Find Your Niche

found on pinterest via marcia westRecently I wrote about the Power of Niche and made the argument that appealing to a smaller but clearly defined market is makes marketing your business much easier. But what if you don’t know who your niche market is?

Here are five steps to finding your own niche market.

Do what you do best

Start with the easiest thing first. What is it you do best? Pick one thing and specialize in it. You don’t need to pick one product, but you do need to focus. If you knit, you might choose to make scarves and cowls, not scarves, cowls, sweaters, hats, mittens, and booties. If you’re a seamstress and you love making pantsuits, do it! Make 5 different versions in different colors and fabrics, but rock the pantsuit.

It’s much easier to be known for making one kick-ass, stand out thing and offering a few variations than doing a little of everything.

Be who you already are

What is the talent or skill that you’ve chosen to build your business around? If you’re any good at what you do you’ve most likely developed a style, approach or perspective that is all your own. Maybe you’re a master crocheter who does amazing lace work, but you just can’t abide by the standard white and off-white of lace. Rock a bright, bold palette of purple, red, green and blue instead.

Doing something unexpected or with a little twist is the easiest way to be remembered. So follow your gut and let your freak flag fly.

Solve a problem

Every time you wear those flowy, but fitted pants you made do people always ask where you got them? Do you often hear your friends say if only I could find... Make it happen. Chances are more people are out there looking for that same solution and you know just how to solve it.

Design the perfect stylish, but useful messenger bag for the young career woman who rides a bike, I know I’m still looking for one.

Don’t try to be something you’re not

Or sell to someone you don’t understand. Just because feathers are all the rage right now doesn’t mean you need to use them. And even though everyone on Etsy seems to be selling to ironic, young hipsters, you don’t have to.

By sticking to what you know and like and a market you understand you can communicate in a more authentic way and give your customers what they really want.

Be aware of who’s already buying

Take note if you suddenly see a surge in purchases from the mid-west. It might mean you got coverage in a popular local blog, but it also might mean you’ve tapped into a group of young girls dreaming of a California lifestyle and your breezy beach inspired glass and shell necklaces make them feel one step closer.

Tap into what’s already working to define your niche even further and give them exactly what they love.

Who is this person?

Now that you’ve taken the time to really define and narrow your offering ask yourself who is the person that wants this and why. There’s your niche market. Do they love your brightly colored dollies because they have a thing for grandmas and all things turquoise? Or do they own one of each of your pantsuits because they are a lazy fashionista?

The more you know about why your customers buy your product the easier it will be to more people who need exactly what you’re selling.

How do you describe your niche market?

The Amazing Mini Marketing Makeover

I am very excited to announce the debut of a new idea that Shelly and I have been playing with: The Amazing Mini Marketing Makeover.

We had been talking a lot about the importance of actionable, results-driven tasks and trying to come up with a compelling way to introduce people to our consulting strengths and style. It’s a little gimmicky, but hopefully fun and definitely educational.

What we’ve decided to do is offer 20-minute marketing assessments. We’ll ask you, the unsuspecting mark, a series of questions that will allow us to see areas in your marketing efforts where you could use a little help. Then we’ll delve deep into our knowledge base to dole out a few specific tasks that you can act on quickly and get results.

“Sign me up!” you say. We’ll be at the Delfina Holiday Bazaar this Sunday, the 11^th, from 10am-2pm. Just look for the turquoise booth with gold glitter stars that our amazing intern Miyuki made and pull up a seat. If we’re already working our magic on someone, just jot down your name and we’ll come find you when it’s your turn.

If all goes well we hope to do more mini makeovers at events around the city. This test will also serve as base for two new potential projects that we hope to unveil in the New Year. All of this comes from our desire to make our advice and knowledge as accessible and results-driven as we possibly can. It’s definitely our guiding motto for 2012.

So come check out The Amazing Mini Marketing Makeover this coming Sunday, December 11^th from 10am-2pm at Delfina, 3621 18^th St. @ Guerrero.

