Business – Page 2

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To pay or not to pay

If you’ve been in the business of providing services long enough, you’ve likely grappled with this question. “Should I charge for this X thing?” And even if you’re mostly a product-oriented company, you probably offer some services like classes or tutorials.

I do not have an easy answer for you, as it’s something I am also struggling with. Expertise comes with experience built on labor, whether physical or mental. When you reach a certain level of expertise, people start coming to you with questions. This isn’t about how to set your rates or prices, it’s about whether you should or not.

I am a believer in both not gatekeeping valuable information and paying people what they’re worth. It is unfortunate that we tie money with value but it is what it is. When you pay for something, you want to receive something back. This is an easy enough concept for physical goods but not so much about digital ones or intangible ones.

If you pay for a cooking class, you expect to learn how to cook that meal. The more you pay, the more detailed, personalized, and valuable experience you expect to have. Yes, you can watch a free recipe video on YouTube but maybe you want more.

And this is the hazy line that I’ve settled in. Generalized information and advice, like this newsletter, is free. Once you start veering into the personalized advice territory (i.e. “What should I do with my Instagram account for this specific goal I have in mind?”), it becomes a paid service. Digital worksheets could be both as long as the free one has some clear goal. It could be brand awareness or leading customers to a paid worksheet.

Likewise, you could offer free video tutorials on how to brew coffee with a certain method (there are so many of these out there). AND you can offer paid small group classes or 1:1 home barista training.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, especially if you’ve drawn a different hazy line than I have.

Your brand DMs aren’t private

DM like it’s going to be public because it basically is.

If there is any tl;dr to this, it is that DMs between a brand and person are never private and should never be written as if they were.

Some thoughts on trends

When you work in marketing, part of your job is to keep an eye on trends. And these trends are everywhere, not limited to your own industry or even marketing. At which point do you decide that a trend is worth investing in? I don’t have a clear answer on this but I can tell you what sparked this post.

How to hire the right photographer for you

If you’re thinking of outsourcing your photography work, this piece is for you. I’ve written about why I don’t think freelance marketplaces are great for creatives but I haven’t focused specifically on photography yet. I’m writing this with a dual perspective: as someone who advises on marketing and as a photographer.

Why I don’t recommend generic freelance websites for hiring creatives

Say you need to hire someone to design a new website, photograph your products, or manage your social media. Where would you first go? Usually, referrals are the first choice – you find fellow business owners and ask them for people to check out. What if those don’t pan out? The next step usually is to head straight to Google and cross your fingers for a good match.

Free template: Tracking your press mentions

Have you been in business for a while? Then it’s very possible that you’ve gotten some press about your brand. Where do you store all this info? Maybe it’s a folder on your computer or an online text document. Why not put it all in one place with an opportunity to filter by sentiment, product, or type?

Trust: Don’t say it if you don’t mean it

Consumers are savvy today. We see tons of ads on a daily basis in multiple forms, all claiming to be the best in whatever industry they’re in. I’m talking about trust again, a topic I wrote about two years ago. It’s tough to stand out from the crowd and one of the few things that can make you stand out is consumer trust.

All about the press kit 101 (Part 2)

If you need a refresher on the who, what, whys of a press kit, I covered it two weeks ago. In this part, I cover what you can do to expand your press kit. This is assuming you already have a press kit and/or you have additional time to beef it up.

All about the press kit 101 (Part 1)

Press kits make marketers’ lives easier. There are a few different approaches to it and in this first part, I’m going to address the who, what, why questions and what you need in the most basic press kit. You could spend 15 minutes assembling it if you have all the needed items or days/weeks if you want a robust one and you still need to create the content.

A COVID digital marketing audit

Today, we’re going to focus on COVID & your communication (or lack thereof) of it.

In the pandemic’s first few weeks, the news arrived loose and fast, often changing several times within a 24-hour span. It was difficult to keep track of as a business and I’m sure many things fell to the side. Depending on where you are, coffee businesses may be open with precautionary to extreme measures. I wrote about mental health and reopening back in June. Some of these tips still apply today.

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