The marketing thread

Remember that part of marketing is branding, and your branding should appeal to your customer, not to you. That’s sort of easier if you happen to be your customer, but you can get opinions from others if it’s not. Try showing someone your logo, your products, your packaging, your product descriptions, whatever it is, and ask them who they think your target customer is. That will be a little more informative than showing someone your logo and asking if it would appeal to mothers, 30 to 45 years old :slight_smile:

Not really to do with marketing, but be careful about offering too many options. It tends to make fewer people purchase because they’re overwhelmed with all the choice. It doesn’t really take all that much to overwhelm them, either. So, you might want to offer product x in 30 different colors, 10 different materials, 3 different sizes, etc, etc. Just because you can offer all of those options, doesn’t mean you should right off the bat.

7 Likes

I have prototyped my initial “front page” product. Made it out of cardboard, then pretended my Dremel was a laser and cut one out of wood. Hardest part was making the laser sounds for as long as it took to cut everything out. Honestly, I haven’t had it in front of kids or teachers yet, but I miss being in classrooms so hopefully I’ll find time for that soon.

What is hard to prototype is custom offerings. Part of what I want to offer is stuff that is individualized to each classroom. That will possibly allow me to set up subscriptions or something that go out every school year or every quarter or something.

Thanks for the advice!

8 Likes

You can prototype custom offerings. Just do a few pieces from what you consider extreme ends of customization.

If the customization is “just” unique child names, then show them the shortest and longest name you can think of.

If it is full on image customization, do soething pathetically simple and obviously slapped together, and something near-museum worthy.

If customization is more involved than that, then put together one of what you expect most people to think of first, one that is what you wish people would think of, and one that is the most difficult you can think of to actually make.

This will let you show a range of options, and hopefully get them thinking fluid instead of rigid. It also helps you to define the range of what is possible, should they surprise you and ask for something you never considered before.

6 Likes

Having fun so far! I think these conferences are set up a little different than, say, a tech conference or something. A table at this year’s state-wide professional conference is $160. When I’ve gone, the networking time is the same time that people can go to the vendors. I could probably do both.

The other thing that I could try is running a workshop. That would be like an extended commercial, but it shouldn’t feel like one. I’ve even got experience with that!

I am taking your point as to get our face in their faces. That’s something that I should bring more to the front come March and I might’ve overlooked the importance of that, save for your advice.

The Chamber of Commerce, though. That, I should make a “now” thing.

2 Likes

Okay, is there ANY subject that you don’t have some real good advice for? I’m going to copy pasty this stuff into OneNote!

Here I think you are realy on to something and also trying to lead me into a mine field! On the one hand, no, I don’t want to ignore half the people on the planet that may well have more than half the disposable cash.
People are so fickle. Take razors for instance. Men pay way too much for them and you make one pink and women will pay even more, but try to market a pen to women and you will be eaten alive!
Maybe insted of gender specific, more user type specific? Perhaps a version for the culinary minded?

4 Likes

Since the advent of the B#, I have learned a lot about checking a knife for sharpness. You are right that feeling a blade is totally unreliable in that a very sharp knife doesn’t feel as sharp as a merely sharp knife.

The thumbnail test works well, but it is a spot check in that it only checks the one spot that meets your thumbnail.

The best overall check I have found is simply slicing a piece of junk mail paper. By lightly sliding the blade through from back to front you can, with some practice, judge just how sharp it is and where any problem spots are.

2 Likes

Field and Culinary is likely a far safer distinction than His and Hers.

5 Likes

It ain’t for the faint of heart! Chuckle!

But yeah, that would work…:wink:

3 Likes

I failed to explain that I do that test all along the blade, because as you said it only reflects the spot that touches. 4 or 5 spots from hilt to point.
While the fingertip test is subjective, the nail test is more of a go-nogo, like the paper test.

1 Like

Oh, that is just too funny!

3 Likes