Entrepreneurs-How Hectic Is Your Life?

As entrepreneurs and owners of a marketing firm, living life in the fast lane isn’t just a saying…it’s a way of life. Success requires an immense amount of work. Sometimes, we operate at a speed that we were previously unaware even existed. Our fuel? Coffee (hence the Mr. Coffee Head image.)

Run here. Run there. Do this. Do that. Call this person. Email that one, and so on. At 77 Design Co, failure is not an option and in order to continue to grow we have to be on the move pretty much non-stop. We’re sure many other entrepreneurs can sympathize with this too.

Some of the things that require our constant attention are; checking in on clients, contacting new prospective clients, production work on social media accounts and websites, photography editing, business meetings, fielding calls/emails from customers, and of course, kid’s activities. Usually the kids stuff takes place after hours (if that is really a thing) but during the day it’s all business. Hell, during the evening there’s a ton of business work done too! It almost never ends. However, we have adapted to this maniacal lifestyle. We have learned to embrace it. As the saying goes, it’s better to be busy than not at all.

So, what do we do to de-stress when we are all continuously rushing around to make ends meet or grow our company? What do you do?

At 77, there’s a few things we like to do to slow down and relax. A few of the pastimes we collectively do to unwind include, guitar playing, martial arts training, fishing, listening to music, and occasionally attending art exhibitions. There’s also a few sports we enjoy to watch or attend. We enjoy cooking, craft beers, wine, bourbon, Porsche’s and Corvette’s.

We’d love to hear from you about the daily scrambling that you face too. How do the other entrepreneurs out there relax?

Analyze. Create. Achieve.

 

What Do You Want to Know About Marketing Your Business?

As a local marketing firm, we are constantly seeking input from business owners that we work with, because we want to know! We want to know what issues you face on a day to day basis regarding your business.

Is it finding the best social media reach due to the ever changing algorithms? Maybe, you struggle with getting your website found online? 77 Design Co hears problems from customers regularly about failed marketing attempts, or more specifically failed web design. The overall design of your website may be a problem you’d like to know more about.

A ton of money can go into a marketing strategy and not produce the intended results. What we do to improve this, is meet with the business owner(s) and truly learn as much as possible about their business and competition, then assess a solution. Working together with someone you trust, and crafting the best message you want to get out can help produce tremendous results.

Speaking of competition, maybe that is an issue you face? If your competition is succeeding in something and you are not, what can we do to improve that? Is your competition pounding money into a market that you can’t compete in? We’ll work that out…and help you do it better!

Providing free initial marketing consultations is something we do on a daily basis at 77 Design Co. Feel free to leave a comment or shoot us an email regarding the problems and pain points you face with your business’s marketing. Let’s find a niche for your business and exploit the best way to draw attention to you. We’ll work together with you and your staff to resolve these and other issues, then truly design a marketing/advertising strategy that will work for your budget and produce new customers. We look forward to hearing from you! Let’s make this year better than last!

Analyze. Create. Achieve.

Guest Blog Partnership Program

We mention it all the time, as a marketing agency we want to see others that we work with succeed when it comes to their business marketing. It’s not just something we say, it’s something we truly believe in.

This is why we have created a new Guest Blog Partnership Program! We are excited to give business owners and colleagues that we know a forum to write about and thoroughly discuss a variety of aspects about their business. The new Guest Blog Partnership Program, gives local businesses an opportunity to spread the good word about their business, no matter what industry they are in.

The program will cost only fifteen dollars per month (with a one-year contract.) This partnership agreement will include your business logo/link to your business website here on this blog page. Essentially, your business will be a sponsor of this blog page. It also includes the option to add one written blog per month about your business to this page, that will be posted here by a 77 Design Co team member. We will then share your blogs onto our social media outlets. To improve results, we encourage other business owners that are also in the program to do the same. The goal here is to create a sphere of local business owners that can cross-promote one another that will increase engagement and awareness of each others business. We believe this is a fantastic opportunity for any business owner without a blog outlet and the rate is very affordable.

The price of fifteen dollars per month simply covers the time we’ll have involved with posting and sharing of the blogs. Feel free to contact us for more info. We look forward to working with your business too!  

