Advertising Your Company.

[Pete McCrea]

Hi,

......doing a bit more and helping pick up some of the slack the freelance work is currently experiencing

Cheers

s

 

 

Find events organisers and persuade them they want to use you for smaller jobs?

 

Josh

 

I think you'll find the whole market is slack. We have never had so many freelancers getting in touch with us, and had to fight so hard for what work is out there. Our industry is a very relational one. Our current focus is getting out and meeting the people that count, and building relationships with them so that when they need kit they turn to you. The website is in some-ways just a small but essential part of the strategy that you need to have together.

 

You also need to give people a reason to use you. Whether it's price, or another USP. However I'd warn against competing on price alone as this to my mind will only ever do damage to the industry, forcing down expectations and the ability to build a healthy sustainable industry.

 

So in essence:

1) Build Relationships

2) Have a USP

3) Be prepared to work bl**dy hard at the moment.

4) Don't compete on price alone.

[indyld]

The Google advertising seems to be doing very little for me at the moment, tho is that more likely to do with the whole market been flat and people just not doing events (on the smaller end <400 ppl audiences) needing to hire sound or is Google ad’s just a cash cow?

 

Anyway all thoughts, advice, comments etc.. appreciated

 

The online side is my area, so here's the thing. The Google ad network is a fantastic tool if:

 

Your target market genuinely uses Search to find and choose your product area.

You understand how to use it effectively.

 

Google advertising is so easy to sign up to and get a campaign going that you can do it in minutes, even if:

 

Your target market doesn't really buy using Search or in-content refferals.

You don't know the first thing about internet marketing, managing ad campaigns or search traffic. The whole CPM, CTR, Conversion, Bounce Rate shebang.

 

This makes Adwords a good way to spend money fast, as is often mentioned. Googles network is a cash cow for them, but it can work for the advertiser too because you can target potential customers looking for exactly what you have to offer, in your region of the world. However, I would imagine that if only people who really knew their stuff could sign up, Google would make a lot less money in "wasted" clicks. The trouble with going with the pro's is that many Adwords management firms take a percentage of monthly spend - er, hello?

 

The main thing to remember is that online, a 1% conversion rate is considered good. That's a lot of tyre kickers, idle clickers and dead ends. I am not sure the pro production industry is that keen on Googling for new suppliers, so we are left with the "end client" market looking for the cheapest deal. The classic internet customer.

 

Keep reviewing the effectiveness of your Adwords campaigns with cold calculation. Just because it's only costing £1 a day, doesn't mean that it's cost effective.

[stories]

Thanks for the reply Rob. That just about confirms all I've discovered so far about google ad’s.. Defiantly easy to get in to, defiantly easy to let run away with, defiantly easy to add badly related search terms that bring you up in the wrong searches and then you pay when people click threw with, and defiantly a necessary evil I think.

 

So that beg’s the question, how are others finding ad words and other internet based advertising working for them? Does it ever work in for small companies trying to get there name out there?

 

I would be fairly sure the production industry as a whole rarely seeks out new suppliers via Google, but down the smaller end (where I’m personally at and I would have though most people asking this sort of question are at), the clients are less industry and more organisations or individuals that are looking for services, don’t necessarily know what they are after or where to get it from and more importantly need to source locally as there budget doesn’t support going further afield . At least that’s my understanding and hope…?!

 

Cheers

 

Matt

[smalljoshua]

I don't use Google Ad Words.

 

I Have been very careful to chose the wording on my homepage to contain as many different search terms as possible.

 

Just to show where my sites traffic comes from, last month I got 55% of my traffic from the Blue-Room

 

16% from Google, 15% Direct Traffic and 7% from http://www.freeindex.co.uk.

 

I've never paid for any advertising and I am getting over 2,000 visits and over 10,000 page views per month.

