AlphaBIZBuzzz

Empty Brain: Big Thoughts

2011-08-30T11:37:00.000-07:00

Robert Grudin, writer, teacher and philosopher, in his book, Time and the Art of Living, says, Because it is a radical act of freedom, creative achievement is a heroic process that requires, in all its permutations, specific strengths of character.

He also guides us, in yet another of his books, to clear the workspace and sit patiently, ready to receive. I practice this when I sit down to write and find that it always works. Want to know more? Here's the bizz buzzz.

I believe, as Grudin does, that if the physical space is crowded, there is no room for anything new. Great example is a desk covered in papers, books, to-do lists, yesterday's lunch, magazines, two stacks of things to deal with and a coffee mug! I also believe that if the part in our brains, which is used to fire up ideas cannot function properly; if it is overwhelmed by thoughts of what went wrong today, who I need to meet with, how am I going to finish this on time, did I forget to turn off the coffee-maker, where should I take my mother for her birthday dinner and so on, then creativity will come in very labored spurts. This is where "writer's block" lives and where all of us find ourselves at one time or another.

In order for our creativity to begin flowing, we must clear or empty the brain, then wait patiently with only one task before us. Buddhists call this meditation, Christians call it prayer, creative people call it the zone.

Next time you're looking for your creative mind to blossom with ideas, be a the kind of hero that Grudin talks about and try a little housecleaning, beginning with your work space. Then sit at your desk, pen and paper ready, take a deep breath...let it out...and wait.

Let's KISS and Stay Ahead

2011-08-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

No, not this KISS.

How about something else? I'm talking about the acronym, K.I.S.S., which stands for Keep It Simple Stupid!

Life is complicated, work is complicated, projects are complicated...or are they? Yes, I believe that our lives and work and even projects CAN be complicated. I also believe that we either allow them to be so or we make them unnecessarily so.

We are told throughout our lives to stop and smell the roses. How about if, before we embark on a new phase of our lives or a new job or project, we stop and look at the big picture? Don't understand? Well, here's the biz buzzz.
Everything in our professional and personal lives is part of a system. We are part of a system. We are one piece in a family system, one part of a system that drives a corporation or small business and one part of a project or a relationship. Every action that we take or do not take influences these systems. Are you with me?

This systems thinking seems complicated, but it's easier than you might be thinking right now. One way to KISS all this complexity is through systems-thinking. Consider this. Next time you imagine a project, stop and draw. Draw a map or a picture with words...really.

Begin by naming the project with a clear and easily understood name. Make sure it's easy for others to understand what it's all about.
Next, list all of the pieces, parts or components of this project. Let's look at putting a new coffee pot in the office. List: location, electrical outlet, trash can, people who drink coffee, supplies for making coffee, supplies for cleaning up and disposal of grounds, cups, sugar, cream.
Now, go through this list and, beside each part or word, list all of the connections. For example: Location--in reception area, in kitchen, in bathroom, in closet, by the copier, on Jane's desk, and so on.
What I like to do at this point is ask questions. If it goes on Jane's desk, will Jane still have room enough for her papers and work? What if someone spilled coffee on one of her papers? Does Jane even drink coffee? How far from this desk is the nearest water faucet? Is it easy to clean up here? Is it too far from other work stations?...and so on.
It may turn out that Jane does not drink coffee and she becomes ill when she smells coffee brewing. Wouldn't it be awful and create complications for Jane and her relationship with coffee-drinking co-workers if you put the coffee pot here? When would this surface as an issue? Perhaps Jane would say nothing and quit. Jane might think that this had been done purposefully to drive her out of the office. You may be laughing, but I'll wager you can think back to a situation similar to this one that seemed strange when it happened. Perhaps much later, a few things came to light and you realized that a difficult or complicated situation could have been avoided?

Systems-Thinking is a wonderful tool. In the early 1990s, Peter Senge helped organizations and businesses to adopt systems-thinking via his book, The Fifth Discipline (which is systems-thinking). The other four disciplines that he recommended are: personal vision or mastery, mental models, building a shared vision and team learning.

Once you begin exploring systems-thinking and develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for this tool, you'll see how useful it is when you apply it to almost every activity or potential action in your life.

