I have always been hyper-aware of the persuasive power of marketing. Even as a child, I was the perfect consumer. I filled in all the marketing research forms in my mother's Redbook, Good Housekeeping, and Sunset magazines. I knew they were talking directly to me, those clever purveyors of Breck and Folgers. In college (the first time around), I took a marketing class. (All I remember is having to “sell” a new synthetic oil product called Mobil 1—quelle nightmare!) On my second college try, I majored in marketing, but by then it was too late to use what I learned to save my business. By 1990 I'd already given up. And, as I may have mentioned already on the Before you begin page, my sewing business was doomed from the start simply because I hated to sew, with a passion bordering on psychosis. Not exactly a quality leading to success.
Remember, I was in business in the 1980s, before computers, before Facebook and Twitter, before blogs, before cell phone apps. You know, the dark ages. Marketing options consisted of direct selling, promotion, public relations and publicity, and advertising. These are the so-called traditional marketing methods. Believe it or not, they still work, especially in combination with newer marketing methods like websites and Facebook. I'll discuss both traditional and modern marketing approaches on this page and interweave them as necessary.
Identify your target market
Before you choose your marketing strategy, there is something you must do first. You must identify your prospective target market. That means, the groups of consumers who are most likely (and who have the resources) to buy your services. This is super important. Why? Because you cannot sell everything to everyone. To maximize your profits, you must choose who you will serve. In other words, find your niche. Once you figure out who your target market is, your marketing strategy will fall into place.I had no niche. I said yes to every job that walked in the door. I learned my craft that way, but it also made me a beggar. I never got really good at anything, so I couldn't command premium prices. I had no expertise in any specialty. I could have said, I'm only doing weddings (although I would have thrown myself off a cliff), or I could have said, I will only do evening wear, or tailored suits, or alterations. Not me. I was sort of the Wal-Mart of custom clothing: I had the depth and breadth of products and services, from evening to swimwear, from costumes to hats to lingerie. I had the low, low prices. I had the lousy customer service (kidding). In fact, I had everything except the volume. I didn't understand that to succeed in the custom sewing business, I needed to be a master of a few things, not a jack of all trades.
Choose carefully before you settle on a target market. Once you make your choice and declare to the world that you are a designer of bridesmaids dresses, you will forever be known as that. (Trust me, you probably don't want to choose bridesmaid dresses as your specialty, for reasons that I will explain in a moment.) It's sort of like what happens to actors who become well known playing one character type. Think of that kid who played Harry Potter, or the guy who played the hobbit in the Lord of the Rings, what was his name? Frito? Once these actors' characters are embedded in the movie-audience zeitgeist, it is very difficult for the actors to play any other type of character. They are type-cast. Make sure you are “type-cast” for a target audience that will appreciate (and be able to pay for) the clothing you make for them. Bridesmaids are notoriously ungrateful and prone to bouncing checks. Still, if you make wedding gowns, you will probably end up making bridesmaids dresses. If you are smart, you will consider outsourcing that part of the job to someone else.
Draw a grid with five columns and a bunch of rows on a blank sheet of paper. Down the first column, make a list of the categories of garments you could possibly make—for example, wedding gowns, tailored suits, menswear, women's casual, swimwear, sportswear, evening, children's, costumes, hats, shoes. In the second column put a check to mark the ones you like to make. In the third column, check the things you are good at making. In the fourth column estimate the relative prices you can charge for these categories of garments (you could just use low-medium-high). In the fifth column, estimate the level of seasonal fluctuation in demand for each category (think holiday, prom, wedding, cruise).
Category
|
I like
|
I’m good at
|
Price
|
Seasonal fluctuation
|
Wedding
gowns
|
X
|
High
|
High
|
|
Tailored
suits
|
X
|
High
|
Low
|
|
Menswear
|
X
|
High
|
Low
|
|
Women’s
casual
|
X
|
X
|
Medium
|
Low
|
Swimwear
|
Medium
|
High
|
||
Sportswear
|
Low-Medium
|
Medium
|
||
Eveningwear
|
High
|
Medium
|
||
Children’s
|
Low
|
Low
|
||
Costumes
|
X
|
Low-High
|
Low
|
|
Hats
|
Medium
|
Low
|
||
Shoes
|
Medium
|
Low
|
Based on the chart above, I'd probably work to improve my skills at tailoring, because I like it, the price I can charge is higher than average, and there is low fluctuation in demand, meaning people want tailored suits all year round, not just for holidays or weddings.
Another approach to help you choose your strategy is the famous matrix found in all the business and marketing textbooks of the past 30 years. The adaptation shown below compares the market potential of your chosen target market with your expertise in that category.
