In my last post, I wrote about targeting and market segmentation. Once you have those nailed, it’s time to start getting chummy with your audience. But, you’ll need to lay the groundwork first.

Here’s the hardcore reality. The better known you are, the more work will come your way … even if the guy or gal down the block is a better designer than you, but not as well-known. Scary? Sure, but unfortunately true.

I was recently reading a report by the folks over at RainToday.com (Great site, by the way). In it, they cite, “65% of well known companies report being good or excellent at lead generation whereas only 44% of the not well known companies report being good or excellent. If you are well known, whatever lead generation tactics you employ are likely to work better.”

What all this means is that it’s important to build your name recognition. This is especially important because, quite frankly, most designers’ name recognition isn’t all that hot. Ideally, every time a prospect turns around, they should see or hear your name. And this, my friends, is what we call “building buzz.”

So, how does one go about building buzz? Well, you can peruse Marketing Minute, here on BoDo to get some ideas. P.R. tactics, like news releases and writing articles, are good. But, other tactics include posting on high traffic blogs and sites with blog-style articles. Inc.com comes to mind. Other tactics might include giving a seminar or workshop, speaking at various business club meetings, [winning] awards, hooking up with high profile movers and shakers in your target audience, etc. You get the idea.

As you work your marketing and public relations, things tend to take on a synergistic effect. An article gets you a call for an interview. The interview spawns a news release. The news release gets you a new client. That project becomes a case study in the form of an article. Then, the cycle starts all over again.

Pick and choose your activities carefully. Be consistent. Effective and successful marketing takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight. Give an activity enough time to produce some results.

After a while, your name starts to show up all over the place. For example, lets say you send out a postcard campaign. Mr. Prospect receives it. He files it for future reference. A while later, he’s reading the newspaper and sees one of your releases. Down the road a bit, he finds one of your articles in his industry’s major trade journal. Perhaps he also sees an ad for a workshop your presenting. He goes to his Rotary Club lunch and guess what? You’re the speaker. When it comes time for Mr. Prospect to need what you’re selling who do you think will come to mind?

And there you have it. Plan your work and work your plan. If you hang in there, you might just find yourself a little famous. Well, a little famous in your target niche, and that ain’t too bad.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt