by The Embroidery Coach | | Embroidery Business Marketing
Marketing to your customer and prospects is different today than it was just a short time ago. Today Email Marketing is an easier and a more cost effective way to get started with your marketing. In the past, when someone wanted to do business with you they had to try to get your attention through direct mail, telemarketing or face-to-face.
The problem? Most of the time these marketing methods were completely unsolicited – the marketers pushed information to consumers. As a result, we often refer to these solicitations in a negative way and respond angrily. I do not know about you, but when someone calls me on the phone and tries to sell me something, I get very angry! I do not have the time to listen to all of this noise!
So how is email marketing different? Email marketing is building a relationship with your prospects and customers. This is extremely important in today‚’s marketing!
The major difference between email marketing and the other marketing methods is that people opt-in ‚Äì or choose ‚Äì to receive your marketing message. This is HUGE! It‚’s like an open-door invitation to share your information and expertise with your customers. That is something you just can't pay for. In today‚’s world of technology, your emails can be received on smart phones, most of the tablets or pads and of course on your computer.
In this article I am going to discuss:
- What Is an Email List?
- How Do You Get Subscribers?
- Why Build an Email List?
What is an Email List?
An email list is simply a collections of email addresses that you have collected from your customers and prospects. Most marketers will also collect the person‚’s first name with the email address so that they can personalize the email through automation in their email marketing software. Instead of saying ‚ÄúHi‚Äù, you can say Hi Theresa‚Äù in your emails. You can also collect other information such as location or phone number in case this is important in your market segment or your marketing message.
How Do Your Get Email Subscribers?
Having a ‚Äúmailing list‚Äù with a series of autoresponder messages that you update regularly is great, but if there‚’s no one on your list, you‚’re not going to be making many sales.
Email marketing is a way to market your product or service through email. You can build your email list in a number of ways. Here are 2 ways to get started:
Opt-In Forms. The most common way to build a list is by placing an opt-in form on a website, sales page or a Facebook Subpage and having people fill it out. Whenever someone visits your Facebook Subpage, your blog, or your website, there should be a clear place for them to subscribe to receive more information, or some type of free gift from you.
Getting people on your email list may seem difficult at first, but there are proven strategies for making people want to give you their email addresses such as providing an Opt-In bonus. This can be a free report on a subject that they are interested in or it can simply be a coupon towards their next purchase!
Customer Lists. Many shopping carts have automatic processes for adding purchasers to your email contact list. This is something you‚’ll definitely want to integrate, because customers are already a step above a ‚Äúprospect.‚Äù By buying something from you, even a purchase of $10 or less, they‚’ve proven that they want what you‚’re offering, they know how to purchase on the internet, and they have money to spend.
Why Build an Email List?
Some people start building their email lists and then get discouraged because they are not getting a flood of people opting in right from the beginning and give up. This is most unfortunate. They simply do not understand the true value of building a large, responsive email list.
Here are five reasons why you need an email list:
- Automatically Follow up – An email list allows you to market to your customers and prospects 24 hours a day, 7 days per week automatically.
- Constantly Building Your Business – New prospects can be signing up to your email list automatically, every day without your help. This is a way to constantly be building your business automatically and getting new people into your pipeline.
- Capture Visitors – You have put tons of work into your website or Facebook page. If you are not capturing visitors, they are leaving your page, possibly never to return again. If you capture their information, you can keep in contact with them and build a relationship. Most of your potential customers or clients do not buy from y ou when they first find you or hear from you. Through email marketing, you can stay on their minds through your automatic emailing program with your autoresponder messages. When they are ready to buy, they'll look back for your emails or remember your website and order from you.
- Saves You Time – Instead of sending your message one on one, over and over again, you can now reach your entire list with one mailing. This not only saves you time, but it also leverages your time into long-term profits.
- Increase your Sales – Sharing your information and building a relationship with your list is great, but the main Goal here is to create your sales. An email list can deliver you an increase in sales.
The important thing when you start is not to give up too soon when it starts out slow. This is perfectly normal and if you do give up, you will never see the benefits of having a large responsive list!
