Georgii Zlobin | Digital Marketing Expert Blog

[georgiizlobin-blog]

Comfort Zone vs Extra Value

I've noticed an interesting tendency which I wanted to share.

While doing market research on the catering industry niche I've noticed that many firms were too scared to participate, "we don't need your service", "thanks, we are all set", thinking I'll try to sell them something. Sure, I understand that we're not used trusting people outside our circles,  it's just not comfortable. Nobody likes to be sold. I get it.

Now, for those who took a risk and finally decided to try - they got exactly what it was about: some questions on the situation on their business, sometimes deep questions, that helped them look at this from a different perspective. Which added extra value. Apart from free expert advice from my side. New connections were built.

Meanwhile, I've been prospecting new clients, finding out good fits, researching where I can add maximum value. Sometimes it was too clear: company A posting daily on a social media, short post, nice picture, "we can help you with catering" and a link to the website. I go and click.  And then the website just doesn't display correctly. Or there is no call-to-action / hard to find a phone number / not the best pictures of food / 80% of the page is about The Company etc.

Well, I should admire, there are plenty of good examples, where the whole online presence was top-notch. This case I've also clicked on every social media, the website they have and save, save, save. Because I want to have a good inspirational timeline I can learn from Pro-advice: check the digital marketer /web designer website who did the job.

Getting back to my potential clients: often they are too scared to even get on a quick conversation about their business. I'm not talking about sales now, I don't even mention my services for the moment. I just wanted to share what I've noticed, potential issue, where and why they might be losing new client/sales. This is what can start building a relationship and then maybe will bring to a potential engagement in the future. The key thing here is to be generous, don't expect too much from these interactions. We just building connections on this stage.

Now, this summer I was working hard, not only in terms of work but also in terms of facing and overcoming some deep challenges, going outside of comfort zone. Quitting bad habits and changing it for new ones. Starting a YouTube channel on my hobby, going out and do stuff I've never done before, running miles, trusting people who seem to be willing to help, and you know what? It went great, it doesn't feel safe from the beginning but in the end, you get that extra value. Tons of it. Why stress? Go out and try.

Take action. Gee.

[georgiizlobin-blog]

Catering Marketing Ideas 2019

Alright, wanted to share something on here.

I did a little market research on the catering industry. Again, many thanks for those who participated.

So I was looking to find potential problems that caterers are facing. What areas company owners are finding the most challenging at the moment.

Believe it or not, the answer is... Marketing.

I understand why is that. I've been in a catering/food industry business myself, and while you know how to cook your best sellers, how to manage the team, you have an accountant covering your back, you may not have that much time to invest in digital marketing. But you've probably heard that it's worked for some of your friends.

You either hire a dedicated Digital Marketing Expert/Firm, either hire a hipster with an iPhone X to guide him/her yourself, either you try to deep dive and do it yourself to save some $$.

Well, each option may work great actually. Not always. I know. I've tried them all hehe

Not going to waste your time with a long story, here are some tips on how you could get more awareness, feel free to use:

-= Basic Catering Marketing Ideas 2019 =-

Points of Interaction & Your Message.

(Your website, social media, emails, anything that interacts with your existing or potential customers)

What is it? How it can help me as a customer?

You heard it many times. Your message should tell about what is it in it for them.

Make sure that you have a clear call to action and a clear way to contact you.

If it’s a phone number, the link should be clickable.

Trust & Story

Tell your authentic story. How you are different? What makes you real, more like a person? Video is a great way to do it.

Why should people trust you?

Other customers experience. People are more likely will trust if they see other people similar to them was happy with your service/product.

What your brand is about? Who is your tribe? What you stand for? What

Do people think of it? What are your vision and mission? Voice? Is it consistent? Are you real and not fake? People can smell fakes easily.

Just Do It & Be Active!

Be active on Social Media. Make use of it, it’s a great free tool to promote your business, tell the story. Don’t expect any results after 5-10 posts. Share good stuff, something that can add value, you don’t want to limit content with just your product or service.

Don’t just copy and paste the same content all over your media. Think of what people expect to get from each source. Be consistent. How do you know what works? Don’t be afraid to experiment. See what is working and push it!

Take action. Gee.

[georgiizlobin-blog]

My story. What brought me to Digital Marketing?

How did I start?

When I was a kid my dream was to become an inventor. I wanted to create something that would impact people life (Digital marketing didn’t exist yet ha)

I’ve changed 4 schools, then 3 universities, end up learning Product Design in a British High School of Art & Design.

I’ve tried many jobs, first was selling ‘semi-real’ discount cards for gas stations, then sticking illegal ads in metro; I’ve worked in a big pro-government company (run away after realizing the reality), car wash, sales, restaurants.

Cooking was my passion (well, I still love to cook for my family and friends), I liked those moments when a waiter came back to the kitchen and said the guests asked to repeat the order. Means I nailed it. Problem was - I've never seen for whom I was cooking. I wanted to help real people, so I decided I’ll start my restaurant one day.

5 years from now, I moved from Russia to Georgia as it seems more freedom for an individual, transparent business atmosphere - no corruption/racket from the state.

I saw an opportunity: by 2015 there were no real burgers on the market at an affordable price. Georgians may be conservative in what they eat, but I know for sure, they love good meat. With my ex-wife we started a burger food-truck, after about a year it got great reputation within the expat community and I start thinking to shift for a brick and mortar.

After asking all my best friends (who consist of my customers) I’ve found an investor, Marine Capitan from Texas, who became my first business partner and invested $10k+ into a venue.

We did all mistakes possible, get tons of experience, spent a great 2 years and closed a restaurant.

Our product was the best in the city, the customers were our fans, but the business wasn't profitable. We decide to take part. And we still have good relationships with my partner.

After few more tries, I’ve couped with a group of two food enthusiasts, we rented just-closed pizza place, designed a new branding, identity, the story, new menu and using our experience we quickly turned it to a popular meeting point. 

But I wanted to change something with my life. I wanted more freedom, taking risks and knowing I’ll never stay inactive. After just 2 months I’ve sold my shares and invested in education, I was learning sales and web design. 

Completed my first projects and realize I can live my dream life, travel, to live wherever I want and still help people. After I’ve done a few more projects, I found out that some clients still see me as ‘order-taker’, which was my own fault. My positioning was too vague, “I do it all” mentality was working against me. I didn’t want to became ‘fix this’ guy and wanted to solve real problems, be a practitioner.

I started to find answers in books, pro-business forums, further learning and applying this knowledge in practice. 

That’s how I decided to make a shift, narrow down my focus to a catering niche, where I have skin in the game, a better understanding of potential problems that business owner may be facing and become a Digital Marketing Expert.

One of the insights that changed the way I work is this:

“While it is common practice on the creative professions to prescribe solutions without fully and accurately diagnosing the problem, in almost every other profession such a sequence would render the professional liable for malpractice.” - Blair Enns, 

Before prescribing any solutions, or accepting a client’s self-diagnosis it’s important and necessary to make sure we got to the core needs and understand the real challenges in front of a client.

That is the reason I have the system of diagnostic interactions in place. The process where we start with a set of some deep questions to uncover the roots, something beyond “I need a new website”. This way allows me to come up with better quality solutions which result in a tailored ‘tools’ - the outcomes.

Book a FREE introductory call here: https://calendly.com/giobusinessdesign/10min 

I’m learning something new every day and I’m going to share my journey with you.

It’s going to be fun, I’m not going to post only success stories but my fails as well. Because to fail means to move forward, this is something I understand myself.

Take action. Gee.