UNDERSTANDING YOUR VALUE TO YOUR CUSTOMER
It’s not about providing a service that is valuable.
It’s about providing a service that your client finds valuable.
by Kelly Swanson
President, North Carolina Storytelling Guild
March, 2007
I don’t know about you, but marketing is not my favorite part of my job. I’m an artist. I want to create. I want to perform. I want to sweat under a spotlight and have adoring fans faint at my feet. I want the glamour. I want the paparazzi to try to catch pictures of me sun bathing nude on a remote island. And nowhere in this dream do I envision myself licking stamps, entering addresses on a database, fighting with technology, and facing rejection on a regular basis. And for a long time, I waited for success to happen to me. I was an artist, and like most artists, I just waited for my big break. Well, guess what. Big breaks don’t just happen. You’ve got to go out there and make it happen. I don’t care what people say. Look at any artist who has benefited from a big break, and tell me that they didn’t consciously make a decision (or several decisions) that put them along the path that led to their supposed good fortune. The winner of American Idol at some point made a decision to go stand in line.
I say this, not to discourage you, but to inspire you. The waiting is over. It’s a new day. You have a valuable gift. You want to share it with the world. It’s time to let them know you are here. Any way you know how. It is that simple. As much as you may not like the way I put it, you have a product to sell. Unless you have decided that your art is for your own pleasure only and you do not intend to do anything more than enjoy it within the confines of your own home. And this is fine too. You probably won’t benefit from this article. But for the rest of us who want to share our gift with the world, read on.
I am a storyteller and a writer and a comedian. I know the value in what I do. I know the value in making people laugh. I know the power and beauty in words and how they are put together. I know that what I do has merit and brings people joy. I know I matter. If you aren’t at this point mentally, stop reading and find someone who can help you restore your soul. I’m here if you need me to remind you of your worth. But knowing you are valuable is not the key to good marketing. It’s knowing what your client finds valuable. And can you provide the value they are looking for?
Whenever I get a job that isn’t typical for those in the storytelling profession, people are surprised and undoubtedly ask me how I got the audience to “accept” what I do. How was I able to “educate” my audience on what a storyteller needs? How was I able to make them “get” what I do? The whole point of this article is that it’s not about getting your audience or your client to accept what you do. It is not about them meeting your needs. It’s about you meeting their needs. This is a business and most clients will not spend time trying to figure out how to best use your gift. Let me give you an example.
When I got booked on the cruise ships as an evening entertainer and I saw the scheduled lineup of artists, I was surprised that they chose storytelling to include in their repertoire. I knew that my show was radically different than what the cruise audiences were accustomed to watching. In my eyes, it didn’t fit. Don’t get me wrong. I knew my show was good. I knew it had value. I just wasn’t sure that it was the value my client was looking for. I was right.
My first show went off without a hitch. I didn’t miss a beat. I knew based on years of experience that I had hit the mark on all that I had set out to do. It was the best that I knew how to do. And it was received about as enthusiastically as a cold sore on school picture day. That’s right. It bombed. And do you know why? Because it wasn’t what they were expecting. It didn’t fit what the audience wanted. One man summed it up perfectly when he said, “Fantastic show. Wrong crowd.”
It was awful. On cruise ships you can’t just run away and lick your wounds. You have to face your audience everywhere! And I wasn’t finished. I had another show in forty-five minutes. And two more shows the following week before I could go home. And when you’re in show business, you don’t get to just quit. The show must go on. So in forty-five minutes I met with the cruise director who told me what went wrong. They wanted funny. They didn’t want serious or poignant. They wanted comedy. Stick with that and they’ll be fine. So in forty-five minutes I rewrote my show pulling every piece of comedy I had. And on the second show….I was a hit. The difference was astounding. They couldn’t stop talking about it. They loved it. I don’t tell you this to brag. They also liked the one-armed man who juggled poodles and sang Moon Over Miami. I tell you this because it is a great example of how important it is to find out what is valuable to your customer first, and then decide if you can provide the value. If not, no big deal. Move on to another customer.
When you know what your customer finds valuable, and you feel that your service meets that value, then there is one more step. You need to know how to sell your value to them in a language that they can understand. You need to know their lingo. Find the words that they can relate to. Schools will want to use words like curriculum and grants and test scores. Comedy clubs will be interested in laughs per minute. Churches will want to know your statement of faith. Publishers will want to know your market value. The corporate world will want points and how your service will benefit their bottom line. I know, it sounds like a lot of work. But you need to do it if you want to increase your business. And this is why it is so important to know who you want to sell your product to, before you ever figure out how to sell it to them.
And let me end this rambling session with a word of advice. Please don’t change your art to match your audience. You can tweak it here and there to fit your message to your group. I have sold my service to just about every type of venue you can think of, and have written stories to fit just about every audience and theme you can imagine. I have come up with hundreds of different ways to package my show, yet never once have I changed my material. Never once have I strayed from what I love to do – which is to write and tell stories. So do not read this article and find any reason to change yourself to fit a market. If you don’t fit your audience, find a different one. You have a gift to share with the world. You just need to find the right place to share it. And if I can be of any help along the way, don’t hesitate to ask.
I wish you all my best. See you in April.
