Alan: Welcome to tonight's special event.
Alan: Tonight's special event will start with a 20 - 30 minute interview, then we will open it up for questions from the audience for the second half hour.
Alan: Throughout the event all questions submitted to the stage, will go to an off screen moderator, to allow for grouping of questions.
Alan: Our guest tonight Lisa Kirchner with Thread Tech Embroidery
Alan: Tonight we are going to discuss: "Home Based Business/Marketing"
Alan: Welcome Lisa,
Lisa: thank you alan
Alan: So where do you want to begin?
Alan: How about tell us a little bit about you and your biz
Lisa: okay, here we go
Lisa: My background has always involved sewing and customer service. So embroidery became a hobby that grew into a business. I started my embroidery business a little less than six years ago with a used single head machine in my home.
Lisa: Two years ago this May, I relocated my business to a retail location and added more equipment. It's been an interesting ride and I've discovered a lot about the business and myself in the process.
Lisa: I have nearly doubled my income each of the last 2 years. This is comforting in light of the fact that I started the retail location in the midst of really bad economic times when everyone thought it was a bad idea.
Lisa: I expect to more than double my income this year as well. I would also like to mention that I have no employees at this time, but am expecting to hire my son within a month or two due to the increased capacity. I credit my success largely to marketing.
Lisa: I would like to start out by saying that most of the preliminary marketing principals I am about to discuss are true whether you are home based, retail, internet based, or some other store format.
Lisa: Think of your business as your personal vision for your future. If you imagine marketing as how you will get others to bring your vision to life, you are halfway there.
Lisa: Marketing is more than just advertising. Marketing is every aspect of your business image. From the clothes you wear, to the car you drive (if you deliver), to your telephone voice, to every transaction you conduct, there it is all part of marketing.
Lisa: It's also there in your business card, in your letterhead, etc.
Lisa: This brings us to the first part of our marketing plan. The first step is to know where your position in the marketplace is. Who is your competition and how are you different from them? Look at it from the customer's point of view.
Lisa: As a customer, I'm thinking what is in it for me?
Lisa: The next step is to know who your customer will be. Please don't say everyone. The fact is, nearly everyone may be your customer; but if you try to aim your campaign at everyone, your results won't be nearly as good as if you aim it at a specific group
Lisa: of individuals. The more narrow your focus, the better your odds of reaching your target. The more you know your prospective customer, the more you can increase your chances of reaching that customer.
Lisa: How? Let's imagine my niche is dogs. In addition to attending dog shows, my customers might read a specialty dog magazine, and quite possibly visit my local humane society or donate to it, and probably read "Animal Times," a local monthly publication
Lisa: available free at drug and grocery stores in the county. So from that, I might base my advertising in "Animal Times," arrange to have a link to my website from the Humane Society, or offer a coupon for a discount off an embroidered dog collar, or give a
Lisa: give a portion of the sale back to the Humane Society.
Lisa: Now while my imagined niche is dogs, let's think about my marketing so far… I might expand my marketing to include local dog kennels and dog groomers.
Lisa: Will I only get people looking for embroidered items related to dogs? Probably not.
Lisa: Once I'm in the Animal Times paper, I may get inquiries from horse owners, cat lovers, alpaca farmers, anyone that reads that paper will make the leap for themselves and will call and say, "Can you do…?" Am I going to say, "No, I only do dog designs?"
Lisa: I could if I have all the business I want, I suppose, but quite probably, I will say, "Absolutely! We'll be happy to help you with your Llama Picnic business."
Lisa: The most important aspect of marketing as a home business is dealing with the fact that unless you actively market, or have a huge network of friends to generate word of mouth, you are virtually invisible.
Lisa: so the object of your marketing plan is to determine how you will become present in the minds of the people you hope to have as customers.
Lisa: There are many forms of advertising media.
Lisa: Most people feel that it is too expensive.
Lisa: I often hear that marketing does not work.
Lisa: Or rather advertising does not work.
Lisa: While I do not have the advertising budget of Proctor and Gamble, I do know that I need to advertise on some level in order to achieve awareness in the consumers' minds.
Lisa: the way I achieve that is to find a combination of advertising mediums that I can afford and afford on a consistent basis.