When I first started my email marketing I thought that I would never be able to build up a list. It seemed like it was taking forever. I kept hearing about all of these people that had thousands on their lists and I knew that I would never get there! Today I still have what is called a small list but with almost 5,000 on my list today, it is giving me a lot to work with and I am able to share my message to all of the 5,000 people!
Start today setting up your automatic emailing system. You will be very grateful you did!
by The Embroidery Coach | | Embroidery Business Marketing
Creating High-Quality Sales Tools for your embroidery business will increase your sales and help save a lot of time that is normally spent working with a customer. This will also create confidence with your customers because they can see immediately the type of quality that they can expect with their finished product.
Sew Out Designs You Want To Feature
Using White felt, sew out many of your best designs and the fonts that you use the most or want to feature. When you are sewing out your designs, add a number under each design signifying the stitch count. This makes it easier when you are trying to explain to a customer about stitch count, and they can see approximately what a 10,000 stitch logo is going to look like. If you have some generic stock designs or sports symbols that you like to use, they would be a good choice.
As you are sewing out the fonts, leave enough space between each one so that they will have a neat even border. Sew each font in a different color. Use the colors of thread that you carry in stock. Sew out the main fonts that work best at a variety of sizes for you first. These will be the your standard fonts. Then you can sew out other fonts to offer as Premium fonts at a higher price. As you are sewing out the fonts, use the font name. This makes selection easier and there is no question what they are looking for.
Use Different Sizes For Your Embroidery Fonts
Choose different sizes for your fonts so that you can use this as a tool also. Example: If you sew names out in a certain font, sew that font out in the same size that you sew out a name in. That way the customer totally understands exactly what he is getting. If you have a certain size that you prefer for a left chest, sew out a block or script font that is popular for the left chest in the size that you normally use for the left chest.
After they are sewn out and trimmed perfectly, press a heat bonding material onto the back side of the embroidered sample pieces. Purchase the heat bonding material from the fabric store or an embroidery supply house.
Cut out each one of the fonts and designs using a pinked edge. To get a straight even line turn your embroidery over to the wrong side and draw a line with a ruler measuring up from the edge of the embroidery. Make sure that they all have the same amount of space around the embroidery so that they are all cut in a uniform manner.
Purchase 8 1/2″ by 11″ business card stock from the office supply store. With a hot iron or heat press machine, lay your cut pieces onto the business card stock and press them in place in a neat uniform manner.
With a 3 hole punch, punch holes on the left side of the page when you are finished and place all of your sample pages into a 3 ring binder. Use one with the clear plastic storage view on the front. Create an attractive cover with your business name on it to slide into the front of the binder.
This is not a great picture but I want you to see exactly what I am talking about. Just know that this comes out looking much better than the actual photo does.
A Great Sales Tool For Your Counter
This makes a great sales tool that you can leave on the store counter or take with you. When I had my large embroidery business, I furnished each one of my dealers with a sales binder which really did increase my sales. It was very easy to use, and the customer always knew exactly what they were choosing and what type of quality they could expect.
by The Embroidery Coach | | Embroidery Business Marketing
The best way to start building good customer relationships is to connect with each one of your current and lost customers. Start out by making 3 lists.
- Current High Volume Customers
- Current Lower Volume But Repeat Customers
- Former or Lost Customers
Below are links to telephone scripts that you can use to call your customers. Use can use these scripts to start creating better relationships with your customers or you can use these as a pattern to create your own. Download them and save them to your hard drive. You will want to print one out for each customer that you talk to. I left spaces between the questions so that you can write on them and keep notes as you talk to each customer. You can then file it into their customer file.
by The Embroidery Coach | | Embroidery Business Marketing
Marketing your business is one of your top priorities and should be done daily. Even if it is a small step, you need to get into the habit of doing something that will create traffic into your business on a daily basis. No matter how successful your business is, ignoring ongoing methods of traffic generation and promotion also means ignoring a rich source of sales and profit.
I am going to give you 5 easy steps that you can start using immediately to effectively market your business.
