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Ask the Soul Proprietor
eTech Parts is proud to present a brand new collaboration, Ask the Soul Proprietor! Alister Shirazi is an established business development and marketing professional, as well as a former client of eTech Parts. We've partnered with Alister to not only offer him an opportunity to share his knowledge and experience, but to help members of the Repair Community find success in business. Ask the Soul Proprietor any questions you have about business, marketing and more -- we'll feature your questions and Alister will offer his advice!Ask the Soul Proprietor
My name is Alister, and I am a Soul Proprietor. A "Soul Proprietor" is a proud small business owner. If you are a passionate and proud owner of a business, you are a Soul Proprietor too! I started my smartphone repair business in August of 2011 in Northern California by posting flyers around town and posting ads on Craigslist. Within 12 months I opened my first store. 11 months later I opened my second store and 1 year after that I sold my business to pursue a career in small business development and marketing. I am now dedicated to helping small businesses succeed and grow to their full potential. I have teamed up with eTech Parts to share my experience with the Repair Community.
Why Smartphone Repair Techs Shouldn't Be Spending Money On Advertising
The days of Mad Men style advertising are over. Increasingly savvy customers need more than an old lady yelling "Where's the beef?!" to influence their purchase intention. TV advertising campaigns are great for long term marketing strategies aimed at increasing brand recognition and brand exposure but for small and medium sized businesses, the short term ROI (Return On Investment) tends to not be high enough to make it worthwhile. The same goes for radio ad campaigns. In my experience the best marketing is the free stuff. As a small business or a tech just starting out, you should "live and die by ROI". If you spend $500 per month on advertising, you must ask yourself and estimate how much revenue you can expect from such an investment. So... if TV and radio are out, how should you be marketing? Here is where your creativity comes into play. In business and in life, the fishing is best where the fewest go. We have all browsed the Craigslist iPhone repair market. In many cities, Craigslist is littered with the spam of dozens of repair techs on a race to the lowest price possible with annoyingly loud ad titles attempting to grab the customers attention. I have nothing against Craigslist, as it played a huge role in the development of my business. However why subject your business and your brand image to such heavy competition? As repair techs, we are innovative, intelligent and creative so let's allow our marketing efforts to reflect this sentiment. Here are just a few suggestions for you to consider:- Partner with hotels to be their sole go-to "phone fixer dude". Many of their guests have issues with their phone and having a reliable technician they could refer guests to would be a mutually beneficial relationship.
- Partner with related businesses. Shake hands and introduce yourself and pass out business cards to cell phone accessory stores/kiosks at the mall, small mom/pop cell phone stores, computer repair stores
- Promotional posters are an underrated means of marketing. Post them in areas where your target demographic frequent (universities, BARS, music venues... Get creative!)
- Partner with event venues. Find venues that use wristbands for shows/concerts/events and offer to supply them with your own wristbands for free. You can have wristbands printed online with your logo and information at a relatively low cost. They will be happy because they are not spending money on wristbands for their events, and you get great advertising exposure.