My success with Groupon
Posted on | April 4, 2011 | 14 Comments
Wow, it’s been a while since I posted anything new here. Been concentrating mostly on responding to the rapidly changing marketplace, and spending what extra time I had with my grandchildren, the light of my life.
Most of you have at least heard the name Groupon, but you may not be familiar with the specifics.
I discovered it last summer, and found the concept intriguing. Groupon offers daily special deals on selected products. The special typically only lasts a day or two, and provides a deep discount on a product or service, typically 50% or more. They have millions of subscribers who get their emails every day, and probably have thousands in your area.
When a customer buys the deal, you get half the money, and Groupon gets half the money. So, while you get a lot less for what you’re selling, you only pay for the amount of success you have; no up-front money and no risk.
Wouldn’t it be nice if EVERY advertising medium only charged you for your level of success? No more wasted marketing money.
My first thought was that this would be perfect for restaurants, or coffee shops, or hair salons; places that developed clientele who would visit on an ongoing basis. You’d lose a bit up front due to the discounting, but you’d enlarge your regular client base.
I found it an intriguing idea, but hadn’t done anything to follow up and see how it might fit in my business. That is, until they called ME in early November last year.
I figured it was worth a try, since there’s no loss if it doesn’t work.
But what to offer?
Certainly not a 50% discount on prints! Certainly not 50% discount on wedding photography!
But when I structure my pricing, I include session fees with the thought that they could be discounted or given away, and I’d still make my margin on my minimum investments that come with each session.
Our studio is moving away from seniors and weddings, two markets that are really struggling in my area. Both are down substantially in our area.
With the advent of Footprints On The Heart (see the previous articles), we’re moving more towards Relationships photography. I want to be known for something very specific in my market, not just as a general photographer. But I wanted that specific to be broad enough that there was plenty of potential business.
So, when Groupon called, I decided to offer Family Portrait Sessions from our Footprints On The Heart program at a deep discount. And, as a side thought, I added membership in our Baby Steps first year program as well. $65 one hour family portrait session for $19; $99 for two hour session for $35 and the $99 Baby Steps membership for 35 also.
Well, it took until February to get into the schedule, and they scheduled the sale on a day when we would have no one in the office (we’ll fix that next time), but the results were great.
We sold 52 sessions, generating about $750 in income. But the surprising thing was that most of these were Baby Steps sessions. Some who were newly pregnant; some whos babies were already 2-6 months old (Our program provides newborn, 4 month, 8 month and 12 month, plus maternity).
We have 52 new clients, some of whom will be flakes, but many of whom will become good clients. 40 Baby Steps clients time 4 sessions in the next year time whatever our average will be from those session (I figure around $500) is $80,000 in added revenue in the next year, more than enough to compensate for our declining senior and wedding sales.
And I didn’t risk a dime. Somehow, you sleep better at night.
Plus, I discovered just how hot the market is out there for baby’s first year programs. That’s now going to be a central effort for us this year, much more than it would have been otherwise.
In these days when traditional marketing methods just aren’t working like they used to, and when the desires of the marketplace are changing so much, it’s really nice to find a new marketing avenue that works. Today’s customer live in an on-line world, so in addition to making a concerted effort to constantly blog, and to keep our website current and relevant, we’ll be making use of this tool again, probably next fall.
There are other similar organizations, but Groupon is the original, and the best known.
Give it a look. If you have any questions, post them here on the blog (www.portraitstudiomarketing.com/blog), so everyone can benefit from the discussion.
If you’re not a Groupon Subscriber, use my link to visit. On your first purchase, they’ll credit $10 to my account. I sure won’t get rich, but it will help me pay the hosting fees for this site.
Are You Cutting Out Much of Your Potential Website Audience?
Posted on | September 30, 2010 | 1 Comment
This morning, I tried to access the website of a local business on my Ipad. I got the following message:
“To enjoy this site, you’ll need to update your Flash Player”, followed by a download button.
Followed in turn by “Flash Player not available for your device”. The Ipad (and the Iphone, and the Ipod Touch) don’t support flash, for reasons known mostly to Apple.
Now, that’s obviously a problem in dealing with the increasingly mobile based world of the internet. Best Buy is reporting that the Ipad has cut into their laptop sales by 50% or more.
Why?
Well, based on my experience, it’s so much more convenient to whip out your ipad and read your email, browse the web, check into Facebook than it is to wait for your laptop to boot up and do the same thing. My Ipad travels with me throughout the day. But I don’t always have my laptop close at hand.
Flash based websites are cool, but they aren’t a great choice if you’re trying to actually bring in business with your website. Most of the templates people buy are way too limiting, too many photographers websites look the same, AND a growing number of users can’t access them.
Flash is GREAT for embedding slideshows (IF – BIG IF ) you choose an implementation that will detect a non-flash based mobile device and switch to an alternate method of display. These alternatives do exist. SlideShow Pro does this. So do ProPhoto Blogs WordPress based websties, and there are new plugins for WordPress that do the same thing.
So, if yours is a Flash website, it’s time to plan to make a change. Websites are SO important in today’s marketing world, and to have a crippled website is the marketing equivalen of Assisted Suicide (we have that here in Oregon).
