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[INFOGRAPHIC] How to avoid the painful experience of bad clients!

Creative Powerhouse shows you how to learn from the lessons, recognize red flags, and avoid the painful experience of bad clients.

Photo credit: pexels.com

WARNING SIGNS

Wisdom comes to those who have experienced some of life’s most painful lessons. Unfortunately, many amateur digital marketers ignore all of the red flags and forage full steam into many avoidable mistakes.

Most of the time, these mistakes stem from having unrealistic expectations which results in productivity nightmares and the client demands which take up too much time. It is hard to trust your intuition or to be picky about who you work with when you are just starting out in your careers.

Seasoned professionals have honed their instincts, know how to turn down lucrative projects and can fire clients when they begin to take advantage of your abilities.

EXPECTATIONS

Problems stem from differing expectations between the client and you, the digital marketer. It is important to set the expectations from day one, and work towards achieving manageable goals.

Never tell your client that you are available to them at any time as that is not a realistic promise to keep easily. Accept responsibility when other projects get in the way of clients who are under similar deadlines.

ACTIONS/RESULTS

Your clients will appreciate when you are absolutely clear on expected actions and results. It is a good habit to be proactive and never complacent with every client’s deadline.

Always keep contact with clients after achieving their goals and be clear on what they are going to get. Clients will appreciate the needed attention and the clear explanation on deliverables.

CLARIFICATION

Do your homework (aka due-diligence) prior to taking on new clients or prior to starting a new project. The work that you do before projects begin is worth its weight in gold.

Have a complete understanding of who the client is, what their needs are, and what you’re able to provide them. Not doing so puts you at considerable risk of failure and establishing a negative reputation in the marketing community.

BUDGETS

It’s easy to become overworked and even easier to allow yourself to be under-compensated for the work. “Working yourself to death” as they say, is never a good idea and knowing that you can’t make every client happy is crucial to your own happiness.

Proposals should include a full list of your services and you should try to stick with the agreed upon plan. Money doesn’t solve all of your problems so if you are feeling overworked but properly paid, you may find it necessary to turn away income.

Photo credit: pexels.com

KNOW YOUR WORTH

Digital Marketers are in high-demand right now, so be sure to get paid what you deserve. The only way to know your real worth is to continually assess your skills, and conduct research on your industry’s salary ranges.

No one owns you. You decide when to stop service or ask for more money. Ethical business people understand this better than anyone else.

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Look for Part II of How to avoid the painful experience of bad clients! blog post coming soon to chrisfry.org.

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Infographic

The following Infographic is intended for the digital marketing freelancer or small startup design shop who seeks to avoid bad clients or learn what to do with them. This infographic chunks-out small pearls-of-wisdom to remember.

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blog-masthead-persuasive-marketing-rhetoric

The Methods of Persuading Customers

The methods of persuasion includes
Ethos.,Pathos.,Logos.,Telos.,Kairos.

Discover the 2,300-year-old secrets from the greatest marketer who ever lived. Here’s why your “out with the old, and in with the new” reasoning is not convincing your customers. 

 

Aristotle

Greek philosopher

Born: June 19, 384 BC, Stagira, Greece
Died: March 7, 322 BC, Chalcis, Greece

Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher was not only one of the greatest intellectual figures of Western history, he was in many ways, the father of marketing. Most people are aware of his methods of persuasion — ethos, pathos, and logos — but there are lesser known methods of persuasion to include in the mix. Telos and Kairos are appeals that marketers would benefit in knowing, in order to persuade customers to buy product.

In Aristotle’s day, persuasive speech was a form of rhetoric in which young men were taught to win legal cases — these case often involved disputes over land and property. These ancient rhetorical techniques have been used throughout the centuries, in one form or another, and have found their way into modern advertising and marketing strategies.

Let’s take a look at Aristotle’s methods of persuasion and discover the ancient marketing secrets behind successful modern brands!

