The Marketing Mix | official blog of the Marketing Mentor community

If you are in Boston, come and have breakfast with me!

I'll be moderating a free breakfast roundtable think tank for creative agency owners next weekend. If you are in the Boston area and want to spend a couple of hours talking shop with like-minded principals sign up and come join the conversation.

The event is kindly hosted by Tech Superpowers and joining me will be Jonathan Cleveland, principal of Cleveland Design and  my co-author of our upcoming book Designing For The Greater Good.

There is no cost to attend and breakfast will be free too. We'll also give away some books and an iPod shuffle. Can this be any more attractive?...

Space is limited to 12 participants and we only have a couple of seats left.

Attracting, developing and maintaining your ideal clients
Saturday, May 16, 2009, 10AM-12PM

Tech Superpowers Digital Lounge
252 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116

Click here to reserve your seat.

Marketing tips at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Networking – what not to do.

Last night I went to a networking event/anniversary party for BlankSpaces here in Los Angeles. BlankSpaces is a collaborative, shared work space where freelancers and other entrepreneurs can rent office space by the hour, week or month. And last night they celebrated their one-year anniversary.

The party was hopping with people. The line outside the building seemed like it was an exclusive LA club. Took about 20 minutes just to get into the building. Inside, it was crowded and loud but nevertheless, the extrovert in me was eager to meet people and network.

I got a drink at the bar and started to walk around in hopes I’ll run into someone I know. No familiar face in sight. I kept mingling and it took no time before I started a conversation with a graphic designer, followed by a wine distributor, followed by a photographer. With each of them I spent about 15 minutes chatting. And that’s about all I could take.

All three had one thing in common. They didn’t stop talking about themselves. They kept telling me about what they are doing and what they’ve accomplished. It was a “Me! Me! Me! fest”. Not even once did they stop and ask me a question. Not once did they bother finding something in common we can discuss. I was completely bored and couldn’t wait to get away from the conversation.

The key to meeting people at networking events is to make a connection, not to tell your life story. Not so much to sell.  Making a connection means we find something in common. It’s about showing the other person you just met that you are interested in them. 

Next time you’re at a networking event, don’t make the mistake these folks did. Don’t focus so much about yourself. When you meet someone new - show interest. Ask questions.  Engage them in a conversation about a topic other than you. Let them experience your personality, your humor, your charm.   

The three people I met could have been interesting prospects. A friendship may have started. I could have thought about leads to send their ways. But their self-absorbed conversation didn’t make me move towards any of that. And that’s too bad.

Join Peleg Top for an Afternoon Workshop in OC, California

I'm delighted to announce an upcoming workshop I am presenting in collaboration with the AIGA OC Chapter.

Here are the details:

Taking Control of Your Business:
Growing a Thriving Agency in Any Economy

Afternoon Workshop & Think Tank for Creative Agency Owners

Saturday, April 25th, 2009
12:00pm - 4:00pm

Many creative business owners are facing challenges that hold them back from growing their business and making good profit. You’re great at what you do but don’t have enough business and marketing experience or education to move you to the next level. Instead you get jobs and don’t know how to price them, you don’t know how to get new clients or how to simply talk about what you do and get your name out there.

Is your creative agency in trouble?

Are you getting less work from existing clients?

Is your pipeline of leads is drying up?

Join business development and marketing expert Peleg Top as he facilitates a 3 hour think tank workshop with a limited group of creative business owners. Learn how to take control of your business, create a recession proof marketing plan and position your agency for growth.

By attending this workshop you will:

:: Acquire the tools to create a smart marketing plan that reflects your ideal financial goals and the small actionable steps to take in reaching those ideal financial goals.

:: Learn the 5 must tools you need to implement in your business that create a strong marketing machine.

:: Learn an easy way to follow up and keep in touch with prospects so that they don’t forget about you and think instantly of you when their moment of need arises.

:: Learn from your peers and what they are doing to grow their business.

:: Get inspired and energized to help you get out of the economic funk and get focused on the recovery.

Workshop limited to 12 attendees. This event will sell out. Register today and take a step towards taking control of your business and doing what’s required to ride through these economic times successfully.

Who should attend: Creative agency owners with a 2 or more employees

Location: Orange County, Ca (City of Tustin, Address will be provided upon registration)

Your investment: $77.00

:: After workshop ::
Join us for networking and appetizers

Click here to register

Can Twitter be a marketing tool?

A few months ago, after resisting it for a while, I went ahead and signed up for a Twitter account. Frankly, it was mostly out of curiosity. What is this twittering all about? How can it improve my life? I started following my immediate group of contacts and people were following me as well. It was (and still is in my opinion) mostly a time sucker. Most people write meaningless information. Do I really care who that someone just ate a sandwich or is waiting in line somewhere? Not really. It was too much. I ended that experience pretty fast. I signed off Twitter and that was the end of that.

