The Fountain of Youth
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Does it sometimes seem like ages ago that you started your company, or took the job you’re in? Do you think that you’re so old as a business that making big changes or even small ones could hurt you? Or maybe it’s the opposite. Maybe you’re still new to the game, only 2-3 years or even less. Are you afraid that people misjudge your business because it’s so young?
We all face our mortality on a daily basis. We get carded to buy alcohol and feel flattered we look so young. Or maybe we start needing reading glasses and begin to feel old. But we don’t face our business mortality, in fact we hide from it. We do everything we can to either look older or appear fresh and young. We ignore cracks in the walls and our business plan. The problem is that just like a crack in a building, a crack in your business plan is only going to get bigger and harder to fix with time.
So what can we do to fight this? Simple, just treat your business as you do yourself. That’s right, you heard me, it’s time to put your business on a diet and give it a makeover. Or maybe it’s time for some soul searching and a spiritual quest. Basically it’s time to pull out your business plan, blow off the dust and start over. Oh and if you can’t find your business plan or never wrote one, you need to look at the small business administration website for a little help.
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Start at the beginning with your mission statement, are you living up to it? Maybe it’s changed over the years. Or maybe it’s not a good mission at all and you need to refocus on better efforts. Go through the summary of your business and see if it still describes all that you do. You might have added services, dropped off programs, or even changed your idea of a potential customer. Go back and do new research on your ideal demographic based on your revised plan. You may find that your odds have improved or your focus should shift. With Census data just being released this is a great time to find local information on just about every demographic you can think of.
What you’re going to end up doing is rewriting your business plan. And that new plan will not only help your business move ahead of the competition but it will give you a new focus and energy to get the necessary work done. If you aren’t updating your company as it grows and changes, you’re like an office that uses typewriters and stores everything in triplicate. Depending on what you find, it may be a good time to go on a diet and focus on the health of your business. Or you may find that you are on track to have a real impact in your community and decide to take on a full time charity sponsorship. Whatever the case, you can’t know until you face the fact that young or old, your business is aging and you don’t want to get left behind.
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The Hard Task of Blogging
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We all face the challenge of having to write and not knowing where to start. When it comes to a blog it gets even more complicated. This isn’t some paper for your teacher to grade, or a letter that will be read by a select few. This is going out into the Internet ether, and no telling what will happen next. Whether you’re blogging for business or have a personal blog, topics are sometimes hard to find. Yet we’re all told that we need to be blogging weekly or even daily.
I tell all my clients to blog at least weekly on their websites. If I’m helping them with these posts then I will push it even harder. But even the best among us can come up blank sometimes. So recently I went looking for blog topics. I found that it is a common topic out there in the web. Experts like Chris Brogan, offer lists, and even weekly newsletters that contain topics. Sites abound with “random” generators that spout out questions and instructions for blogging. And then there are sites like Plinky.com that have daily topics and a forum to post them in.
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So what is the best approach? There isn’t one. Blogging has to be personal for it to work. You have to inject your personality into the posts. Now I’m not saying pour your heart out, but even if you’re writing about something dry like back injury treatment, add some humor or a personal story. It is small touches like these that will help you get and retain readers. People will value your content for the same reason they value your postings on social media. It’s a personal connection.
Now, I’m not saying don’t use the many resources out there for blog topics. I love Chris Brogan’s 100 things he wants others to blog about. It’s a great way he was able to purge ideas, and make a connection with his readers. I have copied the list over to a word document along with some from Plinky.com that I like. So expect some fun posts coming up. The big challenge is that I’ll be trying to write about each topic on both my blogging sites. Here on my business blog and on my personal blog. I also like the suggestion I found online of going back to previous posts and writing about the same topic again, either expanding upon the original post or finding a different angle.
So dig out the thinking cap and go hunting for some topics. You might find that they inspire you with your own idea.