Market
potential of the target market
|
Competency
(your expertise)
|
||
Low
|
High
|
||
High
|
Get some training to become
an expert
|
Dig in deep!
|
|
Low
|
Don’t waste your time here
|
Only do this when you have
nothing better to do
|
|
For example, if brides is the target market and wedding dresses is your category, think about the four quadrants like this: If the potential is high, but your competency at sewing wedding gowns is low, all you need is some training. If the potential is high, and you are an expert, dig in deep here, because you can succeed in this category. On the other hand, if the market potential is low and your expertise is low, don't even bother getting training, because there won't be enough of a payoff to make it worth your while. The last quadrant suggests that if your expertise in wedding gowns is high, but the market potential is low, you probably shouldn't spend a lot of time focusing on targeting brides, because even though you are good at making wedding gowns, for some reason there isn't a lot of potential (maybe you live in a small town where few people get married?)
Now you have chosen your target market and thus the categories of clothing you will be making, the next step is to find out what kind of folks your potential customers are and what they might want from you. It's time to do some down-and-dirty marketing research.
Research your target market
You don't need a Ph.D. to do marketing research. (Now they tell me!) You can interview a few people in depth or survey a number of people using a questionnaire. With a little time and thoughtful study, just about anybody can use an online tool called Survey Monkey to whip together a simple questionnaire that you can invite people to fill out. You can use paper questionnaires too. Or you can just interview them and write down their answers yourself on a napkin or envelope.If you have customers already, start with them. Ask them what prompted them to seek out your services (wedding or other event?) and how they found you (referral, website, twitter?). You might want to ask some psychographic questions to understand their attitudes, preferences, and beliefs about fashion, style, custom designs, etc. You will probably want to ask them some demographic questions, like age, gender, income bracket, and occupation. And no matter what else you ask, make sure you find out where their eyeballs travel! That is, do they watch cable TV (which shows?), listen to radio (which stations?), surf the Web (which websites?).
For people who aren't yet your clients, ask them all of the above (except how they found you and why they need you). You would want to ask them if they have ever had a garment custom made and what that experience was like. You might also ask them how they would use a custom clothing designer and what they would pay for the service.
How do you find people to take your survey? The down-and-dirty marketing research way is to ask your friends, family, and circle of acquaintances to spread the word that you need some feedback on starting your business. Your results don't need to be scientific—this isn't academia, it's your business. You just need some feedback so you can make some informed marketing decisions. Ask as many people as you can, and be happy if you get somewhere between ten and fifty responses.
Word of mouth
I never advertised, not even in the classifieds. I knew enough to know that one ad wouldn't work, that advertising is all about repetition. I didn't have the funding—or the persistence—to devise an advertising plan and stick to it. I relied mostly on word of mouth to generate business. I started sewing for acquaintances, who referred me to friends, who referred me to other friends in an ever-widening network of connections. The power of word of mouth was illustrated visually when I drew the “family tree” of my business, showing the networks of customers that branched from a few people. I saw the Jackson Pollock shape of what I had created, or what had created me, over the course of ten years.You can harness the power of word of mouth with a few simple actions. Give a satisfied client some extra business cards and the promise of something free if she passes your name along to a new prospect. Offer some special incentives for clients to spread the word. Ask your happy clients to write a testimonial, which you can then publish in print and online (Facebook, Google Plus, etc.). Include their photos in your marketing materials (with their permission, of course).
Networking
Nowadays, networking is often mentioned in terms of online vehicles like LinkedIn. But networking is just the flip side of word of mouth. I did not do any networking, being an extreme cowering introvert, but I can imagine how effective it might have been to attend Chamber of Commerce events. I could have joined associations of professionals—for example, female entrepreneurs, garment industry aficionados, small business owners' support groups. I'm sure they existed in the 1980s, had I had the courage to seek them out. Networking is not for everyone, but there are ways even introverts can successfully make connections with potential clients at professional events. Go to Google and type in “networking for introverts.” You will discover, we are in good company. And for all you extroverts, go forth and conquer! No advice needed from me.Publicity
A few times in the course of my custom sewing career, I produced fashion shows to showcase my work. I should be clear here. I didn't produce these shows to get more custom sewing clients. (Things might have been different if I had.) No, the work I showed was my “art,” the wearable art that I made to entertain audiences. Alongside my custom sewing business persona, I harbored a secret renegade designer, whose sole aim was to surprise people, make them laugh, and make them think about fashion and how silly it all is. I surrounded myself with other designers, most of whom were way cooler than me, and we paraded our designs in a wild extravaganza of light, sound, color, and applause.To generate publicity for my shows, I prepared press kits, the old-fashioned way. I had a friend model one of my costumes for a photo shoot. I had copies of the photos made, prepared a press release, and mailed a package to every news outlet in the Los Angeles area. For my efforts I received a television segment on a L.A. lifestyle show the day before the actual event, and a few articles in local newspapers after the event, including the L.A. Weekly and the L.A. Times. Lucky me. Free publicity that would have cost a fortune had I paid for advertising.
