By Dave Austin, “Music Professor”
Last month, I discussed an advertising principle known as Top of Mind Awareness and talked a bit about how we, as DJ business operators can employ that powerful tool. That topic comes from a marketing presentation which I’ve done for several organizations recently. In this program, I also talk about other inexpensive marketing techniques which we can use to increase customer awareness, and at the same time, increase our revenue.
Something I’ve developed for my business to increase and maintain my brand awareness is an electronic newsletter. On a more-or-less monthly basis, I email it to my business contact list and it has proven to be a low-cost method of advertising which has produced favorable results.
Each edition of my newsletter begins with a “lead” item – usually a business-related, and hopefully, interesting and informative article. I’ve used topics such as “text messages requesting price information from your business,” “music and sales success,”“customer service tips from Larry Williams’ book, “Customer Service A to Z,” “the power of practice in your chosen profession”… As most of those on my contact list are not DJs, I try to make these articles somewhat generic in nature so that most any business person can relate to the information.
In the second position on the page, I deliver my message – a soft sell or TOMA type. Here I’ve used topics such as “music for kids” in which I related how I selected the music for an end-of-school fun day, in another I talked about legendary disco songs and artists…in another, what’s involved with being a professional DJ…in still another, the value of hiring a professional. Each of these articles is intended to let the reader know that I’m a professional, I’m versatile, I’m music savvy, and I’m capable of providing quality service.
And…at the end, I include a motivational quote from a famous person. Then I close with my company logo, phone number and website address. Each article and the closing quote are accompanied by a related picture or photo to help give a more polished look, attract the reader’s attention, break up the visual monotony of a lot of copy, and simply because people like to look at pictures.
What I like most about the newsletter is the feedback I receive from it. I belong to a business networking group which meets every Wednesday morning and each member of the group is on my email list. It’s nice when I show up at the meeting and some of the members mention to me something they’ve read in my newsletter. If they’re taking time to read it, I’m pretty sure a lot of the other recipients who aren’t members of the group are also reading it.
Does it take time to write and send out the newsletter? Yes! Have I gotten results from it? Absolutely! I can point to at least one wedding which came directly from someone who remembered my DJ business because of receiving my newsletter. Remember – the purpose here is to keep your business name in front of potential customers (repetition and brand awareness) so that at some time in the future – when there’s a wedding in their family, a holiday office party, a class reunion, etc. – rather than undertaking a search for a DJ, yours is the name that has already been established in their minds.
A word of caution here: Your newsletter is a direct reflection of your business. It conveys the image of who and what you are. So, if you are going send out a newsletter, it should have a neat and professional look…it should have interest to a broad segment of the recipients…(put yourself in the recipient’s place – if you received it, would you take the time to read it?) It should be somewhat brief, bearing in mind that business people are time-conscious and also that attention spans can be brief. Check the accuracy of your information – go to Wikipedia or other sources to make sure what you’re writing is correct. I cannot over-emphasize the importance of good grammar and spelling. Use that spell-checker, proof read your copy – several times – before mailing. Mistakes can happen – find them before your recipient does!
There are numerous methods by which you can market you business without breaking the bank and I’ll talk about some more of these in my next article. In the meantime, think about ways you can create more contacts and develop your market awareness, and then put some of those ideas into action. You’ll like the results!