Greenfingers: a movie with a message

2011-06-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

In 2000, a movie with a message was released. I didn't hear about it and didn't see it. Greenfingers is on its way to our home via Netflix. I just watched the trailer and couldn't be more excited. Probably, it's a little sappy and a little predictable, but I see nothing wrong with that. What I'm most excited about, while I'm looking forward to watching the movie, is the message. It's a message that I need for reinforcement on those days that I'm trudging along the work/career path, and it's a message that could offer inspiration to lots of small business owners that I see.

The male lead says, "After 15 years in prison, I had accepted that this was all my life would always be."

How many of us (raise your hands) have found ourselves saying something similar? We've been hard at work, we've been giving it our best, we've been getting knocked down...This sucks, so we begin to believe that this is how it will always be--this is all there is for us and for our business.

In the same movie, when a gardening program is introduced, the same male lead says that he doesn't want to be a gardener; he is a prisoner. The wise older prisoner says, "...we've been prisoners all our lives. Let's be gardeners!" Yes, let's all break out of our prisons, our ruts, our belief that we cannot do better--let's be gardeners, instead! Here's the bizbuzzz.

Gardeners vs. Prisoners
I say, let the gardener in you win! Why not? Is there anything to lose in doing so, in letting go of negative beliefs? Let's take a look at both methods as they relate to business and marketing:

Prisoners: stuck, depressed, no control over outcomes, negative, dark, in a rut, dead, sad, given up.

Gardeners: free, happy, colorful, potential, influence outcomes, positive, sun-shiny, sharing, caring, giving, building, growing, feeding, proud.

You know, gardeners share seeds and cuttings of plants with fellow gardeners, but they also ask and receive the same from the others.

If you're in a rut, if you're feeling that you are a prisoner of your business and marketing efforts, perhaps all you need to do is borrow a few seeds from a fellow gardener, plant and maintain those seeds with caring and enthusiasm, give it all a little time and see if you don't notice a positively sunny change. I certainly hope you have a blooming good time trying!

Brilliant Blog...somewhere else

2011-06-22T06:47:00.000-07:00

Today, I'm linking you to a brilliant post that ties in this video, complaining while on an airplane, tweeting and creative marketing. Curious? Got to the Brains On Fire blog. Thanks to Amy Taylor for a wonderful reminder about community-building!

Re-Invent Your Biz...or your Biz Buzzz

2010-09-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

The famous formula, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got,” does not apply during tough economic times. What I mean is, “When the going gets tough, the weak get going and the tough figure out how to do it differently.”

In a TIME.com article from late 2008, Detroit's Fall Gives Power to Rival Dixie, a South Carolina author, John Jeter, was quoted...

…southerners ask who the hypocrites really are. "When the textile industry went down in the South and we were accused of being behind the times, we didn't ask for a bailout — we just had to reinvent ourselves," says John Jeter, a South Carolina author whose family owns a small chain of auto parts stores and whose new novel, The Plunder Room, examines the modern southern character.

John is right--when the going gets tough, you vent to get it out of your system, then you figure out how to market your services or your business in a different way. It's not so much that you do something entirely different as it is that you keep a close watch on your market (and the economy in-general) and you adapt. A-D-A-P-T, as in “Don’t just sit there—do something”.

Here's the Biz Buzzz: For an example of how one well-recognized company did this, let’s go back a few decades. 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s. Let’s look at Tupperware®. What a great way to market the product—go to potential users’ homes and have a party! Let them invite all of their closest friends, pay for it all, coordinate everything and you pay them with…yes, your product. Clever! That's innovation.

Let’s move up a bit to the 80s and 90s. Hey! What happened? The market changed. It really, really changed! Moms are not working at home anymore. Moms are working, too, now, just like the dads. Moms are hip and on the move and looking to make everything easier and faster.

Smart Tupperware—they reached deep into that innovation bucket and did a complete redesign of the old useful products and even changed some of the names. Now you had brightly colored lids and containers that doubled up as mixing bowls. Now, in addition to the party sales, you could find the products online! Smart, very smart.

Let’s keep going—Hey, the busy moms who once found value in Tupperware now had no use for it; they were using disposable—Ahem!--single use containers. Another innovation moment—reusable, long-lasting containers are better for the environment. Headlines! All responsible moms and dads now use Tupperware, instead of the use ‘em-and-toss ‘em containers.