Last weekend I presented a new workshop here in LA called “Nuts and Bolts of Winning Proposals”. 12 interesting design and marketing business owners came from all parts of Southern California including one attendee that drove from Arizona.  When I asked him how he heard about this workshop he said: “I found it via Twitter." You can imagine my surprise. Twitter? Really? Apparently someone heard about my workshop and twittered about it. And then someone else twitted about it and so on and so forth all the way to getting this guy to drive from Arizona and spend the day at my workshop.

So this changes things. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not about to start twittering but it makes me rethink about the power of twitter and how it could be used as a marketing too. I don’t have to twitter but it may be good to know people who are active twitters with big following. And that’s a marketing tool right there.

So, do you twitter? Is it affecting your business?

 

Go ahead, get emotional

Over the last year I’ve been teaching a communication and conflict resolution course for a corporate client of mine. Most of the material in this program comes from the New York Times best-seller, Crucial Conversations. One of the tools that the book teaches is called “Master My Stories”. The idea behind this tool is that how we feel lies in the stories we tell ourselves.  And these stories generate emotions that often lead to actions. We create our stories.

When you think about marketing your business or product,  your goal is to generate action from your clients and prospects. And an effective way to generate action is to tell a compelling story, one that hits your customer’s emotions.  Take a look at your marketing materials, your website, your newsletters, your printed collateral and ask yourself: “What emotions am I hitting?”.  Which feeling will your customer generate when they see your stuff?

If you look at the majority of service companies (especially in the creative industry), the common story is all about who they are and what they do best.  If I’m the customer, why would I believe them? What would compel me to trust that they really know what MY problem is? What my needs are? No feelings are generated and I will pass over them without a second thought.

As you are creating marketing materials to promote your business ask yourself the following questions:

   1. What are your clients' hot buttons? What’s not working for them?
   2. What is the outcome your client is asking for (not the specific thing they need from you)?
   3. Is your story creating an emotional reaction with your client?

So think about the stories you can create with your marketing. Stories that will generate a feeling with your client. A feeling that will inspire them to pick up the phone and call you. Hit their emotions and they will respond.

Keep in Touch Toolbox: The Face to Face Lunch

A couple of weeks ago I started a new blog post series titled “The Keep In Touch Toolbox” where I’ll be suggesting tools and strategies to keeping in touch with your clients and prospects. If you missed it you can read it here.

Today’s tool is called “The Face to Face Lunch.” I’m suggesting this to some of my clients who are wondering how to start getting some more work through the door as their work load seems to be drying up. This tool is not just a quick fix. In fact, as I see it, it’s one of the most important marketing tools you can have in your business. It provides you one on one face time with your clients which is another step towards deepening your relationship. After all, people hire people they like first.

So here is the idea. Go through your contact list and identify as many clients and prospects that you have not seen face to face in the last 90 days.  Pick up the phone and start calling them. Simply ask them for lunch. Tell them that you will be in their area on a specific date and would love to treat them for a quick lunch so you can catch up. Your goal is at least 2 lunch meetings per week. 

And what do you talk about during that lunch? Not much. It’s not about you. It’s about listening to your clients and paying attention to what’s going on with their business. So try to get them to tell you all of that. Ask as many questions as you can. Sometimes our clients just want someone to listen and understand their world. Now if you were like me, you may have some ideas and suggestions on how you could help their business grow. Try to not share those ideas during the lunch meeting. Here’s why.

A couple of days after the lunch, you can call you client back, thank them for the time together and tell them that you’ve been thinking about what they shared with you and that you have some great ideas on how they can grow/improve/market (choose the one that fits your idea best) their business. Ask if you can drop by their office to share some of those ideas. They most likely be open to taking this meeting now that you already had a nice social lunch together.

We are facing some interesting times where business development and marketing require unusual and innovative tactics. This one works. I’ve done it and had great success with it over the years. I’d like to hear from you when it works for your business too!

Woo Woo Negotiations

Earlier this week a friend of mine who recently became a certified reflexologist and energy worker came over to my house to do some work on me. I was her first paying client. (Yes, I’m into that woo woo stuff.  Clearing the chakras is essential to a busy guy like me.)

She came over at 4:00 pm and worked on me for 2 hours. The session was great and as she was packing up her massage table it was time for me to pay her.  Which meant we needed to have the money conversation. What was this luxury going to cost me? We didn’t discuss money up front AND we were good friends. A dangerous combination.

