Shine Spotlight on Your Company

When he first moved to Los Angeles four years ago, lighting designer Glenn Johnson was short on money but long on chutzpah.

Nearly broke, with a wife and a new baby, Johnson was desperate. He knew that wealthy homeowners needed his services to install custom lighting systems, but he had to find a way to reach them directly.

“In my industry, image is everything,” Johnson said. “It’s kind of ridiculous, but it’s a game you need to play.”

So, with his last few hundred dollars, Johnson rented a gray Mercedes convertible, put on his finest suit of clothes and drove through Bel-Air, looking for the biggest gated estates he could find.

“I knew these people needed my lighting services,” recalls Johnson, who had worked for his father’s lighting design firm for 10 years before starting his own business, which he calls Lighting by Design. “I had to get out there and pound on the gates.”

He didn’t have to do much pounding. When the housekeepers or gardeners saw a well-dressed man in a Mercedes drive up, the gates invariably swung open. And the servants usually listened to his sales pitch long enough to accept a brochure for the homeowner.

When Johnson wasn’t gate-crashing, he frequently snooped around the largest residential construction sites he could find. By talking to other tradesmen, he found out who owned the luxury homes that would require custom lighting for works of art, swimming pools and landscaping.

Little by little, Johnson’s bold marketing techniques paid off. His client list has grown to include millionaire art collector Frederick Weisman, film director Steven Spielberg and film producers Richard and Lili Zanuck.

“I learned that the business is not going to come to you,” Johnson said. “You really have to go out and get it.”

Johnson and others who have learned through experience say small-business owners who offer services instead of products are often reluctant to aggressively market themselves. Because they usually can’t afford advertising, they rely on word-of-mouth referrals to build a client base. But even though they believe in their abilities, it is often difficult for them to promote themselves.

Julie Robinson and Julie Weisberger came up with offbeat marketing techniques to promote their West Los Angeles errand service, Julie & Julie At Your Service.

First, they checked the competition to see what other errand services were offering. They found upscale errand companies charging as much as $50 an hour. At the other end of the spectrum were messenger services that sometimes hired people whose sloppy appearance might offend wealthy clients.

So the two Julies came up with a gimmick. They decided to dress in business attire no matter what they were asked to do.

“We walk dogs in business attire,” Robinson said. “Professional attire is our biggest selling point--it’s become our trademark.”

To reach busy professional people who might need their service, the Julies pass out flyers in Century City and in downtown Los Angeles. They spend hours visiting every floor of an office building, leaving their brochure with receptionists and anyone else who will listen.

“When we passed out flyers in Century City, we didn’t see anyone throw them away,” said Robinson, who formerly worked for an agency that placed temporary workers.

Susan Tanzman-Kaplan, a mother of two and an attorney who also owns a travel agency, said hiring Julie & Julie has changed her life.

“I literally feel like an octopus with 60 million legs,” Tanzman-Kaplan said. “I’m so busy with the various aspects of my life that I don’t have time to do the normal things like errands.”

In recent weeks, she has relied on the Julies to wait for the flea exterminator and then take her dog for a flea bath. She also paid their $20-an-hour fee to have them stand in line to collect autographs of baseball players for her son’s 10th birthday gift.

Wearing beepers so they don’t miss a call, the Julies shop for groceries, buy and deliver gifts, stand in line for concert tickets and hand-address party invitations. Other jobs have included inspecting computer parts for a company experiencing quality control problems and helping a Westside attorney find the best private club to join.

But they have drawn the line at being social escorts, chauffeurs or baby-sitters.

Weisberger, who previously worked in public relations, said another successful marketing technique has been to write a personal thank you note to every client after each job.

She said the clients appreciate the notes and frequently call to thank them for the thank you.

How to Get Organized

A seminar called “How to Win the Paper Chase” is being offered Aug. 12 by professional organizer Beverly Clower. Clower, with Santa Monica-based Office Overhaul, will cover several aspects including how to create an effective workstation in space you already have, how to set up a functional file system and how to choose the right organizers and appointment books.

The session costs $40 and runs from 9:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. It is scheduled to be held at the Holiday Inn Bayview Plaza, Redwood Room, 530 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica. For information and reservations call or write to Office Overhaul, 832 11th St., suite 202, Santa Monica, Calif. 90403. (213) 393-1392.

Tax Workshops

Free tax workshops are being offered this summer and fall by the Internal Revenue Service in cooperation with the Small Business Administration and the Service Corps of Retired Executives. Half of the workshops deal with general business taxes; the other half are co-sponsored by the California State Employment Development Department and cover employment tax issues and forms.

The workshops are held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the federal buildings in downtown Los Angeles and Van Nuys. The next general tax workshops are scheduled for Aug. 10 and 11. The Aug. 10 session will be held in the Van Nuys Federal Building, 6230 Van Nuys Blvd., 4th floor conference room, Van Nuys. The Aug. 11 session will be at the Los Angeles Federal Building, 300 N. Los Angeles St, Rooms 5035 and 5039. For information on these workshops and others call: (213) 894-4574.

MARKETING TIPS

Be bold and creative. Don’t be afraid to attract attention.

Find a gimmick that sets you apart from your competition.

Personal contact works best. Pass out flyers in places frequented by the kind of clients for which you are looking.

Borrow and improve on marketing techniques that work for your competitors.

Find out what your competition is charging and set your prices accordingly.

Don’t be shy about asking satisfied clients to recommend you to their friends and families.

Be lavish with thank yous to clients whose business you appreciate.