         

Marketing Tips for Your Business in 2019

We are all about creating successful business marketing plans at 77 Design Co, and we are also always on the lookout for new research and statistics. We came across an article from Digital Doughnut by Abhishek Talreja and figured we’d share here:

https://www.digitaldoughnut.com/articles/2018/november/6-quick-small-business-marketing-tips-for-2019

The article is about 6 tips on marketing in 2019. Included are some things we’ve discussed in past blogs about, telling unique stories of your brand, using your most powerful marketing channels, and creating custom videos/photos for your business. All of it is pretty good advice when deciding how or who to market to. Take a quick gander and as always feel free to reach out if you’d like to improve your business’s marketing.

Analyze. Create. Achieve.

Not Sure What to Do?

Business growth. Business growth through marketing is what we want to see as the final outcome for any and every client we work with. We want our clients to make money, succeed in their industry, and lead a fulfilled professional and personal life. This weeks blog is geared towards new entrepreneurs, or those thinking of stepping into the world of entrepreneurship. Though, existing business owners can also benefit from this blog too.

Everybody in business knows that in order to succeed, you simply MUST market your business. Everybody! It’s a simple fact. Sometimes it can be a pain in the ass, but it’s true. Your business will go nowhere without getting its message out to potential and existing customers. Every business must dedicate a certain percentage towards marketing. There are limitless ways to market your business and we’ll cover just a few here.   

When starting out, nobody knows who you are, what your business does, any of your rates, what you specialize in, or how your service or product can help. This is where we come in. Or…you can try to tackle these things on your own. In fact, we’d much rather see a new business owner attempting to market themselves on their own than do nothing at all. Hell, we give free advice to entrepreneurs that we know or newbies that we meet on a daily basis to better help their business, even if they don’t use us. It does not matter if your business is a small 1 person operation cutting grass or a 1000 employee manufacturing plant. Marketing your business is essential!

Here are some very simple and affordable ways to market your business. Some will get you great results, while others will be a waste of time and money so be sure to track how your customers found you.

*Networking-networking and building other professional relationships can be a fantastic way to reach more people. At 77, we network several times per week because it has provided us with solid referrals, advice from others in different fields (legal, accounting, insurance, etc.) and has built us strong long lasting relationships with other business owners. Do it!

*Signage-yard signs are very inexpensive and many in fields such as landscaping use yard signs often to get their message in front of people. Billboards can attract attention to passersby. Signage in general can direct people to your location or how to reach you.

*Direct Mail-direct mail gets you into peoples homes. It can vary on price and range but if done right, your offer on a direct mail piece can get that phone ringing or buzzing with emails.

*Business Cards-this goes without saying but we’ll mention it anyhow. You absolutely have to have business cards. If they are unique in design they will be less likely to get thrown away and may sit on a desk for a while. This can drive people to make that call to you eventually.

Other marketing tactics that may cost you a bit more but are more effective:

*Website-Every business should have one. A website isn’t just a marketing piece, it is the online face of your business. The site should look GREAT not just good and offer enough info that attract customers to your business. Too much info will make it look cluttered so keep it vague but informative. Great photographs or designs will make it stand out. Also, make it SEO friendly, which is an entirely different topic. 

* Paid Ads-Online paid ads help your web presence and direct potential customers to your website and any offers you have. They vary in price based on a wide range of variables. Some businesses we know use paid ads exclusively to attract customers.

* Social Media-Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, these are just a few social media outlets that can drive a huge portion of business your way. It has to be consistent posting and not just randomness unrelated to your brands’ personality or message. Posts can be informative, they can have call to action discounts, or just be plain humorous, depending on the persona you want for your business. Having a company manage your page(s) can be costly but rewarding if the pages and posts are done right. Every business should also have social media outlets in todays market.  

*Geofencing-Ever have specific ads pop up in your news feeds related to something you like or have shopped for? An example of this is if you purchased a pair of shoes online and then ads for similar products show up after that. Geofencing uses locations, and info recorded from the internet to then target specific people or customers. It may seem creepy, yes, but it is a heavily successful way of marketing.  

Regardless of the size, income, or industry of your business…you should be marketing! Every successful professional will tell you the same. Give us a call with any questions or to bounce marketing ideas off of. We’re here to help!

Analyze. Create. Achieve. 

 

 

    

A Day Off Goes A Long Way

We aren’t always about business marketing. Occasionally we get a day off to enjoy the finer things in life! On Saturday, we had a chance to take the ladies to a wine tour at Narcisi Winery in Gibsonia, PA. The tour was a late Christmas present to them. Although, we’ll admit, we were excited for it as well. The wines were fantastic, and the tour was very informative. If you enjoy great locally made wines we highly recommend.

This week we’ll just share a few images from our Saturday day off. A day off goes a long way.


Analyze. Create. Achieve.