Duct Tape Marketing Series: We’re applying the theories from this book to our business, chapter by chapter, and will share our experiences with you here on this blog. Click here to read from the first Chapter. 
Part of what I really enjoy about designing is the challenge of getting creative while staying within a given set of rules, and all of Chapter 3 was exactly that type of challenge.
This is a juicy chapter folks. This is where you learn how to figure out the basis for all your marketing materials. You pound out three things this chapter: a marketing purpose statement, a talking logo (which is really powerful), and a simple core message, and I can’t wait to share mine with you.
In Chapter 2 we figured out who our ideal client was – a non-industry specific small business that has no internal marketing department, 1 – 30 employees, and is located in Northern Virginia. Now we take that one step further and figure out what we are accomplishing for that small business. Here’s what I came up with:
Marketing Purpose Statement
We are graphic and website designers that deliver proofed, quality-driven products on-time and on-budget. We will put out nothing that we wouldn’t feel comfortable putting into our online portfolio.* We provide top-notch customer service with lightning quick response times, are not afraid to give frank and honest answers. We provide end products that customers will not only be proud of, they will want to show them off.
* In fact we might just start putting ALL of our work online just to back that up.
Talking Logo
A talking logo refers to that exchange when someone asks you what you do for a living. Here you work through how to create an answer that not only gets the conversation going, but ensures the person you’re addressing actually remembers you:
What do you do for a living?
I show small business owners how to increase their cash flow on a predictable, stacking, and recurring basis.
How do you do that?
I sit down with the decision makers of that business, learn how their business runs, what they are currently doing, and what goals they have. Then for phase one I set them up with a tailored marketing plan that attracts their most valuable customers, improving both customer base and their cash flow. Then for phase two we take those happy clients and convert them into referring (and in most cases recurring) customers.
Simple Core Message
This is for all intensive purposes your core message is similar to your company jingle or motto. It’s part of what helps folks remember you. For years now our “motto” has simply been what we do for a living – “web and graphic design” – which while extremely descriptive, isn’t catchy. This part of the exercise took me a long time to figure out, mostly because I wanted to say too much, and the purpose of this message is to be short and sweet. So here’s what I came up with:
The Small Business’ Marketing Department
Simple and to the point right? It took me forever to get to that, and a lot of scribbling and crossing out. I think my legal pad just quit on me. I’ll also say that if it wasn’t for the sea of examples in the book, I doubt that core message would ever have happened. Others I came up with and tossed: “Your Marketing Support System,” “We Get Small Businesses Online and in Print,” “No Nonsense Marketing,” and many, many more that were okay, but either didn’t cover everything we do or were just plain bad.
What ultimately got me to this message was remembering what makes us unique – that we have a tenancy to become the silent art department of all the small businesses we serve. We get all kinds of questions asking what we think about running a certain campaign, or should we put money into pay-per-click advertising, etc. We also get calls from clients who just want to share that they’re excited about their growing business, a new product they want to launch, or they’ve have had some major success or setback. It’s like we’re a part of their business, because we are, and that has a lot to do with how our business runs.
So yeah, a long post but like I said there’s a lot of good step-by-step info in this chapter. As for Chapter 4, to tell you the truth I’m not really sure what we’re in for. The title is “Wake Up the Senses with an Image to Match Your Message,” but I have no idea what that actually means. Not sure if we’ll be revamping graphics, dressing more professionally, or trying out aromatherapy, but I’ll let you know in the next post!
Post questions or comments below, and thanks for reading!
- Wendy
P.S. If you’re interested in buying the book, please use this link.
(As of this post, Amazon has it for $11.31 and free shipping!)
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