(Image courtesy Betsssssy)
Last month a group of US investors announced their plans to blow $200 million on a chain of 50 luxury movie theatres. Whilst this might sound mad to anybody in the business world, people always want to be entertained, and when things are grim it’s indulging in the small pleasures in life that can chase away the blues.
What’s more likely to make bank managers spit out their coffee is that the movie theatres will be charging nearly double the entry price of their competition.
Village Roadshow believe there’s 10 million ‘upscale and affluent’ Americans who would be happy to pay $35 for a higher quality of service, which includes padded armchairs with footrests, digital cinema projection, concierge service, valet parking and food that’s a touch more upmarket than buttered popcorn and nachos.
Despite an imminent recession, they’re confident they will be able to attract higher paying clients with luxuries and additional services not provided by the cheaper, functional theatre down the road.
The same principle should apply to marketing your writing services.
To justify higher rates, offer a higher quality service
If you want to break out of the $10 keyword article writing sweatshop of monotonous, unsatisfying work for low wages, then start thinking about how you can market the luxuries your service offers.
This revolves around becoming an value-added copywriter, as frequently discussed by The Copywriter Underground. What can you offer a client beyond the words?
Here are some luxuries you can easily learn about and add to your portfolio of services:
Content marketing – providing a steady stream of useful, informative information to convert browsers into buyers, attract links from other sites and build your client’s credibility as a knowledge leader.
Case studies – is your client providing real life examples of how they’ve helped real life customers solve a problem? Are they mining their customer service history for success stories (now a key differentiater in a world where people trust each other more than a marketing)?
Story telling – developing the business’ identity beyond the ‘About Us’ page. What are their founding ideals and do they differentiate themselves everyday?
eBook/white paper – demonstrating credibility and expertise by providing downloadable useful information. In exchange for helping to solve their problem, readers are more likely to reward a business with their loyalty.
Newsletters – writing a monthly newsletter highlighting recent achievements, new product information and industry news is a great way of keeping people in the sales cycle long after their first visit to the website.
You’re not just a writer – you’re also an internet marketer
Whilst businesses struggle to come to terms with marketing on the internet, you could be their guiding light providing the words and expertise to illuminate a path through the gloom and to greater rewards on the other side.
There are businesses crying out for not only competent writers, but also guidance in how to run cost effective online marketing strategies.
Offer a client a writing service that includes luxuries and benefits beyond what they’ll find elsewhere and they’re more likely to award you their business.
There are plenty out there who want more from you than a bucket of popcorn and being squashed into their seat. They want luxury and are happy to pay for it.
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Good post! I have to wonder about the luxury theater concept; aren’t we headed towards a model where movies are going to be streamed into our homes on demand?
Will the movie theater survive?
Hi Tom,
I think they’re also threatened by people ‘doing it for themselves’ and putting on their own movie nights on their 50″ plasmas. I’m not sure where Village Roadshow will find their 10 million upmarket customers when most of them prob have near theater quality setups at home. Thought I’d leave that point for another time.
Matt