Ethos

The appeal to credibility. Ethos today can be found in many celebrity endorsed products and services. People by nature emulate those they admire and covet, so it is only natural that those same people will try to purchase the very items owned by celebrities.

Pathos

The appeal to emotion. Pathos is a powerful technique used by many charities and companies. Pulling at the ole’ heartstrings of your audience is sure to empty the wallets of your customers, if it is done correctly.

Logos

The appeal to logic. No one makes a better appeal to its customer’s logic like Apple, Inc. Each year they convince their customer’s to purchase new products using logic and reason. The logical appeal cites facts, statistics, charts, data, and graphs.

Telos

The appeal to purpose. Religious, spiritual centers, self-help organization and even the NASA, all make appeals to the audience’s sense of purpose. Believe, tithe, and convert more “tithers” is the purpose of the religious, spiritist, and the self-helpers. NASA wants you to believe our purpose is to colonize Mars and appeals to our sense of doom for our species if we don’t.

Kairos

The appeal to timeliness. Marketing is about delivering the right promotion about the right product, at the right price, at the right place, at the right time, and to the right person—hence, the proverbial 4 P’s of marketing (product, price, place & promotion) are found in this statement. Kairos is a crucial component in this mix because it draws from the audience’s sense of anxiety and anticipation.

13 of the
Most Persuasive Ads
We’ve Ever Seen

CLICK HERE

Wrap-up

Persuasive philosophy from 2,300 years ago has generated trillions of dollars in our modern times. If your “out with the old, and in with the new” reasoning is not convincing your customers, then it would behoove you to read up on Aristotle’s rhetoric. Discover the 2,300-year-old secrets from the greatest marketer who ever lived, could help your business generate dollars through the methods of persuasion.

 

How do you make your marketing and advertising more persuasive? Let me know in the comments below…

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Fine Feathers Kombucha company had a dire marketing problem and here’s my transformative solution!

 

The following Fine Feathers Kombucha rebranding was a Graphic, Web, and Multimedia (GMW) class assignment at New England Institute of Technology in East Greenwich, RI USA.

Fine Feathers Kombucha Company, located at 2296 Long Beach Blvd, Long Beach, CA, is a local company which uses a signature small-batch fermentation process, using high-quality teas to yield flavorful, fragrant, and complex probiotic teas. 

Fine Feathers Kombucha Company’s website depicts eight handcrafted artisanal kombucha products targeted towards hipster millennials. There is also a slant towards bohemianism.

Bohemianism: the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties. It involves musical, artistic, literary or spiritual pursuits.

Wikipedia

Purpose for Rebranding

The specific intended objectives/affordances for my rebranding is to leave the consumer with a clear understanding of what they are drinking (tea), and all of its nutritional benefits. The new logo tells only a part of the brand story and its value proposition. The feather, effervescent bubbles, and distinctive typography reflects the “viably healthy and effervescent tea.” 

