Gaining Traction

It's been a busy day in the office. I've decided to take a more personal approach to my marketing scheme in a round two of email marketing, which I'm sure has a better feel than a quick flashy advertisement that can easily disappear with one quick stroke of the "delete" key. Round one didn't generate too much of a response but round two is coming off better. In regards to my marketing approach and expectations I consider any kind of response a good one. Even if a potential client responds that they can't use our services right now I know that I've had some success just by the fact that they took the time to respond, i.e. they actually read my email! Heck maybe they even clicked through and perused our website. This is a lot better than a non-reply and opens the door to future correspondence. Some potential clients asked about other types of service we might offer beyond just straight book cover design (which we do) opening the door for potential future revenue streams.
Another notable thing that is happening in the world of publishing is the emergence of E-books. We've begun to get some requests from former clients who now want to release editions of their published works in E-book format and are coming back to us for the electronic imaging rights for these covers. This is creating some revenue, but the bigger thing is that all of these inquiries open the door for other potentialities, like word of mouth testimonials on the good type of quality company we are and future work that might also include promotional items we do that goes beyond just print and E-book covers. Lots of authors are either getting dumped or dumping their big publishing houses and going the self publishing route. This means that they'll need help with marketing materials which is a niche we can fill. We can do postcards, posters, bookmarks, business cards, audio book covers, and yes now even have the technology to do book trailers (which are in fact creating a buzz in the age of youtube and similar sites)! Look for our first book trailers to be posted on our website and this blog within the next few weeks or so, once we've fine tuned and perfected the process.
All in all, the point is that we are gaining some traction and getting ourselves out there and known. I like the more personal approach better and how people react to it. We are a small company of people who like working and chatting with people. I think in this case its smart to present ourselves as such rather than trying to come off too slick and aloof. I'm excited to charge forward and see what the coming weeks bring.