Do you see it, folks? Same business, same products essentially, but with different designs, new products in the existing lines, new colors, new names, new buying opportunities.

Your market changes, you read your market and you speak with your market differently. Re-invent your biz. This is a way that you can give even the smallest of small businesses a facelift, and even have change left over to buy that Spin ‘N Save™ Salad Spinner you’ve been wanting.

A business success story in the midst of a dire economy: How yoga and no business experience help in starting a business

2010-07-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

Ever heard of a yogi leading the way in business development? How about a yoga mat as the foundation of a successful business?

A little over a year ago in a small Southern town, a woman without any business experience, but with a mission to help others through yoga, started a business. But, "Wait," you say, "that was in the midst of one of the most difficult economic periods that the United States has ever experienced". Correct! "There were established businesses," you say, "that folded under the pressure of people spending less than they had in decades and lending institutions not lending and…" Correct again! "Wait a minute", you say, "this I’ve got to hear!"

Debbie Harvley, a resident of Donalds, South Carolina, travels to nearby Greenwood, South Carolina, six days a week to teach yoga and to continue building her yoga studio business (The Mat Works Yoga Studio), which is now just barely one year old. Debbie has been on a mission to help others through yoga as she was helped many years ago, and she won’t stop until she’s reached as many people as she can.

Debbie, a certified and registered yoga teacher, advises people to enter into a yoga practice with a sense of commitment--the same kind of commitment that’s brought her yoga studio to a successful first year threshold and beyond.

“I could have stayed at home and kept up my own yoga practice,” Debbie says, “or I could have taken on a few students, but it’s important to me to share this knowledge with others,” she adds. This strong desire, it seems, is a key factor in the success of Debbie’s yoga business. She cares deeply—and her students notice.

A professional man in his early fifties and regular student at The Mat Works Yoga Studio sees it this way. “I’ve had maybe a double handful of teachers over the years, and they each bring something a little different to their students, but without doubt, Debbie is the most committed teacher I've had,” he says. “… her students get exposed to the various formats and can tailor-fit their private practice. Debbie is a very caring person and makes everyone comfortable and feel included.”

Another key to the success of the business is that yoga really works—that’s what Debbie’s students believe. It has been one of the things that Debbie’s growing customer base seem to find important enough to spend money on, even while they cut back spending in other areas. “It’s like medicine,” one of her students said, “you don’t cut back on medicine—it’s just too important.” Another yoga student put it this way, “Yes, it's like medicine, insurance and also fishing. Once ya get hooked on it, you'll just keep doing it,” he said.

Bill Jenkins, marketing director for an area financial institution, agrees. While he has a yoga routine that he does at home, he’s at Mat Works because he “…missed the guided practice,” he said. “I needed more stress relief and to offset the natural stiffening up that comes with middle age.” He praises Debbie’s work as a yoga instructor. “She is highly sensitive to the individual needs of her clients, and that they reap the most benefit from their practice,” he said “… she is a normal human being both physically and emotionally and always uplifting to work with,” he said.

Being cautious with spending and connecting with other professionals to barter services has also benefited Debbie Harvley’s business in its growth stage. “I’ve been very, very careful with spending for the business,” Debbie said, “and I’ve had to let go of perfection with many things in order to just get things done as a one-person business,” she said.

One example of the bartering has given her a marketing professional to work with. This relationship has provided her business with a blog and a facebook page for Debbie’s business, allowing her the most up-to-date type of marketing communications between the business and her market.

The reasons for Debbie Harvley’s success with starting and growing a new business in the midst of a dire economy appear to be simple, easy to do and yet surprising. Watching spending closely, bartering services with other professionals, letting go of the need for perfection in everything so that you actually get things done, a committed and compassionate approach to working with her students and a deep commitment to the success of her business. The final (and surprising) piece is that yoga works—it delivers to Debbie’s clients what she promises. Now, what kind of word-of-mouth marketing do you think that gives a business?

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IF you live in the Greenwood area or nearby, you can drop in to any of Debbie's classes for only $10. Visit her site for the current schedule at http://www.matworksyoga.com/

A company's good deeds rebuild veterans' yards and build valuable PR

2010-07-05T17:43:00.000-07:00

The first thing you should see is the website for GreenCare for Troops, sponsored by CubCadet, a manufacturer of yard and landscaping equipment. You can watch a video explaining how it works. The video is even better because of the hosting by Mike Rowe, the Dirty Jobs guy.

