When hunting around for business services, people often want to know the price. As a service provider yourself, you know how difficult it can be to price your services, let alone know if you should make them public. There's always the fear of turning people off. Or, you'll reveal too much to the competition. To many people, just like wine, price can be an indicator of quality too. So I can understand why you may be cautious. Not showing any information about what you charge can scare people off. Publishing some kind of price, that is, being transparent, can help create trust. It can alleviate some of the concerns that someone may have about calling you. At least enough for them to pick up the phone. Services Packaging Makes Perfect I haven't always published prices on my website, and I don't publish my hourly rate. As I teach in my services businesses classes, it's a good idea to get away from selling yourself by the hour, because it makes it hard to scale. Here's why you should package your services: Another Good Reason to Publish Your Prices — Search According to this Moz Blog article about website mistakes to avoid, "people are searching for pricing information. It’s a huge missed opportunity not to have any content related to pricing, and it annoys prospective customers who would rather know your cost range before giving you a call or submitting a form for follow up." Instead of Publishing an Hourly Rate, Try These Ideas. You could publish your prices outright or you could hedge. Something like, "Call me for a free :30 minute consultation, and I'll evaluate your needs and costs." There's no one right way to answer this question — just like everything in marketing, right? Consider what fits with your business model and what you feel is going to resonate with your visitors.
If publishing your prices makes you uncomfortable, you could try one of these or a combination:
Whatever pricing model you choose, tread appropriately, knowing you could alienate some potential customers. That's okay, because not everyone is or should be your customer. If you've made a good case for your services, and priced them competitively, and they're still turned off, then they're not a good customer for you. The same holds true for competition — you don't want to rely on price to get more business. No matter what you decide to say on your website, the better you know your website visitor — and the more you're in their heads, that is, the more you know their psych — the better you can communicate with them to achieve your objectives. An effective social media strategy depends on finding the right sites to reach your audience. Beyond the major social networks, which attract a large, generalized audience, there are plenty of niche sites which will help you build exposure and website traffic. Benefits of Niche Sites
Be Where They AreThe point of using social media for business is to get in front of potential customers, which means you want to be where they are hanging out. Whether you choose major or niche sites, define your audience using the following and then match it to the sites that meet your criteria: Geography: Neighborhood, city, regional, national, international. Interest: Consider the site’s focus: i.e., design, games, business, etc. Drill down as much as possible to match your target audience. Demographic: Easily identifiable stuff about participants, like age, income, education. For data about social sites, start your research at PEWInternet.org. For small sites, you may have to find out from the site itself. Look for advertising information in the footer (just for info, not to advertise). Activity: What people do at the site, i.e., simply commenting vs. watching videos. Think about the kind of content that fits with what your business is about, i.e., if you have a visual business, Instagram and Pinterest may be a good fit. Affinity: What participants have in common, i.e., people planning a wedding or those that like to invent things with Legos. When people have an interest in common, they're more likely to share posts to people who haven't heard of you before. That will help you create awareness for your business with new people. Many people participate in both major and niche sites, so select a balance of each. If you choose a major, join subgroups that match your audience, ie., a food related business in Seattle could join the Seattle Foodies group on Facebook. Where to Find Niche SitesThe more sites seek to create interactivity and engagement, the more they’re likely to offer social opportunities to participate in. Start with the associations and groups your audience belongs to (ask them), then look for social opportunities in the following places:
Don't Spread Yourself Too ThinOnce you’ve narrowed down your list of niche sites, finding the best match you can, prioritize them by highest amount of traffic. Then, start using them and track the referral traffic to your site, using something like Google Analytics to see if all that effort is paying off.
Learn more about social media marketing Here's one of my favorite ways to stay organized when it comes to small business marketing management. It helps prevent the panic that sets in when you realize there's no time left to prepare for that big trade show or business slump. Planning ahead makes your marketing efforts more effective and can save real money too. For example, rather than buying what you need at the last minute, you can wait for a sale or get a bulk price for 6-months worth of business cards. The Tools You'll Need Use whatever makes your life easier and allows you to make changes. Since it's a planning tool and plans often change, it needs to be flexible. A white board and sticky notes, a giant erasable calendar, or if you prefer digital, a spreadsheet or calendaring tool could work too. Step 1: Create a Chart Put months across the top – six months to a year should be sufficient. Make it as granular as you like. If monthly is too detailed, do it by quarters. If too general, break it down by weeks (for this level of planning, you don’t need to break it down by day for this exercise. That level of precision would be appropriate for a specific campaign like one that supports a trade show or product announcement). Step 2: List Major Categories List the following categories down the left side of the page: • Your business's key dates: opening, closing, vacations, inventory, anniversaries, events, etc. • Holidays • Trade shows and other industry events • Marketing activities you're planning • Other time-related activities that impact your business and your customers Step 3: Fill Out the Calendar Add activities to support the major dates and marketing opportunities. This could include: • Website updates • Sending out notices to your customers • Materials that need to be created • Prepping for a trade show • Marketing activities that occur around a major holiday If you're short on ideas, consider the following:
Take Advantage of the Ripest Moment There are many things that impact a customer’s state of mind and influence when they purchase, so time your marketing activities with their purchase behavior. One way to do this is to deliver messages when a prospect starts thinking about making a purchase, usually set off by a trigger event. For example, people often look for a house or new apartment when they’re getting married or having children. Think about where on your calendar you would beef up your marketing activities, say around springtime. By timing communication appropriately, you can be top-of-mind just when they’re ready to shop (otherwise known as the ripest moment). Follow or Contradict Business Cycles Another way to time your activities is with the cycles of your business or industry. For example, when you know you're hitting a slow period, beef up your marketing. Conversely, slow down your communications in anticipation of being too busy to handle the work or the orders. If your company caters to businesses, consider what's normal for your industry. And don't forget to keep tabs on what the competition is doing to time your activities to coincide with or counteract what they're up to. Follow the Christmas Calendar? Consider how the seasons, holidays and school schedules affect buyer behavior and your income. Either you have a business that’s super busy during November-December, or things come to a crashing halt. Plan accordingly to flatten out the highs and lows, and to anticipate budgetary constraints. Marketing Campaigns: Schedule Marketing Activities Together for Greater Impact Coordinate your marketing activities to increase their impact, like sending out a press release in anticipation of a trade show. Align under one campaign theme or umbrella to give you something to talk about in ads, materials, signage or whatever you plan on using to promote. You should also consider partnering with others to leverage the marketing they're doing. For example if you're in retail, time an event with the local art walk. As they say, timing is everything. And the best way to make the most of your time and money is by planning. |
Robbin BlockSharing what I know and love about marketing small to medium businesses. About me Categories
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