Scrappy Marketing Solutions Blog

Launch Your New Scrapbooking Product Reviewed on ScrapScene

Celebrity Scrapblogger Angie has posted a review of "Launch Your New Scrapbooking Product".

"...this e-book is full of tips and advice to get you started and lots of informative links to help you along the way.  Even if you are a scrapbook retailer, you will find useful advice that can be applied to your own promotions...From press releases to garnering wholesale orders to promoting your product, Angie covers it all."

Thanks, Angie!

You can read more about this valuable ebook here: Scrapbook Marketing ebooks

Shameless Self-Promotion in 10 Minutes or Less

Some great ideas posted in the comments of this post: Ten 10-minute self promotion activities.

Some suggestions include:

• read and comment on blogs in your niche
• send a "how are you doing" email or call to a non-active client/customer
• update your online portfolio
• leave promotional bookmarks and hand them out throughout the day

My answer/comment on Ilise's post was this:

...answer questions in your niche posted on LinkedIn's Answers. I've answered only three questions, but two of my answers were selected as "Best Answers", which shows up on my profile. Nice visibility, and increases exposure for my expertise.

I'd love to get some similar comments on this post - geared toward scrapbooking business self-promotion, of course.  What can you, and *have* you, done to promote your business in 10-minute blocks?

Shameless Self-Promotion with New Year’s Resolutions

In the words of Photojojo blogger Nichole Esmon, "Goodbye 2007, Hello Two Thousand and Awesome!"  (love the phrasing of that)

It's New Year's Eve, and many people's thoughts turn to resolutions.  Why not take a cue from Esmon and the Photojojo blog, and use resolutions to remind your customers of the great content you've been offering them?

A little background...Photojojo.com is an online store that sells photo-related products.  As such, their blog offers tons of valuable photo-related resources, presented in a fun, edgy writing style.  For New Year's, Esmon compiled a tip list of 19 photo resolutions for Photojojo's blog/newsletter.  Many of the tips refer back to content previously posted on Photojojo's blog. 

Very clever - a Scrappy Marketer's Hat Tip for this marketing-via-resolution-tipsheet idea.  It's actually quite useful for their readers - the tip list provides links to posts readers may have previously missed, or forgotten to follow up on.  But putting all these links in one post also reminds readers how much they enjoy reading Photojojo, and that oh yeah, they've been meaning to check out that cool gadget in the store.  Plus, all the internal links to specific posts also help with search engine juice.  Win Win.

So - what kind of resolutions list can you come up with for your business?  Triscape, makers of digital scrapbooking software FxFoto, could provide a list of "5 Photo Organization Resolutions for 2008".  Author Lisa Sanford could write up, "10 Cultural Holidays Not to Miss in 2008".  A local scrapbooking store could put together a simple "Getting to Done - 10 Scrapbooking Resolutions", with tips on quickly working through your stash (of photos AND/OR supplies!). 

What tips could you offer that would highlight content you've already written, and that would point people to the products/services you offer?  Give it some thought and get posting!  Feel free to leave a link to your professional resolution list in the Comments!

Marketing Tip: Speak Up!

There's nothing wrong with speaking up for yourself -- take the hint from my marketing client/friend, Susan White of Triscape.

Earlier this week, popular photo blog/newsletter Photojojo posted about one of their new "discoveries" - the circle cutter.  I admit, when I read this post, I scoffed a bit - scrapbookers have known about, and used, circle cutters since waaaaay back in the day.  (Though I must also admit I still remember the sheer joy I felt upon receiving my first circle cutter as a birthday gift back in 1998...oh, the ladybug pages and ice cream cones I did make!  But I digress...)

Well, Susan apparently didn't sit scoffing silently, as I did.  Apparently she contacted them to scoff to their faces.  (well, probably not quite so in-your-face as that - those New Englanders have such nice manners.)  She posted on her blog that circle cutters have indeed been around for a while and are a staple in many scrapbookers' tool shed.  Then she sent Photojojo a link to her blog post. Photojojo's response?  They blogged about it, and shared some linky love with her.  So now her name and her blog have been shared with the hundreds of people who read their blog.  And her appearance there is like an implied endorsement by Photojojo - sort of like, "this lady knows her stuff; you should check her out."

