Four Steps to Marketing Your Bookstore

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Old Bookshop Entrance</a> by Jon Luty

       There’s no shortage of book sellers in Savannah, GA. “There is a pie,” began John Powers, the man behind Bottom Line Marketing who not only has experience marketing small businesses, but Fortune 250 companies as well. “Virtually, the economy, the pie, is smaller than it has ever been, and there are more people competing for a slice than there has ever been, so the slices have become dramatically smaller.” Mr. Powers emphasized setting your company apart in a time when everyone is starting their own company. People spend “six, eight, twelve months unemployed and say, ‘I need to do something. I have to earn money. I will start my own business.’” Mr. Powers has been a professional marketer for over 20 years. Though he specializes in direct mail, he also recruits and trains highly successful sales teams as a part of his Bottom Line Marketing business. When it comes to marketing your bookstore, Mr. Powers suggests following the process he uses with all of his clients, the PICA program—a four step process to putting your business on the map.

                Profile: Mr. Powers asks his clients to identify what their edge is in the business. “Is there going to be a sufficient enough demand for what you are doing? You have to identify a unique set of services or products you can deliver in a unique way,” Powers said. 

               He also asks them to envision their ideal customer. Most clients believe that any business is good business, but this age old custom is actually detrimental to the sales process. “Frankly, smart businesses . . . regularly divest themselves of customers,” Mr Powers said. “There is some percentage, 20-25% of customers, that don’t warrant the effort and hassle it takes to keep them.”  An ideal customer also does not necessarily mean who brings in the highest revenue. Look at the work that goes in to getting that revenue. Compare hours worked to money paid for that work. It might surprise you to find out there are easier ways to earn that revenue.

                Identify: Which prospects look like your favorite profiled customer? Mr. Powers also shows you how to find them. It’s important to know who you are marketing to, so that your limited resources aren’t being wasted. If you want to market to 100 people, putting your money into a radio or television advertisement is a waste of money, Mr. Powers said. Look for people who know those in need of what you are selling. Realty agents will know who might be in the market for a boat, as will banks and developers. Look outside the box for a list of potential clients. For a locally owned bookstore like E. Shaver, Booksellers, he suggests that you “pay to get the addresses of everyone on Liberty Street—you can narrow your options by income, too.”

                Condition: Develop a strategic marketing plan. Now is the time to advertise. When searching for people to help market your product, Powers says, “You have to make sure they can do what you want done because there’s plenty of people who . . are what I call ‘pretty makers,’ greeting card people, who can make it look lovely, but that’s not what a business needs. They need a nice look, but they need it to be productive, it has to work for them.” Knowing what you want out of your advertisement is important to getting the most for your money.  Mr. Powers specializes in dimensional mail. Dimensional mail is not only more likely to get through to the potential client or customer, it has a much higher success rate: “The whole idea is to get something on somebody’s desk that just crazy. It has to be packaged in a way that gets by the gatekeeper. And it’s not that expensive . . . You have to segregate yourself . . . You have to differentiate your service. But then you also have to differentiate your approach.”

                Approach: Engage the targets of your marketing scheme as well as correspond with your customers to improve your plans. Mr. Powers offers sales training as a part of this final stage. “I actually have two customers that all I do is teach them about sales pitches and sales calls. Every week we sit down and talk about what didn’t work, what did work, and what they had trouble with.” Interacting with the customer is the most important aspect of marketing: if they aren’t happy, find out why and figure out how to fix it. 

             For more information on John Power's marketing plan, visit his Bottom Line Marketing Site.

Blurb: 

Market Your Works:

Let customers know more than that you are reliable, that you have great customer service, and that you have extensive knowledge of books. Let them in on things like:

• Your store is closer to the historic district of Savannah
• If there are fewer traffic lights between your store and another landmark
• That you offer online help chat
• You bind books for free