Step #1: Create Your Plan
Every successful marketing campaign begins with a plan.
Creating Your Plan: Your marketing campaign plan should do three things:
- Cover at least one entire calendar year
- Feature any relevant seasonal or sporting events, holidays, or trends
- Have a method that you can use to track and analyze your results
Planning an entire year's worth of strategy isn’t as difficult as it seems. It will help you consistently build momentum and maintain visibility. You can always make changes as you see your results. Consistency is the real key to success in marketing your Embroidery business.
Seasonal or sporting events and holidays provide the perfect reason for extra contact. Make sure that you analyze and track your results! This is very important. It will have a bearing on how you plan your next campaign.
When creating your plan you must:
- Use a calendar. Either a physical chart you write in or an organizer.
- Plan backwards. Write in the campaign start date of your promotion on the calendar. Working backwards on the calendar, plan out each step that must be started and completed before the campaign start date in order to set up the launch and make it happen on the target date.
Step #2: Start Reaching Out to Your Clients or Customers
Now that you have your plan in place, here are some methods for reaching out to your clients or customers.
- Telephone0
Do a short telephone survey asking your customers what you can do for them, how you can help them, what can you provide that they are not able to get elsewhere? You can let them know in advance about your next promotion. They will feel special. Make sure they are aware of your Referral Program.
- Direct Mail
If you are uncomfortable with the phone, create a postcard. Give them a special offer on the postcard. They will be required to bring the postcard into your shop in order to be eligible for the special offer. If you have a website, send them to a special page on your website with an offer- either something free or low cost just to get them into your autoresponder- so that you can start marketing to them on a steady basis automatically.
- Free Samples or Coupons
If you are using coupons, whenever possible, make sure that they are self-limiting such as a particular holiday or event. (Mother’s Day special, no longer available when Mother’s Day is over)
Step #3: Promoting to Current Clients or Customers and Attracting New Clients or Customers
Here are five highly effective promotion strategies you should implement immediately as part of your plan for the year.
Put your logo on every piece of physical material you wear, use, or distribute. These include:
- Business cards
- Stationery
- Envelopes
- Brochures
- Invoices and receipts
- Your car
- Your office window or sign
- Promotional items (pens, t-shirts, mugs, mouse pads, etc.)
- Sample items
- Your own t-shirt, golf shirt, jacket, cap or visor when attending public events
Sponsor a local team, charity or even an individual event participant.
It doesn't matter how big the amount -showing your community involvement and “giving back” is always a great way to promote your business.
Donate prizes
Create a contest, or donate to an existing local charity or contest. Just be sure to put your logo on the prize item or accompanying freebie or card somewhere! (HINT: Contest creation for seasonal holidays gives you the perfect, natural excuse!)
Promote your contest or event participation
Send out a press release to your local radio station, TV station or newspaper in advance of the big event, so they can show up and either do a story on you (“Local Business Owner Gives Back”) or photograph the prize recipient, if it's significant enough. Just make sure your press release is not solely about you and your business, but offers them a real story for their readers , the more heart-warming the story is, the better.
Propose a workshop to your local community college or library.
If your business is already established, you've certainly got the credentials- and it will establish you as their own, resident “go-to” expert in that field. (This can be about how to select the correct promotional items for their needs or something that would be fitting to or for your market.)
Step #4: Advertising
Don't hesitate to include advertising as part of your annual strategy, if you can allocate a budget to it. Surveying your intended market and using the method most favored by them are the keys to ensuring this strategy gives you a return for your investment. Consider advertising with:
- Local newspapers
- Local business or trade directories
- Local Radio
- Local TV
Finally, consider creating an advertising contra — a “you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours” exchange of services or goods you already own with any of these organizations. It's a time-honored custom in advertising and all venues above are thoroughly familiar with the idea. This is a very effective way to reach a large audience with a smaller dollar outlay! You will need to show the newspaper, radio or TV station how they will profit from this partnership venture.
