You all know I’m a big fan of Naomi Dunford.  Marketing School and SEO School have been game changers for me, and they come at less than the cost of a pair of jeans at the Gap.  Naomi just released a series of new audio goodies, so I ponied up for How to Conquer Marketing and Make a Living With Your Art.  It’s $29 for a limited time, and then the price hits $49.

Get it while it’s $29 to enjoy Naomi’s sweet nothings whispered in your ear (or laptop) a little more.

(Photos above from the ‘images you can’t pay me to take’ collection: if you’re my college roomie and I adore you, I will shoot your sister’s wedding even though it makes me break out in hives.)

Naomi will help you find more eyeballs for viewing your art, help you find the marketing techniques that suit your personality, encourage you to move beyond apologizing for taking people’s money, introduce a revolutionary donation-based concept for the brave and entertaining among you, and tell you why most artists’ marketing sucks.  (And how to fix it, of course!)

If you listen to what Naomi has to say — and I mean listen-so-hard-you-take-notes listen, I bet you’ll have an a-ha moment.  Yup, I’m putting that Oprah cliche right out there and saying you’ll probably have one.  I did.  I paused the audio halfway through to rewrite some blog copy that’s been a pain to get just right.  Naomi made the lightbulb moment happen, and now it’s perfect.

How to Conquer Marketing and Make a Living With Your Art will give you a shot of confidence and marketing know-how.  (It costs as much as an entree in Vegas, so even if you’ve just gotten back from WPPI — the audio lasts longer than Wolfgang Puck’s gnocchi platter.)

Curious about my reviews of Naomi’s other products? Learn about Marketing School here.  Get the goods on SEO School here.

Want to read it on the blog? HOW TO CONQUER MARKETING – ITTYBIZ AUDIO REVIEW

If you provide hot girls and cold beer at reasonable prices, you’ve got a time-honored business model working in your favor.  Strip clubs should be profit MACHINES.  But  just because you have the prettiest, thinnest, hottest, _____est dancers doesn’t mean people will find you.

You’re nodding your head.  You’re like, ‘duh, Kristen, of COURSE people won’t find out about Crystal Delicious and her miraculous pole-dancing on their own!’

So why do you assume people will find out about your artwork on their own?

You’re talented, you have great photos, you have a website.  And no one cares.  You’re dancing for an empty auditorium.

How do we go about filling that auditorium?

Generate buzz.

If you owned a strip club, I would hope you would attempt to generate buzz locally.  Postcards, posters, and business cards shuffling from hand to hand help generate buzz.  That giant dude standing on the corner, passing out pink 4×6″ signs with Crystal Delicious on ‘em?  That dude is filling your auditorium.  As an artist, strive to have marketing materials circulating among customers, potential customers, and other businesses AT ALL TIMES.

Differentiate.

That giant dude also knows the power of differentiation.  You’re selling your club, yes, but you’re also pushing Crystal Delicious pretty hard.  No other club has Crystal!  Stand in awe of her upside-down-kerfuffle-lutz moves!  What would a giant dude wearing brass knuckles be pushing on the street corner if those postcards were about your business?  What will make you stand out like Crystal does?  (Need a dose of differentiation?  Try Marketing School.)

Reward your loyal fans.

George has sent twelve guys to your club in the past month.  Oh, and he’s urging his buddy to book his bachelor party with Crystal.  George needs to be rewarded for his loyalty!  The same goes for the bride who urges two other brides to book, or the Mom who hands out your business cards to her entire preschool!  Get those women some freebies, some special pricing, or a bottle of wine — never forget to reward the people who spread the word about your business to others.

Optimize your web assets. (Heh, I said assets.)

After hitting the local scene, I would hope you’d be a touch tech-savvy and optimize your strip club for search engine placement.  This is a slower build, and people might not find out about Crystal’s pole-dancing right away, but over time and with the right resources you’ll have clients making a trip to your joint as a destination!  SEO School has the tips you need to optimize your web assets for search engines.  Promise.

Outsource.

Finally, while you’re waiting for your strip club to hit it big, I would outsource wherever possible.  This doesn’t appear to make much sense, because your inclination is to do everything yourself.  But spending four hours cleaning the entire club means you wasted four hours that could have been spent on marketing.  Do you make more money by having clean toilets and no customers, or by having a small cleaning staff and a club packed with people?

Any other strip joint/photography buzz-generating tips for us?  Share ‘em!  And let me know what you think of today’s post, pretty please?

Want to read it on the blog? EVEN STRIP CLUBS GO OUT OF BUSINESS.

How do you minimize your marketing investment while maximizing your impact?

Make good use of graphic design.

Grab a marketing brochure template from Design Aglow or Sarah Q, then customize it a touch to include your branding elements.  Switching out a background and a font will go a long way toward helping your brand stand out without hurting your potential client’s eyes or insulting their design sensibilities.

Simplify your message.

If you’ve mastered Marketing School, use your brochure to outline your unique selling proposition and your company’s features and benefits. That’s it.  No pricing menu — too overwhelming.  No specials or time-sensitive promos — you’ll have to throw away brochures, for sure.

Find a vendor to produce reliable, cost-effective results.

Sure, 25 5×5″ metallic postcards from WHCC are stunning — but at over $1 each, they don’t provide enough information about the business for the cost.  I recently got 1,000 8-page brochures printed on recycled paper stock from Got Print for less than $500.  The same brochures from other vendors are twice as much, while old-school catalogs from BellaGraphica are about $4 each.

When it comes to displays, rely on collages to sell your work.

A single 20×30″ canvas featuring your favorite four to six images and logo will go a long way toward selling your work.  Buying 6 20×30″ canvases for a space is going to put you back $600-$800, a costly solution when you plan to change the images out every four to six months.

If canvas isn’t your thing, feature a large(ish) framed print.

Not a custom-framed print.  Just a 16×20″ print in a frame that costs less than $50.  Hit up a thrift store for an antique frame or spray paint one from your basement.  Troll the aisles of Target until the perfect frame pops into your cart.  Get creative without breaking the bank.

Potential clients passing by your work won’t be looking at the frame, they’ll be looking at the image.  Save the custom framed samples and corners for your studio or your in-home sales sessions.

Want to read it on the blog? MINIMIZE YOUR INVESTMENT.

Why buy Marketing School?

• You already know the goodness that is Naomi Dunford, who brought us SEO School. If you enjoy this blog and are down with the combination of funny + learning, you will enjoy reading Marketing School.  (Can’t tell you how many business books I don’t read because I’m bored out of my mind in the first few chapters.)
• You will understand basic marketing concepts once and for all. Like features and benefits.  Unique selling propositions.  Sales cycles. SWOT analysis guidelines.  In fact, when making my latest promotion, Pets for Haiti, I actually made a list of features and benefits, then whittled them down to what’s easiest to understand for the most people.  That’s a pretty powerful change in behavior as a result of reading this book.
• You will be able to put good marketing practices into effect for your business. By knowing exactly who you’re aiming to hit with your marketing materials and web copy, you’ll find a remarkable boost in the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.  More effective marketing = less time spent marketing.
• You will be forced to take a good look at your business and to assess what’s working and what isn’t. January is pretty much the ideal month for analysis, planning, and growth.  This book fits right in.
• It’s only $49. Which is way cheaper than that marketing workshop, DVD, or seminar you’ve had your eye on.

Go forth.

Buy Marketing School.

And tune in tomorrow for my secrets to marketing locally.

Want to read it on the blog? MARKETING SCHOOL REVIEW