Case Study: Rebranding Process 

  • Fine Feathers Kombucha Company is a woman-led kombucha brewing company located in Long Beach, California. The target audience is  #mindfuldrinking millennials of all gender bases, who appreciate the bohemian and healthy lifestyle.
  • The specific intended objectives/affordances for my rebranding is to leave the consumer with a clear understanding of what they are drinking (tea), and all of its nutritional benefits. The process involves redesigning the advertisement media buy artwork and public relations rollout messaging. 
  • The rebranding includes a social media plan with graphic and actual posted language. 
  • The rebranding includes customer relationship management (CRM) on Facebook primarily to encourage consumer to post photos of the Fine Feathers bottles, with custom hashtags for example. 
  • The new value proposition: “Viably healthy, mindfully engaged, and holistically sustainable, effervescent tea.” 
  • Mission Statement: Fine Feathers mission introduces people to new dimensions of kombucha experience. Our kombucha products are both pleasant and beneficial with probiotics and enzymes that are present in the brews.
  • Affordances: The specific intended objectives/affordances for my rebranding is to leave the consumer with a clear understanding of what they are drinking (tea), and all of its nutritional benefits. 
  • SWOT Analysis
    • Strengths: Fine Feathers Kombucha Company markets its local products to young hipster millennials who seek a new dimension of kombucha experience. Fine Feathers offers a signature style of kombucha products that are both very pleasant and beneficial (through probiotics, enzymes, etc. that are present in the brews). Fine Feathers is a Certified Green Business through The City Of Long Beach for its sustainability efforts and business practices. Fine Feathers is also proud members of Kombucha Brewers International, a non-profit organization that represents and unites commercial kombucha-makers from all over the world.
    • Weaknesses: Fine Feathers Kombucha Company only has eight flavors of Kombucha and a poor branded presence. Fine Feathers Kombucha Company is not carried in any major retail stores or in coffee shops like Starbucks. The lack of a mobile application with rewards, discounts, and giveaways is certainly a weakness. 
    • Opportunities: Fine Feathers Kombucha Company has an opportunity to offer more flavors and be carried in retail chains like WalMart, Whole Foods, etc. Fine Feathers Kombucha Company should also seek to have coffee houses like Starbucks and DD carry its expanded products.
    • Threats: Fine Feathers Kombucha Company’s poor branding and weak marketing could affect profits and create opportunities to better branded Kombucha makers.

Process

Through thorough research, careful analysis, and numerous sketches of logos, ads, and messaging, the rebranding process was born. Developing DiversificationPlans which includes a line extension of hard (>6% alc) and soft (<.04% alc) alcohol; a brand extension of kombucha infused toothpaste/mouthwash and multivitamin liqui-caps; and a co-branding products featuring kombucha Red Bull® NRG+ mix and a Starbucks® latte kombucha/espresso shot mixer, enabled creative approaches to market the brand beyond its current limits.

Solution

  • The solutions were simple at first—kill the mascot logo and replace it with a more relevant image to reflect the value of the brand. 
  • Conduct a SWOT analysis to understand the brand and its competition. 
  • Isolating and describing the SWOT Conclusion and including White Space: “Fine Feathers Kombucha Company is a poorly branded company with limited Kombucha flavors. Fine Feathers stakeholders and persona are young millenials and bohemians who enjoy variety, artistry, sophistication, spirituality, and intelligence. White space could include creating a mobile app to provide rewards, discounts and giveaways of Kombucha products.” 
  • Development of a New Value Proposition (including a reference to #MindfulDrinking): “Viably healthy, mindfully engaged, and holistically sustainable, effervescent tea.” 
  • Perfecting the Mission Statement: “Fine Feathers mission introduces people to new dimensions of kombucha experience. Our kombucha products are both pleasant and beneficial with probiotics and enzymes that are present in the brews.” 
  • The new logo tells only a part of the brand story and its value proposition. The feather, effervescent bubbles, and distinctive typography reflects the “viably healthy and effervescent tea.” 
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Heidi Cohen, Chief Content Officer at Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide and President at Riverside Marketing Strategies

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Inbound content expert Heidi Cohen website and actionable marketing guide is full of marketing strategies and inbound tactic information. Heidi’s Actionable Marketing Guide is about her readers and provides them with marketing insights on social media, content marketing and mobile. Heidi offers her readers practical tips, valuable #insights, and smart #tactics that can easily be applied to a #marketing and business plans. These insights are what defines the site as “actionable.”

Heidi’s website includes an Actionable Marketing Guide Newsletter subscription on the homepage for readers to join her professional community. In her most recent article, Heidi describes what it means to be a part of a professional community and warns readers not to translate community to mean social media platform, email list or Slack.

Heidi’s website is full of helpful resources which includes links to Author Interviews, Marketing Books, and Business Books.

In addition, one very helpful menu item is found under Resource which includes:

  • Marketing Definitions
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  • Branding Definitions

Visit Heidi’s website at https://heidicohen.com and join her professional community today!

 

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