Step #5: Boosting Visibility and Credibility
You may have multiple goals for your promotion plan. You can use any or all of the above methods (and any others you can think of) to:
- Increase your expert status
- Increase your visibility
- Increase ease of contact to prospective clients
- Brand your business or product
And, last but not least, increase your sales.
by The Embroidery Coach | | Embroidery Business Marketing, Embroidery Tip
I’m new to Embroidery and I am really having trouble trying to sew high quality embroidery designs on caps. Can you help me?
Trying to get high quality embroidery designs on caps can be a real challenge when you are new to embroidery. But with a little practice and experimenting, you can overcome those challenges.
- For best results, always start your design at the bottom of the cap working up and from the center working out. This will keep the hat more stable in the frame and prevent the design from pushing too much in one direction.
- Always make sure the holding strap of the cap frame is adjusted to grip the cap snug and the bottom of the visor is tight against the visor bracket. That will keep the cap from shifting position in the frame as it is moving. This is the most common mistake new embroiderers make.
- To make sure your design stays in registration, always finish one section before moving onto the next .
- All finished caps have a size limit for designs depending on the style of cap, the shape of the logo, and the type of machine. The logo for a standard size adult cap should not be much more than 2.10 inches high. If you are working on a low profile cap, your design usually cannot be more than 2 inches high. I try to stay within the 2 inch high category for all of my cap designs. That way hat style is usually not a factor. Very often your customer will want a repeat order but may decide to change the style of cap for the new order. If the original design does not fit on the new cap, you will have issues if the customer wants the design to be the exact same size. Sometimes 2 inches is too high for a design if you have more than 1 line of straight lettering or if you have a design that has a long line of small straight lettering on the bottom. This can be a real problem. Your bottom line of lettering may pull up in the center of the cap.
- Make sure that the bottom of the design is at least one half of an inch up from the seam where the cap front and the brim are sewn together. If you are working on a stiff cap front your letters may distort if you are too close to the bottom. A lot of this depends on how the cap is made and how stiff it is at the very bottom of the front where it attaches to the brim. When you are hooping your cap, you must make sure that your cap facing is really tight into the lip of the cap framing device.
If this does not work you have to either shorten your design to compensate and distort your lettering the opposite direction. Sometime just shortening the height of the design and moving it up slightly on the cap front will take care of the problem.
- If you are using an embroidery design for a cap that has been created for a left chest, it is not always possible without editing the design to make it embroider properly on the cap. If you have lettering on the bottom of the cap you will have better results if you edit your design so that this lettering will stitch out first. I have found that this works the best. Make sure that your lettering is set up to stitch center out. If your lettering is not stitching center out, it is best to re-sequence the lettering.
- Always use cap backing when you are hooping your caps, regardless of how heavy or stiff your cap is. This also will help to produce a higher quality embroidery design on your caps.
Find out more about embroidery on caps at the EmbroideryBusinessAcademy.com
The Embroidery Coach, Joyce Jagger simplifies the complex world of embroidery into easy to understand lessons. Her passion is to help get the new embroiderer off to a fast start and help the existing embroiderer improve their skills so that they can provide higher quality embroidery and increase their profitability!
by The Embroidery Coach | | Embroidery Business Marketing
The way that Business is being done today is totally different than it was even a short time ago. Today, business is all about building relationships and providing information through Social Media marketing. The prospects want to know all about you, what you have to offer, and what you can do for them before they will even think about doing business with you.
There are 5 things that you must implement in your business in order to successfully do business in today’s market!
- Find Your Market -Your Niche Market
- Create Your Message-The right message for the right market
- Get involved through Social Media Marketing-Facebook-LinkedIn-Twitter-Instagram
- Send your friends and followers to a lead capture form on your website. This is a must. You do not own your list on the Social your Media sites!
- Start social media marketing to your prospects and customers with content through your marketing system! New prospects must get to know you, like you, and trust you before they will purchase anything from you.
Social Media marketing is playing a huge role in our business today and it keeps changing and evolving more every day. The internet has put all businesses, large and small, on the same level playing field. This is a great thing!
Social Media Marketing is the easiest way to attract new clients and increase the size of your market.
Joyce Jagger
The Embroidery Coach