 

Josh

[drsound]

I'm only surmising from personal experience and a little knowledge of 'professional' marketing but I think it would be fairly safe to say that ours isn't an industry where investing in either print or internet advertising brings in much ROI. Our market is saturated with suppliers all offering pretty much identical products but spending (relatively) very small sums on marketing. I used to work for a large multinational whose main consumer product had around 40% market share in the UK. Their marketing budget ran into tens of millions just to maintain that market share.

 

As Pete mentioned, a unique selling point can be something worth pushing and this is often where editorial content can be worth its weight in gold. Being the only company to offer the shiny new Super Duper Mega Blitzer is interesting to people and can genuinely bring in the beans. On the other hand you won't maintain that USP for long and will need to come up with something else. Most of us don't invent new products and don't hold patents, trademarks or copyright. We just rent other people's products to those who can't or won't buy them. When you look at is objectively, it really is a rubbish business model.

 

As any marketing course will tell you the most important part is to identify your target audience and then assess the most effective way of reaching them. If you're aiming entirely towards hiring marquees and lighting for weddings, for example, then yell.com and a few wedding shows might be your best route. If your normal clients take gear that will fill 6 forty foot trailers then it's going to take more than a £300 yell.com advert to do the trick.

 

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has ever consulted a marketing agency with repect to promoting a PA or lighting hire company. I would imagine that they'd recommend steering clear of print advertising unless your budget is large enough to fund a sustained campaign. I suspect their recommendation might well echo Pete's: go back to basics and spend as much time as possible visiting people. Do not cold call on the telephone or email, this has a crap conversion rate. Go and see people in your chosen market and talk them into using your services. If, like me, you have no personality, pay someone convincing to do it for you. Once you have made that initial impression you need to follow up on it with a phone call or a second visit. This is where an accessible website comes in useful. I agree that it probably won't generate much business on its own but it will all help in converting contacts into clients.

 

A question for anyone who will tell: What is your marketing budget as a percentage of your annual turnover? Ours is about 5% and growing all the time. In better times it was nearer 2%. Turnover is still growing but we're working harder to get it.

[indyld]

A question for anyone who will tell: What is your marketing budget as a percentage of your annual turnover?

 

I am also interested in this, if anyone will give us an idea.

 

Having worked with many companies in this business, my hunch is that the majority of spend in securing new work is actually in the "hidden" costs of pitching , creating proposals etc - rather than lead generation.

 

As someone who does 3D CGI visuals for corporate co's I am always amazed at the amount of resources that have to be put into glossy pitches and presentations just to get the blue chip gigs. Even a local hire co has to spend time glad handing the local am drams who want their usual 4 fresnels every year.

 

So, what about creating the actual leads? Does anyone have dedicated resources for this?

[lightsource]

I used to work for a large multinational whose main consumer product had around 40% market share in the UK. Their marketing budget ran into tens of millions just to maintain that market share.

 

I also worked for a worldwide company, that spent more than that, just on the Nascar car that wizzed round the track in the States!

 

 

We just rent other people's products to those who can't or won't buy them. When you look at is objectively, it really is a rubbish business model.

 

That's not true at all. Any hire company, weather it be Vehicle rental, Sound, Lighting, Costumes (and any other type of hire company I can't think of here), has a very simple business model - Supply and demand.

 

Would a gig promoter really buy £100k of lighting for an event he puts on once a year?

 

Hire companies exist to satisfy a very expensive and technical industry, where the option for the customer to purchase a solution is either too expensive, or they don't have the technical skills required, or both.

 

The key is to have the right equipment for the customers, then (like in Production:AV's case) is add useful new gear that can expand a client base.

 

Pete McCrea, formally Little DJ :D said in LSI -

 

Production:av, an audio visual services provider to the events industry based in Gloucestershire, reports an expanding client base achieved through continual investment in new technologies. "We are finding customers are not just looking for the cheapest price", says Peter McCrea, managing director and founder of the company, "but for the technology best suited to meeting their needs whilst providing good value."

 

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has ever consulted a marketing agency with repect to promoting a PA or lighting hire company.

