Bad Business-Don’t Do It

Bad business, don’t do it! Don’t be that business owner others talk about…negatively.

by Email Marketing Girl.

We’re generally an upbeat, optimistic crew here at double 7’s, but sometimes we see (or unfortunately at times deal with) bad business. Focusing on the negative is NOT what we do. We help businesses get better through positive marketing tactics and reputation.

Rob Hoffman at the Narcisi Winery.
Be positive. Be on time.
Oh, we’re sure you’ve seen it too!

We all know them. We’ve all dealt with them, bad business owners. Maybe they aren’t aware of it. Perhaps, inexperience leads them into making poor business decisions. Likewise, cash flow could be an issue.

There’s an array of situations that this topic could cover. However, we’ll just discuss a few things we have seen from our own marketing experiences. Consequently, we hope this blog will help SOMEONE out to avoid making bad business choices. Further, we also hope this will allow consumers (all of us) to be aware of what to look for.

Follow up! Communication is key!

First one I can think off the top of my head is not having a good lead system. Show up when you say you will. If someone calls you about an inquiry for your services, make sure you call them back! We all understand people are busy but you should reach out within 24 hours. A 24 hour response should be a maximum time frame. At least say, we have received your request. We are gathering some information and will reach out to you shortly. 

Have a client meeting? Don’t show up late. I think that is pretty self explanatory, especially if this client is paying you money for your services. 

77 Design Co business card, keyboard, and flash drive.
Call, email, or text if you are late or have to cancel. Customers appreciate this!


Don’t bite off what you can’t chew. If someone wants a certain service that you don’t feel comfortable with doing, or you do not have the necessary resources for, make sure you are up front with the client. Either you lower your overall price or do not do that service. That is to say, refer them to someone who can. You do not want to put your name on subpar work. 

Don’t overcharge or change pricing without first notifying your customer. Talk to them first about an unforeseen situation/cost on a project. This happened to one of us last year on a home project. Needless to say we were not thrilled with how it was handled. Subsequently, we reviewed this local business negatively on several platforms. They have yet to respond to the review, and did nothing to remedy the situation. Bad business, don’t do it!

There’s that word again, CONSISTENCY!

Make sure your brand is consistent. You need flyers, cards, emails, a website, brochures, etc., all branded with your logo and colors. Consistent brand identifiability is key. If this is something you do not have currently, find a print shop or marketing professional that can help you with this. Branding is huge!

Be social, NOT socially unacceptable!

Above all, behave on your social media channels. That is to say, don’t get involved in political debates, foul language, controversial topics, or bad mouth competition. Definitely don’t be posting drunken photos and videos while you are out. If your personal page can be tied to your business, make sure its also acceptable content. All of the above are things we’ve seen in the past by business owners, and recommend NOT DOING.

For example, post fun, informative, and creative information. Sure, everyone likes to have fun once in a while and this can add personality to you and your business. Most noteworthy, make sure what you share and post is clean and inoffensive.

Reviews

Finally, online reviews. Reputation is everything in business. If you get a bad review on Yelp, or Google (to name a few) don’t ignore it. Respond kindly and accordingly. Explain a little about the situation and what you may have tried to do to right the wrong. DO NOT get mad and respond in anger. Be courteous in your response. Believe us when we say potential customers will see these reviews if they are thinking of using you, and many will appreciate your amiable response to the review.

77 Design Co gray and orange logo

Analyze. Create. Achieve.


 

Marketing is an Asset NOT an Expense

Stop it. Just stop! Marketing is not an expense. I know you’ve heard it before, but pay attention. Marketing is not an expense. I’ll say it again. MARKETING IS NOT AN EXPENSE.

Do you want to grow? Do you want your business to flourish? Why aren’t you telling people about the services you offer or the goods you sell? I know. I know… “I don’t have the money to invest.. “ “Sales are slow.” “We can’t do it right now.” EXCUSES! Stop it!

I met with some bankers the other day and we were talking small business over lunch. Their bank specializes in loans for small business that do less than $250k per year in sales. One of the things we talked about is how small business owners tend to look more at the now than the later.

Joe Small Business Owner wants a jet ski. Joe sells some services and buys the jet ski. Nothing wrong with that, but what if Joe reinvested that profit into marketing and waited a year, or six months to buy the jet ski? Where would his business be in that time with a strategic plan? A marketing effort? How much would he grow?

I know, again… “We’ve tried marketing. It didn’t work.” “Word of mouth is the only way.” I’m calling bullshit here. You met with some sales person who sold you some radio ads, or some online package for $2500 that never changed. It didn’t engage. The sales person never checked back in. They took your money and ran some ads, or did some “marketing.” Maybe you got one or two sales from it, maybe more… But it didn’t live up to your expectations.

Here’s where it went wrong. That sales person didn’t listen. They didn’t even ask questions, or the right ones! They didn’t look at, and I mean really look at your business. They didn’t analyze your pain points, they didn’t examine your best customer. They didn’t take the time to understand where you are and where you want to go. They came in filled out some paper work, had you sign on the dotted line, left with a check and said “Boom, now you’re marketing. Good Luck.”