You could do this too. Lots of people love fashion, and would love to see a fashion show. If you have ever organized a wedding, a big party, or a reunion, you can produce a fashion show. Be clear on what you want you want to accomplish, though. Producing a show is expensive, even if you sell tickets up front. Don't get carried away by focusing on the entertainment part and ignoring the selling part. If your goal is to generate awareness of your sewing business, then be sure to showcase the kind of work people will want to buy from you. I showed a lawn chair that turned into a coat and a jacket made of towels and beach balls, with a sand bucket for a hat. I doubt my costume art inspired anyone to come to me to have me make them a prom dress. (Not that I wanted to make prom dresses, but you get my drift.)
Advertising
It amazes me that some small business owners think if they run one or two ads in a newspaper or magazine, that customers will come flocking to their door. Think about it. When was the last time you flocked to a business because of an ad you saw in a newspaper or magazine? Especially for a business you've never heard of before? For a specialty item like custom-made clothing? Never, am I right? Because that is not how humans respond to advertising.First, consumers are trained to ignore advertising. Rarely do they read newspapers or watch television to see the advertising. They usually won't care what you are selling. They just want to read their articles or get back to watching their programs. You represent clutter. Chatter. Noise. Go away. I bet you have one of those new-fangled DVR/Tivo devices that lets you speed through commercials. Don't deny it. I believe I am the only person left in the Pacific Northwest who actually watches antenna TV the old-fashioned way, with a converter box. I see all the commercials, all of them. (Although I admit sometimes I turn off the sound.)
Second, advertising is all about repetition. To get the attention of your client, you must bludgeon her with advertising, preferably using a mix of media vehicles (newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and online).
Phone directories
Let me ask you something. How do you find a carpet cleaner when you need one? How do you find an auto repair shop, a drycleaner, or a hair salon? Do you pull out your smart phone and Google it? Read the reviews, find them on a map, check out their Web sites? Do you ever use the Yellow Pages? Do you know what I mean when I say “Yellow Pages”? Those thick books of itty-bitty print on tissue-thin newsprint that are tossed on your front porch in a plastic bag? It used to be there was only the Yellow Pages, because there was only one phone company. Now I get three competing phone company's dumping yellow pages, white pages, local pages, outlying area pages... a whole lotta pages!...on my front porch. Too much!Now, I don't know about you, but I use Google to look up a lot of stuff. Often, the online versions of the phone directories are excellent sources of information, especially if reviews of the drycleaner or hair salon can be found on Google Plus or Yelp or some other customer-feedback site. Great information, right? It helps you make a decision.
Now imagine you are looking for a custom clothing designer. Try it! Google “custom clothing designer, [your town]” and see what comes up. Now try “seamstress [your town].” Now try “tailor [your town].” Are you on these lists yet? You need to be, if you want to be found electronically. To get listed in Google Places, just Google “Google Places,” sign up, and follow the directions. It's free. Same with Google Plus, for reviews.
Believe it or not, a surprising number of your potential clients probably use the real phone books. I know, shocking. Mine usually just gather dust on a shelf that could be put to better use. But recently I was looking for something local, and I actually let my fingers do the walking. If you are as old as me, you know what that phrase means. Anyway, the point is, some of your potential customers may not have Internet access or the will or knowledge to use it. They may turn to their good, old, trusty, dusty phone book to find a custom clothing designer or seamstress or tailor. (It's kind of like a Rolodex, remember those?) So be there, or be square. Call your local phone company and find out what it costs to run an ad for a year. Don't sneer. Some businesses live off the calls they get from their Yellow Pages ad.
Hey, remember, your goal is to find clients who want you and can afford your services. Your goal is not to bring your prospective customers into the Facebook age. It's to meet them where they are. Don't make fun of them for not being as tech savvy as you are. Their money spends just the same as the Facebook/Twitter crowd.
