TIPS FOR BUILDING YOUR OWN BUSINESS AGENCY

Photo by Kindel Media from Pexels

These are the 25 tips I give from the heart, based on my own personal screw-ups over a 16-year career (so far) running my own agency.

CREATIVE BLOCK AND GETTING BACK ON TRACK

Creative block, a term often overused. There is no doubt we've all faced it. Everyone comes to the point without a clear vision of how to solve a given problem. But the question is, is creative block really the way to give up in that exact moment, put the blame on it and call it quits?

REACH OUT TO MORE CLIENTS DURING THIS PANDEMIC

We all know that the financial burdens of COVID-19 have put many SMBs in search of affordable ways to market their business. The interesting part is that more people are spending time online than ever before, and there are plenty of simple ways to reach your customers digitally without spending a dime.

CLIENT ARE NOT ALWAYS RIGHT

One of the first things I was taught years ago is that “the customer’s always right.” I never completely went along with this view –  Jump forward 10+ years

WRITING A CREATIVE BRIEF

The creative brief (also call a design brief or an innovation brief) is a summary of a design project. It provides a road map for expectations and working relationships while the project is in development. It describes the purpose, parts and schedule of a requested design solution. It outlines the client's requirements and how the designer will address them. It provides enough information for the designer to proceed confidently, but not so much that her creativity is stifled.

STORYTELLING IN BUSINESS

I love creating partnerships; I love not having to bear the entire burden of the creative storytelling, it's really great; not only do I benefit, but the project is better for it.

WORST CLIENTS AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM

Every designer has met – or will meet – at  least one client from hell in their career. For some, it was a toe dipped into a lake of fire. For others, it was an impromptu cannonball.

INBOUND MARKETING FOR BUSINESS

Inbound marketing for small businesses – that’s the art of getting clients to come to you. When many people think of marketing, they think of pushy salespeople. But that’s more of an old school approach. Many small businesses increasingly pursue inbound marketing techniques that bring clients to them.

GREAT STRATEGIES TO EXPAND YOUR CLIENT BASE

If you‘re constantly doing business with the same two clients, it’s time to branch out. A growing network means more opportunities for your brand to grow too.

Between cold calling, researching, and networking events, there’s plenty of ways you can expand your client base, and your business will thank you for it.

Q. What’s one tip for diversifying your client base?

1. Determine Your Niches

A mentor once recommended that determining five niches is key. First, identify the market(s) you want to go after. Second, research the market(s) and what they need. Third, target the market(s) with cold calls, emails, networking activities, and events. Lastly, jump in! Get involved in specific markets, and you will be working with those markets.

2. Attend industry Parties

I’ve had luck hanging out at events that were not centered around development Nigeria, in particular, has so many different events centered around art, music, and especially entertainment. They attract a pretty diverse crowd of professionals from different industries who have particular common interests. I’ve met some of my favorite clients at venues with live music.

3. Know Your Core Clients Well

If you know your core client inside and out, you will have no problem crossing industries with ease. Mainstream Entertainment Group, my video production company, was heavily focused on one client, but we identified our core client, made an avatar of it, and began the process of crossing over industries to bring in new clients.

4. Identify Companies That Excel in Your Niche

Recently, we realized we wanted to get into yoga studios, gyms, and other fitness channels where our products would stand out on the shelves. We figured out who the best companies selling products in those spaces were and set up informational interviews to figure out how they did it.

5. Do Your Research

If you don’t know for sure who else will buy what you‘re selling, it will be a very painful and long process. Just because you think teenagers, for example, will buy what you‘re selling, doesn’t mean they will actually buy it. You have to do the research and data collection beforehand in order to correctly diversify your client base.

6. Diversify Your Outreach

we learned that by being creative with our outreach through social media, contests, conventions, speaking engagements, content articles, and much more, we find new customers of various backgrounds. And expanding to places where you normally don’t do PR and marketing, you might unearth a new client base you were originally unaware of.

7. Partner With Other Companies

A good way to diversify your client base is to reach out to companies in your industry that provide services related to your business. We’re a digital agency, so we would reach out to a social media agency or a PR agency, for example. We might be able to partner our projects, refer clients, or handle overflow work.

8. Make Connections

Build your network by making connections. When you make connections with people, organizations, or communities, amazing opportunities may unfold. It’s important that you make an effort to learn about and understand the other side first. If you have some understanding of their perspective, and they have some understanding of yours, then obvious win-win situations will emerge.