The second thing to take a look at is the page for volunteering to assist in doing the good work.

How can a company lose? You do the right thing, you do it to help the families of deployed military and get great PR as a by-product. Think of how easy it might be to divert marketing dollars to good works in the communities of the very people who represent your markets all over the country. You're still spending your money for marketing, but you're making that same money work harder by giving it away to provide a kindness to others.

Things to consider:

You have to know your market (or markets).
You should have a good understanding of those markets (Where do they hang out? What's important to them? What are their needs?)
Consider what you might do: support an existing project, begin your own project, will it be on-going or will it be a one time event? Who can you partner with? Perhaps another business? This of the success of Share Our Strength--food and wine events all over the country where restaurants come together in support of raising funds to abolish childhood hunger. People pay lots of money to eat and drink at these events. If your restaurant is there, if the food you serve is outstanding, what better marketing can you get than this? Getting the food in the hands (and mouths) of potential customers is the best use of your marketing funds...and you get to do it in such a way that others in your community are helped too.
K.I.S.S. Yes, keep it simple. Don't get carried away. After all, you still need to run a business!

Look here for ideas:

Share Our Strength Working towards ending child hunger in America.
A Taste of the Nation One of the events for SOS.
The Center for Law and Social Policy is an opportunity for lawyers to offer their services and knowledge in the assistance of organizations helping people who are living on the edge of poverty.
Toys R Us partners with Autism Speaks to educate families about autism and to raise funds for research.

BP oil crisis, media hype, critics galore...Bad Hair Day?

2010-06-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

Try out old advice for the current crisis communications example of the BP oil fiasco. Marketing Your Way Through a Negative Situation.

You can rate BP in their marketing and communications efforts, or just learn from them by observing how they're handling this negative situation. Go to their site to see what they have to say. They have a page just for information about what's going on, and what they are doing to "Make it Right".

Put Your Customers Back in Charge

2010-02-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

Guest blogger, Richard Peck, is with Table 301 in Greenville, South Carolina. Table 301 is a mega fine dining resource in the upstate area of South Carolina, providing fine dining restaurant experiences, catering services, events planning and publishing.

While his chief responsibility is business development, Richard carries many other responsibilities, too many to list at the top of his posting. Please follow us to the end for more information.
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What? Put restaurant guests in charge . . . of what they pay? That sounds crazy, doesn’t it! But think about it: the guest already is in charge. If they aren’t satisfied, they just don’t return.

How about your business? Your customers behave precisely the same way: if they aren’t satisfied, they just don’t return.

Ongoing loyalty and support is the only sustainable basis for success. So, why shouldn’t a restaurant put its guests in charge of pricing, to give them a chance to say what they think their meal was really worth? If the restaurant gets “rave reviews” (i.e., guests pay the equivalent of menu price or more—and yes, that has happened!), the chef and staff know they are doing a great job. If the guest thinks the meal was worth less than menu price, the chef and staff missed an opportunity to satisfy guest needs, and they need to find out why. Here's the biz buzzz.

In The Support Economy: Why Corporations are Failing Individuals and the Next Episode of Capitalism, Harvard Business School professor Shoshana Zuboff puts her finger on an uneasiness most of us have felt. She calls it “the transaction crisis.” We fear the transaction crisis when our flight is cancelled: will the airline rebook us promptly and courteously? We fear the transaction crisis when we arrive late at a hotel: will they have given someone else our room, despite our guaranteed reservation? We fear the transaction crisis when a piece of expensive electronic gear fails after purchase: will the retailer or manufacturer replace it instantly, or somehow try to blame us for its failure?

In the same way, we fear the transaction crisis when a dish we ordered in a restaurant doesn’t arrive at the proper temperature, or is simply unsatisfactory. Will our server make excuses or object “That’s the way it is supposed to be”? Or will the restaurant’s response be, “I’m so sorry! We’ll replace it immediately or take it off your check. And may I bring you a complimentary glass of wine, as a small apology?”

The immense gap between the power of businesses, and the relative powerlessness of the customers, is already being narrowed. American Express cardholders can protest any transaction. Upon receiving adequate documentation demonstrating the business’ failure to deliver, AMEX reverses the charge. Transaction crisis averted!

