Category Archives: Industry Specific Articles

In this category I will be adding articles that relate to specific industries. I invite industry specific comments within those posts.

Equity Crowdfunding

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In an effort to mix things up a bit I suggested that our business networking group join in this month with a meeting being promoted at 32 Squared shared office complex in Bridgeport on Chicago’s near south side.

The topic of the meeting was Equity Crowdfunding which is an investment and funding alternative that offers small investors an opportunity to make minimal investments in new or growing companies.

This funding option likewise provides new business ventures access to investment capital while in the nascent stage of their enterprise.

Unlike traditional crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter or GoFundMe which solicit donations, sometimes in exchange for gifts or access to advance purchase of products or services; Equity Crowdfunding actually offers investors an equity position in the company in exchange for their money.

So Equity Crowdfunding is an investment venture that includes all of the risks associated with investing as well as the potential promise of returning a monetary return over time.

The program was presented by Florence Hardy of truCrowd which provides an online platform as well as the necessary brokering expertise to facilitate the sale and purchase of these investments.

The meeting was hosted by Andrew Fogaty the Director of the facility who provided a tour as well as a light lunch of Little Ceasar’s Pizza partly provided by UPS who shares space in the building.

To learn more about Equity Crowdfunding, shared office opportunities or our monthly networking meeting click on the appropriate links above.

Succeess in business requires continual education and the expansion of your sphere of influence through networking.

Artistic Business Cards

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I like to blog when I can about interesting business cards I see and interesting people I meet.  A few weeks ago my wife and I enjoyed an very nice gallery event at the art gallery of Nancie King Mertz  at 2036 N. Clark Street in Chicago. While there I picked up a few business cards of Nancie and her husband Ron. What I love is that they feature examples of Nancie’s beautiful artwork on one side of the card and utilize the back side of the card to share a good amount of information about her work and their gallery and frame service Art De Triumph.

For those of you who have read through my blog or my book “Turn Your Business Card Into Business” you know that I favor cards that use the space available as a kind of advertisement. I believe in the case of most entrpreneurs that you should consider your business card no different then you would a small magazine ad.  Additonally when your business involves a product or when your message can benefit from a graphic representation of what you do, you should include a photo or high quality graphic.

In the case of Nancie and Ron’s card the beautiful examples of her work depicting iconic Chicago scenes is a perfect souvenir of my visit to their gallery and perfect reminder of her work and what they offer.  So enjoy the cards but more importantly if you’re in the area stop by and see the work in person. According to the business card they open seven days a week. Now that’s handy information!

Promote Your Health and Beauty Spa (or other local service business)

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This is an expanded version of a question I answered at LinkedIn. The question was essentially this. “If you had $1,000.00 to promote your health and beauty spa business, how would you spend it?  This answer will be of particular interest to those in the health and beauty industry but is applicable to any local service providers looking to expand their business. 

First of all $1,000.00 is not a big budget so you need to consider how you can leverage that money. By leverage I mean that you need to ask yourself “how can I invest my money so that it works the hardest?” One way to leverage advertising dollars is through co-op advertising. An example of co-op advertising might be an ad that offers a free bottle of “Lady Lovely Skin Softening Lotion” to everyone who books a spa treatment in the month of June. In this scenario “Lady Lovely” picks up some portion of the ad and/or supplies the free product. If “Lady Lovely” pays half the cost you just doubled your advertising budget. 

Another way to leverage your marketing budget is to get others to help you spread the word. The objective of most advertising, marketing or promotional efforts is to get someone, who you do not know, to take action by using your product or service. What if you were to change that a little and make the objective – – to get people, who you do know, to introduce your service to other people they know. Now you are leveraging your investment by using your minimal funds to mobilize a free or nearly free sales force of happy clients. This approach has the additional benefit of target marketing because you know who your clients are, so marketing to them should be rather simple. Presumably you see them periodically; you have their email address, home addresses and phone numbers; and they are following you on twitter and facebook. So you have a number of low cost ways to communicate with them

 

Relaxing at the spa

Relaxing at the spa

So the plan here is to create a promotion whereby current clients and known prospects are encouraged to bring a friend, recommend a friend, or in some way get someone else that they know to take action. In return both she and her friend derive some benefit from taking action. The bulk of your $1,000.00 marketing budget should be used to communicate with your clients and motivate them to take action. You can further leverage your budget by getting a supplier to co-op the promotion. providing all or part of the reward or promotional bonus.