“Disable Any Pop-up Blockers”
Posted on | July 3, 2010 | No Comments
I was checking out my search engine placement for some of my selected terms this evening, and came across a listing for someone I hadn’t heard of before. So I clicked on his website, and came to his Flash opening page (mistake number 1).
To actually see anything, you had to get past the landing page (mistake number 2). But in order to do so, the site advised “Please disable any pop-up blockers” (mistake number 3).
Don’t inconvenience me by making me change the configuration of my machine just to see your website. I might not even know HOW to disable my pop-up blocker. In all likelihood, I’ll just hit the back button and go on to the next website in the search listing.
There’s a great little book out called “Don’t Make Me Think”, which is all about how to structure your website to make it easy for people to visit. Disabling a pop-up blocker is certainly making the viewer think.
Make you’re website easy to navigate, intuitive to follow – both directions. Don’t make people guess how to find the information they might be looking for.
Website marketing is one of the top methods we have in our arsenal these days, and it’s important that your website be very effectively designed and implemented.
And, PLEASE – Don’t Make Me Think
The Power of the Referral
Posted on | July 1, 2010 | No Comments
Yesterday, the starter went out in my van. Once in a while it would actually turn over, but most of the time it just went “click”.
I did manage to get it started, but had no idea where to take it to get it fixed. I’ve had so few problems with this car that I didn’t have a regular mechanic, and somehow the thought of taking it to the dealer didn’t appeal to me, since a little internet research showed me that dealers are generally more expensive than independent mechanics.
But how to find a good shop in the morass that is auto repair. There are literally hundreds of shops in our town. I Never even thought of the yellow pages, the new version of which arrived on my door the day before. Most of the ads tell you NOTHING, and I actually can’t even remember the last time I looked up a service or product in that anachronistic book. Didn’t even want to try to find on on the internet because who know who you can really trust?
BUT, we’ve been taking my wife’s Honda to a local shop that SPECIALIZES in working on Hondas, and they’ve done a fabulous job for us for the last 4 year or so since we discovered them. But they don’t work on Dodge Caravans, even if I tried putting a Honda hood ornament on it.
So, I piled my dog in the car (totally irrelevant, but I love my Golden Retriever and he goes everywhere with me), and drove to my wifes mechanic. Leaving the van running I walked in the door, and asked who they’d recommend. I wanted someone close, and someone they’d take their cars to if necessary.
They gave me the name of a shop about 6 blocks away. Crosby and I quickly headed over there.
Because of the recommendation from someone I trusted, I never even questioned that this was where I would take my van.
The end result – I now have a new favorite place to take my vehicle. They did a great job, communicated well, did it on time, and gave me a heads up on some other work I was going to need to get done before too long.
That’s the power of referrals. I was pre-sold when I walked in the door. I had trust an confidence because of the referral.
And even more importantly, they took good care of me, understanding that a referral reflect on the referring party as well. Had they not, it might have lessened my trust in the Honda shop.
And that’s why we should be doing as much referral marketing as possible. It works, and it’s cheap. Even if my new shop sent a thank you give to the referring shop, it’s very inexpensive marketing, given the lifetime value of a happy customer. In the next 90 days, I’ll be worth about $1200 to them.
So how’s your referral marketing process? Mine’s pretty sloppy right now, and that’s something we’re fixing. A few years ago we had a much more formal process, but with all the changes, we let it slide, and now it’s time to put it back in place.
I’m right now reading John Jantsch’s book The Referral Engine (see the bookstore in the sidepanel). The first half talks all about the importance of creating a product an service that’s imminently referrable, which is not what I expected, but something I very much needed to read and internalize. I’ll let you know about the second half as I finish it.
What You Can Learn from Roger Ebert
Posted on | June 12, 2010 | No Comments
I subscribe to a number of different marketing related blogs, and one of them is the Copyblogger.com.
They recently posted an article entitled ” What All Content Creators Need To Learn From Roger Ebert“.
The article makes some great points that apply directly to what we do, regardless of copywriting.
Focus on what you do well; do it long an vigorously
Use your Life Experiences to fuel your work. Be forthright and frank whenever you talk about yourself
Let your passion carry yourself through hardships. Let your passion spill into your content [or your creation of portraits]
The article is worth a few minutes to read, especially if you ever start to feel sorry for yourself as we slodge our way through the current economic downturn. You’ll find it inspiring and I think DEAD ON.
Writing these articles has turned out to be one of my sweet spots. It’s something I’m passionate about, and I hope it spills over into what I create and share with you.
Our new website – Footprints On The Heart - is a reflection of several of my passions. As the author of this article states in one of his final points “If even a fraction of that passion spills into your content, the potential to build your audience and develop true fans is huge.” I’m hoping that is the case with both my projects.
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What I'm Now Reading
Planned books:
- Younger Next Year: Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy – Until You’re 80 and Beyond by Chris Crowley, Henry S. Lodge
Current books:
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The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself by John Jantsch
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Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day by Chris Treadaway, Mari Smith
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Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition by Michael A. Stelzner
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Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage by Ann Handley, C.C. Chapman