Direct mail
Also known as junk mail? People work hard to keep their name off junk mail lists, so don't be surprised if you don't get response right away. But direct mail is like advertising: it takes repetition. If you have the budget and the persistence, and you have a package that is interesting, collectible, or otherwise persuasive, then you might succeed with direct mail. Maybe you would use it in conjunction with other methods. The key to direct mail is the mailing list. Be very cautious buying a list from a list broker. Remember what I said about finding your target audience? You don't want to send your lovely (and expensive) direct mail piece to everyone in zip code 90210. I guarantee you your lovely piece will go into the round file, nine times out of ten. Or worse. Direct mail might be an excellent method of reminding past customers that you are still around, and wouldn't they like to have a new outfit for Mardi Gras? Or Independence Day?Sales promotion
In the world of traditional marketing, there is a thing called sales promotion. If you have ever received a calendar from your realtor, a pen from your pharmacist, or a sample of some stinky lotion in the mail, you have been a victim of sales promotion. I was too busy trying to survive to think about what cute gimmick I could devise to put my business name in front of current and potential clients. Hmmmm. Maybe pens with well-dressed Barbie-esque hula girls floating inside? Maybe not. No, I know, how about notepads of paper with cute designs printed on each page and a slogan reminding them it's time to treat themselves to a new outfit? Probably not. Well, you get the idea. Sales promotions are designed to keep your business name in front of your potential client for a long time, preferably forever. Do you still have mugs or glasses you received from some business that wanted your money? Come on, now, don't lie. I bet you still have some Flintstones glasses in your cupboard somewhere. How about an Uncola glass or two? If you don't want them anymore, I want one.Anyway, if you make children's clothes, a cute photo calendar of kids could be a great promotional item. If you make hats, a calendar of your best hat designs, professionally photographed, could become a collector's item. How about little mending kits with your company logo silk-screened on top? If you do a lot of tailoring, how about imprinted clothes brushes, potpourri sachets with your logo on the tag, or even imprinted wooden hangers? Quelle chic! You can probably come up with a ton of ideas. There are companies whose sole mission and purpose in life is to provide you with tchotchkes, gewgaws, knick-knacks, trinkets, and other junk, on which they will professionally imprint your business name, logo, and slogan, which you can then use to promote your business.
Alternatively, if you have some great photos of your work, you can get Walgreen's and places like that to digitally print them on ornaments, mugs, calendars, posters, cookie tins, T-shirts, key-chains... They aren't cheap if you are talking about orders of 100, but if you are doing just a few, for a few great clients, it could be just the ticket. People usually like to get free stuff. They will donate to Sierra Club just to get the cheesy little backpack. Sales promotion works. But be careful how you use it. Too many flimsy key-chains and your clients will think you lack class. And watch out for the environmentally conscious clients, the ones that are into reducing, reusing, and recycling. They may gently tell you that you are insulting them by giving them crap that will end up in a landfill. I can't say it enough: Know your customer!
Free samples work. At least, they do for laundry detergent and shampoo. I don't know if they would work for you in the custom clothing world, or how you would approach it. I can imagine if you make children's clothes, it might be effective to give a Barbie doll outfit to the children. Hmmmmm. I don't want to get caught up in a discussion of gender-appropriate gifts, so you can run with this one from here.
Web site
Yes. Gotta have one. In this day and age, if you don't have a Web presence, you don't exist. I've read some marketers are recommending that you don't actually need a Web site, that a Facebook page is enough. I'm not such a Facebook fan. I am a big fan of creating something I can actually control. That would be a Web site. If you aren't skilled or interested enough to learn how to create and maintain a Web site yourself, that's OK. There are many options, and some are free. But if you want to run with the big dogs, you need to get off the porch. Start asking around. It doesn't have to be a huge investment to begin with, especially if you don't plan on selling items through e-commerce on the Web site. Someone in your circle probably knows a recent grad from the local art institute or community college, someone friendly who has Web design skills and talent and will work with you to create something beautiful. You can even start with a free site through a service like Weebly. Just Google “free Website,” and watch what comes up. But be careful of scams.When someone hears about your service, and wants to find out more before they commit to calling you, they will often check out your Web site. So, think like a customer and give them all the information they will need to make an informed decision. And make it easy for them to find it. Don't make them hunt around, clicking obscurely labeled links that go nowhere. What do you look for when you visit a Web site? Information about the product or service, pricing, other services like house calls and rush orders, location, how it works... and don't forget the About You page. People want to know who you are. They want to know if they can trust you. Reassure them with good content, easy navigation, solid design, and a friendly tone.
Here's the other thing. Whatever you put on Facebook belongs to Facebook. You sign away all rights to your content when you agree to use Facebook. That means you have no control over your own content: your words, your photos, your ideas... it all belongs to Facebook. Plus they have all that pesky advertising.