The Internet is an important part of the marketing mix but when promoting a local business such as a spa I prefer to see efforts that include face-to-face marketing and building word-of-mouth. These efforts have the most direct and immediate impact. A key element to the success of a low cost local promotion is to leverage the efforts of your employees, partners, family, and other people who are stakeholders in the success of your business. These individuals should be marketing this promotional effort through face-to-face efforts on a daily basis. They must explain the benefits of the promotion to every client they work with or person they meet in the weeks leading up to the promotion and also make an effort to market the promotion to interested non-clients they encounter.

 In the case of a health and beauty spa nearly everyone you meet would love to take advantage of your services. So how come everyone you have met and everyone you know in your community has not sampled your service?  What holds them back are things like fear of the unknown. What are you going to do to me when I get in there?  Is this going to be expensive? I don’t have time. I am not deserving of special treatment. I don’t want to do this alone. I only want to do this alone. In don’t know what to wear. I am too fat, too skinny, too tall too short. This is only for rich beautiful people. It is the purpose of your promotion to overcome these fears and objectives and get people to sample what you have to offer. In this way they have the potential to become regular customers but more importantly they have the ability to spread the word and help others overcome their fear and anxiety.

Tell everyone you meet. What you have to offer.

Tell everyone you meet. What you have to offer.

 Are you so busy every hour of the day every day of the week that you cannot offer some kind of sample service to the next ten people you meet who have never been in your spa? I have a friend that owns a carwash. Without fail whenever he meets a new person he mentions his carwash and gives them a business card good for one free carwash. By the way everyone thinks he is the nicest guy. Some people use it, some don’t. Some people use it and never come back and others become regular customers. That’s the cost of doing business and in the long run he is a winner. You might say, “Well that’s fine for a car wash but my services are much more expensive.” No matter what you have to sell, your sample is in direct proportion to what you stand to gain. So your sample service may be worth $100.00 but you have the potential to earn hundreds of dollars if that person becomes a customer. Also in the case of services, you are selling your time. If you don’t use that time productively you cannot get it back. Therefore if you have one free hour a day that is not being paid for by a client why not invest that hour in your business and make it part of your marketing budget? Think about it. If you have a free hour worth $100.00 you might think, “I don’t want to give away an hour of my time.” On the other hand to spend $1,000.00 in advertising you will need to work more than 10 hours so that you have that money to spend on an ad campaign that may or may not work. I met a cardiologist at meeting who was a partner in a heath club not too far from my home. When he learned where I lived he pulled four business cards out of his wallet and handed them to me. Each card was a one day pass at his facility that I could use at any time. Let me tell you I was grateful to receive them and happily used them. Though I did not become a full time member I often recommend that facility. It is a beautiful place and they specialize in cardio rehab. I believe my recommendation has more value because I can say I have used the facility. I know what it is like inside and often tell people how much I like their running track and fitness machines. In this way for the price of four visits Dr. Cardio converted me into a salesperson for his facility.

 In addition to being an advocate of word of mouth advertising and the author of “Turn Your Business Card Into Business,” I also produce web videos. In my downtime I will often prepare, for a prospective client, a voice-over that has the potential to be the basis of a short 30 second or one minute video. I record these voice-overs using a few minutes of downtime while I am in my studio. I can tell you that the percentage of people who purchase a production after hearing the sample voice-over is in excess of 50%. This is becoming one of my standard marketing approaches.

 The first most important step of any promotional effort is to know what outcome you are looking for. In this scenario I want to achieve an outcome of 50 new prospective clients. I suggest that a spa owner use that $1,000.00 budget to motivate current clients to bring a friend or to encourage people within a 5 – 10 mile radius of the spa to experience the facility. Leverage your investment by getting product suppliers to help in your promotion. Encourage your employees and/or contractors to invest some portion of their downtime to provide free introductory services in return for receiving their share of new customers.