Collect Those Email Addresses

found on pinterestWe are quickly approaching the height of holiday craft fair season. You’ve tweaked your booth display so passersby can’t help but be drawn in. Your new packaging will be the envy of all the other vendors. You’ve even got new business cards and promotional postcards so that even those that don’t buy will have something to take away.

But there’s one important detail that often gets overlooked... collecting emails.

Why are emails so important? Because someone who takes the time to write down their email address is exactly the kind of contact you want to have, even if they didn’t buy anything. By writing down their email they are saying they want to hear from you. They want to know where you’re selling, when you have new products and when you run a sale. They like what you do and are inviting you to keep them up to date. 

However what many people do is collect those emails and never use them. Or only send out one or two blasts when a big show or two is coming up.

This customer who’s stopped into your booth has invited you to contact them, so do it!

Send out newsletters that keep these interested fans up to date on new projects, new retail accounts, or simply share how things are going with your business and what you’ve been up to. Not every email needs to be a promotion and it certainly doesn't need to be long. Remind them that you’re still out there making amazing things that would be the perfect birthday, graduation, wedding, baby shower, "I love you", etc. gift. Remind them of how awesome you are once a month, once a week or somewhere in between.

Then take it beyond the simple update and show announcement, let these fans know how much you value them by giving them something extra. This can a discount or early preview of a sale or it can be an exclusive behind the scenes peek at your process or the offer to come visit your studio. Ask yourself what your ideal customer would be most excited by and try to give it to them. This is great incentive for others to sign up for your mailing list.

All you need to begin collecting emails, if you haven’t started already, is a simple journal to set out next to your business cards or even just a few pieces of paper with your logo at the top. Make sure you have a pen handy and mention the list to anyone who shows interest in your product.

Once you’ve gathered a few emails use a service like MailChimp to manage your list and send out professional looking emails. No one has to know if you only have 5 emails to start, there will be more if you keep writing interesting newsletters.

Another nice touch is to send a thank you to all your new signups. You can do this by setting up an automated email that goes out to all new addresses or you can do it in bulk after a big event.

Email is still one of the best ways to communicate and engage with your customers, both potential and current, and it's one of the easiest too.

I'd love to hear what you like about sending out newsletters or what's kept you from doing it so far.

Holiday Marketing: It's Time To Get A Plan

photo by GenevieveWe have officially hit Indian summer here in San Francisco and all I honestly want to do is soak up the sun with a beer in hand. So the shift to thinking about holiday marketing is a bit hard, but must be done.

What I want to inspire you to do today is to make a marketing plan for the holidays. Mapping everything out will help insure you don't get caught running out of product, will help you maximize all you marketing possibilities and take advantage of publicity opportunities.

 Consider each of these areas in planning for the coming months.

Product Lines

If you have plans to offer any promotions or participate in trunk shows or fairs this season now is the time to stock up on inventory. You want plentiful looking displays to entice customers. You also don't want to run out of your best selling item just as your new retail account places an order. Take honest stock of what you have and what you'll need then place your materials orders now.

Publicity

At the beginning of August I wrote that you were already behind the gun for getting holiday publicity and generally that's true. However with the shorter lead time of blogs, there's still plenty of outlets to contact in hopes of getting into a gift guide or two, but you need to jump on it. Look to your favorite blogs first, have they made a call for products or did they do a round up in the past? Make sure your press kit is up to date and send along any appropriate samples. October is certainly not too early to get things in the mail.

Special Advertisements

This is the one time of year that spending a little on advertising can really be worth it, especially for marketplace promotions or shopping guides. But do take the time to do the research, how big an audience do they reach, is it really your target market, do they have any testimonials from past advertisers? Also look to local papers who might feature a local or handmade shopping guide and blogs that do a lot of product reviews often offer special holiday advertising. It never hurts to look into it. Planning now will also help you budget and not miss out on great opportunities because the money wasn't in the bank.