Table 301’s “pay what you think your meal was worth” raises this concept to the next level: transaction crisis eliminated. As a consumer, how much more comfortable would you be if you knew your had the final word on the price/value equation? As a business, valuable would the benefits be from this type of real time customer feedback?

Pay what you think it’s worth. Crazy? Yeah, crazy like a fox! And it will be the wise old business foxes who survive in the tough times, those who understand and esteem their priceless loyal customers.

Read more about Table 301's "Pay What You Think Your Meal Is Worth" marketing plan in this Nation's Restaurant News article.

Richard Peck is, among other things, a Certified Sommelier (Court of Master Sommeliers),a Certified Specialist of Wine (Society of Wine Educators). He has written four books, two on the music industry, along with Crossing America, a motorcycling narrative. He also is a co-author of Soby's New South Cuisine cookbook, published by Table 301. You can see Richard's bio, in detail, here. What a powerhouse!

You can also find Richard on twitter, LinkedIn and on MeetUp.com...or in the air, flying a plane,...or on a bicycle...or a hiking trail...or...

Three No-Cost PR Strategies for Small Businesses

2010-02-03T05:29:00.000-08:00

Guest blogger, Stephanie Richards, M.A., is founder and Chief Newsmaker of The Write Way, LLC, an Atlanta-based P.R. firm.
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Small business owners are often short on time and money. But if you find yourself shorter on money than time, consider the following three no-cost public relations tactics that can boost your business. Here's the biz buzzz from Stephanie.

1) Speak
Just like small businesses across the country, many networking organizations, trade associations and chambers of commerce are also short on cash. Event budgets have taken a hit, which means that many of these organizations are looking for high-quality speakers who don’t charge speaking fees. Consider proposing a topic and offering yourself as a potential speaker. You may not get paid for your time, but speaking is often one of the best ways to establish your credibility and meet potential clients.

2) Write
If you possess solid writing skills, consider writing a by-lined article for a trade or business publication and submitting it to an editor. Many publications have laid-off a large percentage of their staff, leaving fewer journalists to develop content and generate ideas. This means that many editors are looking for ready-made, high quality by-lined articles by industry experts. Be sure to follow the publication’s writers’ guidelines, and remember to write like an objective journalist. This is not the time to write a biased, glowing review of your company. Instead, the content should provide readers with a resource or fill a need.

3) Pitch
It doesn’t cost anything but time to pick up the phone and call an editor and pitch a story idea. Many businesses don’t get coverage simply because they never reach out to the media.

However, there is a right way and a wrong way to contact the media. Imagine that you are an editor. You are at your desk, working tirelessly to meet a tight deadline and the phone rings. It is another PR professional or business owner, who didn’t do their homework, hasn’t read your publication and is pitching you a story that you covered last week. How likely are you going to be to write about them? Not likely.

Keep in mind that editors, executive producers and journalists are looking for objective stories that bring value to their readers and/or viewers. They are not interested in doing you a favor. Their goal is not to help your company gain exposure. That is the job of the advertising department. Instead, editors and journalists want to provide useful, valuable content that will help their audience solve a problem, make an improvement or fill a need, and you can help them do this by providing them with newsworthy content. This means no fluff and no marketing!

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The Write Way is an Atlanta-based public relations firm built around the concept that you have to be willing to go the extra mile to do things The Write Way, even when no one else does.

The Write way is also on twitter at http://twitter.com/thewriteway

Visit Stephanie's PR blog at Operation Media Exposure or look for her on LinkedIn.

Forbes Magazine (online) Offers Latest SEO Tips for Biz Websites

2010-02-03T05:19:00.001-08:00

Juicy tidbits about the latest SEO tricks to get your website notices.

MLK, Jr. and the Marketing of a Dream

2010-01-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

Huh! The marketing of a dream? How do you market a dream? Why? What is this all about? Allow me to explain. Here's the bizbuzzz.

What is a dream?

It is a vision--an ideal place or situation that we strive to reach. So, the vision of a man who hoped that one day people of all races and colours would unite as brothers and sisters, that vision is the same ideal that a business or a corporation would create. Am I right?

