Local exposure

Definitely get yourself on google maps https://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/business/

There is also Yell , maybe bing and open a facebook page with your business name .Just a few to start you off

Are they any local networking groups you can join? Think about who your clients are and where they are. Also Twitter hours can be good for finding other local businesses, I'm sure there's a Notting hill one or similar. That way you can get to know people.

Look out for any local business fairs or similar. And maybe take a look on LinkedIn and see if you can use that to your advantage. Facebook can be good for targeted marketing but you can do it for free if you join some local FB groups for your area and her to know people and other services when needed, not just sell sell sell.

Best of luck.  

I think your problem is going to be making yourself stand out among all of the other agencies in London. 

I know Notting Hill very well, and the amount of hipser agencies that have come about in the past few years is ridiculous!  Googlemaps, Facebook, Twitter etc will not help you due to your location and the saturation of services in London as a whole.

I assume you have done some research so what is your ideal client and where do they currently go to get their services? What are they after particularly? What problems can you solve for them that other agencies cannot?

Think about who you are marketing to, let's start there. I can help going forward but need to know where you are in the process first.

Regards

Simon is right - there is a lot of competition out there, but you could be clever and use this to your advantage.

Get to know your competitors and then decide what you do differently to what they do. That would then be your USP that you can shout about to potential clients.

Good luck with it all!

Hi all, 

Firstly thanks for your all your replies! And sorry for the delay... I finally got a little busy! 

Simon_G summarised the struggle we have. There’s a lot of agencies around and although the usual routes of social media, business directories etc are vital - they dont give us a head start over anyone. I’ve registered with most business directories and have set up all necessary social media accounts. 

Our ideal client? Local businesses who needs repeat work. Estate agents, restaurants/pubs, travel agents… Its quite broad. We aren’t the kind of agency looking to spend months on one campaign to win awards, we’re here to help businesses look their best and produce materials of they’re proud of, for a price they’re happy to pay. 

We believe there’s a bit of a hole in our industry. When a business wants something designed, they have 2 options: 

1. Find a freelance designer

A cheap option, but good freelance designers are hard to find. The decent ones out there will be booked up weeks or months in advance. There’s certainly undiscovered talent out there, but if a company lands on a bad or ‘ok’ designer, it could be quite damaging. There’s more bad designers then good ones…

2. Find an design agency

An expensive option, but more likely to achieve results. Other then being more money, the client is much less likely to have a personal relationship with designers. The costs would be too much for some small/medium sized businesses. 

OR

3. Use Creative Corner

I feel we fall somewhere in the middle. We are a group of creatives - all agency level, each with 20+ years’ experience.  Due to the way we work (we all work remotely and therefore, minimal overheads), we can keep costs lower. While Creative Corner is an agency, our approach is closer to that of a freelance designer - we’d rather spend time developing relationships then churning work out.  So as a business using Creative Corner, you get Agency level experience for a minimum of half the cost, with the relationship and flexibility of using a freelancer.  

This is why I’d personally like to keep within Notting Hill. It’s my local area (of 15 years) and would be great to work within the community and genuinely develop relationships. In an ideal world we become known as the local design agency for Notting Hill. While there’s quite a few registered agencies here - not many are physically in Notting Hill, so can’t offer the same personal connection. 

Any questions/further advice, I’m all ears! Thanks to you all again for taking the time to reply. 

Thanks all,

James

Hi James,

Our ideal client? Local businesses who needs repeat work. Estate agents, restaurants/pubs, travel agents… Its quite broad

This could be part of the problem.  You need a niche.   Jack of all trades doesn't cut it any more.  Concentrate on one business in particular.  Identify services you could provide better than they are getting.  Nail those services making sure that those businesses come to you first.  Once you have done that, branch out to other business types.  Word of mouth will come and you won't have to advertise or market at all Where are these people getting their

As it stands, where are these businesses getting their services from currently (as in your competitors - which ones)?  Why are they going to those providers?  What are you doing differently to them?  Where are they looking for these services?

We aren’t the kind of agency looking to spend months on one campaign to win awards, we’re here to help businesses look their best and produce materials of they’re proud of, for a price they’re happy to pay. 

As is every other business.  What makes you different?

we’d rather spend time developing relationships then churning work out.  So as a business using Creative Corner, you get Agency level experience for a minimum of half the cost, with the relationship and flexibility of using a freelancer.  

So this seems to be your USP, although to be perfectly fair, it's not original.  Anyone trying to break into that market would probably say the same thing.  What sets you apart from the competition.  If there were two services, one yours, one a competitors, both offering the same service for the same price, why should I spend my money with you?  What value are you offering over and above the services you are offering?  What would make me come back to you?   

Local businesses, as you claim are your ideal client, are money driven on the whole.  1/2 the costs usually equates to 1/2 the quality.  How are you advertising currently that this is not the case?

Your home page says nothing about any of the above.  Why not?  If you were looking at your site as a customer, what impression would you get on the services and value you offer?

The site itself is a bit "meh", but that's another conversation.  I am sure that if you concentrated on projecting your differences and the value you could provide, then your site would look so much different (read "better")

Just my opinion of course, but hopefully you are looking at things in a different way.

Hi James, 

The responses so far are fantastic, but I want to absolutely emphasise Simon_G's advice - which is you need to find your niche. Unfortunately design agencies are a dime a dozen in London, and with a worldwide presence as well, it's easier for a lot of businesses to pick established agencies over yours if they want something like a brochure, or some corporate branding.

Find out what your creative group has a niche product or skill, and then start marketing with it.

Good luck!