Archive for September 2008
Red Hat Marketing Tips
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
When meeting with clients I’ve never met before, I wear my red hat. I have a love affair with my hat. It is brilliant! I went as far as having a logo created featuring this fiery accessory. What does this hat have to do with marketing?
For practical purposes, I have used it as a tool to:
- Stand out from the crowd & Get NOTICED.
- Be memorable.
- Tell my story.
- Have Fun.
Isn’t this what we try to do with our marketing messages? If it’s true, people do business with people they know, like, and trust then our marketing messages to new clientele must:
- encourage trust
- create feelings of familiarity
- communicate as someone they would like to get to know better
Does my red hat translate into new business? Honestly, I don’t care. It has given me a way to introduce whimsy into my daily routine (and I always encourage whimsy wherever I can). On the other hand, it has given me a platform to work in some tips of the trade into my blog, which can eventually find it’s way to a new and exciting client for think! marketing.
Periodically, I will post Red Hat Marketing Tips – so keep an eye out.
Happy Marketing!
Hillary Kilpatrick – owner
Think Out of the Box
Friday, September 26, 2008
Opening up your home for a Christmas party doesn’t count as “out of the box” marketing, unless you are a high-end custom home builder and you have just invited 40 of your best business referrers to a party in one of your million dollar show homes. Today I had the pleasure of seeing this strategy first hand. I substituted for a BNI Networking Breakfast for a friend of mine, John Anderson from Anderson Mobile Advertising. While there, I sat next to a custom home builder who offered to host their Christmas party at this home.
This is such a great marketing strategy for this type of business for a few reasons
- Low to no cost advertising to potential buyers and/or potential referrals
- Brings another level to the relationship between him and the people that are looking to refer him
- He doesn’t need to advertise on TV or Radio, he just needs to be introduced to the right person and it helps to know the right people.
Maybe this effort brings him nothing. Maybe it helps to land the perfect referral. Maybe all it is is a cool place to have a great party. It’s still a great way to “think” out of the box.
I want to start collecting great ideas such as this one. If anyone has a success story, please, let me know about it.
–Hillary
Getting Kids Excited About Writing
Friday, September 12, 2008
If you found a proven way to excite your kids to write and learn while teaching them to
respect their parents, teachers & community at the same time, would you investigate it further?
I’m Hillary Kilpatrick, booking manager for Peter Nevland.
Rarely have I met someone who can access kids hearts and leave them with tools for their
brain, permission to explore, & inspiration to write or perform. Peter brings depth and
innocence back into learning by taking writing & drama outside of text books and dropping it
into the lives of kids in a relevant and exciting way. I’ve personally seen students with very
little writing ability and virtually no self confidence transformed into inspired, enthusiastic
writers who can’t wait to do their homework through his seminars. He doesn’t use any mind
tricks or weird stuff, just his own passion, humor, understanding and experience as a worldwide performer.
If you’d like to find out more, check out his creative writing or dramatic workshop curriculums.
He won’t let me charge more than $500 for a full day of workshops, because he wants to
inspire kids and make it affordable for a school’s budget. Once you’re satisfied that he would
inspire your students, contact me with possible dates, and I’d be happy to work you into his
schedule.
I can’t wait to hear from you,
Hillary Kilpatrick
512-804-9757
“Many of his strategies helped teach some of our students that are usually uninterested
in school. These students really connected with him and his ideas. His strategies
helped our students gain useful techniques for the writing TAKS test and also
showed them a practical use for creative writing skill in the real world.”
-Lauren Kelly
Leander Middle School, Leander, TX
.
Who wants a Re-Bath?
Friday, September 12, 2008
Re-Bath Marketing
When I start uncovering a client’s “story”, many times I find that testimonials or customer experiences say it all. I can come in and tell you that Women, 34+, Homeowners, middle to high Income is your “target demographic”. However, knowing this doesn’t describe your customer to the fullest, does it? This example is a real customer of Re-Bath of Travis County (Austin, TX).
“There just aren’t words to describe just how beautiful our bathroom is. It was sooooo worth the $$$! We would do it all over again…and again. Extremely professional. They tore out our dated tub/shower and converted the space into a giant walk in shower. It was totally complete in just 2 days. I have recommended this company to all of my neighbors and my entire family.”
Jodi B. Austin, TX 34 (Yelp.com)
Jodi is a female, 34 years old, a homeowner, and obviously has expendable income. This is true, however, from this testimonial I, also, see that she is concerned about her home looking beautiful just from the very first sentence. She understands about Value versus Price, according to her second statement. She is looking for someone to “treat” her with professionalism, she needed more space to take a shower, and the time it took to complete the project was important to her. I was excited to find this testimonial, because it paints a perfect picture of who buys Re-Bath.
I will keep this example and use it to craft a message that will speak directly to all the Jodi’s out there ready to buy a Re-Bath.
Let your customers reveal who you are. They can say it much better than you can!