Lisa: If I cannot afford to advertise in the newspaper on a weekly basis for 6 months, then it is probably better not to do it at all
Lisa: I would do better to find a smaller paper with the type of readership I'm trying to reach and put consistent ads in there.
Lisa: I am about to launch a new marketing campaign that includes radio and newspaper.
Lisa: I have maintained a presence in the newspaper for the last year consistently.
Lisa: And still people come into my shop and say, I didn't know you were here.
Lisa: What this tells me is I need to increase my presence, in order to achieve Top of the Mind Awareness.
Lisa: top of the mind awareness is an ideal achievement for any business.
Lisa: if I asked anyone to name 3 car dealers,
Lisa: the first three dealers you mention have achieved that status
Lisa: the same is true for any industry mentioned.
Lisa: they have achieved that status through advertising, word of mouth and any other marketing method that they have employed.
Lisa: So the goal is to find a way into the mind of the customer, and then rise to the top of the list so you are the first company the customer thinks of when the word embroidery comes up.
Lisa: The marketing plan is a group of ideas, all working together to structure your positioning in the market
Lisa: the message should be repeated as often as possible
Lisa: through as many means as possible.
Lisa: the reason most advertising doesn't work in the cases where I've heard it doesn't
Lisa: is that studies have shown that it takes 9 times of seeing the same ad to actually see it
Lisa: so if you are in a monthly publication
Lisa: and you only advertise it in 6 months, you probably haven't seen much in the way of results
Lisa: and you thought it was a failure.
Lisa: but the fact is that for those people that have noticed your ad
Lisa: they've only just heard of you
Lisa: and they need to see your ad again and again
Lisa: to build up their trust that you are going to stay in business
Lisa: that you are legit
Lisa: and that they may want to come and buy from you.
Lisa: you have 3 seconds to attract someone's attention with an ad
Lisa: so you need to make sure you've taken time and carefully come up with a headline that will reach out and make the most of those 3 seconds
Lisa: that's how you will get them to continue reading or listening to your ad.
Lisa: this seems like a good place to take a break
Alan: Lisa... what a compressed intro into marketing!
Lisa: thank you
Alan: Now... let's switch gears and take some questions from the audience. Moderator: Audience member says: "Would advertising every 2 weeks in the newspaper for 6 months be as effective as advertising every week? As long as you show consistency?"
Lisa: Well every week will reap more benefit than every two weeks
Lisa: but if your budget doesn't allow it
Lisa: skip every forth week
Lisa: but yes, consistency is the key Moderator: Audience member says: "Are there any phrases that work well in Yellow Pages ads?"
Lisa: Yes, there are many.
Lisa: words like Free
Lisa: maybe free setup with purchase of 12 shirts? Moderator: Audience member says: "Can you give us some examples of good headlines?"
Lisa: I will bring a list of good attention getting words next week
Lisa: That's easy, look in your newspaper... only read the articles that grab your attention
Lisa: go to the phone book Question submitted : Oh.. I like that idea!
Lisa: look up plumber Moderator: Audience member says: "Oh.. I like that idea!" Moderator: Audience member says: "Besides advertising in the papers and yellow pages, what inexpensive things can we do?"
Lisa: Small targeted mailing lists
Lisa: choose a group of businesses or interest groups
Lisa: mail to them
Lisa: It's largely dependent on your niche
Lisa: which market are you trying to reach? Moderator: Audience member says: "What percentage of a budget would you use for advertising? "
Lisa: if you are just starting out, as much as you can afford
Lisa: I shoot for 10% Moderator: Audience member says: "When targeting a niche and doing a mailing, would it be adventageous to develop a flyer specifically for that niche?"
Lisa: at the very least
Lisa: absolutely, the more specific and laser like your focus is, the higher you increase your odds of reaching your market
Lisa: when developing your brochure
Lisa: take a step back and think like your customer
Lisa: what do they want?
Lisa: what would make them choose you over the embroidery shop down the street?
Lisa: if you don't know the best part of doing business with you, ask one of your customers
Lisa: they are happy to tell you Moderator: Ask your customer... now that's novel ;-) Moderator: Audience member says: "How do you get them to even look at the mailing...make it look like a bill?"
