My family recently finished watching the first season of Hung. It is about an unlikely pimp (Tanya) and her even more unlikely prostitute (Ray). Tanya decides that to go into business she needs to do a viral marketing campaign. She starts by naming their company Happiness Consultants - a name no one understands, but is fun and makes people feel good.
There is a lot we can learn from Tanya - what not to do! You may not think of yourself as a pimp for your product of business, kind of a raw term, but we are all pimping something (so much that my daughter thought I should change my title from Marketing Consultant to Pimp...)
Instead - here are Five Steps to Pimping your Business
Give It An Obvious Name: Sure, we live in a world where Zappos, Apple, and Kraft sell shoes, computers and food. That may work for multinational companies, but for the small business you would be better off being obvious. Don't expect someone to spend the time to figure it out. If you sell yarn: Yarn Barn, handmade books: Books By Hand, iphone apps: Bad Ass Apps - you get the idea, be clear and obvious in your name.
Get In Touch: Tanya on Hung has this great idea to place ads and spray paint their logo all over town, but she doesn't put anyway to contact the company - bad move. Don't make the same mistake. Your website, Etsy shop, email signature, business card and anywhere else you want to tag your business should include your business name, contact name, address, phone, email and website. If you want to get super tricky you can add your Twitter, Facebook and Skype. Tell them how to find you! If you have a brick and mortar give the address, map and directions on your website that helps someone not familiar with your corner of the world a way to find you.
Give Good Love: Pimping your product isn't just about your customers buying your stuff, it is about giving them a great experience doing that. We are all savvy shoppers now and if we think someone else is going to treat us better we will go there. So, answer your email, be nice on the phone (smile!), throw in a little extra, package it up pretty - your customers money can be spent in a million ways make sure they like spending it with you.
Toss the Old Suit: Everyone has products or services that they are still trying to make look nice and sell. Don't. Get rid of it now. You don't want to lessen your customers experience by going through your crappy stuff. Give it away, have a sale, don't offer it anymore. Only sell the very best that you have and your customers will start to see you as a place that offers quality.
Price Up, Baby: You may think in this tough economy that you should be lowering your prices (Tanya thought she should in Hung), but people will spend money on things that they perceive to have value. Do YOU value your products? Do you give good love? Do you think that you have what clients want and need? Then charge for it. If you charge too little then your customers are not going to respect what you are selling. Period. Charge what you are worth every single day - don't lower your values, products or prices.
Hung may not be your cup of tea, but the idea that you need to be out there and honest about what you are selling is really solid marketing advice. Don't get sucked into tricky. Don't think people know what you are doing - they don't. Tell them, be honest, and sell yourself with integrity and value. You know how to give good customer love, now go out and do it!