Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

Image Products as a Profit Center

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Professional sports teams make big money from licensed products. There are t-shirts, sweatshirts, jerseys and other apparel, along with cups, mugs, pennants, balls, dolls, and just about anything they can slap a label or a decal on.

Image merchandise isn’t just for sports teams, though. Although Pets.com ultimately didn’t survive, one thing that did is their “mascot,” Sock Puppet. The Sock Puppet was the most popular aspect of Pets.com and he recently turned up in television spots for an auto loan company, having survived the dot com bust and the demise of Pets.com.

If you have a character, logo, slogan, color scheme or other image associated with your business, you can create image products. When customers wear a t-shirt with your logo, or take a mug with your web site and slogan on it to a meeting, they help to spread the word about your company. You may give them away, but when you sell them, these items can be a profit center in their own right. Here are some ideas for image products. Which ones are right for your business?

T-shirts. A t-shirt is a basic image product used by many. Make your shirt something cool, something people will want to buy and wear. Put clever slogans, your company logo, or interesting images on the shirts. If you plan to sell them, don’t feature your URL too prominently. People do not want to wear your advertisement across their chest or back.

Mugs and sport bottles. Coffee mugs and water bottles are everywhere. They may carry your company name and logo, or slogan or an image related to your business. The National Museum of Funeral History sells a number of souvenirs (including mugs and sports bottles) with their slogan, “Any day above ground is a good one.” It’s odd and it’s funny, and many people will buy the products and use them because of the slogan.

Posters. An image may be magnificent, inspiring, humorous, or even titillating, but if it grabs attention it could become a poster.

Other products might include calendars, magnets, buttons and badges, mouse pads and more. You can create and sell your own products with no upfront investment at CafePress.

The ultimate image product. As you walk the aisles at your favorite toy store, you see action figures of superheroes, movie characters, comic figures and . . .you? You may not make it to the toy store shelves, but you can be immortalized in your own action figure. At prices starting under $30, MyFaceOnAFigure.com will custom sculpt a head to look like you, your logo character, a mascot or another real or fictional person. Then just attach the head to your favorite off-the-shelf actions figure, or buy one from them.

This idea isn’t for everyone. But if you’re looking for a fun way to stand out from the crowd, this could be it. It’s a great way of getting attention at speeches, booksignings, trade shows and other events.

Hmmmm . . . I wonder how much my action figure would go for on eBay?

Who Are You to Your Customers?

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When people see you or hear about you as a result of your marketing efforts, you want them to remember you. Make a lasting impression by creating a strong identity.

Use a slogan, prop, logo, nickname or other device to help cement your message in the minds of your audience. My identity is The Idea Lady. I want people to think of me as a source for creative solutions to their marketing and visibility concerns. Need a name for your business, a slogan, several great ways to promote yourself on a shoestring or other creative ideas to make your business more successful? The Idea Lady can help!

What image do you want customers to have of you and your message? Think about the benefits you provide to customers. Do you want an image that evokes speed, quality, creativity, exclusivity or another benefit?

Create a strong and lasting image by:

  • Developing a name or nickname that implies your benefits.
  • Using a graphic or logo that reinforces the name (and the benefits).
  • Attaching a slogan or tag line to your name (to, once again, emphasize the benefits).
  • Using a consistent “look” (e.g., fonts, colors, graphics, style) so they recognize you when they see you again.
  • Being everywhere! Put yourself lots of places where you will be seen by your customers.

Attracting the Right Customers

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Branding expert Peter Montoya says that your marketing should attract the customers you want, and repel everyone else. That might seem strong, but by choosing to appeal to one group of customers, you may be alienating or even angering others.

Your first reaction might be that you do not want to lose anyone who might possibly become a customer. However, the people who are repelled by your targeted marketing would probably never have become your customers, anyway. You have not lost anything.

As an example, a radio station advertised their shock jock morning show with billboards calculated to offend all the people who would never listen to the show anyway. But the people who would enjoy the show responded to the billboards and even to the controversy they generated. The station clearly knew its market.

It is also important to remember that not all customers are of equal value to you. A software company wanted to increase their customer base, so they offered a drastic price reduction on one of their products for a limited time. This did not attract as many new customers as they thought it would, causing the company to realize that their customers were not as sensitive to price as they had imagined.

And they made an unpleasant discovery about their new customers. The people who bought from them because of the low price were very different from their usual customers. For one thing, they required much more attention than those who had paid full price. While the full price customers were sophisticated users who were able to install and use the software with very little assistance from the vendor, the discount buyers needed much more help. The net result was more work for less revenue—certainly not what they had in mind.

Pricing, packaging, advertising, image—all work to attract the customers you want. A strong message not only attracts those customers, it repels the ones that are not a good fit with the unique qualities of your product.

