Marketing to the Universe and Beyond…

In my last post, I mentioned the recent AAF Greater Frederick roundtable session on Guerrilla Marketing that I attended. (which was awesome, thanks to presenter, Whitney Hahn of Digital Bard!). Not only did I learn 7 Great Guerrilla Marketing Tactics, but I also learned a different way to think about who I market to.

Most likely you've already determined who your target market is. And your self promotions are probably created with this target in mind. That's great. BUT, the Guerrilla Marketing approach makes you think differently about where to direct the bulk of your marketing efforts. Here's the breakdown in a nutshell:

 

1. 10% of your marketing should go out to the universe. This includes your website, twitter accounts, facebook, etc. It's your marketing that everyone can see.

2. 30% of your marketing should go to your target audience. This can include self promotional mailers, advertisements in a certain publications, etc. This is the marketing that is directed with a specific target in mind.

3. And, 60% of your marketing should go to your existing clients! After all, if you've done your job right, delivered your product or service, and met or exceeded their expectations, they'll be your best bet for repeated business and/or referrals. Don't forget about them! This can include eNewsletters, referral rewards programs, thank you notes, self promotional gifts, or even a simple phone call.

So, what can you do right now to start marketing to your existing clients? We'd love to hear your ideas, input or suggestions that have worked for you!

The Guerrilla in the Room: 7 Key Guerrilla Marketing Tactics

Last week I enjoyed a business roundtable discussion through the AAF-Greater Frederick discussing Guerrilla Marketing tactics. First, huge thanks to presenter, and certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach, Whitney Hahn of Digital Bard as well as to the event sponsor, Flying Dog Brewery!

If you're unfamiliar with the topic, according to their official website Guerrilla Marketing is a "body of unconventional ways of pursuing conventional goals. It is a proven method of achieving profits with minimum money." Basically it trains you to think outside the box with your marketing efforts, to think with your creativity, not your wallet. As a small business owner, it is very eye-opening and helpful!

The presentation started with 7 Key Aspects of Guerrilla Marketing. I've outlined for you below and hope they'll help you with your ongoing marketing:

1. Set Goals. Make the goal specific, including a designated time frame and quantifiable outcome.
2. Identify Your Target Audience: Again, the more specific the better. (This doesn't necessarily mean the only audience you will do work with, it means who you will target your marketing to)
3. Define Your Benefits: Know the different between a feature vs. a benefit. It's not what you make what you use to make it, it's why and how does that benefit your client. Always try to see it from the client's perspective.
4. Decide Your Niche: Your niche is partly your targeted audience, and partly how you go about doing what you do. It's your audience AND your process.
5. Use Your Weapons: Guerrilla Marketing identifies several low-cost or no-cost marketing weapons ranging from something as simple as your email signature and/or your voicemail message to more complex things such as your corporate brochure or where a QR code directs to.
6. Identity: This is your entire corporate culture. Who you are, not how you want to be. It's who you are when no one is looking.
8. Set Your Budget: Always be sure to set a budget for yourself. This will keep you from over-spending as well as under-spending. (Under spending means you will be less likely to reach your goals).

If you're interested in learning more about Guerrilla Marketing, feel free to visit their official site at www.gmarketing.com or, contact Whitney Hahn for marketing coaching seminars. Do you have any additional marketing tactics that work for you and your business?

Solving the Mystery of Who Won It…

This past weekend was award season! Yes, we got to watch Hollywood's elite at The Oscars (complete with J-Lo's possible "costume malfunction" and Angelina Jolie's leg). But, more importantly, in my hometown, we celebrated our local ADDY Awards, the American Advertising Federation's awards competition celebrating the best in advertising and design. As president of my local organization, the AAFGF, I couldn't have been happier with the success of our local awards gala, and was thrilled to celebrate the creative and talented advertising community in our region!

This year's ADDY theme was Clue, with an old Hollywood Glam feel to it (yes, I even tried to dress the part, white gloves and all!). The decor and location was amazing, as were the many professional and student entries on display. Despite being extremely nervous (as in practically shaking, people!) about having to start the night off with a welcome speech as well as give an award presentation, the overall night was extremely fun and exciting.

And, best yet, Kalico Design walked away with a Silver ADDY award for our cover designs for Find It Frederick Magazine! We love working with Find It and are thrilled with the accolade! 

Congratulations to all of the Frederick-area ADDY winners. We sure are lucky to be in business in an area so rich with creative talent, and so blessed with such supportive colleagues!