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Stop Competing, and Start Leading
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Business is a competition. That’s the lesson we’re taught at an early age. Advertisements show us that soda companies and car companies are competing for our money. Fast food franchises offer specials and deals to get us to choose them. But really, after a while we pick our favorites regardless of advertising. I’m not a Burger King fan, never really enjoyed it. I have always loved McDonald’s and Hardees. So they can advertise all they want but to be honest, The King freaks me out!
Why do I choose some businesses over others? Simple, we place emotional value on the businesses we visit and frequent. So if you want to be truly competitive then you need to focus on setting your business apart from your competition. Don’t spend your time trying to beat prices or beat daily numbers. Spend your time creating a quality relationship with each and every customer that walks in your door. Be the best and the most attentive and even if your prices are double your customers will stay loyal because there will be a stronger value in your services.
A little competition is a good thing, but let everyone else come after you, while you take the high road.
Green Acres is the Place for Me!
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Wow, I’ve made it to March and have not been as productive as I hoped. Sure I’m working hard for all my clients, but that’s where it’s stopped. The old phrase you can lead a horse to water but can’t make them drink comes to mind. Only I’m the horse that won’t drink. Crazy that I have adopted drinking more water as a resolution and been very successful at it, but I can’t listen to my own advice. Well, it’s not so much that I’m not listening, I hear it loud and clear but I’m letting life’s daily distractions get in the way.
Well no more. I am taking control and fast. For starters, I spent the other night looking up tons of blog topics for this blog and my dating blog. What I found when I started writing on these topics is that even though I was choosing them based on the blog theme, I actually can use them for both. It’s a challenge to be sure. Some of the social media topics I want to write on, will make me rethink dating and maybe take it to a whole new level.
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But more importantly I’m going to start farming. Yes that’s right, I’m putting on my overalls and work boots and firing up the networking tractor. I have spent the 5 years I’ve lived here in Wilmington, NC building a large network of contacts. Some through events, business, networking socials, and of course social media. But I’ve never used this network to its full extent. I’ve been planting container gardens instead of sowing fields of success. Tired of the silly metaphors, so am I. But I’m more tired of being a whiner and wondering why business is not booming.
Taking accountability is the first step and I’m fully to blame. This is a great time to be in business for oneself and I should be having a blast. So below you can read the letter that I am sending out today to a long list of LinkedIn and personal contacts. Some are good friends and others are people I would love to get to know better. All of them can help me in some way. It may just be encouragement and a friendly lunch, but some may turn into valuable contacts who help me grow my company into what I dream it can be.
What goal have you missed out on? Where are you letting yourself or your business down? And most importantly, what are you going to do about it?
Can you believe that it is almost March? Spring is fast approaching and the first quarter of this year is about to be gone. I started off this year with so many projects on the horizon and wonderful customers to work with. It was great! But what I forgot was that it’s more fun to celebrate success with others. More importantly, is that sharing that success and helping others can really make a difference.
I’m writing to you because I want to share all the excitement and energy that my business is experiencing. I also want to hear what is new and different for you and your company. These days there are strength in numbers and I want to build a solid network of individuals who are looking to succeed. You are one of these shining examples.
With busy schedules we are often too busy to come together and catch up and share our success, but I am hoping we can do just that. I would love to sit down with you for just 15 minutes soon and catch up. A quick coffee or a long lunch, any time that you can spare would be so helpful. Let me know some times that work for you next week and let’s see how we can grow our businesses together.
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Learning From Our Parents
Now I’m a young duck in the pond of business but even I know that things were very different for my parents and even more so for my grandparents. And yet we all worry about growing up to be our parents.
Studies show that people today feel less confident about their jobs and income than their parents, even though they are more successful and make more money than their parents did. I think we should look back to our parents and grandparents to learn how to improve ourselves and business.