Yes, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream is the one critical thing that we remember him for; it is the one key thing that he shared with others in all of his activites, his meetings, speeches, casual conversations and heartfelt communications. In everything that he did, the Rev. King found a way to share his dream--his vision. A business must do this also:

share your vision in all transactions
share your vision in all situations
be true to your vision and make adjustments to live and work in congruence with that vision
use your vision as a beacon to guide you in all work-related decisions
explain your vision
share your vision with consistency (say the same thing repeatedly)
enlist others to share your vision with their friends or markets

When one person brings together many in the belief and sharing of a vision or a dream, we have a movement. In the business world, think of popular clothing retailers who recruited teenagers and young adults to share in their vision of what is fashionable, of what looks good, of what is a bargain-priced fashionable look and you will come up with names of businesses that use their marketing skills to build movements or fashion trends. Think Target, think GAP, think Old Navy, think Abercrombie & Fitch.

Think of Nike and the simple dream of "just do it".

Think of an entire movement, born out of a need for freedom of Speech in Iran.

Social Media and the "I have a dream" vision. Can it be that Dr. King was a social media wizard? Why yes, mostly. He used the social media available to him at the time (church sermons, community meetings, social gatherings, official speeches) to promote or share his dream--his vision--and gave people the opportunity to buy in to that vision and to share it with others. That is exactly why the social media of today works so well. LinkedIn, facebook, twitter--all of these and many others--give a business or an organization the opportunity to share their vision with followers or markets (that they build) and allows those followers to buy in and to share the vision with their followers or markets. Just as it did in Dr. King's day, this method of marketing takes time, but it is a proven method that any business can use, and it doesn't require a huge budget or smoke and mirrors. All you need is time...and a dream.

Think about it. Let me know of other such marketing successes.

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To watch Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. deliver his dream, go to this link, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk

To see how our current president shared his dream of change, try this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_5vxOkyLig

2009-12-30T06:59:00.000-08:00

Is this marketing? You betcha!

Even in difficult times, there is an opportunity to communicate with your market/s and share with them how you've handled the difficulties and, as in this case, manage to find yourself in a good place as a business or organization.

In her annual letter, WBENC president, Linda Denny, addresses all of the issues that faced the organization this year, speaks with compassion about the financial hardships of members, and details how WBENC was able to keep things moving. Real, honest and a wonderful example of communicating with your market!

Here's the biz buzzz... Take a tip from the smart leadership at Women's Business Enterprise National Council. Read how they've handled communications with their market during these tough economic times.

A United Marketing Front: Competitors as Allies?

2009-08-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

Shift gears back to 1995. I'd just opened up Despina's International Cafe & Salon Gallery on the square of a small downtown shopping area in a small southern town, Greenwood, South Carolina.
After about three weeks, just long enough for us to get our footing and to develop our rhythm, in walks Tommy Fisher, the owner of the restaurant at The Inn on the Square! This was a polished and respected businessman, and someone who had built his restaurant as the best dining establishment in town.

I swallowed hard, expecting the worst, and walked over to greet Tommy and his wife at their table. Tommy turned the tables on me that day and taught me a valuable lesson. He smiled and accepted my greeting with warmth and enthusiasm, welcomed me to the downtown area, and wished me much success. WHAT??? Here's the Biz Buzzz...

What Tommy taught me that day is that even competitors can be allies, just as we are told in “Leadership on the Line”. In their wonderful book, Ronald Heifetz and Martin Linsky tell us that allies don't have to be best friends, but they must share a common vision--an important goal towards which they can work together.

Tommy said, “Hey, I’m glad you’re here. The more restaurants we have downtown, the more people who will come downtown to eat!”, and that's when the light bulb went on for me. Yes, he elaborated, explaining that he didn’t want to eat at his own restaurant every day; neither would the customer base that we’d both be marketing to, and that the more of us there were in one area, the more activity by hungry consumers.

I recommend to small retail businesses, especially in these tough economic times, to work with their business neighbors (even their competitors) to market a shopping district collectively, rather than one business at a time. Shoppers like to park their car and hit lots of shops or options at the same time. Think mall shopping...think amusement parks...think tourism and how much easier it to drive traffic to your business, when you sell an entire block or two in your collective marketing. This thinking is not new, but it is an important marketing tool. I didn’t really “get it” until my competitor crossed the line and showed me how a collaboration could help increase business for everyone.

