Saturday, February 24, 2007

Ah, yes. Advertising.

D.K. asked a pertinent guestion about my overhead costs: what about marketing/advertising?

I don't do any advertising. I am listed in the yellow pages under a number of categories, but only as a line listing. Other than that, I rely on 'word of mouth.' Now, in the old days, that would've been enough. People who were interested in what I carried could ask around town and there was a good chance that the person they asked would know about my store and what I carried. Especially if it was a 'fad .'

For instance, when I started carrying Beanie Babies, it was as if every collector told every other collector and they'd magically appear at my door. Fads have amazing conductivity of information. I would almost immediately hear about any new development in sports cards; in fact, one of the dead giveaways that sports cards wasn't the hot thing anymore is when that imformation stopped flowing.

I've often said, that when I first bought the store, No One knew who we were, five years later, Everyone knew who we were, and ten years after that I was back to: "I didn't know you were here." The Bulletin statistic from a few years ago that 75% of the population has been here for less than 5 years explains some of that.

I've tried advertising, of course. Everyone who starts a business thinks that advertising will magically produce customers, and lower prices will magically produce sales. Neither of which are true.

I found that advertising was like throwing a pebble in the middle of a big lake, and hoping the ripples miles away from shore will bring in the driftwood. You could get lucky, you could hit on the magic phrase or formula, but chances are....nothing will happen except your bank account will shrink.

In fact, every month I advertised heavily I was short the EXACT same amount of money as I was being billed for advertising......And the shortage disappeared when I quit advertising. "Doctor, it hurts when I do this." "Then quit doing it!"

I was also taken for a ride by some of the radio stations and other advertisers who charged me top dollar but couldn't deliver. I wasn't experienced or tough enough to get a deal.

As I gained experience, I tried to apply logic. What I came up with is this; my product appeals to at best 3% of the populace. I'm paying the same rates in the newspaper or T.V. as people who have product who appeals to 50 - 100% of the populace. I.E. Clothes, food, shelter, transportation, etc. etc.

Not very effective.

Now if I could come up with an extremely creative and effective ad; and I could find enough creative and effective people locally to create that ad; and I could find a way to come up with the money to run that ad long enough to have an effect? Maybe.

It keeps coming back to the very basic fact that it ain't cost effective.

I've been considering a bit of advertising, lately. (This is not an invitation to advertisers, by the way. I've found if I advertise even a little bit, every marketeer in the frakkin' world comes out of the woodwork.... a small advantage to not advertising.)

Because I'm tired of the comment: "I didn't know you were here!" Or; "I thought all you carried was comics!"

But for 500.00 dollars I could duplicate the top 50 bestselling graphic novels in my store, or I could buy 7 measly 1" ads in the Bulletin, or maybe a bit more in the Source, and then eagerly ask my customers if they saw the ad, and get a 99% negative reaction.

I think I'll buy more graphic novels....

10 comments:

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

This blog has probably produced more results for less than any ad. You're *mentally* being sucked back toward traditional print ads, when you are saying they don't produce.

Your current "business" blog format is very interesting, and you could probably get away with uploading pics & talking about specific products of interest interspersed in your standard commentary. But don't turn the blog into an online product listing...that'd be a real yawner.

When you talk about the weird stuff you buy, upload a pic. That'll actually enhance what you're talking about.

Jon Abernathy said...

Yeah, you're overlooking the fact that your blog is essentially free advertising, and Bubble there is right, it's likely already far more effective than any print advertising you're thinking of.

Of course, I think it's still probably a good idea to buy an ad in The Source. It's good to consider all the options and experiment a little.

Start thinking a bit more how blogs and the web can drive advertising/traffic to your store. A lot of this web stuff is essentially free... you could start another (third) blog for the store that only lists new arrivals for the day/week, for instance. It'll only cost you the time it takes to enter those into Blogger. Put some Google ads on it and see if you can generate any incidental income (Google AdSense is free, as well).

Start a MySpace page for the store (also free), sign up a bunch of friends for it (I'd be there), and post bulletins and things there. It's another way of having an online presence at no cost other than time.

Heck, if you want, I'll put a graphic ad/banner on my three blogs for Pegasus for free... I can have it pointing here to the blog if nothing else. In fact, I think I'll do that.

Leverage the web, man. :)

Duncan McGeary said...

IHTBYB,

Ironically, I didn't start this blog with promotion in mind whatsoever. But I think it's had an effect.

Business is up. Can't tell if it is the traffic downtown, the new inventory, the blog, the newest Acme Novelty Kit, or all of the above.

I need a website, for sure. Maybe post the occasional picture here. But I like being as completely candid and agenda free as I can be here.

Duncan McGeary said...

Chuggnutt,

I wish I could just hire someone to provide the tech support, and I'd supply the content. Any new person I hire is going to have to have some web skills. I was kind of hoping that person would pay for part of his job by having the ability and talent to sell online.

