6 Ways to Help Your Business Weather the Economic Storm
If the economy isn’t impacting your business, that’s great news in and of itself. But many freelancers are feeling the pinch from the global economy’s condition. Whether your business is thriving or flailing, try implementing these tips to help your business stay strong despite a weak economy. Not only do these ideas help you better reach potential customers, but they offer the kind of practical marketing advice you’ll want to continue to implement long after the stock market recovers.
Show the value
Instead of being vague in your claims about how you can help your clients, post testimonials and case studies on your website that demonstrate how you were able to get tangible, measurable results for your other (similar) clients. A case study is much more interesting to read than boring facts about how you helped a client. It shows how you helped your client in real life and includes specific obstacles and challenges you overcame. To potential customers, it shows that you can do the same for them.
Promote the freebies
Are you giving away a free consultation or an e-book? Play it up! Prospective customers will find value in free information and could be more likely to retain you because of that! Try adding a graphic image of the free thing prominently on your website. It’s a great idea to show a testimonial or two if you’ve got them.
Tailor a media pitch
Promote your company without paying for an ad by using the press. Newspapers are usually receptive to printing information that others find valuable. Offer tips related to your industry and include a paragraph at the end with a short blurb about your company and link to your website. If the newspapers don’t print that, you may also want to put in at least a sentence of dialogue commenting on one of the tips. That way you can attribute it to yourself and your business to gain exposure.
Double up
If you’re promoting something, use multiple avenues to do so. For example, don’t just use radio advertising—try an email newsletter to reach clients as well. Different clients are receptive to different forms of media, so make sure you take advantage of all of them!
Explore a joint venture
By partnering with another company that’s not a direct competitor, you can get access to their clients. For example, run a joint promotion that you’re pairing up to offer something new. You can also offer a referral fee to that company, should they give you business. In addition, it’s great to pair up with another company to share costs on expenses such as web marketing, trade shows and other promotional events. Check out how I recently buddied up with Von Glitschka—we shared holiday cards for our clients!
Raise your rates
This may sound a little odd, considering our financial circumstances as a whole these days, but clients know that they get what they pay for. A slight rate increase isn’t necessary to show that your services are top-quality, but it can reflect that. Many experts recommend this, so I wanted to include it as something you may try. But I do think you’ll want to consider doing this for yourself more than the economy. Try the aforementioned steps first!
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Great tips! I actually found that niching myself into CSS and raising rates to $65-$95 an hour has increased my business so much I can’t believe I’d only been chargiung $35 for so long! And what’s better, even though I really only advertise my CSS services, I still get programming, design, and social media marketing business.
Don’t forget that alot of potential customers will be looking for alternatives to their usual, more expensive, design agencies, and having your prices too low could mean they overlook you.
good article thank you Kirsten. Would it not also be advisable to take advantage of the slow times to learn a new skill or to work on some amazing personal project that will make your portfolio amazing to potential clients ?
Are you for real? Rase your rates? How? How on earth would this work?
@tripdragon
YES! Consumers respond to what they perceive as a superior, quality product. Perceived value is much more powerful than many other fancy and glossy methods, and it’s more profitable as well!
For example, is a 50k automobile is of better quality than a 20k auto? Maybe, maybe not. But you already have an idea of the quality when you hear the price.
Raise your rates, but don’t forget to back it up with your best work!
Amber, Awesome job raising your rates. I want to do the same but I’m nervous I’ll lose out on some business…. How do you find most of your clients?
Excellent content here and a nice writing style too – keep up the great work!
Mark,
Most of them come from fae to face networking events here in Nashville, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
You might lose some clients, but the ones you lose are normally the problem clients anyways
Good Luck!
I like your idea of raising your rates! People will value your more!
It’s a double edged sword. I would say to raise your rates with caution, & if possible, raise them differently (this means, price your projects differently)
Rates is tricky, but it’s like studies have shown that companies investing in marketing during recessions come out on top. Like I said, it’s not for everyone but worth a mention. Read up on it–you’ll find it’s common!
I’ve found that raising my rates has worked quite well. It’s part of a larger strategy to lift my game as a designer and photographer. In other words, higher rates gains more income for Martha and provides better work for the clients.
Great tips and suggestions for all level of entrepreneurs. I agree with you on many things, however some hasn’t work that much for me, but again, I like many points which were unknown to me before.
Thanks again for sharing..