Author: 77 Design Co

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The Correct Customer

This weeks blog is all about finding yourself the correct customer. In the business marketing world, we deal with a variety of different sized businesses and business owners on a day to day basis. We’d like to share a few things that may be helpful in solidifying your business relationships.

Ever have a customer that wants to purchase from you then decides to go elsewhere, or worse yet to a direct competitor? How about a customer who always knows better than you about certain elements within your field? Constantly feeling on edge about dealing with one of, or a few specific clients? What about a customer that either pays late or not at all?

Most of us in business have dealt with one of the above scenarios (or many other issues not listed) at least once, if not several times. Not every client you pick up is going to be the best, most spectacular, awesomely phenomenal, magnificent, all amazing customer! You will run into issues every now and again, but this blog will give you a little ammo in deciding who to work with and who to not.

Weeding out problem customers is a difficult thing to do especially if you really need to pick up the account and/or the money. Bills need to be paid, the business needs to continue to operate, employees need their paychecks on time, and the doors need to stay open. We get it. You have to begin to look past this though, no matter how hard it is. There a few minor tactics you can begin to implement that will increase the quality of the customers you are servicing, which in return will tremendously increase the quality of your sales and eventually improve your business. Here are a few ways to make your life and potentially your business much better:

Interview Potential Clients

Yep. You read that right! Conduct your own silent interview when discussing the potential of working together. It is in the beginning of your new business relationships that you can also begin to key in on certain factors that will determine if they are the right customer for you for the long haul. Create a list of traits that you’d like to know about them, how they conduct their business or personal life (if you are dealing with individual customers,) who they are connected to, who they know, their demeanor, or other qualities that you’d find attractive in developing this working relationship with. It doesn’t matter if they are paying you huge globs of money if they are difficult to deal with or creating sleepless nights for you.

Set Boundaries  

Be specific early. Explain that you normally do not work on Saturdays or Sundays due to the kids soccer matches, or other family oriented events. Let them know immediately that you do not respond after 8:00 PM or whenever you shut down for the day/night. Discuss certain factors in pricing and set the bar that these prices are not negotiable (unless of course they are for you.) Be open, honest, and as helpful as you can be but let them understand there are limits. Truly great customers will understand and probably respect you more.

Explain Pricing and Payments in Full Detail

This should go without saying but all of your contracts and payment plans need to be laid out on the table and in the open. Slimy businesses hide fees and charge customers additional monies through fine print, so don’t be one of them. No handshake or verbal agreements will help you in the event of legal issues, so make it all contractually binding and easily understood. You should then go over everything step by step with your customer for what you expect and what they can expect.

Communication is Key

If you are like us, a constant communication is needed about the processes involved in your industry. Payments, length of time for projects, and any issues that arise should be discussed in detail and is very important in making the relationship go smoothly. Be straight forward and ask customers directly “if there is a problem can I contact you or your team and get a timely response?” Ask, “What is your turn around response time on emails, texts, or calls?” Communication is one of the most important factors in any relationship. Communicating effectively can also be the difference in making or breaking relationships.

There you go. The next time you sit down to contract new work or meet about a new project to take on remind yourself that it’s not always about the money. If you truly believe in what you do, the service or product you offer, and your work ethic and morals, then take into consideration WHO is your correct customer. It may help you and your client form a much stronger bond…and who knows where that may lead?!

Analyze. Create. Achieve.

77 Design Co.

 

 

 

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What’s Your Perfect Image?

What is the perfect image for your business?

Tough question to answer but a very relevant question as well. If you had to hand your perfect customer the perfect marketing material, that would make or break a huge deal, what would this look like? Would it include a small series of photographs, one product shot, a team photo, just a logo, or perhaps an animated design? Creative commercial photography and graphic design can help, but it also takes some outside the box thinking.

Think about this a bit and understand just how important this could be to your business. Many business owners with little or no experience in the creative field could really struggle with this particular question, and it’s not an easy question to answer for even the most experienced creatives. We aren’t saying that we have the answer, what we are saying is that this is a thought provoking question that needs to be taken seriously.

