Finding My First Customers ... Looking for tips from ppl that have done it!

[pjr710]

My company is a promotional model agency. We have a network of promotional models from around the US that are experienced in promotions and selling. They can be used at trade shows, bars, street team promotions, car shows, and events.

I'm trying to get a list of fundamental ways to find new customers. So far I'm using AdWords, and email blasting trade show attendees.

AdWords has brought in somewhat random inquiries, and email blasting has a few bites but no catches yet. I think it depends on the show to be honest.

What are some other good ways to start getting the message out and finding my first paying customers?

 

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[ALSL]

If I had a business like yours, I'd be doing research on potential businesses that could

A. use the service
B. afford your prices

Then cold call the shit out of them. Showing up at local businesses that have the budget for your service and being personable. Invest a little in throwing parties with your models at clubs. Talk to your local night clubs, see if they want to pay to have your models attend their events in order to make the club "well known" for having pretty girls there. Make it discreet of course, so that the people going to those clubs don't know that the girls are being paid to be there. Be damn sure that your girls are good looking. Quality goods matter here.

Maybe the easiest targets for you right now are night clubs and the club promoters, club event-makers, etc.

How the clubs work around here (Vancouver/Canada) is that clubs basically don't do any marketing. Club promoters (companies that exclusively throw events and promote a certain club) "rent" the club by selling tickets to customers. A cut of that will go to the promoters. Also, a cut of the alcohol sales will also go to the promoters. That way, everybody wins.

Your target could be the club promoters. Talk to them and ask them if they would like to hire your models as an attraction point. You're basically "pimping" your girls out If the girls are actually hot, guys will flock to the clubs that your girls go to. Basically, you can make a name for yourself. If you succeed at the start, you will suddenly have a HUGE amount of power because you'll have the pull to basically draw repeat customers to certain clubs.

Example: You have 3 girls. A, B and C. You talk to promoter Z. Z agrees to hire ABC. (You gotta figure out the pricing, I don't know how much you pay your girls so I cant' give you a number, but it should be a number you are happy with. Think about giving a "trial period" discount. So after the trial period, the price goes back up to your ideal price point)

You can actually offer package deals. 1 time hire is more expensive, but if you hire out for a contract like 5 events, or 10 events, you could give a slight discount per event.

Now say Z wants to hire your girls for 5 events. The moment that happens, you start to promote the HELL out of that promoter. If that promoter's sales go up, you can claim it was your girls.

If the sales DO go up, they will be happy to keep your girls on. Now, make sure you coach your girls to be very open, very talkative and flirty with as many guys as possible at the clubs. They have to basically BECOME CELEBRITIES. Your girls have to be super friendly and super open to chat with people. Your girls should be inviting the guys back to events. They should be jotting down numbers or facebook friends or w/e. Once the girls create a following for themselves, they'll have huge pull on repeat customers for clubbing events.

Once that happens, YOU have power. Now you can dictate terms for other clubs. Show them your track record. Show them that your girls are celebrities in the clubbing scene and that they can increase customer retention. Go to other club promoters, do the same. Charge premium prices now.

ETC.

This will obviously all take time, but that's what I could think about off the top of my head.

When you talk to the promoters, you can always ask them what their average revenue is from one event. Negotiate prices based on how much more you can increase their revenue.

Ask yourself:

What businesses or venues need beautiful people?

You're probably going to actually have to do some work to get clients, not just bashing out an e-mail template and mass sending it.

Considering what your margins are (they should be high btw, considering good looking models are a "luxury" good and you can sell it as such) you just need to land a few repeat clients before the word spreads about your models.

 

[Jason K]

The more you niche down right now, the better. Become known as the promo model agency for "___" events. The more industrial, the better...or, you can "invent" a new niche by placing them at shows girls haven't been at before. The second option has surprise going for it, which means people are going to remember it. Girls at a car show are nothing new, but girls at the Great Midwest Envelope Convention might be. Splash!

You can branch out later, but being clear about what you do and where you do it is the best way of getting known now. Once people have heard of you in that niche, they will instantly think of you in connection to it. Obviously you want a niche where the participants are predominantly male.

I agree with the on-the-ground methods ALSL described to start turning the girls into mini-celebrities. Collecting info about your market and connecting with them on fb is a powerful way of getting the brand out there. Also this differentiates your service down the road--the girls bring their own fan base along.

Now you could call tradeshow sponsors and those who bought a booth. A quick talk with the marketing manager will let you know whether they use agencies like yours or not. Start thinking about your positioning: what do you provide that other agencies don't? If you don't do this, it'll all come down to price.

 

[edpaiz]

if you have the resources or one of your girls is business oriented, try to get her on board and go with her to the companies that you want to target, SHOW UP with her, she will open doors for you... and then you can pitch. in the company i work for (just quit yeah 15 more days) i see hot girls all the time coming from other companies to try t close deals to find out if checks are ready etc... trut me when the fat annoying dude comes to see if a payment is ready for him nnobody cares, but if a sokin hot girl comes everybody makes sure that he gets the attention she needs... so either use this strategy to get in the door, or use it to sell it to companies as a by-product, have pretty girls do PR for your company.
You have a very good asset work your a$$ off to exploit it!!!

 

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