Business Therapy

I work with a lot of small businesses. Some of them are run by husbands and wives, or parents and kids, or sometimes best friends. Sometimes you need an outside person to just mediate the business relationship taking out the personal relationship drama. I find this situation to be particularly rewarding, to help these small companies get their roles and relationships sorted out in order to get the business back on track and hopefully even help with the personal part of it as well. Let me know if this resonates with your small business.

Product Photography

Everyone has a smart phone with a camera. So why hire a photographer when you can just get a quick snapshot for free on your iPhone? Product photographers will use lighting, special lenses, photo editing software, etc. to make your products attributes not only stand out, but look like a sculpture. With a crowded retail marketplace, don’t you want your product to look amazing? To see all the details that make it special?

You also want to watch lighting that can wash the product out, busy or distracting backgrounds, and angles of shots that distort the product or cast it in an unflattering dimension. Focus on the closeup details, show it on a model that doesn’t detract from the product, with a nice, but plain, background. Mood of the photo will set the mood for the future marketing materials. Do you want a plain white background that can easily be photoshopped out? Or do you want an outdoorsy background that lends itself to a friendly mood? How do you get rid of glare on a shiny horse trailer? Can you see the detail in the tooling on your saddle or engraving on your silver pieces?

I am experienced in thinking ahead, developing photos that fix future marketing needs and show off a product’s best sales features, as well as sourcing particular skills in a photographer, finding locations, and directing product photo shoots. It makes a big difference in future advertising and in product branding. Pictures are worth a thousand words, but in marketing I think they are worth more. They can make or break a product.

Holiday Marketing Events

Many of my clients sell products to retail stores. I’m lucky to be able to also work with some boutiques as well. Small businesses with budgets. I’m a big fan of trunk shows and special events at retail locations, as I feel it helps stores bring in traffic and create relationships with their end consumer. But for a manufacturer, it also allows a company to show products that the store may not be able to carry on a regular basis and connect with the end consumer where you typically do not get that opportunity when you just sell wholesale.

The holidays are a perfect time to host a special event. People are in a festive mood, and often the winter months are slower for vacations, kids activities, and the like, so customers have more ability to attend.

A trunk show can be a combo event with the manufacturers who work well together, such as jewelry and boots, or for a tack store perhaps a saddle company and a nutritional company. You can have a “party” with food and beverages, or perhaps a tack store could host a series of short informational speakers during the day. Offering a discount or a gift with purchase is also a nice touch, as is creating “gift displays” of items that match well together. Liven up your store displays and decor for the season, sometimes moving things around and re-grouping leads to a feeling of “new” merchandise. Be sure to promote the event on social media, websites, emails, flyers, and in other businesses.

Be creative, but also have that relationship building/helpful mentality, positioning yourself as an expert in your area, whether that be creating a perfect outfit, or creating a perfect horse themed gift basket for your aspiring equestrian gift recipient. Big box stores do not have that ability to bond with the customer, and your expertise is what sets you apart. Have a happy holiday selling season!

Banners: You Need to SEE IT

Since I work in the western/horse industry, I go to a lot of events. Horse shows, trade shows, rodeos. A big part of our industry is event marketing and sponsorship, which typically includes banners on an arena fence.

One of my biggest business pet peeves is cramming too much info into an advertising space. And one of the biggest WASTED marketing amenities for businesses is the banners themselves. If you can’t read or recognize what is on the banner from the bleachers/seats, then it is WASTED.

Think about your logo. If it has too much going on, people can’t recognize or see it from far away. A banner should NOT have your phone AND email AND website, AND a paragraph of information. NO one will be able to see it. It should have ONE way to contact you, your preferred method (usually website) of communication or more information, and your logo. THAT IS IT. And you don’t need www. anymore either. Less is more.

People are going to be sitting 50 feet or more away from the banner, they need to be able to READ and UNDERSTAND it. No crazy fonts, no extraneous information, no cramming as much on there as you can. Blowing up your business card is just not going to work.

If this is your second or third year at an event, look at who the other sponsors are and set yourself apart. If most banners are a white background, do a colored one (black or your standard business color that you always use with a white/black logo, don’t add random colors). If the banners are hanging outdoors, think about the sun coming through the back and the shadows of the fence on your logo/wording. Get a thicker banner or lay it out differently.

Don’t waste your “billboard” space and sponsorship amenity by wasting your fence/banner space. Visibility is everything, and a little thinking ahead will pay off by making your banner and business stand out from the rest.

New Client! Liberty Boot Co.

I’ve worked for a few years with Liberty Boot Co, the world’s coolest boots. But now I’m official, on board, handling account management, sales, tradeshows, social media…whatever the boss man doesn’t want to handle. Excited to do what I love with a great company and brand. The world is a better place when you’re wearing cool hand made boots!