Marketing Materials

Do you have enough business cards and/or postcards for the holiday fairs you're participating in? Do you have enough boxes, stickers, envelopes or whatever you use to package and ship orders? You might even think of doing something a little different for the season to stand out. Holiday packaging and gift wrapping are nice marketing touches that customers remember. It can be as simple as themed tissue paper or ribbon with your standard packaging. This is also the time to think about refreshing or upgrading your display. A new banner or Christmas lights can go a long way to getting people into your booth and picking up merchandise.

Communications and Announcements

Use your mailing list, blog, Twitter and Facebook to keep your loyal customers up to date on everything you're doing this season, events, promotions, and new products. Encourage early ordering by offering a discount, provide dates, times, and links for all the trunks shows and craft fairs you'll be selling at, and remind them of all the online and brick and mortar locations where they can purchase your stuff. Make it as easy as possible for your customers to buy.

Use Your Calendar

Get everything on one calendar. Fill out whatever sort of calendar works best for you (online, planner, draw your own grid) with all your holiday events, deadlines and promotions. Work backwards from event dates to schedule all the prep you need to do, that includes posting to Twitter and Facebook, sending out invites, and creating inventory. Make sure to give yourself plenty of time for shipping delays, possible mix ups, and the general chaos that accompanies this time of year.

If all that seems like an overwhelming amount of planning, trust me when I say taking the time to make a plan now will save you from most of the last minute chaos that the holiday season seems to bring. Start with the big events, the stuff already set in stone and plan backwards. Look to what you did last year if possible and plan for all the details you wish you'd been able to take care of.

Jordan of Handmade Success also has this great free planner to help you map it all out. You just need to sign up for her newsletter.

Now get planning!

Friday Favs - Etsy Help

A victim of my own advice - I ran out of time today! So this will be brief and sweet!

Do you know that Etsy Merchandising desk puts out monthly info to help increase sales? They generously give out information on current trends, what they forsee to be the most popular search words for that month and other great tips and tricks. For all of you artists that sell on Etsy, you know its hard work. There is a lot of competition and daily updates are important to stay on top. Check out this post for how you ca make August a killer sales month

The Most Important Idea

Found on pinterestShelly and I have branding coming out our ears these days. We've got The Brand of You talk at CCE in a couple weeks, we've taken on a few new clients that are at the beginning stages of figuring out their brand, and we're putting together an e-course that we hope to launch in September on... you guessed it, branding. And because I'm constantly looking at how we can communicate with our target market better I started to read Made To Stick by Chip and Dan Heath, a must read if you haven't done so already.

So what I've found myself focusing on for Lightbox SF and then passing on to our clients is the idea of a guiding concept. By that I mean what is the most important thing you do? If you could get only one message across to your customers what would it be?

Sounds easy enough right? But think about it, one core concept that can be communicated in a simple sentence. You want people to be able to share it easily and get the same point across every time, a branding statement or tagline.

So I've been asking myself, what is the most important thing we do for our clients and I challenge you to do the same. Is it the experience you give them, your unique skill, they way you use your chosen material, or your off-beat perspective?

This is where examples are handy. I'll use Lightbox first. I find myself thinking in the direction of "We show you your unique strengths" or "You already know all you need to, we just show you how to use it". They still need a lot of fine-tuning, but you get the idea. Yes, we teach marketing and branding. Yes, we teach social media skills. Yes, we teach time-management and organization. But what we really do is more than any of those one things or all of them combined. We work with who you are to help you stand out. Maybe that's the tagline we'll end up using.

Another example is a new client who is a photographer that specializes in portraits of queer and alternative individuals and families as well as small events. However, what we discussed as her core idea was her ability to capture unconventional beauty and how well she works with people who are shy and uncomfortable in front of the camera.

Think about it terms of what you do best or the one thing you want everyone to know you for. How does that translate into a guiding concept for your business?

Three Principles: Building a Creative Business the Lightbox SF Way

found on PinterestShelly and I are hard at work on a new e-course that will be the first in a series of three. In this past year working with multiple clients we've noticed that no matter what stage of business they're in we work on similar issues. We have a strong core philosophy when it comes to marketing advice, so we thought we'd put it in a package that allows more people access to our particular style of branding and marketing a business.

