "issue" for you, join me Tuesday and Wednesday for these 2 virtual events:

Tuesday: 1 PM Eastern (10 AM Pacific)
Interview with Helen Coronato of The Weekend Publicist
Sign up here: www.profcs.com/app/?Clk=3234022

Wednesday: 7 PM Eastern (4 PM Pacific)
CFC Webcast: Finding and Reaching the Right Prospects
Sign up for this webcast here: http://www.mydesignshop.com/product/right-prospects/

The CFC webcast is part of a complete series, Controlling the Money Conversation. More details here: http://www.mydesignshop.com/product/controlling-the-money-conversation/

Growing your business with marketing, week 39: Planning to fail

This is Week 39 of a 52-week project/experiment in DIY marketing. Armed with nothing but a copy of the 2009 Grow Your Business Marketing Plan + Calendar and my bare wits, I'm applying the skills you need to grow a business in real time, day by day, and reporting on them week by week. See the Project Companion Blog, A Virgo's Guide to Marketing, for in-depth posts, additional links and other marketing-related goodness.

I attended two events this week that have already changed my life—marketing and otherwise—significantly.

One made me furious; the other delighted me. Both made me examine how I do things, plan things and look at things.

Oh, and the strangest part of all? They were the same event...

Want to see what a difference a day makes? Read the details on the Virgo Guide.

Marketing Plan Group – The Questionnaire

Welcome to Week 37 of my adventure of following the Start Up Version of the Grow Your Business Marketing Plan + Calendar. In my posts, I talk about my voyage down the road of self-employment as a virtual marketing assistant turned website copywriter and my achievements and roadblocks along the way.

My marketing plan group starts next week! (You can still join, check it out.)

This week, Ilise sent over a questionnaire that helps her gain insight into each group member’s business, current situation, and goals. 

Filling out the questionnaire was kind of a strange experience for me.  Not difficult, just strange. I had to take an honest look at my business and think about my strengths, weaknesses, and challenges.  I mean, I blog every week about my business, but I write about whatever I want.  This time I had to answer specific questions.

Here are my answers to a few of the questions:

My ideal client is: A web designer who knows the value of good online copy, and who recommends copywriting services to their clients. 

My short-term, specific goals that I’d like to achieve in 6-months are:
1.   Grow list of design company prospects
2.   Have 5 new clients
3.   Be cold calling at least 5 prospects every week
4.   Possibly set up a short newsletter. I’m not really sure what to write about that my prospects (design companies) would be interested in reading as far as online copywriting goes.

My strengths and weaknesses related to marketing are:

• Strengths: I’ve gotten pretty good at cold calling, keeping in touch, and I know who my target market is.
• Weaknesses: Inconsistency in my marketing efforts (though I’ve come a long way), Sometimes lacking motivation… I need to “just do it.”

One of my main business issues is:
Setting and sticking to financial goals. I seem to be happy enough just making whatever I’m making without setting goals and chasing them.  I don’t know if I really want to set goals because I feel like it will stress me out and make me feel like I’m failing instead of accomplishing something.  I do have loose goals in my head, thinking if I make a particular amount every month then it’s ok… but as far as pushing myself goes… not really.

So, there are my answers. How ‘bout yours? When was the last time you actually considered your ideal client, your business issues, your strengths and weaknesses, your vision for your business in 5 years, and 2-3 specific goals?

Give it a go. It’s therapeutic. And if you’re ready for support and accountability, join the group with me!

Week 37 Recap: Whoa, what a week! It seems like everyone is kicking it into full force now that summer is over (including me). There are calls, lots of work, and a whirlwind of prospects. I’m working on staying as organized and productive.  It’s time to start cold calling again – and I’m looking forward to it – because it works! I’ve seen two more inquiries this week from the cold calls I’ve made. 

More events in NYC this week

We got so focused on promoting the Creative Freelancer Conference that we didn't have a chance to spread the word about a couple other events I'll be attending later this week in NYC. They're coming up quickly (later this week) but it's certainly not too late to register.

For Writers: The Business of Getting Published
This Writer's Digest Conference offers sessions on selfpublishing, social media usage, online sales, marketing, platform and other related topics, presented by today's proponents of new media.
September 18-20, 2009 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square, New York. Details here: http://www.writersdigestconference.com

For Designers: Running a Successful Design Business
HOW Magazine presents an in-depth seminar-style workshop conducted by Daniel Schutzsmith, designed to help you start, grow and maintain your design business.
September 17-18, 2009 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square, New York. Details here: http://www.howdesign.com/bootcamp/

Back to school

September has arrived and the kids are back to school. What about you?  Why not learn something new this month?  I am speaking my way through NYC and offering webinars that you can attend from anywhere (on your own schedule)!  Check them out:

 

In-person Events

• Monday, Sept 21, 2009 - NY, NY
  Promax/BDA Freelancers Forum
  http://prod.promaxbda.org/cmmcff/ff/home.aspx
  
• Tuesday, Sept 22, 2009 - NY, NY
  New York American Marketing Association
  http://nyama.livesitehost.com/pages/Event_Page-Monthly_Event

• Starts Monday, Sept 28, 2009 in Brooklyn NY
  Marketing and Pricing for Creatives (6 month group)
  A supportive, in-person meeting of Brooklyn-area creative professionals who want to take their marketing and pricing strategies to the next level.

Webinars (attend from anywhere -- live or at your convenience!)

Creative Freelancer Webcasts: Controlling the Money Conversation with Clients  This webinar series kicks-off on Sept 23rd and continues with one installment each month through December.

• The entire 4 Step Package of Creative Freelancer Webcasts can be purchased at a discount here: www.howbookstore.com/product/controlling-the-money-conversation

• Sept. 23 Finding and Reaching the Right Prospects
  www.howbookstore.com/product/right-prospects

• Oct 7: Determining Your Client’s Budget Before You Start
  www.howbookstore.com/product/determining-your-clients-budget

• Nov 4: Presenting Killer Proposals
  www.howbookstore.com/product/presenting-killer-proposals

• Dec 2: Confidently Closing the Sale
  www.howbookstore.com/product/confidently-closing-sale

Window Fashions Certified Professionals (WFCP) Webinar Series

• Tuesday, Sept 15, 2009 – Webinar
  How to Talk to Clients about Money in a Tricky Economy https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/643998835

• Tuesday, Sept 29, 2009 - Webinar
  Get Rich in a Niche
  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/618286874

And finally, here's a telesummit I'm participaing in called How to Build a Money Making Brand:

• Tuesday, Sept 22, 2009 - http://www.profcs.com/app/?Clk=3234022

Whoosh, that's just for September, there are more events in October. Watch for them. Or check out the details now here: www.marketing-mentor.com/html/speaking.html

Growing your business with marketing, week 37: Shutting up

This is Week 37 of a 52-week project/experiment in DIY marketing. Armed with nothing but a copy of the 2009 Grow Your Business Marketing Plan + Calendar and my bare wits, I'm applying the skills you need to grow a business in real time, day by day, and reporting on them week by week. See the Project Companion Blog, A Virgo's Guide to Marketing, for in-depth posts, additional links and other marketing-related goodness.

One great thing about practicing your marketing everyday (other than, we hope, getting better at it) is that after a while, you have lessons thrown at you so many times, they become useful practice in your everyday, working life.

Take shutting up, for example. Maybe I would have learned the lesson on my own time eventually, but constant marketing (which includes consistent networking) has given me a big sample of people who are Doing It Wrong, and probably moved me to apply smart behaviors to my own business faster.

Read the whole gory story on the Virgo Guide. And learn why, as every hack presenter loves to remind you, we have two ears and just one mouth.