After all, if your product is like everyone else’s why should anyone notice or buy? To get the attention of customers, products have to be remarkable. In his book, “Purple Cow,” Seth Godin says that success and growth come with products that annoy, offend, don’t appeal, are too expensive, too cheap, too heavy, too complicated, too simple—too something. That means that while many people will not be attracted to your product, it will be absolutely perfect for others. They are your market.

This advice is especially important to small businesses. Most small companies can’t afford to compete with the big guys on the big guys’ terms. Instead, shake up your industry with a creative innovation and capture your niche while your competitors are busy making compromises to try to hold on to their sliver of the market.

Do not try to be all things to all people. Instead, focus on how you can make a remarkable product (or service) to appeal to exactly the customers you want.

Marketing On Hold

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What do your customers hear when they are put on hold? 

If your on-hold messaging is tuned to a radio station, your customers may hear static (when the tuning isn’t right), programming or ads that are offensive to some customers, or even ads for your competitors.

If you use radio programming, check from time to time to make sure the sound quality is good. Choose a radio station that plays music your customers will like. Avoid controversial programming that will offend or annoy many of your customers.

There are services that can provide custom on-hold programming for your business, designed to promote your products and services.Do a search for “on hold marketing” or “on hold messages” to find them. Or, you may choose to script and record your own messages. Whether you do it yourself or hire someone to create your on-hold messaging, make it effective.

Include a few short messages, instead of one long one. You should make an effort to keep customers on hold only a short time, and you want them to get the full effect of the messages they hear.

Keep the language simple. Customers are probably only listening halfway. Don’t use a lot of jargon or numbers that will confuse them. Instead, suggest a few powerful benefits that will grab customers’ attention and get them to listen to the rest of your message.

Some of the information you might want to mention in your message would be your hours, locations, web site URL, credit cards accepted and other payment options, and your slogan. If there are questions your customers often call to ask, answer them in your on-hold messaging.

Find a reason for customers to ask to be put on your mailing list. Remind customers to ask for a catalog or tell them about your free newsletter.

Give tips and advice of interest to your customers. Teaching them how to use your products and services more effectively will increase their satisfaction.

Offer a special available only to callers, such as a discount on a specified product: “Be sure to ask your representative for this special telephone discount.”

Tell a customer success story. This not only is a powerful testimonial, it promotes your customers.

Use customer testimonials. Consider using testimonials in the customers’ own voices. Have customers record brief messages (you can do this over the telephone or in person) about how your business has helped them, then rotate them in your on-hold messaging.

Introduce a staff member. Give a name and brief biographical sketch about one of your employees.

How many times have you heard a message saying, “Your call is important to us. Please continue to hold.”? Do you scream back, “If my call is so important, why am I still holding?” If you use such a message, phrase it better. At least let customers know that you understand their time is valuable, and you will be with them as soon as possible to provide the service they need.

Change your message regularly, perhaps monthly, to include mentions of new products, sales and specials, and seasonal information.

What’s Your Sign?

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Good signage can make new customers aware of your business, and help those looking for you to easily find your location. 

How often have you looked for a business and been frustrated because you couldn’t see the sign and there were no street numbers on the buildings?

Many areas have restrictions about the size, type and number of signs you may post. Make sure your signs are in compliance and get any required permits before erecting signs.

Your sign should reflect your business. A law firm might have a simple, dignified sign, while a toy store could use bright colors and images. An upscale salon would want to portray a different image than a discount hair cutter.

Make the sign easy to read, even when customers are driving past. Letters should be bold, in an easy to read font. If you have a recognizable logo or color scheme, use it on your sign. Consider using a sign cut in a shape that relates to your business, such as a car-shaped sign for an auto repair shop.

Will customers be looking for your business name, or another name? Are you an authorized dealer or repair center for major brands? Putting those brand names and logos on your signage may attract customers.

Whether it is on your sign or the building, make your street number easy to read from the street.

If your location is hard to find, put up signs to direct customers to you. For example, if you are located behind another building and not visible from the street, put up one or more signs pointing customers to your building. Of course, make sure you are allowed to post signs in those locations.

Once customers find you, make it easy for them to park and enter. If there is any confusion about where they are allowed to park, or if they can be towed if they park in the wrong place, put up signs to direct them to appropriate parking areas. If the entrance isn’t obvious, make sure signs lead them to you.

Some businesses use a marquee to make announcements, highlight sales, tell of the arrival of new products and show other promotions. Change the message periodically so the marquee displays news. Some businesses post funny sayings or proverbs to get attention from customers.

Signs in your windows can serve many of same functions as marquees. Use professionally created signs or hire a sign painter to paint signs on your front windows.

Check work orders carefully to avoid incorrect words, misspellings and grammatical errors. Don’t count on the sign maker to do it for you.

Don’t forget other places you can put signs. Get magnetic signs for your vehicles. If you work at customer sites, use yard signs. Roofers and remodelers do this all the time. When they do a job, they post a sign in the customer’s yard announcing who is doing the work.

Signs put your message in front of customers and helps lead them to you. Well-designed signage is a great investment in your business.