At best this is a C- strategy. Why not try for an A?

Marketing is one of the most important things a business can do. Not only does it help to bring awareness, it builds sales, reputation, engages customers, and grows the business, but it also helps to stem so much including company culture.

Here are key reasons why it is essential to market your business in today’s modern marketplace:

It Grows – Marketing helps a business get on solid footing, and thus provides a basis for growth. While you should always maintain and develop your current customer base following the 80/20 rule, a continual drip campaign keeps you in front of your existing clientele and keeps you top of mind with them.

Marketing also allows you to reach new and potential customers that are in search of solutions to their issues.

It Sells –  Marketing helps to sell more products, solutions or services. The bottom line of any business is to make money and marketing is an essential channel to reach that end goal. Without marketing businesses wouldn’t exist because marketing is ultimately what drives sales. You have a good product but if people don’t know about you then how will you generate sales? Put simply: You can’t. Businesses need to content (social media posts, brochures, signage, imagery, etc) to bring customers in and lead them to a purchase. Marketing helps sales and sales help your business.

It Engages –  Customer engagement is key to any successful business, big or small.  Marketing provides a way to keep a conversation going. It provides a constant drip to keep you in the minds of your existing and potential customers. Consumers want to be engaged and will seek out reviews, social media posts and Google reviews. This is where marketing comes in, and whatever the medium, you can send your customers relevant content that is in-line with your brand to keep them engaged. Your audience wants to form a relationship with your brand, and marketing can do that.

It informs: On a base level, marketing is useful for customer education. When you are going about your day you’re not actively seeking out a 4,000 word blog or searching for a sales pitch on facebook. You happen upon something that piques your interest and you head down the rabbit hole. Next thing you know you’re considering a purchase.

And while you Mr./Mrs./Miss Business Owner know the ins-and-outs of your product, do your consumers? In order to buy into a product, your audience needs to have an understanding of what it does and how it works, and more importantly WHY they need it!

Marketing is the most effective way to communicate your value proposition to your customers in a fun and interesting way. If consumer education is on your priority list then marketing should be too. We call this Edutainment, and is one of our key philosophies to a successful campaign.

It’s equalized: Modern marketing is a less expensive game than ever before. Social media platforms, direct mail, geo-fencing, target marketing and email campaigns have made touching consumers a much more finance-friendly possibility. Utilizing these vehicles can help even the playing field when it comes to competing against big name competitors. Modern consumers value experience over pricing, so this kind of one-on-one interaction could push customers in your direction over bigger brands.

It sustains: Marketing is meant to build and sustain a company’s presence – not remedy a lack of engagement. In this sense, marketing is something that businesses need to create and manage every day to maintain a healthy relationship with their consumers. Marketing is important because it allows businesses to maintain long-lasting and ever-present relationships with their audience. It is not a one-time fix, it is an ongoing strategy that helps businesses flourish.

 

Psychology of Proper Marketing

Proper marketing of your business requires the simultaneous use of many differing things. In order for your ad, print marketing materials, signage, web/social media pages, and other handouts to resonate with a customer, you have to have visual appeal. If there isn’t an attractive design, logo, or image(s) included, you may be throwing away costly materials, or worse…losing a potential customers attention!

Creativity, color, strong photography, font styles, layout, and the overall design play important roles in how your business is perceived. Using “Gestalt Principles” to better your business’s message can greatly increase your reach and marketability, as well as create an appealing brand to share with the world. Gestalt (meaning unified whole) psychology is what marketers and advertisers have been using for years to create attractive ads. Its a German psychology theory on how the human brain processes, perceives, and then puts together pieces of something they see.

Although studies vary, most are similar in their results. The brain processes visuals 92-94% more than text alone. We, as humans, engage quicker and longer when there are images involved. The brain also processes these images 50,000-60,000 times faster than text.

As a business owner it is up to you to not only provide customers with the highest quality of work, but also to use every option available to cut costs, increase brand awareness and engagement, and get more reach. Give us a call to learn more on how we can help with all of the above.

 

 

77 Has BLOWN Up!

77 Design Co has BLOWN UP! All great things here though!

-by Bobby Drakulic

We are beyond busy helping local and regional businesses better market themselves. A lot of what we offer is customized commercial photography/video, blog and technical writing, graphic design, social media help, printed signage and marketing materials, and website building. There are a lot of businesses right here in the Pittsburgh area that need someone to help them solidify the marketing side of their business to attract new customers. Some of the businesses that we are currently working with are trades businesses (electricians, contracting companies, etc) CPA’s, and manufacturing firms.

I LOVE it! Business is booming, but maybe even better is the fact that I have finally found my little niche in the world…visually communicating messages for small business through commercial photography! This allows me to hone in on a particular product or service and bring a vision to life for my client to present to their clients, or prospective clients. Couple that with the great design and web work my business partner, Rob Hoffman is doing, and the fantastic writing/social media/video work the rest of our team is doing and we have built something truly special! We are here to help the small guy become relevant and increase the visual marketing personality for some of our larger clients. It feels great to help these businesses grow!