 Whether the prospects become regular customers is not as important as whether they can tell other people that they have been to the spa and would recommend it. Make them part of the ongoing effort by rewarding them for bringing a friend. I would use email, social media, posters, flyers and business cards to encourage word-of-mouth. If you have the goal of brining in 50 people to sample the spa or attend a special event, that gives you a budget of $20 per person to get them there. If you can get each new visitor to spend $20 while they are there you can break even on your effort. Then “rinse and repeat” monthly until it stops working.

Handy Ad Man

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Recently I stepped into my car and noticed a note slipped into the weather stripping of my passenger side window. It was a business card for A Good Handyman, Inc. In my book “Turn Your Business Card Into Business” I write about various business card distribution methods including posting on cars, so of course I was intrigued.

 

The business card I got on my car is a professionally printed full color card with a graphic of an array of handyman tools including a hammer, level, and screwdriver which definitely tells the story. This pictorial suggests that this handyman has the tools for the job and it quickly gives you an idea of the subject matter. The card further displays the owner’s name, George Emerick, phone number and web address as well as the words: licensed, bonded, insured. Additionally there is a small white box indicating that this company received a 2006, 2007 and 2008 Angie’s List Super Service Award. All of this information is important and effective in building confidence in this company and their service. The owner also elected to imprint the name of the person who distributed the card at the bottom. It was explained to me that he felt this was helpful in the potentiality that someone ask whether the distributor had authority to do what he was doing. I am not sure it is necessary but it does show the sensitivity of the owner in regard to being viewed as open and above board. After all he is only trying to utilize a low cost strategy for stimulating business opportunities.

 

First, a word of caution. “Leafleting” cars can be an effective marketing approach for certain types of businesses but has a few perils to be aware of. If you decide to employ this tactic understand that some people do not like to have anyone come near their cars. As a rule of thumb this applies particularly to newer models and fancier vehicles, clearly not an issue in the case of my “vintage” mini-van related to this encounter. I would suggest staying away from luxury cars that are likely to have sensitive alarms and owners. Be aware that leafleting vehicles in private parking lots such as Wal-Mart or area shopping malls can also result in having you or your helper detained, arrested, fined or at least severely reprimanded. Be sure you understand the laws in your municipality. Lastly, when cars are parallel parked it may seem practical to walk down the middle of the street so that you can leaflet both sides in one pass. Understand that doing this carries the hazard of your being hit by a passing vehicle. Handyman George tells me he is getting a florescent vest for his collector’s “street walking duties.” This technique also means that the business card you distribute will be on the passenger side resulting in an inconvenience to the driver and increasing the possibility that your message is ignored altogether. It is a little more work but advisable to walk along the curb and get all the cars on one side of the street; then walk back down the opposite side of the street again, on the curb side, placing your cards on the driver side windows.

 

As to the effectiveness of this strategy, Handyman George tells me that the cards generate a little immediate business but probably more important, are the cards that get thrown in the kitchen drawer, or put up on the refrigerator or household bulletin board.  “We’ve had calls from these as long as 2 years after they are distributed,” Says George.  “I suspect people tend to hang onto a handyman’s card more so than the usual pizza & pub or drain cleaning cards and flyers that we all get. A highly rated handyman is a more rare, and precious find we think.”

 

George was generous enough to share these statistics with us for his efforts over the last few months.  Distribution about 10,000, card cost about $200 (VistaPrint), labor about $700, respondents 6, jobs won 5, gross income about $550.  Obviously not profitable in the short run, but we’re “betting on the come” said George.

 

I really appreciate that George views this as a long term strategy. He understands that you cannot always judge the success of an advertising campaign right away. Generally speaking if you break even immediately you’re doing well. Business acquisition is expensive and the return on investment (ROI) should be viewed over the life of the client not simply their initial purchase.

 

We both agreed that it was not important how big the jobs were but rather that the business card distribution effort resulted in new customers who were willing to sample his service. These small jobs typically result in good long term relationships and that is the ultimate goal. I have not had an opportunity to use “A Good Handyman” but if you’re on the north side of Chicago, you can get information at www.4agh.com .

 

To learn more about business card marketing techniques visit www.businesscardtobusiness.com .