If you've worked with us directly you've probably heard this all before, but I realize that I've never put it in writing on the blog. So here's a little peek into the Lightbox SF approach.

First Principle: Find Your Story

We are all unique and bring something different to the table. This is key to remember in what often seems a crowded handmade market. We believe that your personality, passions, values, and strengths are what will make you stand out. The trick is defining what those differences are and then presenting them in a way that speaks to your target market.

Second Principle: Tell Your Story

Once you've nailed down those strengths and benefits that set you apart and answer the question "Why You?" you need to communicate it. You need to use your story as a guide in developing your online presence, communicating with your market, and creating a social media and marketing campaign. It should show through in your blog posts, Twitter updates, the font you use for your business cards, and the colors you choose for your website.

Third Principle: Community

We believe strongly in building community both in your customer base and in your peer group. Building a relationship with your customers and making them feel like they are a part of something keeps them engaged and talking about you. Building a similar group of peers and complimentary businesses around you expands your reach and broadens the benefits that you can bring to your customers, not to mention the support you have when things get tough.

In working with you to integrate all these principles into your business we also throw in some great tips and strategies for pushing through the stuck times and keeping yourself on track. We know first hand how difficult it can be running your own business part-time and in those supposedly free-hours.

As the e-course comes together over the next month or so I'll be giving you some teasers and telling you all about how it will run. We're really excited to be able to offer a new way to help all of you reach your goals.

Passionate networking

image by alicia bocI spent a couple of hours today at the Small Business Conference here in SF and had the pleasure to partake in the workshop Building Success Through Networking. I found myself kind of dreading getting up and going this morning for multiple reasons. I was super sleepy and I adopted a new feline friend yesterday and didn't want him to spend the morning alone. I knew it would be super informative and I had promised myself I would go so I got my tired self up out of bed. 

It was actually quite a bit of fun with great networking exercises, a lot of good advice and some new contacts. Most of the advice was directed towards joining groups and affiliations and how to carefully select them to develop beneficial relationships, grow professionally and to get referrals. 

Lanney Silverman of The Design Boutique shared that she chooses networking groups that not only speak directly to her profession but her outside passions as well. As Principal and graphic designer at The Design Boutique, she helps uncover the "true essence of her client's marketing objectives." Lanney also loves food and wine. Half of the groups she belongs to are based on these latter loves. She meets people with the same passions and fortunately for her, marketing and graphic design have no borders so at these events she is always meeting new clients and getting new referrals. This is also helped to extend her clients to the Napa ad Sonoma County areas where she works with wineries and vineyards.

When you are participating in things you are passionate about you are effortlessly filled with energy and excitement. People are naturally drawn to you. No wonder these networking connections bring her so much success. She must be beaming.

I'm inspired. Are you?

Is Your Door Open or Closed?

A few weeks ago Shelly and I met with a group of Etsy sellers about bringing a program to San Francisco called I Heart Art. The main focus is to build a support community for crafters through various events. While discussing what types of events might suit the San Francisco community the topic of educating the public on craft came up. It’s often a touchy subject and involves the uncomfortable areas of pricing, value and art versus craft.

The later topic is one that Shelly and I have been discussing amongst ourselves quite a bit lately in trying to focus our marketing efforts. As we began to discuss what it was that we really wanted to do and who we wanted to work with, we realized for us the distinction wasn’t between craft and art at all, it was between what we’ve decided to call open and closed door artists.

I don’t really want to get into the art versus craft debate; we’ll be here all day if I do, but I do want to share a bit more about who we work with. I think it not only illuminates what it is we do at Lightbox SF, but also speaks to our philosophy in general.

As we see it closed door artists are the ones who work away diligently in their studios believing that if their art is great they will get the attention they deserve. They believe marketing and branding are dirty words used by sell-outs. They rarely talk about what they do or how their passions inform their final pieces. They wait quietly behind closed doors to be discovered.