 

I haven't done it, but a customer has (Promoter for a national Battle Of The Bands competition).

 

The marketing company was less than useless. This industry, at whatever end, is too niche market for most marketing companies.

 

A question for anyone who will tell: What is your marketing budget as a percentage of your annual turnover?

 

So far 0% The only physical expense I have is web hosting etc, and a few quid here and there on telephone calls. I will say, though, that I do get some printing for free (buisiness cards etc), as I maintain the printing company's computers.

 

As a footnote, I have now officially gained over £ 10,000 of work from MySpace customers, over the last 2 years.... and nearly £4k in the last week from 1 customer only. MySpace is a serious tool, if you know what you're doing, as it can put you in touch with promoters, bands, event organisers etc.

 

It's no use for the larger jobs, but we did get a Reverend And The makers gig through MySpace (When they were in their prime with 2 singles in the charts).

 

MySpace is free, it only needs time, and a little knowledge, and by adding the right people, can work wonders.

[Pete McCrea]

Some of the reading I've been doing recently has been on business skills and leadership. One key point that came out is that marketting has changed. No longer is it 'one to many (1 TV advert to 1000's) but it's 'many to many' through things such as MySpace, Facebook etc, and that it is now conversationally based. It's about getting out there amongst the clients and building the relationships and getting the brand known. Hence the LSI Online article etc.

 

So if your looking to pick up work in the local music scene, you need to be doing Myspace and getting out there, making friends of the bands, and promoters. Same if your looking at doing the bigger corporate stuff - you need to be seen and be involved with the conversations. But you need to do it with tact and not just rush in to it with guns blazing.

 

I'd also rather have 10 hits a week to the website that yield 10 quality phone calls than 10,000 hits a week that yield 1 phonecall. Yes if you want to have a spot of ###### measuring, then lots of hits is great, but I'd rather the quality.

[drsound]

We just rent other people's products to those who can't or won't buy them. When you look at is objectively, it really is a rubbish business model.

 

That's not true at all. Any hire company, weather it be Vehicle rental, Sound, Lighting, Costumes (and any other type of hire company I can't think of here), has a very simple business model - Supply and demand.

 

Ah well then, we'll just have to agree to disagree. I wouldn't be disrespectful enough to tell you that you were wrong though.

 

I think you misunderstand the purpose of my post. I'm not challenging the fact that the market exists. In fact the sound hire market, our core business, is estimated to be 526m euros in western Europe alone. I'm challenging the robustness of the business model for any company attempting to exploit a portion of that market.

 

My comment was based on the classic question for any entrepreneur - what is to stop someone else coming and taking away your market share? In our business: often nothing more substantial than the intangible asset of goodwill on which so much of our business is based. There is no barrier to entry into our market except capital investment and arguably recruiting the right people. There are no R&D costs - someone else has done it all for you. There are no licensing deals to be done, no patents to challenge or defend, no IP problems. Really, with a couple of million quid pretty much any of us could set up a mid-sized hire company with the same stock and services on offer as the existing organisations.

 

I believe you are incorrect about the supply and demand model. I reiterate that the market is most likely saturated almost all the time. How many organisations are rationalising or simply disappearing at the moment, by choice in some instances, due to lack of a sustainable business model following a period of stagnation in market size? The clever businesses read the market and prepare, the unfortuntate businesses don't prepare enough and the foolish businesses don't prepare at all.

 

Another question then. How many of use who own businesses in the event hire industry started them because of a genuine market demand? Did you spot a gap in the market and decide to fill it with a unique offering not available from another company? Several years down the line, do you still have the same competitive advantage?

 

We started ours because we love doing the job and want to be involved in the industry which I think is probably a common theme.

 

I repeat, not a great business model. I'd be astonished if anyone could find a way to get venture capital funding, probably one of the best metrics of business model robustness and sustainability, for a hire company in the last ten years. I look forward to seeing it on Dragon's Den.

