Position. Position. Position.
Each month I speak with several hundred companies as part of our ad sales efforts here at OILMAN, from large E&P companies to independent service companies. As you can imagine, over the last two months there’s been a consistent theme across the board – uncertainty and fear. Both of which are understandable with the sharp decline in the price of oil. When your business and jobs are on the line, it’s easy to feel like the industry is falling off a cliff. Because of this I do quite a bit of research on the history of the oil and gas market to reassure our potential customers of two things: 1) the market has gone through dips before, and 2) each time we’ve taken a ride down, it’s been followed by a climb back up. Most recently, a climb that entered a bull market within 12 months of bouncing. For a reference, here is a graphic of the price of WTI Crude since 2002. I keep this graphic next to my computer as a constant reminder to focus our magazine as well as our customers to position for the climb up. Right now, a lot of capital is on the sidelines but that won’t last long. Do your potential customers know who you are or how your products and services are better than your competitor’s? Here at OILMAN we work to provide our customers with as much value as possible in an effort to separate ourselves from other magazines and win business. We recently implemented a data retrieval function that provides our advertisers with information on how their ads are performing so they can either keep or change their promotional message. This took most of Q4 2014 to complete and requires a lot of sweat equity to contact potential customers to let them know it’s available and included in our advertising packages. And it has already started to pay dividends, both in sales and in building relationships. To sum it up, now is the time to position yourself for the inevitable market climb back up. Where will your company be next month or next year? With every marketing message you create, and each sales call you make, keep pushing forward – and be bold.
- Luke McDonaldhttps://energiesmedia.com/author/luke-mcdonald/
- Luke McDonaldhttps://energiesmedia.com/author/luke-mcdonald/
- Luke McDonaldhttps://energiesmedia.com/author/luke-mcdonald/
- Luke McDonaldhttps://energiesmedia.com/author/luke-mcdonald/
- Luke McDonaldhttps://energiesmedia.com/author/luke-mcdonald/
- Luke McDonaldhttps://energiesmedia.com/author/luke-mcdonald/
Oil and gas operations are commonly found in remote locations far from company headquarters. Now, it's possible to monitor pump operations, collate and analyze seismic data, and track employees around the world from almost anywhere. Whether employees are in the office or in the field, the internet and related applications enable a greater multidirectional flow of information – and control – than ever before.