Your Best Sales Tool

If I could only have one sales tool in my tool kit it would have to be my business card.  Why?

• First, I can carry business cards in my pocket or wallet - AND I do!
• It is easy to pass along to others and small enough for them to put in their pocket or wallet.
• Business cards can define who you are and what you do in a small space.
• They are cheap.  I am a fan of Vistaprint.com and there are ALWAYS deals for business cards.

How often are you asked for your phone number?  I never just blurt out my number.  I get out a card and give it to the person asking for my number.  You wouldn't believe the times folks have said, "Wow, you're a storyteller!".  If I have something I need to write down for someone... you guessed it.  I write it on the back of my card.


As I am talking with someone and they ask what I do I simply reach for my card.  They read it immediately and usually comment.


Business cards are easy to place in a letter or card.  Anytime I send a "Thank You" I enclose a business card.


When I perform I always have a stack of cards I pass out to those who ask.  It is a lot cheaper than handing out brochures.  I DO keep a few brochures or postcards with me and pass them along to folks who have a serious inquiry at a gig.


IMPORTANT TIP: Always give someone who asks about scheduling more than one business card.  At the end of a gig give the person who invited you several cards and ask them to pass the cards along.





 Stephen Hollen is an award winning storyteller, humorist and Mark Twain Impersonator living in Beavercreek, Ohio.  He performs and tells stories in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, West Virginia, Michigan and throughout the USA. 

No one around here ever hires me!

No One Around Here Hires Me!!

Do you ever voice that lament?  Do you hear it from other storytellers or performers?


Your question to start the week:  WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT IT?


The last blog entry dealt with Top of the Mind Awareness.  Lets build on that idea and think about what you are doing to change that.  Here are a few questions to get your planning on the right track.

  

• First of all, have you done an inventory of all the possible venues within 30, 60 and 90 minutes of your home base?
• Have you identified the decision maker at each venue, including phone number, e-mail and address of the venue?
• Sure, it sounds redundant, but do you have this information in a user friendly database?  Can you do letters, e-mails, labels with your database?
• Can you track the contacts you make with each venue as well as noting when you do gigs for that venue?
• Have you ever called just to introduce yourself?
• Do you make some sort of contact on a regular basis?  Frequency is the key here.  Why not develop a plan to mail postcards 4 or 6 times a year, send e-mails quarterly, send invitations to events you are doing locally?

Don't be a pest!  This is not suggesting you call monthly and hassle them. The idea is to put information in front of the decision maker with enough frequency that they will think of you when they think of storytellers.

The Bottom Line:  If they don't know you 

they won't hire you!



 Stephen Hollen is an award winning storyteller, humorist and Mark Twain Impersonator living in Beavercreek, Ohio.  He performs and tells stories in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, West Virginia, Michigan and throughout the USA. 

Top of the Mind Awareness

Wouldn't it be great if every gig you scheduled was just a short drive from your home?  Even better, wouldn't it be awesome if everyone who ever hires storytellers thought of you first when they thought of storytellers?

That is "TOP OF MIND AWARENESS".  In other words, when a customer is ready to schedule/buy - they think of you first.  You have been stamped into their memory and when they think of "storyteller" your name AND face comes up.  That is an enviable position to have.  A position that the marketing giants are careful to promote for themselves.  Think APPLE, COKE, MCDONALDS.  When I was a kid there was a Texaco commercial with a jingle that said, "You can trust your car to the man who wears the star, the big, bright Texaco star!"  Still today that is top of mind awareness.

Are you asking yourself, "But how can I do that?  I don't have a thousand person marketing department.  It is just little ol' me."

Here is how you start:  First, get a map of your area and draw a circle around where you live.  I draw three circles - 30 miles, 60 miles and 90 miles.  Lets start with the 30 mile circle and identify EVERY potential venue in that circle.  Yes, it takes some work, but it will pay off. Some potential venues might be libraries, elementary schools, day camps and  civic organizations.  Check for seasonal festivals and special events also.

As you identify the venue, determine who the decision maker might be.  If it is a library, for example, there might be several including the head librarian/director, the teen or youth librarian and the children's librarian. If you can compile additional info about a contact MAKE A NOTE!  I have known sales reps that had awesome notes about each client.  AND their clients LOVED them because they remembered and cared about who they were.  They also made good notes about when and how they contacted the client.  An example:

Jonathan Apple Memorial Library
1953 Main Street
Apple Tree, KY 40000

Director: Lizzie Borden - collects chopping tools.  Might be interested in a Father's Day program
Teen Librarian - Charles Wolfe - loves werewolf and vampire stories, ask about Halloween programs
Children's Librarian - Bonnie Buttercup - president of local garden club. loves environmental storytelling

2012 contacts: March postcard mailing, e-mails about Mother's Day programs, stopped in to see Bonnie and leave info about my "Think Green!" storytelling program.

