Andy Beal has just published an article entitled “Five Secret Strategies to Add $1 Million in Revenue to your Interactive Marketing Agency in 2007” in which he provides some proven strategies that any marketing firm can implement.
The five secret strategies Andy lists are tried and trusted as he has used them to help grow one firm to $25+ million in annual revenues and another to an annual run rate of $2+ million in its first year. I will provide a bullet list with some excerpts but definitely check out original article as it is a worthy read.
1. Stand Out From The Crowd
Being different, doesn’t mean reinventing the wheel, but does mean singing a tune that a prospective client has not heard a thousand times before. If you want to serenade a new customer, you need to catch their attention and convince them you are different from the umpteen other marketing firms, they have heard from, or used, in the past.
2. Write Articles To Establish Your Agency as a Thought Leader
While, collaborative efforts such as blogs or a series of articles written by various employees of your company, is a solid plan, I believe that focusing on one person in your company – someone who is already somewhat of an expert and conveys authority – is the best approach to building credibility via articles.
3. Step Up To The Microphone and Be Heard
Once you’ve had a few articles published, you can use your new-found credibility to pitch for speaking slots at conferences and seminars. Getting a regular speaking slot at any event, will likely put your company in front of potential clients, establish credibility among your peers and reward your firm with increased revenue.
4. Hire a Public Relations Firm
The sheer value that can be obtained from a public relations initiative is immense. Being quoted in a newspaper, or having your company featured in a magazine, is a low cost way to reach an audience of thousands – if not millions – yet not without having to find the budget for a half-page ad.
5. Know the Value of a Big Brand Client
…if you try to compete with established agencies, charging your normal fee will more often than not, send the big-brand company running into the safe and secure arms of the agency that has been around for ten years and has one hundred clients. So what’s the better strategy? Discount your service, heck, give it away for free! Don’t look at the amount of money you can bring in by landing a big name client, look at the amount of additional clients you’ll attract by landing a big-brand client. Being able to tell the world that Wal-Mart or Apple is one of your clients adds instant credibility!
There’s a lot more good stuff in the original article. We have done the first three. I have never considered the fourth but it sounds very intriguing. And the fifth… I’ll have to give it some consideration the next time one of those typically bulky RFPs comes in. Thanks, Andy!
