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
by The Embroidery Coach | | Embroidery Business Marketing
Networking-a great way to market your embroidery business! There are two types of networking, On line and Off line.
On Line Networking
There are many Social Media sites that you can join and basically do the same type of networking as in off line networking. You cannot be physically present, but you can make many friends and acquaintances through these Social Media sites. The most popular sites are Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn,Instagram and Pinterest. You can join them, create your profile and establish a following.
With Facebook you can join an embroidery or business group in your own community. Facebook is an excellent tool to use for networking. Facebook and LinkedIn are used primarily for business; however you must build a personal profile first before you can create your business page on Facebook . On your Business pages, you can promote and sell your products.
Off Line Networking
There are many organizations that you can join but the main ones are the local Chamber of Commerce and a Women’s or Men’s Business Organization. There are also networking groups that meet for lunch in many areas.
If you join an organization, you must become active. You will have the opportunity to meet key people and this will help with your credibility. Just joining the organization does no good if you do not make yourself known to the other members and attend their functions. Check with the Chamber of Commerce in your area to see if they have an early morning Breakfast and/or an After Hours mixer.
The breakfasts are usually held at local hotels and they have a guest speaker. These can be very informative. The After Hours mixer is usually held at one of the local member’s establishment and you are encouraged to bring business cards or brochures and, of course, mingle and talk to the other guests. Again, usually, each month one member is invited to bring in a sample display of their products or services to show the other members. These are great for learning about the different businesses in your area and for gaining customers.
The networking groups that meet for lunch limit it to one company of a type of business for each industry. Only one person can join that has an embroidery business. There are no competitors allowed. This can also be very lucrative. Networking-A great way to market your embroidery business. Networking is a way of life, and you should be utilizing it more to market your business business.
You can get more marketing ideas for your embroidery business at How To Market Your Embroidery Business.
by The Embroidery Coach | | Embroidery Business Marketing
How can I write a blog post? I cannot write! How do I know what to say? This is what I hear over and over when I am working with my students, helping them to create their On-Line Embroidery Marketing System.
I understand where you are coming from and what you mean! I have been there myself and I finally discovered that writing a blog post is not hard!
Write Your Blog Post As If You Are Talking To One Person At A Time!
I always thought that I was writing to a large group of people, and I did not have a clue as to what to say. I then discovered that I had to write as if I was talking, and you are merely talking to one person at a time.
Before you start trying to write, create a picture in your mind of the person that you are writing to. He or she is not just a customer, they are a person.
- Who is your target audience?
- Approximately how old is she or he?
- What are their interests?
- Is this a small business person?
- Is this person an end user of your product?
- What type of a relationship do you want to have with this person?
Once you have a clear picture of that person in your mind, it is easier to create your message.
- What is it that you want them to know?
- What do you have to offer them that is going to help them?
Remember: keep it short and to the point. People do not have the time to read long posts. You are creating a relationship with that one person. This may help you to overcome your fear of writing. It worked for me! Leave a comment and let me know if this has helped you!
Joyce Jagger
The Embroidery Coach