It’s not about providing a service that is valuable.
It’s about providing a service that your client finds valuable.
by Kelly Swanson
President, North Carolina Storytelling Guild
March, 2007
I don’t know about you, but marketing is not my favorite part of my job. I’m an artist. I want to create. I want to perform. I want to sweat under a spotlight and have adoring fans faint at my feet. I want the glamour. I want the paparazzi to try to catch pictures of me sun bathing nude on a remote island. And nowhere in this dream do I envision myself licking stamps, entering addresses on a database, fighting with technology, and facing rejection on a regular basis. And for a long time, I waited for success to happen to me. I was an artist, and like most artists, I just waited for my big break. Well, guess what. Big breaks don’t just happen. You’ve got to go out there and make it happen. I don’t care what people say. Look at any artist who has benefited from a big break, and tell me that they didn’t consciously make a decision (or several decisions) that put them along the path that led to their supposed good fortune. The winner of American Idol at some point made a decision to go stand in line.
I say this, not to discourage you, but to inspire you. The waiting is over. It’s a new day. You have a valuable gift. You want to share it with the world. It’s time to let them know you are here. Any way you know how. It is that simple. As much as you may not like the way I put it, you have a product to sell. Unless you have decided that your art is for your own pleasure only and you do not intend to do anything more than enjoy it within the confines of your own home. And this is fine too. You probably won’t benefit from this article. But for the rest of us who want to share our gift with the world, read on.
I am a storyteller and a writer and a comedian. I know the value in what I do. I know the value in making people laugh. I know the power and beauty in words and how they are put together. I know that what I do has merit and brings people joy. I know I matter. If you aren’t at this point mentally, stop reading and find someone who can help you restore your soul. I’m here if you need me to remind you of your worth. But knowing you are valuable is not the key to good marketing. It’s knowing what your client finds valuable. And can you provide the value they are looking for?
Whenever I get a job that isn’t typical for those in the storytelling profession, people are surprised and undoubtedly ask me how I got the audience to “accept” what I do. How was I able to “educate” my audience on what a storyteller needs? How was I able to make them “get” what I do? The whole point of this article is that it’s not about getting your audience or your client to accept what you do. It is not about them meeting your needs. It’s about you meeting their needs. This is a business and most clients will not spend time trying to figure out how to best use your gift. Let me give you an example.
When I got booked on the cruise ships as an evening entertainer and I saw the scheduled lineup of artists, I was surprised that they chose storytelling to include in their repertoire. I knew that my show was radically different than what the cruise audiences were accustomed to watching. In my eyes, it didn’t fit. Don’t get me wrong. I knew my show was good. I knew it had value. I just wasn’t sure that it was the value my client was looking for. I was right.
My first show went off without a hitch. I didn’t miss a beat. I knew based on years of experience that I had hit the mark on all that I had set out to do. It was the best that I knew how to do. And it was received about as enthusiastically as a cold sore on school picture day. That’s right. It bombed. And do you know why? Because it wasn’t what they were expecting. It didn’t fit what the audience wanted. One man summed it up perfectly when he said, “Fantastic show. Wrong crowd.”
It was awful. On cruise ships you can’t just run away and lick your wounds. You have to face your audience everywhere! And I wasn’t finished. I had another show in forty-five minutes. And two more shows the following week before I could go home. And when you’re in show business, you don’t get to just quit. The show must go on. So in forty-five minutes I met with the cruise director who told me what went wrong. They wanted funny. They didn’t want serious or poignant. They wanted comedy. Stick with that and they’ll be fine. So in forty-five minutes I rewrote my show pulling every piece of comedy I had. And on the second show….I was a hit. The difference was astounding. They couldn’t stop talking about it. They loved it. I don’t tell you this to brag. They also liked the one-armed man who juggled poodles and sang Moon Over Miami. I tell you this because it is a great example of how important it is to find out what is valuable to your customer first, and then decide if you can provide the value. If not, no big deal. Move on to another customer.
When you know what your customer finds valuable, and you feel that your service meets that value, then there is one more step. You need to know how to sell your value to them in a language that they can understand. You need to know their lingo. Find the words that they can relate to. Schools will want to use words like curriculum and grants and test scores. Comedy clubs will be interested in laughs per minute. Churches will want to know your statement of faith. Publishers will want to know your market value. The corporate world will want points and how your service will benefit their bottom line. I know, it sounds like a lot of work. But you need to do it if you want to increase your business. And this is why it is so important to know who you want to sell your product to, before you ever figure out how to sell it to them.
And let me end this rambling session with a word of advice. Please don’t change your art to match your audience. You can tweak it here and there to fit your message to your group. I have sold my service to just about every type of venue you can think of, and have written stories to fit just about every audience and theme you can imagine. I have come up with hundreds of different ways to package my show, yet never once have I changed my material. Never once have I strayed from what I love to do – which is to write and tell stories. So do not read this article and find any reason to change yourself to fit a market. If you don’t fit your audience, find a different one. You have a gift to share with the world. You just need to find the right place to share it. And if I can be of any help along the way, don’t hesitate to ask.
I wish you all my best. See you in April.
Kelly Swanson
It's all fun and games 'til the hair gets messed up
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