You know, I could forgive Facebook almost all of that if it was just better looking. I've rarely seen any Web site that is so bland. At least, all the personal pages I've seen are pretty mundane, mostly white, a few photos, dinky little type. I won't say I spend much time there, but I actually just checked out the Clorox Facebook page. It's full of photos, pretty lively. But seriously: How many people do you think actually spend time reading Clorox's Facebook page? I saw one photo of the inside of someone's stinky refrigerator, with a title admonishing us to bleach the darn thing, already. After that, I had to shut it off.
I'm sure your Facebook page will be way cooler than Clorox's. And you will keep it meticulously up to date so no one will ever get the feeling that you've gone AWOL. Absent without leave, in case you don't know that term. When you get busy sewing a gaggle of bridesmaids dresses, are you going to have time to update your Facebook or your blog? Will you even remember you have these things? Consider paying one of your tech-savvy nieces to do your Facebooking for you, if you aren't inclined to do it yourself, or if you don't have time. But be sure you look it over from time to time. You don't want it all in text speech. You know what I mean. We R best. U want us. YWIA. T2UL.
Blogs
A blog is like a diary or a journal of your business's life, written by you or your employees, and updated regularly. A blog has information about your business, but it's also a story. The best blogs are fun to read and have lots of pictures. Blogs can look like Web sites. What you are reading now is a blog. A blog with pages. I'm no blogging expert, but there are a lot of them out there. Google “How to start a blog” and prepare to be overwhelmed.The main thing to keep in mind is why your business might need a blog. You might have some fun stories to tell, like I do, but you want to generate income, right? From sales, right? It's a stretch to think someone who accidentally runs across your blog will think to themselves, hey, I should get a custom-made suit! It's possible that someone in your home town who was already considering buying a custom-made suit would Google “custom-made suit,” read your blog, and decide, wow, I like her, now I feel like I know her. I think I'll hire her! It's possible. But there are more effective ways of getting your business name known. See word of mouth and networking. Blogging is fun if you like to write and torture if you don't. You can always hire a starving writer to write your blog content for you.
Now that you know everything there is to know about marketing, it's time to write your marketing plan. Read everything you can about the methods that interest you. Choose the methods you will begin with. Find out all the costs. Set a budget and a timeline. Google “media plan” images for some examples. Then launch your plan and stick to it.
Pricing
Remember the four Ps? Product, place, promotion, price? You are in charge of the product: you are the expert. I'm not here to tell you how to sew. I discuss place—which is just a word for distribution that starts with a p—on the Operations page. So far on this marketing page, I've talked a lot about different methods to help you promote your business. That leave price. Price is the final topic for the marketing page.In the beginning, I let my customers tell me what price they wanted to pay. Fifteen dollars for a pair of pants! Really? Yep. Slave wages, but that is how I learned my craft. Unfortunately, charging low prices for custom made clothes locked me into a certain price point that became increasingly hard to rise above. Customers who enjoyed my low prices referred me to other customers just like them. I was dependent on the business and terrified that if I raised my prices, my customers would balk.
I realized I was losing money on many of my jobs. So I sat down one day and made a price catalog. I sketched out all the garment parts I could think of: cap sleeves and shirt sleeves; patch pockets and welt pockets; shirt collars, shawl collars, and sailor collars; elastic waists and tailored waistbands; A-line skirts, princess seamed skirts, and dirndl shirts... and everything in between. I drew line drawings of each style and part, and then estimated the amount of time it took to make each one. Then I could assemble the price for a garment based on realistic time estimates. I was still too cheap, I later learned, but it was an interesting exercise in understanding the processes involved in making clothes.
You have some choices when you figure out your pricing strategy.
- You can charge what your competition is charging.
- You can charge what the market will bear.
- You can calculate the cost and add a mark-up for your overhead and profit.
I recommend that you do a combination of all three. Know what your competitors are charging. You can charge less, but your customers will shop around, so you should know what they are finding. Charging what the market will bear may take some trial and error, but aim high. Once you choose a low price point, it is very hard to raise prices without precipitating a potentially disastrous drop in revenue. You can always offer discounts and specials, if it seems people are balking. Hold out for what your work is worth. And certainly you should implement the third strategy for your own internal recordkeeping: know what every job costs you in time and materials. Ask your accountant to help you calculate an overhead rate that you add to every job. And make sure you are making a reasonable profit on every job, not just every third job.
When you are ready, move on to the Operations page to find out more about how to efficiently and effectively operate your business.