(Event photos to come soon!)

Kalico Design Featured on Want2Dish.com

Yay! We were recently featured on want2dish.com, a "hyper-local online news magazine that serves up comprehensive and trusted local coverage of community-specific information and happenings." I'm thrilled to be featured in want2dish's Business: Best Practices section. The article discusses how I got into the business, what we do, and what sets us apart—check out the full story here. (And, again, my dog Kai makes it into the main photo…he's so photogenic!)

The Real Super Bowl Highlights

So, last night's Big Game was pretty good, but the real highlight of the evening was the commercials! Was I the only one glued to the tv during the game's breaks...opting to go grab a drink, eat more food or take a quick break once the game actually came back on? Is that a bad thing? I just didn't want to miss any of the great commercials! Here is a list of my favorites (not necessarily in any order):

1. Audi. Vampire Party.
What can I say, I'm a Twilight fan, I'll fully admit it. And this commercial had me cracking up as soon as the two vamps started climbing the tree (which is at the very beginning). View the full commercial here.

2. GE + Budweiser.
This ad caught my eye right at the get-go simply because I have family in Schenectady, NY. But, I also thought the cross promotion of two super large corporations during the Super Bowl game was just interesting. Apparently this spot is not getting a lot of positive feedback, but it still stood out to me. View the full commercial here.

3. Volkswagon. Dog Strikes Back.
I'll admit it, I think I was most looking forward to seeing VW Super Bowl commercial, especially after catching some of the teasers they released online last week including this one. (cracks me up, every time!) And, I actually really liked the VW Dog Strikes Back commercial, although I could've done without the Star Wars ending. (I get they were trying to reference their successful Star Wars commercial from last year's SUper Bowl...just don't know if they needed to). View the full commercial here.

4. Chrysler. It's Halftime in America.
There's just something about Clint Eastwood's voice that captivates me. I thought this commercial was smart, and took on a very different tone than most of the typical, expected Super Bowl commercials. So therefore, it stood out. It's definitely one I will remember. View the full commercial here.

Some other things I liked about the commercials: I liked that Coca Cola brought back the polar bears, and I loved that Bud Light added the promotion  "Help Rescue Dogs" at the end of their Weego commercial, even though these commercials didn't make it to my favorites list.

So, what were your favorite 2012 Super Bowl commercials?

Holy Hell, Where Did January Go!?

Seriously! How is January over already! Historically, January tends to be one of our slower months at Kalico, usually a nice and quiet month— a breath of fresh air after the craziness of December. But, not this year! This January we have been extremely busy with lots of fun projects such as magazines, logos, custom invitations, conference materials, etc. (see some examples above). Trust me, I'm definitely NOT complaining, I just don't know where it all came from!

As I've met with fellow designers and other creatives in my hometown, it seems to be the same across the board. Everyone is uncharacteristically busy for this time of year! What does it mean? Are companies getting smart and starting to put money back into their design, advertising and marketing budgets? Or is this just a surplus from last quarter (which, according to multiple economic reports was one of the fastest growing quarters in the past year...).

What do you think? Did it just happen to be a busy January, or is it a forecast for designers and related professionals in 2012?

What If…

Last week I attended a Women's Business Lunch at the Frederick Chamber of Commerce. It was wonderful to be in a room full (as in jam-packed full!) of strong, intelligent business women of varying ages, backgrounds and professions! The meeting format was pretty informal, where each attendee got a chance to "Beg, Brag or What If". (I, of course, bragged about Kalico's new office location...i know, i know, I still have to do a post on that and get some photos out!)

But, it was one women's "What If" question that struck me. She posed the question "What if you didn't have to worry about getting paid, and could do any profession you wanted, what would it be?" So…what would it be? At our luncheon, we actually went around the table and everyone got to give their answer. It was great, some of my favorite answers included:

• Adventure Travel Agent
• Interior Designer/Decorator
• Starting abusiness pairing animals with disabled children
• Opening up a shop selling their own homemade jams and jellies
• Painter
• Rock Star
• And many other great answers!

My answer? I'd be… wait for it… a graphic designer! Honestly, I really love what I do! But, it would be cool to be a graphic designer without any deadlines! LOL! Or, my second choice, maybe to be a writer or blogger, that way I could experience a variety of adventures and activities and share them with everyone!

So, what would your "What If…" answer be? I'd love to hear them, it'll be very inspirational! Please leave your comments below!