 

 

 

 

Grow Your Health and Fitness Training Business

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fitness trainerWhether you’re an entrepreneur, work for a health club or you’re a freelance health and fitness trainer you have a responsibility to grow your clientele. If you own your own facility or freelance your very business survival depends on getting new customers. If you work for someone, you may feel it is your employer’s responsibility to find clients; this is partially true. However health and fitness training is a personal service and people ultimately choose who they want to work with based on competency as well as personality and other individual qualities. Ultimately your clients will stay with you because they like what you do for them and they like you. As an employee you have a chance to build your own clientele who will follow you no matter where you go and will be happy to refer you to others. Also if you have a reputation for bringing in business, you are more valuable to your employer and more likely to receive appropriate benefits for your added effort.

 

Instructor Taking Exercise Class At GymAll forms of advertising and marketing are important but building word-of-mouth referrals is the least expensive and most effective particularly when growing a local service business. The easiest way to instigate referrals is by distributing business cards. Identifying prospects is often the most challenging part of building a business but the good news for you is that everyone with a body is a good prospect for you. People either want to loose weight, get more fit or simply tone up some problem areas. It is likely you can help with all of these objectives. So with this in mind what stops you from giving a business card to absolutely everyone you meet? They have a need and you provide a solution. It is that simple.

 

Fitness girl gives cardSo how many business cards did you pass out yesterday? How many will you pass out tomorrow? Every encounter with another human being is another opportunity to tell someone what you do. Don’t hesitate. Simply say something like “I’m a fitness trainer. If you would like some assistance toning up or if you know someone who does, here is my card. Have your card ready and don’t oversell. If they are interested they will ask questions. If not they know how to find you with the info on your card. Don’t forget to give cards to your current clients as well. Just say, “I still have some time open and I’m looking for a few more clients. If you know anyone who might like to train with me here are a few cards to pass along.” Your clients like you and they are probably happy to recommend you but sometimes they need a reminder.

 

Put some cards in your pocket or bag now! Be sure to have at least one with you at all times. Try to pass out three business cards a day on average. In that way you will distribute about 1,000 cards per year. If you spoke personally to 1,000 people and gave each of them a business card do you think that would grow your business?  Don’t wait start today. To learn more business card marketing tips purchase “Turn Your Business Card Into Business.” This is an easy to read 148 page paperback with ideas you can use immediately. Visit www.businesscardtobusiness.com to learn more.

 

 

Beauty Industry

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Success Depends on Building Your Clientele

If you are a hairstylist, massage therapist, nail technician, cosmetologist or other personal care or beauty industry professional you need to cultivate a local clientele to build a successful practice. This means that nearly all of your clients live or work very near the neighborhood or community where you provide your service. There are of course always a few exceptions where a client has moved away but still comes to you because you have established a close relationship. There are the few industry superstars for whom people will travel across the country to seek their services.  However it is safe to assume that the majority of your new clients will come to you partly because you are convenient for them to get to and partly because you provide a specific talent and service they require.

You are in control of your success. If you are an independent contractor you should understand that building a following is your responsibility and is the single most important factor in your long term job security and individual success. When you have a full book of clients that like you and like what you do you can virtually write your own ticket. Happy clients will stay with you for years and will insure that you have a steady stream of income. If you have room in your schedule or are relying primarily on walk-ins and assignments from your salon owner you need to step-up your game and start promoting yourself.

Many stylists feel that is the job of the salon owner to bring in the business, and to some degree that is true. It is the job of the salon owner to promote the salon but it is the job of the individual stylists to promote herself. It is like a comb and a brush they both have a similar function but achieve slightly different results. What you need to be concerned with is the number of clients that you personally have. Regardless of what the salon does or what other stylists, technicians and therapists do, you need to look out for yourself.

