Two Totally Different Services From One Company? – Here’s How To Market Them Effectively
By:
Lee Lister - The Biz Guru
You’ve got a business that offers two totally different services that are somehow related to each other. As an example we have chosen Kung Fu and Stress Reduction which are a likely set of disparate services.
You have two particular problems here. One is branding your business with two disparate services on offer. The second is marketing your business, your marketing materials and where to find likely clients.
First Branding.
Branding is how your services are recognised by your peers and competitors and what they understand you are offering.
You are running a company that offers Kung Fu as one service and then Stress Reduction (with associated classes).
Whilst an expert may understand that Kung Fu may be used to release stress, I think that the "man or women on the street" may just understand stress reduction.
There is no way that many people will understand Kung Fu, with all of its cinema connotations will understand stress reduction and martial arts going together.
Thus it may be better to market two services:
1) Martial Arts: Kung Fu courses. This can be branded with all the activity and vibrancy that you can muster. You can sell the benefits of each martial art and offer your customers a choice of one or more.
2) Stress Reductions: Where you can identify your methods. This can be branded with peace, calm and comfort. You can sell the benefits of stress reduction and relaxation using ancient martial arts.
This will make your marketing much easier and allow you to fine tune who you market to. By not doing this is probably why you have been having problems lately.
Now Marketing
Martial Arts:
You can market to the young and adventurous who you think will want to learn these arts. The gentler arts can be sold to the more mature as “classes for the mature” and “classes for seniors” etc. You can also offer junior classes. It is important that you sit down and design yourself several courses that you think can sell. Assign them a set day and place and give them a price for a set number of days. You are now ready to market these.
Stress Reduction: You can market these to the stressed and hard workers, but don’t forget the homemakers who have their own particular stresses. You should also look at the newly pregnant couples and those who have just retired. Get yourself together a number of packages with timings and costs. You can now market these.
For you market materials produce a set of marketing materials for each service. You can also cross market by mentioning your other services at the bottom of each brochure.
For your marketing:
1) Think of about 12 words or small phrases that describe your services.
2) Find about 5 pictures or graphics that can be identifies with your services – such as peace and calm. These can be found on the internet – look for royalty free photos of look on the Microsoft web site for photos.
3) Take a A4/letter page and fold it in free vertically. This is your brochure. Either use software such as MsPublisher or MsWord to map out your brochure or use a pencil and then take it to a publisher. Your wording should include your chosen words and phrases in a natural manner. You should have at least one graphic on each page and they should take up 1/4 to 1/3 of the page. This will stop you being so verbose and still get your needs across.
4) Now go to somewhere like vistaprint and get some postcards made up as well as some business cards. Both should be high on impact and low on working. Add your contact phone number, email address and web site if you have one (recommended as it acts as a brochure).
Now to the marketing.
Identify a number of schools, clubs, colleges etc who might be interested in your martial arts. Ask if you can leave some brochures and put some of your postcards on their boards.
For your Stress Reduction – go to where you would expect buyers of your services to be – offices, hotels, restaurants, clubs, hospitals, maternity, mother and baby clubs etc. Again ask if you leave brochures etc.
Pin up postcards wherever you are allowed to – remember sports halls, supermarkets, take outs/aways etc.
Now for the “big boys” – identify a large corporate office, sports team etc. and provide them with an offer just for them. Get the name of the marketing manager and write directly to them, include your brochure and give details of the special offer you would like to provide them with. Offer to come in and explain it in more detail. Suggest that you would like to notify the local press as well so that you both get good PR. Make the offer a good one!
Lee Lister writes as The Biz Guru, for a number of web sites where she provides advice and assistance for the business entrepreneur. She is a published author – her books Entrepreneur’s Apprentice and How Much Does It Cost To Start A Business? as well as detailed information on how to start many low cost businesses, can be found on www.StartMyNewBusiness.com
With over 20 year’s management and business consultancy experience with businesses large and small as well as being a serial entrepreneur, she now helps others set up, develop and market their businesses. If you would like more help and assistance in setting up your new marketing strategy as well as some great marketing services then visit: www.MarketingGuerrillas.com
This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
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