I asked her “So, what do I owe you?” and instead of getting a clear answer she started to mumble. After about a minute of her sharing with me her thought process on how much she should charge me she blurred it out with fear: “$60.00!" What I responded with was, “OK." What was going through my mind was “Wow, that’s cheap!”.

As I was reaching out to get my checkbook my conscience just didn’t sit well with me. The work was worth more than $60. I knew it. She probably knew it too but didn’t believe it. So I wrote her a check for $80 and told her that $60 just sounded a little too low. Would she accept $80? She smiled and told me that was the original number she had in mind and thanked me for my generosity.

So you may ask yourself “How does this relate to marketing?”. My friend was not confident in her pricing and value of service she provided. She doubted herself and therefore priced the work on the low side. I on the other hand had a great experience and thought the work was worth much more. Are your prices aligned with the value of your work? In our industry I see many creative solopreneurs and service firms under price their work because they don’t project a high level of confidence in their work. That projection is marketing. If you believe you are worth a lot, chances are your clients will too.

Next time you have to give a price for a project remember two things:

1. Have the money conversation up front. Don’t wait to talk money until it gets uncomfortable. Especially when working with a close friend.
2. Believe what you are creating has great value for your clients. Your work will probably help their business grow and put money in their pocket. That’s worth more than you think and you should get paid accordingly.

And of course if you have to negotiate a price with a reflexologist, it’s not a bad idea to have your chakras cleared first...

Everything is negotiable

The other day I was heading to the airport to catch a flight. Although normally I take a taxi, I decided to save some money and park my car at the airport.  I usually park at one of the airport lots for about $12.00 per day but after getting stuck in traffic and worrying about missing my flight I decided to park in one of the airport-adjacent hotels that offers valet parking.

I pulled into the lot of the hotel I would normally park at and a uniformed attendant greeted me with a smile. I asked him what was the valet parking fee and he said $28.00 per day. I grinned and knew my money savings strategy was shot.

I looked at him and said “wow, that’s kind of high isn’t it?”. He replied “hold on, I’ll be right back” and quickly disappeared behind the valet booth in search of something.

A few minutes later he returned and handed me a discount coupon that brought the parking down to $12.00 per day. “We know times are tough so hopefully this will help”.  Without even asking for a discount, I got one.

It made me think that everything these days is negotiable. Even valet parking. Our struggling economy is creating new rules for selling. And I’m liking it. You see, I was born and raised in Israel, part of the Middle East, where negotiating is part of everyday life there. In fact, some vendors would get insulted if you don’t negotiate. It’s part of how we buy and sell.

So how does that relate to your business? You can expect your clients to negotiate with you now more than ever. Be prepared for that. And be open to the experience. Go into the selling process with “negotiation in mind”. Even if your fees have been the same for years, your clients may now expect some kind of a deal or discount because of our “struggling economy”.  So rather than lowering your fees (which you don’t want to do because that send a message that you are desperate) you can offer your clients incentives, something extra if they buy from you.  Throw in something extra.  Help your clients feel like they are getting a good deal.

What’s in your ‘keep in touch’ toolbox?

You’ve heard us say this before. Networking is one of the strongest marketing tools you can use to grow your business. Well a big part of networking happens not only face to face at schmoozing events, it keeps happening if you follow up with people.

Keeping in touch is a key part of this game. It’s a big part of building a relationship and in business, relationships are everything. So what’s your ‘keep in touch’ plan? Especially as we are in a weird economy with some of us not knowing when the next client is coming from it’s a good idea to plan how to keep in touch with clients and prospects and create the right tools to do so.

So today I’d like to start a series of posts that can help you create your own ‘keep in touch’ toolbox. I’ll share some ideas that worked well for me in the past and hopefully some of them will inspire you to try something new.

First tool in the ‘keep in touch’ toolbox is the “Touching Base Connection”.  Send a short email message to the clients who you haven’t worked with in a while and to prospects just to say hello. I bet if you looked in your address book right now you can pick at least 30 people to get in touch with. Write them each a short, personalized email and say something like:

Dear Dan,

It’s been a while since we’ve connected. I was just looking through my address book and your name jumped out of the crowd!.

Just thought I’d send you a quick note to say hello and see how things are going on your end. 

Would be great to hear from you sometime soon!

Best,

Peleg

Note how this email does not ask for anything in particular. It’s simply starting a conversation. It’s casual and it’s in your own friendly voice. Let your personality come through and keep it professional. You never know where that could lead to. 

And for those of you who are brave enough to try this in person, I dare you to pick up the telephone  and over the next week call 30 of your clients and prospects and just say hello. You game?