Tailoring a Design for Lifelong Growth
After more than three years giving marketing advice to other companies, Ranee A. Spina admits that now her Tarzana marketing communications company needs some help.
Urban Art Designworks has helped companies--including big ones such as Capitol Records, Las Vegas’ Rio Suite Hotel & Casino, MailBoxes Etc. and Warner Bros.--come up with marketing and branding concepts and then execute them in print and electronic media.
Besides designing company logos, brochures, prospectuses, stationery and Web sites, Spina makes sure that all of a company’s marketing materials work together to convey the right corporate image.
“When a company comes to me, I’m the problem solver,” said Spina, 34, who has one full-time employee and uses up to six contractors on a per-project basis.
“I go in and figure out what it is that’s happening that is limiting any type of revenue increase in the company. You would really be surprised by how many people have something staring them in the face, and it takes me to walk in and show them.”
Like her clients, though, Spina says she’s too close to her company’s problems to solve them alone.
The most pressing of her needs is to come up with a targeted marketing plan to help her build her business.
She has no formal business plan, but her goal is to design a billboard on Sunset Boulevard within two years.
More immediately, Spina wants to double monthly revenues to $25,000 by picking up mid- to large-size companies as clients that will depend on Urban Art on a regular basis.
Targeting big companies would be a mistake, says consultant Kenneth W. Keller, principal of Keller & Associates, a Valencia marketing consulting company that focuses on the needs of small and growing businesses.
Keller has different ideas to get Spina on track to grow.
Rather than big companies, Keller says, Spina should pursue start-ups that have needs tailored to what Urban Art can offer--packaging design, prospectuses, brochures, logos, marketing and even business card designs. Then she should regularly network in the growth industries in Southern California to connect with these start-ups, says Keller.
“If she gets in on the ground floor of a company that’s going someplace, she’ll have a lifelong customer,” Keller said.
Much of Urban Art’s growth in the last year has been in high tech, so Keller suggests that that could be a market to pursue.
One way to do that is for Spina to get involved in related trade associations whose members could use her services.
One candidate is the Santa Clara-based American Electronics Assn., which holds monthly meetings near Los Angeles International Airport. Another group with an ideal target audience is the Software Council of Southern California.
Spina could participate in these groups as a newsletter editor, committee member or even guest speaker, Keller suggested.
It’s important that Spina be out marketing and in front of people consistently.
Keller recommends she spend a minimum of 20% of her workweek calling on prospective clients. Currently, Spina counts a lot on referrals for business, but it will take more than that for Urban Art to double its monthly income.
Another problem, says Spina, is that potential clients sometimes balk at paying for ideas.
A solution, says Keller, is for Spina to improve her positioning in the marketplace. That will make it easier to get premium prices for her services.
He suggests that she “educate” potential clients by starting a library of articles on marketing she can provide to professional associations, networking groups and Chambers of Commerce for their newsletters.
“In doing so, these articles will position her as an expert in her field and will demonstrate her knowledge to her target markets,” Keller said.
To take Urban Art to the next level, Spina, like many small-business owners, also needs to further her own business education, says Keller.
That includes learning more about cash flow and finance; management skills, including how to hire and train people; and marketing and sales.
He recommends a free 10-week course for entrepreneurs sponsored by the nonprofit Valley Economic Development Center for businesses in the city of Los Angeles.
Another recommended program is Challenge by the Small Business Administration’s Small Business Development Center of North Los Angeles County. Small-business owners meet every other week for 90 minutes, share their problems, and set goals.
Keller also recommends that Spina:
* Write a strategic plan outlining goals for the business and how to attain them.
A goal to double sales isn’t enough.
Instead, she should spell out how to achieve that. Keller suggests that Spina’s six-month plan might call for doing direct mail to high-tech companies in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego.
The following six months could call for writing articles for chapter newsletters and trade publications to better acquaint businesses with what Urban Art can do for them. These broad goals can be further broken down into a monthly action plan.
* Implement a software contact management system such as Act or Goldmine.
It’s time for Spina to give up her Rolodex, Keller said, because it does not allow for systemic follow-up with prospects or clients who can be tapped regularly for new business.
* Institute a two-call-close system. Spina usually meets with a prospective client once, then mails, faxes or e-mails a proposal.
Instead, she needs to sell her product line face to face, then meet again with the client to present a bid.
Says Keller: “I’m impressed with what Spina has and what she’s done. . . . Eighty percent of businesses fail within the first year, so she has survived the odds. That’s a real testament to her abilities.
“If she can just fine-tune the recipe of her business and spend more time marketing to the right target market, she can achieve her goals.”
If you would like your company to be considered for a future Business Make-Over, you can now download or print an application online at https://www.latimes.com/bizmakeform. Or you can write to Business Make-Overs care of Karen E. Klein, Business Section, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053.
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This Week’s Business Make-Over
* Company: Urban Art Designworks
* Headquarters: Tarzana
* Type of business: Marketing communications
* Status: Sole proprietor
* Owner: Ranee A. Spina
* Founded: Current business direction, 1996
* Start-up financing: $20,000 from credit cards
* 1998 gross revenue: $82,000
* 1999 gross revenue: $135,000
* Outstanding loans: $1,700 ($170.35 per month payment)
* Employees: One full time, plus up to six independent contractors depending on the job
* Customers: Small, medium and large businesses across the country representing different industries
Main Business Problem
Lack of organized, targeted marketing program
Goal
Double monthly sales to $25,000
Recommendations
* Set goals and write a simple business plan.
* Boost marketing efforts, including targeting a specific market, joining trade associations and writing industry articles.
* Continue education related to business, management and finance.
* Install a contact management software system.
* Use a two-call-close sales system.
Meet the Consultant
Kenneth W. Keller is principal of Keller & Associates, a Valencia marketing consulting company that focuses on the needs of small and growing businesses. Since 1994 the firm has assisted more than 3,000 businesses. (https://www.keller-associates.com)