My Space? I've not visited it yet. I think you're right; it's time to go forward on all you've suggested. I'm in the opportunistic mode where I've identified what I want to do; very often, just the right person walks in the door. By all means, make the connection, and then come in and show me how to connect to your site.

I was thinking about advertising in the Source; maybe with an ad slick from Slave Laber for Johnny the Homicidal Maniac or Lenore; seems like it would fit the overall mood of the Source. But then a woman said to me yesterday, "I thought all you carried was comics...." Which the ad in the Source wouldn't have changed.

We've completely fallen off the radar with sports cards; so a targeted one inch ad in the sports pages of the Bulletin with a 'special' each week, might help.

Duncan McGeary said...

I've always chosen inventory over promotion; let the stock speak for itself.

But the store is essentially full. Very little wriggle room. Now I need to get some of the inventory to turn a bit faster.

So the irony of this blog is that it's got me thinking about advertising again. It's just, that I can't get over the feeling that so much of it is wasted.

Guerrilla marketing always sounds so great; they forget to tell you how much work it is.

So I need to;

1.) let the newcomers know I'm here.

2.) let both the newcomers and the oldtimers know that I carry a wide range of product.

Duncan McGeary said...

This is going to sound harsh.

I think I can come up with more creative ads than anyone who works for the advertisers -- at least, anyone I can afford.

Problem is, the tech people don't have the talent to pull it off.

For instance, the last time I ran a cable ad, we used some pictures from Star Trek. The narrater needed to be able to mimic Shatner or Picard. Surely, there is SOMEONE we could find who could do that!

Nope, so the narration was bland.

Almost every idea, even the simplest ones, seem impossible to pull off....locally.

The only local ad, and I think he probably hired someone outside, that I think is at all effective for my kind of business is the Game Crazy ad with Godzilla, and the owner talking out of sinc like a badly translated movie. They've used it in many variations.

If I could get something like that, I'd probably run it.

If now, I just want the camera to pan the store: say the anime and manga side, with the narration saying something like; Pegasus has thousands of anime and manga; then the picture pans to toys; Pegasus carries the newest designer toys; board games and books, and all the hobby brands of sports cards.

Boring, but full of info and with the words and pictures working together.

So in order to do that, I need a talented enough camera operator who can basically steadycam the store in sinc, showing the best pictures, etc. I have the ad in my brain.

But I DON'T MAKE THE AD. And I don't think the local guys have to ability or the interest to put my vision into play.

So I'll end up with something less than satisfying, and pay through the nose for it.

dkgoodman said...

What if you took a dozen old books or comics, put your store's name and address on them...

and left them in the waiting rooms of doctors and dentists? Or in restaurants?

Make a sticker of a superhero with a talk balloon saying, "Meet me at Pegasus Books!" and give away the sticker to anyone with skis, a laptop, a helmet or a skateboard.

But, as Chuggy says, definitely put up a web page. Many people, myself included, avoid the phone book. If I want to find something, an address or a retailer or help or advice, I google for it. I live online.

Bender said...

Duncan:
Isn't your best advertising your location? How would your store's sales be if you were located one block down by Thumps Coffee/Stacattos /New Oxford Hotel? Better/Worse? You just need to get them off the sidewalk and into your store. Once inside they will think more than comics.

If you are to pick on advertising medium in the Newsprint then think The Source -- however you surely know after 20+ years in business that to have the campaign work it must have frequency and longevity. If you are unwilling to budget/steal the $'s then it won't work. A one or two week run of a 1/4 page in The Source (or any publication) is like throwing money down the drain -- You need to have well designed ad with draw and exposure with an appropriate frequency that meets your willingness and appetite for spending dollars. The only exception to this rule would be a "Sale" or response advertising so as to get them in your store today or tomorrow. Sale type ads are only good for the short term, don't build your brand image and its like telling your customer not to come to your store after the sale -- As there is no reason too. They'll forget you after the sale or wait for another sale. You didn't build your business on sales items but rather on repeat customers -- Correct?

There's an old saying (not sure where it came from): Marketing works 50% of the time. The challenge is know what 50% worked.

Duncan McGeary said...

Other than being on the corner (watch out Pave Jewelry!), I can't think of a better location. We've moved from being on the hinterlands of downtown, to smack dab in the middle of all the new buildings (Firehouse, Franklin Crossing, etc.) Well, we didn't move, the locus moved around us.

So, yes, that was part of my thinking in accepting the higher rent.

Our bookstore on the corner of third and greenwood is pretty expensive, but more than paid for by the location. When people ask my wife if she advertises, she tells them her location is her advertising.

I suppose my store is similar, except we get walk by traffic, and she gets drive by traffic.

Keeneye said...

Wow. These are some really great ideas -- are you paying a consulting fee to these guys? :o)

Remind me to poll my friends for advertising ideas on a budget when we get our biz up and running!

I like the idea of putting free comics with your sticker on them in local waiting areas, and you should DEFINITELY get a MySpace page. If you need help creating a cool background, I'd be happy to help. I'm at gmail.

Keep up the great posts - we're all enjoying your blog.