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My grandfather sold cars for a while after college. The story goes that for every Wake Forest University home football game, he and my grandmother would each drive a car up from the dealership. My grandmother had to make sure they had a ride back home because he would sell both cars for cash by half-time. Now I’m sure that’s been exaggerated but I like the confidence. He took a chance and went up to Winston Salem those days with a goal.
My other grandfather wanted to get into the wholesale grocery business. He got a supplier to let him take one can of Zud and hit the road. Zud is a predecessor to Comet for those who are a little young. So off my grandfather went and at his first appointment he sold several cases of Zud. Within a few months he was representing several products and went on to be a top seller for the Hi-C company.
When I was in outside sales I had some of this gumption. Whenever I felt down I would think about my grandfathers and push on.
My mother taught me that often a sales pitch is nothing more than becoming friends with the person your selling to. I found that sometimes you sell an idea more than you sell the product or service. My father taught me that a job is something you commit to fully. When you are at the job you focus on it, and unless you are willing to quit you give 100% every time you are there.
We should focus on our parents and grandparents generations. Their work ethic and approach to a job were unparalleled. In other countries this dedication is still alive. It’s why they have such generous benefits and vacations. Their employees work so hard that they get more in return. If all of us put the same time and focus into our work that prior generations did we would find ourselves more satisfied and successful.
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What is Your Business All About?
So many marketing terms are thrown about these days. Branding, niche market, feedback, engaging your audience, and so much more. Too often they are talked about as separate steps rather than as a cohesive whole. The two most important steps are building a brand and finding your niche market. A business owner must work at these before even opening their doors.
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Many start a business and feel that to build a brand all they need is a strong identity. They design a quick logo, color scheme, and tag line and feel they are ready to be open for business. I am as much at fault for this as those I now help. I learned the hard way. I thought that I knew what my brand was. Quality event planning and social media management. That is not a brand, that is merely a description of what I could do. A brand is a larger picture of your company and what it stands for.
Just as any good business plan has a mission statement, so should your brand. When you imagine your potential and existing clients, what do you want them to think of when they talk about your company? What lasting impression do you want them to leave with? When referring you to other business owners what would you like them to say? These are the questions you should be asking yourself, not what color paper to print your business cards on.
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Once you establish these emotional responses and key words, you will better know how to create a brand for your business. You will also begin to realize that you may be filling a niche market. In this day and time, all businesses should be looking to fill a niche market. Even if you are opening a sub shop, you are filling a specific need. You may provide delivery because your located in a busy area. Or maybe you are somewhere with more people from one culture so you add specific types of subs to your menu. This can apply to any business, regardless of type or location.
Niche marketing is nothing more than identifying your key customers or those that you have not appealed to in the past. If you know this niche before you start your business you can incorporate it into your brand. You might use a different color scheme, specific key words that appeal to a culture, or create marketing materials in different languages or styles. Where you advertise your brand will also change, but that’s for another blog post.
For now, sit down and start asking yourself the right questions. Don’t be afraid that your brand may change, it can only mean bigger and better things for you and your business. Developing a brand that appeals to your ideal customer and niche market is a sure way to succeed.
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Social Media and Real Estate
FussBudget Promotions is excited to partner with Just Perfect Home Staging & More to offer a unique serries of workshops. Covering everything from basic use of Facebook to more complex topeics such as custom property sites and video, these workshops will allow real estate agents and developers to showcase their properties in a new and effective way. Take them all together or pick and choose the ones that you are most interested in.
Each workshop will take place from 8:30 am to 10:30 am on the dates listed below
Workshop Schedule
October 6th Introduction to Social Media
October 20th Facebook: It’s not just for College Students
November 3rd The New Marketplace: Online Sales of Property
November 17th Tweeting and Checking In
December 1st Linking in to Your Client Base
December 15th Reaching a Larger Audience
January 5th Bringing it All Together
The single biggest mistake a small business can make
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As a new business owner I faced the daunting challenge of planning my own public relations (PR) and marketing campaign. Even though my company offers PR and marketing solutions in a guerilla warfare fashion, coming up with a strategy for myself was something I had to really work on. To be honest it is something I constantly revisit and work to reenergize and correct.