Ask yourself, "How often have I contacted the venues closest to me?  Once, twice in the past year?  Do they even remember me or that there is a storyteller in their neighborhood?"  How much is reasonable?  How much can I afford?  This is not suggesting that you become a pest or constantly call and hassle a contact.  Much of what you do can be subtle and passive.  Vary the programs you promote with each venue.  they might not be interested in one program and will be excited about another program.

Top of the Mind Awareness helps in another way also.  As others speak with your potential venues about storytellers, your name will come up EVEN if a venue has no money to hire you themselves.

Want more local gigs?  Identify all potential venues, develop good info about each venue, develop a systematic contact/marketing plan, make contact regularly and vary the programs you offer.





 Stephen Hollen is an award winning storyteller, humorist and Mark Twain Impersonator living in Beavercreek, Ohio.  He performs and tells stories in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, West Virginia, Michigan and throughout the USA. 

I Love Anchor Gigs

I love anchor gigs!

So, what in the world am I talking about and what does it have to do with marketing and storytelling/performing?  Great question, if I do say so myself.


As I look at my calendar, I often find that I get requests for programs outside of my local area.  You get them too.  They are gigs that you cannot do without some travel and at least one overnight away from home.  Many storytellers and other performers turn these down immediately for several reasons; too far from home, the venue can't afford to pay your gig fee plus motel plus mileage, perhaps you just don't know the area.


If you don't want to travel those are all good reasons not to take a gig.  If, like me, you enjoy the travel and seeing new sites, these gigs become Anchor Gigs and an opportunity for other gigs and more income! 


An Anchor Gig is a gig I schedule and begin to build around.  As I build a tour I do not like to bounce down the highway from one town to the next for gigs.  I would rather find a good area to market in and a decent motel, a welcoming friend or a neat Bed and Breakfast and begin to look for opportunities.


For example, if you have a gig opportunity in Atlanta, Georgia make that your Anchor Gig and draw a 60 mile circle around Atlanta.  That is approximately an hour drive any direction which is very reasonable travel time to a gig for me.  I personally love to use an Atlas and a compass for this task.  It makes it easier than trying to do this on Google Maps or Mapquest.  The map has a mileage scale that I use to adjust my compass as I draw a circle IN PENCIL! 


Try it on Google Maps - do an imaginary circle and see all the towns and cities within an hour drive!  There is Roswell, Smyrna, Lawrenceville, Marietta... and Athens is just 9 miles outside that circle, so I would include it too!

The next step is Google "mining for venues".  I search the surrounding towns, villages and cities for opportunities; Libraries, Festivals, Civic Clubs, Churches, Day Camps, Senior Centers, Museums all are great opportunities.  

I personally like to start with a postcard (can you imagine me starting with a postcard) or e-mail if I can find a contact person at each possible venue.  Having a date creates a sense of urgency for the contact.  In an e-mail you would suggest "I will be in your area the week of November 5th and have dates still available" .  For a postcard I like to use a gold foil label on the front of the postcard with "Stephen will be in the Smyrna area the week of November 5th, call for scheduling info".

I do my homework and determine which of my programs would best fit each venue and send the appropriate e-mail or postcard.  I do NOT send a generic e-mail or postcard.  I try my best to suggest a specific program.


Follow up with a polite phone call, confirm they received the e-mail or phone call and ask if they would like to schedule a program.  It might take 5 or even 10 contacts to get another gig, but persistence pays off.  Does it work?  Yes, it works very well for me.  

For the second week in August I started with a gig about 4 hours away from home.  A decent paying gig, but in the middle of the week.  I mailed about 50 postcards (my cost was about 42 cents each so a cost of $21) and made 30 or 40 e-mail contacts.  As a result of mining around that Anchor Gig I now have 4 gigs instead of one.  I will need to stay for three nights in that area, but one of the venues offered lodging in a lovely guest suite for two nights as part of my compensation!



 Stephen Hollen is an award winning storyteller, humorist and Mark Twain Impersonator living in Beavercreek, Ohio.  He performs and tells stories in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, West Virginia, Michigan and throughout the USA. 

August Tour

August is a great opportunity for folks up north to hear Stephen Hollen tell stories... or perhaps to see his Mark Twain One Man Show as he will be in Northern Ohio and near Lake Erie!  



Plans are still in the works and several dates are still open for the week of August 13, 2012 for Stephen on tour there and possibly Pennsylvania!  Give him a call to schedule your date today!

Photo Mark Twain

 

 Stephen Hollen is an award winning storyteller, humorist and Mark Twain Impersonator living in Beavercreek, Ohio.  He performs and tells stories in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, West Virginia, Michigan and throughout the USA.