On the other hand open door artists know it’s a crowded market out there and to be seen they need to make an impression. They know that to make a living from their art they need to think of it as a business and use whatever tools are available to them. They are passionate about what they do and share it with anyone who will listen. They know they need to connect with people on many levels to broaden their reach and make a living.

It is the later that we want to work with. It is the later that we can help. We can help you find those ways of connecting, of telling your story better. We can help you build a path and take bigger and bolder steps. We can help you reach your goals and make your dreams real.

It doesn’t matter to us if you paint on canvas, use a camera, silkscreen your illustrations on t-shirts, or make jewelry out of metal and precious stones. To us it matters how motivated you are to make your talents work for you. It matters that you’re willing to put in the hard work and it matters that you understand you need to get out there and make things happen.

What kind of artist are you?

Writing A Press Release That Calls Attention - Part 1

Publicity and more specifically press releases are often a daunting area for small business owners. Writing about yourself or your business is hard, not to mention the time it takes out of your already busy day and generally there’s little to no money available to hire someone else to do it for you. I get it, I’m guilty of neglecting press releases for Lightbox SF in lieu of writing them for our paying clients.

However, I’ve recently been reminded of their strength so I want to first convince you of their importance and then share a few tips on how to write your own press release that will get attention.

The Basics

A press release should follow a basic format, be only one page in length and only be used when you have something of interest to share, an event, new product, or tie in to a current trend.

Well-written press releases attract the attention of writers and editors who will then write about your business in their publication. This is free advertising of the best kind. An interesting story is engaging and worth sharing. An interesting story that mentions you or your business gives you credibility, broadens your audience, and reminds previous customers how wonderful you are. It also sparks other publications to pay attention to you.

I recently sent out a press release for a client of ours, Amy Ahlstrom. The next day I got an email from The Jealous Curator saying that she loved Amy’s work and would write about it tomorrow. A couple gracious sentences and a few photos was all the post contained, but that was all it took. The next day there were 4 more blogs that had posted something about Amy’s quilts. Mentions on other blogs continued for the next 3 days, 11 mentions in total and none of them except The Jealous Curator had been sent the press release.

I’m Convinced, But What Do I Say?

If your first instinct is to say, “What’s newsworthy about my business” or “Why would the press pay any attention to me?” Then you need a new perspective.

First try looking at your business from a customer’s point of view. What are you doing that benefits them? Do you solve a problem? Are you great with customer service? Does your product make people laugh or make them feel better? 

Then look at your business in the larger context of current trends. Are you addressing a growing awareness or concern? Do you fit into a trend or buck a trend? Do you or your business have a connection to a country or issue that’s in the news? Or can you provide insight on a current news focus?

Be sure to think both National and Local when looking for your angle. Human interest is always a great focus, giving back to the community, helping an under served population, hosting a fundraiser, or simply beating the odds and doing something most wouldn’t.

Now Dig Deeper

After you’ve decided what the general angle or focus of the press release will be use as many details as you can to really target your message. Show that you know your audience by speaking to their needs, concerns and/or interests.  My favorite analogy for this is dressing for an interview. I would guess that you would wear something very different to an interview at a bank than you would for an interview with a design start-up. Tailor (pardon the pun) your language accordingly. If you’re sending to DIY craft magazines you’ll have a different tone and make different references than if you’re sending to fine art publication or even a small business magazine.

Additionally make sure you’re aware of any time issues. Is there a holiday coming up that your news would be perfect for? Is one of your target publications doing a special issue on handmade or San Francisco? Also be aware of lead times. Blogs generally only need a few days, but giving them a few weeks with time sensitive information is considerate. On the other hand many newspapers and weeklies need 4-6 weeks lead times and national magazines can need as much as 9 months lead time. Plan ahead!

I challenge you to start jotting down ideas and headlines for your press release.

Next week I’ll talk about making the writer’s job easier and cultivating your list of media contacts.