There are many pitfalls to starting a new company and it is easy to go down the wrong path with PR and marketing and waste time, money and energy. But the #1 mistake anyone can make is to not accurately research their market and demographics. While people may think they know their demographic and have looked up the statistics for their area, often these numbers are just an overview. For example a high end lingerie shop will appeal to females 25-40. While there may be a large number of these in the are that the store is planning to operate and sell to, these women may not make the income necessary to spend money on high end lingerie.
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As any business gets started the vultures of advertising sales will descend. Each will give you their own numbers and statistics. What a good business owner will do is seek outside research. While a radio station my say their audience is your ideal demographic, they may not be the top station in the area with the largest listener share. A local publication may be the ideal way to reach your ideal client, but the cost per ad will not be worth the resulting sales.
In most cities around the nation there are small business development centers that will not only help you with your business plan, they will also help you gather the necessary research. And best of all, unlike a marketing firm, these services are free.
In this economy with the change of income and job locations, knowing your market will make all the difference. Be sure that every six months you are looking back over the numbers. Keep an eye out for new research and new studies in your field. Stay informed and you’ll stay ahead of the game.
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Whale Wars: the answer for non-profit fundraising?
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So recently I was visiting my sister and she introduced me to the Animal Planet show, Whale Wars. I only watched a little bit before falling asleep but I came home and began watching seasons 1 and 2 on Netflix instant play. I find the show addictive and challenging. I debate myself almost constantly about whether or not their actions are justified.
If you’re not familiar with the show, it follows the crew of the Steve Irwin a Sea Shepherd vessel as they attempt to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Each episode they battle the cold, storms, each other, and most importantly the Japanese Whaling fleet. While there is a ban on whaling, there is a loophole that allow countries to kill whales for research. Each country can set their own quota. For more details you can look here at the International Whaling Convention.
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Now in its third season this series has garnered rave reviews from many. It is also increasing international pressure on Japan and its whaling operations. But is it encouraging “eco-terrorism” ? Many would argue that it not only encourages it, its romanticizing it. Personally I’m still torn. Each episode is edited in order to build the maximum suspense. The scenes of whales being harpooned and pulled onto the processing boat is gutwrenching. I will definitely be looking for ways that I can join the fight to stop this. What I can’t decide is what is the best way? Watching the crew of the Steve Irwin, you would think that they are the only ones out there actively working against the whalers. However a little research will show that Greenpeace and several other groups are working in a more peaceful fashion. The real debate becomes, what is working?
So what does any of this have to do with my other blog posts? Easy, Sea Shepherd has entered into an agreement with Animal Planet to allow them to film their actions at sea. This has to be the best marketing scheme ever for a non-profit. They will tell you that they are allowing them to film to increase awareness of the plight of the whales. But even in the first season, they are able to have several fundraisers to make repairs to the boat. And in the second season, much of their equipment is either new, or showing several new additions. Items on the ship that are crucial to the ship’s functions seem to be the last thing they really think of repairing or replacing. Their focus and all the funds they are raising seem to go only to those items that help them reach and “attack” the japanese ships.
In this day and age, non-profits are struggling to make ends meet. No longer do you hear them talking about canceling some of their programs. Now they discuss shutting their doors for good. Many of these groups are unique programs that are specific to their community. Their charitable acts are often taken for granted and many do not realize the impact it has on the local economy, community. and lifestyle.
With the ease of video editing and the many videographers that are out of work and looking for work, it could be very easy for a non-profit to put together a single short film or several episodes that showcase the good work they do. These videos can be optimized for their website, sent to past donors, and even posted on YouTube for more exposure. With the impact of social media, a good video, or one with a strong message could become viral within the course of one day.
So, I challenge you to find a new way to market your company, self, or non-profit. Share links here so others can see the success.
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