That's powerful marketing juju - Susan shared her knowledge and now comes off as an expert in her field.  (Now that term, she'll scoff at.)  But we all know positioning is very valuable when it comes to your brand - if people believe you are an expert, that you know what you're talking about, and that you're in tune with your industry, they're more likely to do business with you.

So when you see or hear something that doesn't sound quite right - or even sounds exactly right - speak up!  Email, leave a comment, or call in - agree or disagree and share your expertise.  It's an easy way to put yourself and your business in the spotlight.

A Scrappy Marketer's hat tip to Susan!  You go, girl!

Networking: Try the Gum Trick

Ran across a great ice-breaker-networking tip the other day -- Check out the first comment from David Scott in this poist: Taking the plunge in the networking pool.

Whenever I go to a workshop or seminar, I bring gum with me and I offer a piece to whomever I sit next to. Whether they accept it is unimportant. It breaks the ice and leads to further conversation.

Super advice to have in your bag of tricks for the upcoming MemoryTrends show!

Marketing Communications: Writing a Strong Bio

So my cyber-friend Clara Wallace, of Matter of Scrap, emailed me tonight about writing bio's:

I need to write a good bio - do you have any tips? :) 

I'm going to be on the editorial board for Simple Scrapbooks Digital Scrapbooking mag! :) So, that's why I am emailing - I thought you might have some tips on writing an intriguing bio. This would make a good topic for your marketing blog too.

Indeed it would!  (And yea for Clara!)

The best advice I got on writing a bio was from a Special Report I bought from PublicityHound.com.  It's Special Report #46: Tips for Rewriting Your Boring Bio.  It helped me rewrite my bio to my current one: About Angie Pedersen.  I have slightly different versions on my Typepad About page and on my WordPress About Angie page.  Also read the Publicity Hound's own bio for a good example.

Basically a strong bio tells a story.  It helps people get interested in why you're interesting.  ;)  For Clara's, for example, she could answer such questions as:

• How long have you been digi-scrapping?
• Why digi?  What do you love about it? 
• Any amusing (short) anecdotes about first digi projects?
• What is the foundation of your expertise?  (background in graphic arts/design, college major, etc)
• When did you start selling your designs online?
• What success have you had?  What are you known for?  Give specific numbers, quantities, length of time, subscribers, etc.
• What gets you jazzed, professionally, or in regards to your work?  What makes you "geek out"?
• What turning points or milestones have you experienced professionally?
• What DT credits do you have?  Who have you worked with?
• What projects have you been involved in behind-the-scenes?  What have you spear-headed?
• What are your professional goals?
• Where do you live?  (general geographic area is fine)  Who do you live with?
  

Seek out bios of other professionals, both in your industry and outside it, and try to pinpoint what you like about it.  If you like the casual, almost irreverent tone, try to figure out how you can achieve the same feeling when writing your own story.  And remember that it IS a story, like I said.  The bio's that list off work history and accomplishments are all well and good, but the ones that draw you in and make you want to meet the person tell a story, and give a glimpse of the subject's personality.

A good place to put your bio is on your website/blog (it basically becomes your About page) and in your scrapbooking press kit.  You can also craft a shorter version for brochures, resource boxes for the end of articles, class descriptions, and basically any marketing communication that needs a touch of your history and personality.

Chicken Soup for the Marketer's Soul

OK, so there's isn't a "marketer's soul" edition in the works by the folks at Chicken Soup, but after they hear this idea, maybe there will be!

You may have noticed that I recently mentioned my contribution to the new release, Chicken Soup for the Scrapbooker's Soul.  I also mentioned a couple of people whose names I recognized.

One person I mentioned was Ami Mizell-Flint, co-owner of Scrapbook University in San Angelo, TX.  I taught some classes for her a couple of years ago, and we've kept in touch since then.  It was nice to see her piece in the book, so I emailed to tell her, "Congrats!"

I was very impressed with her response:

We actually had a great event at the store-- We had a "Chicken Soup" party and book release. For every book we sold, we donated a can of Chicken Soup to our local soup kitchen.  Great press coverage. (You know we're all about the news!) 