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

And to get back on topic... :D

 

I couldn't agree more with Pete, the best marketing in my experience of many niche (ie non-consumer) indsutries is talking to people and listening to their needs.

 

I always carry business cards and if I'm mixing a band I'll give them a card and a 10 second introduction of what we can offer them. This costs a couple of pennies and I've got straight through to a potential client while also demonstrating (hopefully!) technical competenence and professionalism at the event. Just one caveat - avoid doing this when feeelancing for another company. Don't get a reuptation for stealing clients or you'll get nowhere very fast.

[lightsource]

Ah well then, we'll just have to agree to disagree. I wouldn't be disrespectful enough to tell you that you were wrong though.

 

I don't think it's right or wrong, just a difference of opinion. Over the years I have worked in many different industries, most very saturated.

 

I think you misunderstand the purpose of my post. I'm not challenging the fact that the market exists. In fact the sound hire market, our core business, is estimated to be 526m euros in western Europe alone. I'm challenging the robustness of the business model for any company attempting to exploit a portion of that market.

 

But surely that could be also said for most types of buisiness.

 

My comment was based on the classic question for any entrepreneur - what is to stop someone else coming and taking away your market share? In our business: often nothing more substantial than the intangible asset of goodwill on which so much of our business is based. There is no barrier to entry into our market except capital investment and arguably recruiting the right people. There are no R&D costs - someone else has done it all for you. There are no licensing deals to be done, no patents to challenge or defend, no IP problems. Really, with a couple of million quid pretty much any of us could set up a mid-sized hire company with the same stock and services on offer as the existing organisations.

 

There's nothing (with the couple of million quid you mention) to stop anyone from doing the same to any other type of business either, with possible exception to the likes of T3sco etc....

 

I think that the the point I'm trying to make, is that in this day and age, no business is safe. The hire industry is no more vulnerable than most other industries out there at this moment in time.

 

I believe you are incorrect about the supply and demand model. I reiterate that the market is most likely saturated almost all the time. How many organisations are rationalising or simply disappearing at the moment, by choice in some instances, due to lack of a sustainable business model following a period of stagnation in market size? The clever businesses read the market and prepare, the unfortuntate businesses don't prepare enough and the foolish businesses don't prepare at all.

 

Now this is where we differ, I notice that you're company is in the Oxford area, so I could imagine that the marker is fairly saturated where you are.... We're in the North East, and I could count the competition on one hand (or maybe 2 if I include the DJ Dave's who do PA :o ) But even then, we've been as far afield as Manchester and Northampton. We have a good demand for our services. I must admit, I wouldn't like to be based in the South, there does seem to be a lot of competition down there.

 

Another question then. How many of use who own businesses in the event hire industry started them because of a genuine market demand? Did you spot a gap in the market and decide to fill it with a unique offering not available from another company? Several years down the line, do you still have the same competitive advantage? We started ours because we love doing the job and want to be involved in the industry which I think is probably a common theme.

 

Ha, <_< I actually think I might have.... In the beginnings, there was a club band, I was the guitarist and keys programmer, I bought an initial PA for the band, and after

 

1 - deciding I didn't like to be ON the stage and

2 - could make just as much from the PA side of things,

 

quickly ditched the singer and the other guitarist, and Mute All Channels (the band), became Live Sound And Light. Our uniqueness, is simply we're bigger than a lot of the smaller companies in our area, but smaller than the bigger ones. (If that makes any sense )

 

I did it for years in the 80's, so for me, it was just going back to my roots.

 

So realistically a gap in the market was spotted.

 

I repeat, not a great business model. I'd be astonished if anyone could find a way to get venture capital funding, probably one of the best metrics of business model robustness and sustainability, for a hire company in the last ten years. I look forward to seeing it on Dragon's Den.

 

Apparently Peter Jones wants to invest more in the 'Enetertainment Indistry', I look forward to watching you pitch you're Ideas <_<

 

I doo seem to remember that there was a festival that got Den funding.......