What stops most professionals from taking action is lack of knowledge. You might ask what am I supposed to do?  To begin with, start reminding your current clients that you appreciate referrals. If they are satisfied with your service ask them to tell their friends. Simply say, “You know, my schedule is not quite full and I still have room for a few more clients. If you want to recommend me to a friend, here are a few of my business cards.”  People are generally happy to help.  Do not be too quick to bribe or reward referrals, most of the time this is not necessary and only creates additional complexity to the process. If she comes through for you, do something special but avoid making promises or offering bribes. Instead if a client does send you a referral, do something non-business related like sending a thank you note or flowers or taking her to lunch or coffee. I do not prefer gift cards because it looks too much like giving money. I also do not prefer discounting services because it creates potential future expectations and devalues your service. You might offer a shampoo, conditioner, message oil, nail polish, cosmetic or other product that the client does not currently use as a special thank you. In this way you give her an appropriate reward and an opportunity to sample a product she might continue to use. In this case simply say, “Oh your friend Audrey came in last week. Thanks for the referral.” (Hopefully you have also already sent the thank you card). When you are finished working with the client say, “By the way this new product just came in and I think it would be perfect for you. Take one with you as a gift from me.” This does not look like a pay-off but it is a nice gesture that sets up no future expectations or obligations. Put the product in a bag with another two or three of your business cards. That was easy.

What about people who are not already clients? You probably do not realize how many people you meet in the course of a week as you go about your life. This includes shopping trips, taking your kids to school or after school programs or other personal and professional activities. Do you routinely tell everyone what you do; probably not; but why not? Are you good at what you do? Are you proud of what you do? Can you use more clients? In the business you are in, virtually everyone you meet is a potential client or in a position to recommend you to someone. Why not give them the opportunity to be your client? What stops most people is fear of rejection. Let me show you how to deal with that.

Suppose you meet someone at your child’s piano recital or school play. In the course of conversation you might say, “You know I am a hairstylist and I love the opportunity to work on new clients. If you care to come by for a consultation or refer me to a friend here is my business card”. Have your cards ready before you begin the offer and hand it to the person as you make the statement. She might say, “Oh thanks but I am very happy with my current stylist.” Just reply, “That’s fine. I appreciate loyalty. I always ask because you never know if someone is looking for a change.” Then make a comment about the kids or the event. You have still planted a seed that might sprout sometime in the future.

The truth is when you tell someone what you do most of the time they will ask your opinion about something related to your specialty. This is an opportunity to show your knowledge, but in social situations keep it brief and simple. Then use it as an opportunity to invite him or her to come in for a consultation and discuss the matter more thoroughly.

Here are some things to keep in mind. You have a right to tell people what you do. You are a business person and your livelihood depends on building your clientele. Promoting yourself is not rude or pushy unless you are. People are impressed by others who run their own business, or are independent contractors because you have a certain freedom and potential control over your life that they do not. Also you have a skill or talent that others admire.

In a slow economy you might find that some clients come in less often or opt to do some things for themselves but most people will not go totally without your help. There is plenty of business available but you need to promote yourself to get your share.

 

Reno Lovison is a marketing strategist in Chicago and has plenty more idea that can help you in his recently published book “Turn Your Business Card Into Business.”

www.businesscardtobusiness.com

 

 

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Grow Your Real Estate Business

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Selling real estate is all about emotions. You are talking to people about the largest single purchase they have ever made and are ever likely to make. In addition what they are buying is usually their very home, their place of refuge from the rest of the world. As a real estate seller you are the person who is going to guide them through the process and enable them to become happily involved in their dream home. People buy things from people they know, like and trust. As a seller of real estate you must first sell yourself. If you do that, the rest will follow.

To sell yourself you must have someone to sell to. You must cultivate prospects. The fastest road to credibility is by referral. If you have a happy customer who is willing to refer you to his or her friends, family and acquaintances you are more than half way there. You must ask for referrals. Let your happy customer know that referrals are very important to you. If you have just concluded a good transaction they will be glad to help. Get names and phone numbers and leave several cards with your happy customer so that she can give them to the people she forgot to list. Be sure to say something like, be sure to invite me to the house warming. If you get invited you can have a chance to distribute few cards and meet some people.

If you are new in the business and don’t have many customers do the same with friends and acquaintances who know you, like you and trust you. Also be sure these business allies have several of your business cards and that you have encouraged them to pass them out.

Building a business is not a passive activity you must be aggressive about letting people know what you do and how to contact you. Your business card is a very important tool for accomplishing this goal. In my book Turn Your Business Card Into Business I provide many tips and tricks of how to make better use of your business card. Visit https://www.businesscardtobusiness.com for more information .

Selling real estate has changed in the past few years. In the current market you must be willing to reach out to your potential customers. Buyers are tentative and want to be sure they are getting the best deal and being treated fairly. You must be able to reassure them.