Visuals make all the difference in catching a customers’ attention. We’ve talked about this in length before but this is an important topic for entrepreneurs to fully understand it’s value. The image included as an example below is one photograph that we feel aptly encompasses our business. Maybe we are right, maybe we are wrong, but one undeniable thing is that we are in the business of offering DAMN GOOD ADVICE so we feel it works well with our message.

Psychologically, many people are more likely to continue scrolling through a website, social media page/post, or drifting their eyes across your handouts when high quality images that are relatable to your business are included. There’s countless advertising and marketing studies that you can research on your own that will back up this claim. Go look, and better your business!

For any help brainstorming and creating ideas that will better bring attention to your brand, give us a call or drop us an email/message. We’ll be glad to give you some Damn Good Advice. We love what we do and we love to help businesses flourish!

Analyze. Create. Achieve.   

 

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Easter Eggs at 77

Happy Easter weekend everyone!

This week in double 7’s news we have a couple great products to share with the world! We have put the final touches on a few programs that are extremely informative, helpful, and affordable. Our new 77 Design Co Social Media Training and Blog Training programs not only give clients the necessary know how and information needed to correctly operate both social media and blogging, but it also gives them a tangible product to refer back to whenever they’d like. Both of these programs are designed with small business entrepreneurs in mind and can elevate their reach, likes, shares, engagement, tweets, or whatever. These programs are an easy to follow/understand guide to increase brand awareness and visibility in the world of social media. The power of photography, videography,  graphic design/logo usage, and content sharing are all discussed thoroughly through the course.

We’ve had a few clients that have experienced these programs first hand this week and have loved them. They were excited that these training programs helped them better understand the values and benefits of social media use and blogging and just how much this could really help their business. The positive Google reviews have already been pouring in! Check the reviews or leave one here!

We do our best to help businesses GROW! These training products are exactly what small businesses need to improve upon many areas of their online marketing. For more information on these affordably informative training programs contact us today!

rob@77designco.com

or

bobby@77designco.com

Have a great Easter!

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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.

 

 

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Problems With Your Marketing?

Hi everyone,

Lately we have been running into some issues with clients and potential clients.

  1. Bad Logo Design:  A few business owners we have met with recently have sent over their logos to us for various reasons. The problem…bad or improperly  designed logos. Logos created without vector art or made into Photoshop files can lead to issues down the road with all sorts of printing. We’ve identified several problems, fixed them, and have made quite a few happy camper business owners.
  2. Disappearing Web Designers: Yep, you read that right. A couple companies in the last 2-3 weeks have described their web designers as MIA. They have said that repairs to the site have not been made when needed, or that the sites were improperly designed in the first place. We are currently working on fixing these issues.
  3.  Marketing Monies Improperly Spent:  Where and what is your business marketing budget going to? Is this producing significant results? If not, why are you continuing to spend in outlets that aren’t producing the results you want? In the last week alone, 2 customers have described to us that their print marketing budgets (significant amounts too, $XX,XXX) aren’t getting their phone to ring anymore. Both said that putting this money into these particular outlets was “always what we did in the past.” Not good. As with everything in the known universe…things change. Either you stay the course and keep pumping money into the wrong outlets, or get with the times and steam ahead. Currently, we are producing 2 proposals with what we feel are much more effective print marketing ideas that will resonate with the types of customers these businesses are seeking, and the best part…we will save them thousands of dollars!
  4. Of Course, Stock Photography:  My personal favorite, stock photography on your marketing materials! Ugggggg, for crying out loud, why?! Why do you want people, products, places, or even conceptual ideas in images that have nothing to do with your business to represent YOUR brand???!!! Make your own awesome photographs, or get someone that can. In the last week we’ve shot 3 separate photo shoots for 3 companies to use for their materials and websites…guess what…the sites are going to look KICK ASS when finalized!          

These are just a few things we are dealing with on a day to day basis at 77 Design Co. If your business suffers from any of the above mentioned issues, or you know a business that could use a helping hand, give us a call today and we’ll gladly give you a free consult!

-Bobby Drakulic

Rob Hoffman-412-889-3495

Bobby Drakulic-724-433-9142

 

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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!