Marketing help

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wheelie2

Free Member
Oct 22, 2005
65
0
45
Barnsley, South Yorkshire
  • #1
    Afternoon all, I was hoping to pick some business brains out there. I've been running Glo Design for 3 years, sole trader and have tried many marketing activities with varying degrees of success; networking, email shots, cold-calling (boo) targeted flyers followed with calls, member of the chamber etc...

    Although I have a steady stream of work coming in from repeat business and referrals, I want to get new clients - preferably a handful of growing clients who I can help - graphic design, web design, print and large format print (exhibition stands etc..) All my clients are VERY happy and refer me to other people which is great, but I need to be able to get new clients.

    So... I've been thinking about a niche as my background is in industrial design (product engineering basically) and my biggest clients have been in manufacturing/bioscience/engineering industries, although locally I have a great range of clients from a drinks delivery service, to florists, food suppliers and beauty therapists to name a few.

    So I'm wondering how I should move forward, I have limited funds and so can't just throw money at things, does anyone have any ideas of what I should/could be doing? Any ideas would be great...

    Thank you! Sarah. www.glodesign.co.uk and www.gloprints.co.uk
     
    P

    profitxchange

  • #2
    Offer to do a mornings workshop on the benefits of good design, what good design is etc etc for your local Business Link or Chamber! You should not promote your self but your activity and how good design makes a difference. You will need examples of good and bad design ( not necessarily yours). How to choose the right designer, the brief etc etc.
     
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    C

    Chris Kaday

  • #5
    I think niching would be really good for your business in fact it is the way forward for any business but people always feel they are missing out on the non niche by doing it which is nonsense. On my site you will find an item which is called 'get big get niche or get out' which you might find helpful Regards
    Chris Kaday
     
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    S

    supsol

  • #6
    Go to a Trade Show, walk around the stands and ask people if they think they have the best display at the exhibition? Give them a tick sheet/flyer, so they can walk around themselves and jot down what features they liked best. Get them to email their thoughts to you and you'll give them a free quote and some hints and tips about what makes a good stand.

    You can then start to market to the companies. The cost of attending an event can be very expensive, so a good stand, print, graphic design etc will increase their ROI.
     
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    W

    www.iKabs.com

  • #10
    Sarah,

    My company sells digital in-cab advertising in cabs across the UK. We are able to target specific geographical areas and we can, through logical advert placement, target specific audiences.

    Take a look at our website for more information at www.ikabs.com or send me a PM with you contact details and I would be happy to give you a call and discuss this with you in more detail. The cost is very low, from £17, so it should fit in with your budget and is a great way to open up a new client base.

    Sorry for the very blatent sales pitch but I am passionate about iKabs and I know we can help you.

    Thanks
    David
     
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    wheelie2

    Free Member
    Oct 22, 2005
    65
    0
    45
    Barnsley, South Yorkshire
  • #12
    Wow - thank you all for your responses, I kept checking for responses after i'd posted it and saw the listing going further down the page, so haven't checked it until now - so apologies for the delay!

    Right, I like the idea of the workshop as suggested by Profitxchange - a company who is local to me recently did this and while the response at the time was great, they didn't actually get any work from it, which I thought was a shame. I'm also not the best of public speakers and usually turn a strange betroot colour, but if it brought the work in I'd get over it...

    The active referral system, Steve, again is a great idea, but I'm not sure of the best way of implementing it as it's all a bit unofficial at the moment how the referrals seem to work, and I do keep in touch with my clients on a regular basis, making sure that they are happy and seeing if they need help with anything else...

    Scott - I seem to have quite a few jobs for various clients in varying industries, all are quite low value really. As my background was in engineering, and I only recently by chance got into large format printing, which then people were asking me for design work, and websites etc etc I have been practicing and building my folio up, but now I am happy and confident that my work is right, I feel I need to get to the next level...

    which leads me nicely onto Chris's comment about the niche. I agree, and have only recently really decided that this is the route I should go down - my background is in industrial design and a good chunk of my clients are in the manufacturing/engineering industries, so it makes sense to me to offer design support services including printing, graphic and web design to companies in this industry. As my aim is to have a few key clients who I can help with the afore-mentioned aspects as almost their own in-house design consultancy if you like. To remove the hassle of having to source everything seperately and communicate between everyone if you like. Although this is the most suitable sector for me, I'm not sure it will be the best, but I guess you won't know unless you try...?

    Supsol - I like the idea of the trade shows, but I don't think I would feel comfortable approaching them on their stand effectively selling to them, albeit more subtle than that... which is why I considered exhibiting at a show myself - www.industry.co.uk/northern - any thoughts? As far as shows go it's quite inexpesnsive as it's not at the NEC, and I can print my own stand inhouse which keeps the costs down.

    As far as blogs go, I've never done one - do they work? I've also heard someone suggesting having a page on myspace? Although I'm not sure. I find also that my website is more of a refferring tool than a sales one, which probably isn't great, but I'm working on it....

    Thank you for all your help - sorry I appeared to dissappear!!! Any more thoughts greatfully received!!!! :)
     
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    P

    profitxchange

  • #13
    Hi thanks for the feedback.
    Re a presentation:- one should not expect work from a presentation. if you get it it is a bonus. What it does do is leave a strong impression of you as a competent and knowledgeable person in your field to whom delegates might turn WHEN they have need. (they ofeten attend a seminar because they are thinking about the subject)
    Its your role to then followup the delegates and offer an informal meet to see if you can HELP them with their thinking process (no hard sell) - this gives you a second face to face interaction to build their confidence in you and your abilities AND you to get to know what they have in mind. Take a look here:-
    http://www.profitxchange.co.uk/Forum/bbBoard.cgi?a=viewthread;fid=19;gtid=13308
    As it may be helpful to appreciate the jouney you need to take the prospect on to get the business.
    Here are some thoughts on doing a presentation. http://www.profitxchange.co.uk/Forum/bbBoard.cgi?a=viewthread;fid=19;gtid=8556
    If I can be of further help drop me an e-mail
     
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    wheelie2

    Free Member
    Oct 22, 2005
    65
    0
    45
    Barnsley, South Yorkshire
  • #16
    Hi Mike - this is VERY familiar - I'm already doing this with a number of companies, which works very well indeed, I now need to apply it to the niche I'm working on, which will require further investigation to get the partnerships right, it's also tricky to get the balance fair in that the types of services I offer are more mainstream and accessible than those of say a bearings manufacturer, so I'd need to work out a way in which both businesses benefit to make it fair.
     
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    1

    1stPageProphets

  • #18
    Hi David,

    Personally not yet, but it is almost near the top of my marketing plan ;-)

    I am subscribed to most of the lists of internet marketers from Earth and a few who aren't (or so it feels like at times with the amount of email I get from them all!) and you see host-bens being done constantly.

    Rule of thumb: It isn't important what you say about yourself, it's what others say about you that is important.

    A host-bens is a way of facilitating someone else saying something good about you; in this case, it is the host saying good stuff about you implicitly by even having you there (room/webinar/conference call/whatever) in the first place.

    As soon as I have done one (next 2 months) I will let you know how it goes!

    Cheers,
     
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