We were on the 6:00 & 10:00 news, on "both" newstations in town, and also the "on the hour" news reports on 4 radio stations!  As a result of all the coverage, we had an UNBELIEVABLE weekend.  Only the newspaper didn't pick up the story; not sure why. Hopefully I can bug them just a little bit more, for a "follow-up" story.

So far, we'll be donating 90 cans of soup to the soup kitchen!

How's THAT for an awesome marketing tie-in idea??  It has AWESOME zing to attract media attention.  I'm so proud of Ami and Jody for executing this simply beautiful/beautifully simple idea!

Make Your Marketing Smarter, Not Harder

BY C.J. Hayden, MCC

I've been asking successful independent professionals lately what it was they did that launched their success. What activity helped them the most to stop struggling to market themselves and start finding clients with more ease?

The diversity of their answers has been intriguing, but I've been struck by what they haven't said as well as what they have. So far, not a single person has told me they ultimately got more results from their marketing by working harder.

This may seem to be at odds with what we learn about marketing from books, classes, consultants, and coaches. Given the volume and variety of ideas these experts share with us, aren't they suggesting we need to do "more"? Or is it possible that the message to work harder is just our own interpretation? Perhaps what the experts are really advising is something different.

There is a certain threshold of marketing activity every professional needs to cross. You can't sit in your office communicating with no one and expect clients to arrive at your door. Nor can you accomplish results with your marketing if you don't make time for it in your calendar. But once you are regularly taking action about marketing, the secret to success appears to be working smarter, not harder.

How do you tell the difference between working harder at marketing and working smarter? Here are some comparisons:

Harder: Place more cold calls to new prospects.
Smarter: Follow up regularly with warm calls to people with whom you already have a connection.

Harder: Launch a direct mail campaign, sending sales letters to a prospect list you purchased or compiled from public sources.
Smarter: Send personal letters or email to people whose problems and goals you have some knowledge of.

Harder: Attend more networking events.
Smarter: Attend only those events frequented by people in your target market or by likely referral partners.

Scrapbook Marketing Article Archive

Well, an archive of articles I've written anyway!  I took some time last night and scanned in six articles I've written for magazines over the past year or so, and converted them to PDF.  I've posted them in the Scrappy Marketing Solutions Press Room.

Three of them were featured in trade magazines (Craftrends and Scrapbook Retailer), so my guess is that many of you weren't able to read them.  Now's your chance!

• “Word Power,” Craftrends, May 2006 (PDF — 4 pages, 1.5MB)
• “On the Cutting Edge,” Scrapbook Answers, Feb/Mar 2006 (PDF — 8 pages, 3.4MB)
• “I, Blogger,” Scrapbook Answers, Feb/Mar 2006 (PDF — 3 pages, 1.2MB)
• “I Should Be the One to Say Thanks,” Scrapbook Answers, Nov. 2005 (PDF — 2 pages, 928KB)
• “What’s the Big Blog?”, Scrapbook Retailer, Oct. 2005 (PDF — 3 pages, 611KB)
• “Making It Last,” Craftrends, Jan. 2005 (PDF — 4 pages, 5.7MB)

As I continue to write articles, I will continue to post them in my Press Room, so all may enjoy and benefit from my magnificent wisdom.  ;)

Blog Marketing: An Example from Boxer Scrapbooks

I recently saw a great example of using a manufacturer's blog to promote product : Boxer Scrapbooks Weblog: Let's hear it for the Red, White & Blue!

In this post, Angie not only provides photos of how her product can be used in out-of-the-layout ways, but she also provides specific step-by-step instructions.  This is perfect!  Not only can consumers see cute ideas of ways to use her product (and hopefully are so inspired to go out and purchase the necessary supplies), but paper crafting instructors now have ideas for class projects. 

In promoting my own books, I've found that teaching classes to "train the trainer" and offering class kit CDs is promotional time well spent.  Give instructors the resources they need to promote your products, and you essentially create your own sales force.  Get them pumped about your products, and you have your own "ambassadors".  This is much more effective and time-efficient than reaching single consumers individually.

And in the example I mentioned above, Angie did this via her blog.  Yet another example of effective Blog Marketing!

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