Lisa: lol
Lisa: no, DON'T make it look like a bill
Lisa: but try running embroidery on the envelope
Lisa: hand address it
Lisa: if you have a home machine, you can run a line of decorative stitching on it
Lisa: you have to make it as attractive as possible, to gain the attention to get opened. Moderator: Audience member says: "Woud joining organizations like the Chamber of Commerce help any? And what is your personal experience with this?"
Lisa: Yes, if you would like to do business with other businesses, then yes, i highly recommend that you join your local chamber
Lisa: or some other networking group in your community
Lisa: I have been a chamber member since I started my business
Lisa: and while I was home based it was almost the sole source of my business base.
Lisa: Read the paper... if a business you are interested in doing business with has some news in the paper
Lisa: send them a note, congratulate them on their achievement.
Lisa: the way to make a business into a customer is by establishing a relationship with them
Lisa: sometimes it is a long term investment before it pays off
Lisa: other times it is swift
Lisa: I brought small logos in window cards to chamber meetings with me
Lisa: when people asked me what I did, I would pull out the card and show and tell
Lisa: I generated a lot of sales that way Question submitted : do you do local business fairs?
Lisa: often chambers have a showcase of sorts Moderator: Audience member says: "do you do local business fairs?"
Lisa: and those are a wonderful opportunity
Lisa: hey, who's reading my mind? :-)
Lisa: local business fairs are great
Lisa: the contacts you make will often come to you immediately Moderator: Audience member says: "Were they your own logos or logos of the business of the members?"
Lisa: logos of the business members
Lisa: the best way to engage someone is to get them talking about themselves
Lisa: if you listen well you can often think of things that are perfect for them. Question submitted : do you get permission before doing their logos? Moderator: Audience member says: "So, you digitized the business members logos and put them in these window cards?" Moderator: Audience member says: "do you get permission before doing their logos?"
Lisa: and they don't feel like you are selling them, they feel like you are offering them helpful suggestions.
Lisa: actually, in the beginning I didn't digitize
Lisa: so I would put together lettering and stock designs
Lisa: and no I didn't ask permission, I wasn't selling them. I was merely trying to show what I could do.
Lisa: I make every customer provide me with permission to reproduce their logo
Lisa: but if you are doing work on spec, you don't really need it yet... it's a pitch, not a sale at that point. you only get into trouble if you turn around and sell it without permission. Question submitted : Do you have a formal business plan? Moderator: Audience member says: "Do you have a formal business plan?"
Lisa: Oh yes... and I refer to it every six months. I've revised it several times.
Lisa: My goals are in there. I find that written goals somehow seem to obtain themselves! :-) Moderator: Audience member says: "So at the beginning you would put the business name using stock lettering and a design that depicted what they did?"
Lisa: does anyone have any specific niches they need help finding inexpensive ways to market?
Lisa: Yes, that is how I approached it.
Lisa: I would edit the lettering to render something closer to what they had.
Lisa: Most of the time, they would ask if they could have the card. Moderator: Audience member says: "What is your education background Lisa? Business major?"
Lisa: I would enclose my business card, and they would call me before I could call them.
Lisa: Yes, I was in Business Careers. Moderator: Audience member says: "How would you market to realtors?" Question submitted : pen and ink line drawings of the "
Lisa: I would sew one afghan with a realtor logo, and write a ficticious name on it... Like The Kirchner Homestead, est. March 16, 2004.... Question submitted : Pen and ink line drawings of the "sold house" as house warming present Moderator: Audience member says: "Pen and ink line drawings of the "sold house" as house warming present"
Lisa: then I'd take a picture of it and include it with a brochure directed at realtors
Lisa: they have closing gifts to give on a regular basis
Lisa: could be kitchen towels
Lisa: they already know the color
Lisa: think of things you would give for housewarming.
Lisa: assemble them
Alan: Well once again that time has arrived to bring this portion of the event to a close.
Alan: If you would like to contact Lisa, her email is: lisa@ud.net
Alan: Next week will have part two of this marketing talk.
Alan: Lisa, thanks for being with us tonight.
Lisa: thank you for having me alan.
Alan: That is the conclusion of tonight's event, a transcript will be posted to the Embroidery Industry Calendar within the hour.
Alan: Thank you for your support of the EmbroideryMall.
Alan: Now everyone back to Latte's

The PalacePresents event ""Home Based Business/Marketing"" is over.
Thank you for attending.

Closing Log (March 16, 2004 10:34:21PM)

-- End --