Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

Dealing With Business Setbacks

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I got an email recently asking for some advice. The question is one that I think all of us face from time to time, especially with a new business or during lean times, so I thought it would be a good idea to share the question and my response with you. Details have been changed for privacy reasons, but the problem is universal.

I am feeling so discouraged right now. I spent a lot of time over the past month trying to sign a new client. There was a proposal followed by questions, meetings, emails, conference calls and more questions. Just when I thought I had the job, I found out it went to someone else.

I was counting on this work and really put everything I had into it. I really need the money I would have made. What do I do now? I don’t have any other prospects. I feel frustrated and sad and I just want to quit.

Wow. Been there, done that. We have all had times when things didn’t go our way. Sometimes big things, like this. Rejection at any time can feel like you were punched in the stomach, and it is especially hard to take when you really need the work (and the money–mostly the money!).
[Read more…]

Don’t Do Today What You Can Put Off ‘Til Next Year

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Huh? Wait…what? Putting things off instead of doing them now is horrible advice, right? Then why are you saying that you can’t start that new project, launch a product or do any marketing until after the holidays or until you know how things are going to go with the economy next year? There are lots of excuses for not marketing now: I’m busy with the holidays, you can’t reach anyone now, no one will make a decision until January anyway, etc.

Wrong! Lots of business is happening now, and it’s not just holiday shopping. Hoping for publicity for your business? The newspaper is still being published everyday, TV news is still broadcasting, radio shows and podcasts are looking for guests, and so on. They haven’t stopped for the holidays, and neither should you.

This is a good time to keep in touch with your customers, too. Let them know how much you appreciate their business. Send out personal notes instead of mass-produced holiday cards. [Read more…]

Test Your Product on Customer Guinea Pigs

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guinea-pigCreating a new product can be both exciting and scary. One reason many would-be information marketers hold back from creating and releasing a new product is that they are unsure how it will be received in the marketplace. Having customers serve as guinea pigs that you can test your ideas on can help you to understand what they want and need, and how best to present it to them.

These guinea pigs are people in your niche audience who can provide valuable feedback for you during your creation process – before the launch. They can tell you where you are falling short as well as where you’re excelling. If you don’t want to think of your customers as cute, furry little rodents, consider them your own personal focus group of testers. ;o)

You want to work with these testers from the very beginning – from the day you start brainstorming your product. Find people in your niche – maybe existing followers or followers of someone else – and ask them if they’d like to receive free course materials in exchange for their feedback – blunt, honest feedback, not a testimonial.

You want more than one person onboard. Don’t be thinking of it as 10 sales you won’t get once it launches. Think of it as 10 sets of eyes helping you steer clear of trouble and helping you make things better.

Set up a system where you get feedback either through direct email communication or anonymous surveys. Some people might feel awkward being extremely blunt with their feedback, so you have to reassure them about why they’re doing this.

After getting them to help you brainstorm the overall product – what slant it has, what goes into it – you can take it one step at a time and get their feedback every step of the way.

Don’t wait until your product is complete to begin working with your guinea pigs. If you do that, you won’t get all of the little details given back to you. Instead, you’ll get answers like:

  • It was great!
  • I felt it was kind of flimsy.
  • You need more detail.

But those kinds of answers are broad and general. They won’t help you make it better. You need a microscopic approach – chapter by chapter or video by video – so you can get specifics about what’s wrong, like this:

  • This was a good chapter, but you forgot to mention ______.
  • I could hear you slurping coffee in your video at the 4:30 mark.
  • I didn’t understand what you meant by __________.
  • It would help to have a screen shot of the procedure on page 17, where paragraph 3 is.

Those kinds of details will smooth the wrinkles in your product and ensure that whatever common questions or complaints people might have, they’re gone by the time it hits the marketplace!

When Going Viral is Enough to Make You Sick

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one-bottleYou know those commercials that everyone talks about but no one seems to remember what they are advertising? Here is a fictional look at one such campaign that goes viral, much to the chagrin of the advertiser. I got a kick out of it, and I hope you do, too. Mike, the writer, shares a bit of his fractured take on life at bikeswine.com.

Pretty much everybody understands the purpose of advertising. It is an attempt to persuade people to buy a product. This can be done through simple means such as listing all of the benefits of the product. It can also be done through more subtle means by getting a celebrity to endorse a product or showing attractive people using and enjoying the product. Subconsciously we are trained to believe that we will be like the celebrity or attractive person if we use the product.

Now the internet has brought about “viral marketing.” The idea relies on people to see something worth sharing in an ad and thus pass it along to their friends. This word of mouth advertising is free as opposed to the price of $4 million for 30 seconds of airtime during the Super Bowl.

A shampoo company hoped to advertise their new shampoo for couples by creating a viral video featuring a couple. The idea behind their product was that it was great for both men and women, thus it was only necessary to use one shampoo in the house. Unfortunately for them, the message somehow got lost. [Read more…]

Customers Are Like Vampires

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vampireNo, customers aren’t bloodsuckers (well, maybe a few are!) and they don’t come out only at night. According to legend, vampires don’t come in until they are invited. And that’s true of customers, too.

You may think you’ve invited your customers. After all, you put up signs identifying your store, got a web site, placed ads, sent press releases, networked, put out fliers, etc.

Those things can let your customers know you exist, but to be effective they should include invitations to customers. That doesn’t mean sending actual invitations, it means creating a reason for them to come, and communicating that reason to them. I’m talking about giving customers a call to action.

First, make sure you know what you want them to do. Do you want them to contact you for more information, pay a visit, make a first purchase, make larger or more frequent purchases? Once you know what results you want, you can tailor a call to action which inspires that reaction.

Are you trying to build traffic at your physical or online location? Your communication might focus more on reasons for people to visit, and less on buying.

Have traffic that you’re trying to convert to sales? Encourage them to make a purchase by offering a limited-time discount, or something free with a purchase. Offer a guarantee.

Want business from customers you haven’t seen in a while? Entice them. Let them know what’s new. A hair salon changed ownership, and there were problems. Most of the stylists left, service was spotty, and lots of customers quit using them, including me. I got a postcard inviting me to come back and see the changes they made. While not saying, ‘Yeah, we stunk, but now we’re better,’ they told about their new amenities and offered me a special price on my next visit. I went, and was impressed. I’ll go back. They recovered a lost customer by inviting me to come back.

Here are a few more examples of calls to action:

Hold an event, such as an open house, seminar or product demonstration, to encourage people to come at a specific time.

Send out coupons with an expiration date to create a sense of urgency.

Give something away to people who visit or contact you.

Institute a frequent buyer club. For example, after I get my dog groomed six times, the seventh groom is free. It keeps me coming back to the same place.

Encourage customers to invite their friends to do business with you. After all, an invitation from a trusted friend is great incentive. Reward both the customer and the friend–give them each a small gift, or have special ‘two-fer’ pricing giving a discount.

Don’t leave your customers wandering around aimlessly–invite them in!