At your next open house concentrate as much on selling yourself as you do on selling the house. Be sure you speak to every person on one topic not related to the property and be sure every person leaves with your business card. Get their contact info and follow up. In this way you build rapport, gain trust, and begin to grow your business.

Permission granted to reprint this article in its entirety including link back and this notice. Copyright Reno Lovison 2008


Increase Auto Sales

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There is probably no industry more associated with sales than the auto industry. As such building relationships is a key to success. It seems more and more that selling automobiles is turning into a commodity business but there is still need for experienced and knowledgeable sales associates to guide people through what is a complex, sometimes confusing and increasingly expensive transaction.

 

When it comes to most sales but particularly large purchases, people do business with people they like and trust. Creating rapport is perhaps the most important first step. Many inexperienced sales people want to build rapport with everyone who walks through the showroom door, but the true winners don’t care about walk-ins because they are anticipating their own customers. In other words successful salespeople do their rapport building outside the showroom. The nice thing about car sales is that nearly everyone you meet is a potential customer. So you can build rapport while you do the things you love to do and while you are living your life. Your primary task is to tell everyone what you do, and to make an effort to meet more people. Then you need to be sure each of those people are willing to recommend you to their friends and acquaintances and that they have the information they need to contact you easily. This is the role of your business card. If you make an effort to pass out one thousand business cards as quickly as you can, you will see your sales soar. To do this effectively in a short period of time you need to be aggressive. Wherever you are, introduce yourself to everyone and tell them your name that you work at Super Sport Best Car In The World Dealership and that you have what they need and want. Everyone needs dependable transportation. Everyone wants a new car. You can help them find what is best for them at a price they can afford. Don’t be selective. Talk to people when you are out socially, when you’re at the grocery store, when your picking your kids up from school, when your in an elevator or when your at a ball game. Everywhere! Then seal the deal with a business card so they know who you are and where to find you.

 

In the book Turn Your Business Card Into Business Reno Lovison will give you great ideas, tips and tricks that will help you use your business card to cultivate more business. Visit https://www.businesscardtobusiness.com.

 

Permission granted to reprint this article in its entirety including link back and this notice.

Copyright Reno Lovison 2008

 

Growing Your Antique Shop Business

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Antiques are not usually an impulse item. I know whenever my wife and I have found something we like, at an antique store, we typically will walk away and discuss our level of interest. We may consider a purchase for a few days before ultimately deciding to make, what can be, a significant investment from our perspective and involving a piece of furniture or artifact we intend to keep for some time. For these reasons we often have taken a business card on the back of which we jot the details. After our deliberation all of the information we need for our purchase decision is in one tidy place.

It can be tiresome to watch people scribble notes on the back of your business cards and sometimes it may seem like an exercise in futility, but keep in mind that the only business card that matters is the one that goes out into the world and brings back business. The more of these little soldiers you send out in the world the more your opportunity for success is multiplied. You can read how to increase this potential in my book Turn Your Business Card Into Business, CreateSpace Publishing, 2008.

Consider making an effort to encourage people to take your card and make notes. When you see someone pondering over an item, do your best to close the sale. If they are still uncertain offer a card and jot the details on the back so that you can encourage them to continue their deliberation. Take this opportunity to get information back from them. Suggest that you will follow up in a week to let them know if you have acquired any similar merchandise. You can use this call to get them to come back and reconsider the original purchase or see some new arrival. In this way you build rapport and cultivate a customer.

In Turn Your Business Card Into Business I mention an antique store in Chicago that tacked a small box of business cards by the door outside of their store so that customers who spotted something in the window after hours could make a note and call or stop back later. This is a great example of aggressive business card marketing.

Encourage your customers to take a business card. Be sure to have them handy throughout your store maybe even with a few pens or pencils nearby. It is not a matter of how many people may not follow through but rather about making it easy for the ones that do.

Imagine if a thousand people walked out of your store over the course of the year with a notated business card. That’s only about four people per day. Do you think that might help close a few sales? Give it a try the cost is low and the potential return high.

Permission granted to reprint this article in its entirety including link back and this notice.

Copyright Reno Lovison 2008