Some examples of collaborative marketing:

South Carolina's Heritage Corridor The South Carolina National Heritage Corridor extends 240 miles across South Carolina, stretching from the mountains of Oconee County, along the Savannah River, to the port city of Charleston. It is divided into four regions and...
Asheville, North Carolina's River Arts District. Why they even have a facebook page!
Can you imagine each vendor or business in San Francisco's Chinatown doing their own marketing? SO much better to collaborate.
How about Miami's fabulous people-watching South Beach area?

OR Canada's International city, Toronto. Check out one of the arts districts, with what seems like a kazillion art galleries, all within walking distance of your parked vehicle.

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In his latest article on how to deal with new competitors, Randy Myers, a former reporter for the Wall Street Journal & Dow Jones, quotes me. To go direclty to Randy's story, click here, Showdown: What to Do When a New Competitor Comes to Town.

Randy Myers, a former contributor to Barron's, is an independent business and financial writer. He is a contributing editor to CFO and Corporate Board Member magazines and a columnist with MSN Business on Main. You can find out more about Randy via his website, http://www.randymyers.com/

Marketing ...For College Students

2009-07-12T15:18:00.000-07:00

Young people, those with some ambition and drive, need to start thinking about marketing…themselves.

In today’s economy, jobs for fresh-out-of-the-oven college grads are available only to the best. For a high school senior, the task ahead should be more than just deciding what major to go with and how to get the best grades possible. Yes, these things are of the utmost importance, but, in order to have an edge over other equally worthy candidates, by the time the high school senior is a graduating college senior, he/she also needs to be graduating with a full four years’ worth of marketing his or her abilities and strengths. How? Well, here’s the BizBuzz.

By the time a college student is comfortable with the schedules and routine of being in college, that developing worker bee is probably spending more time using Facebook, texting and talking on the cell phone and enjoying all of the new socializing options. This is all fine for personal socializing, but it is now time to devote some of these efforts to career socializing. If you're looking for the biz buzzz, here are a few specific examples:

1. Market your knowledge with on-line social networks (like Facebook) by going to a local non-profit group and offering to volunteer for them. Tell them about Facebook and that you can build and maintain a group for this organization. Be sure to present this offer in a business-like way, by explaining a little about Facebook—that it is an on-line community, that there are just as many 30- to 60-year-olds who are part of this community, and then explain how a group works and why it would be a good marketing tool for this organization. Give them examples of other local businesses and non-profits that have a Facebook presence with a group or page. Don’t forget to tell them that you will teach other volunteers (or staff, if they would prefer) to maintain the group after your gone or when you cannot be there. If you are really, really clever, you’ll put all of this on a one-page report and present to them to follow along as you review the qualities you’ve listed. Very, very professional and quite impressive!
2. Tell them about twitter also, and how this can be an easy marketing tool for sharing current information and updates on programs and activities about the organization. Explain that it’s an excellent way to build awareness about the organization with a new and younger market, once you build a group of followers. Give them examples of businesses and non-profits that have a twitter profile. This is a free marketing tool that you are proposing to them. Times are tough and all businesses and organizations need all the marketing help that they can get…even if it’s from a college student.
3. Apply for a summer job or paying internship with a business that is related to your major. Hey, even if you get a job taking out the trash and making coffee, you will still be getting paid to work in an environment where there are opportunities to connect with people in your chosen career field, people who might see how brilliant you are and who might then put in a good word for you when you apply for a part-time job during the school year. Why, you could build yourself a couple of really good contacts, people who might make a call or write a letter of recommendation for your resume.
a. My stepson Thomas, a college freshman, is studying microbiology. He has a volunteer position assisting in the DNA research lab at the world-renowned genetics center in our home town. He is thrilled to be getting some real world experience doing the kind of work that he hopes to do when he graduates.
b. Thomas has also built himself a profile with LinkedIn, the professional business social networking site.
c. He now has the opportunity to develop good long-term relationships with the professionals at the center. This will give him an edge with getting a paid job or internship next summer, with a letter of recommendation, with a job to post on his resume and with possible credit back at school, if he keeps a log of his work at the DNA lab and presents a report to his professor when he returns to school. There’s no harm in proposing to the professor that he might consider giving him extra credit for this work, especially when the information is gathered in an organized and business-like way. Even if he doesn’t get the credit, the professor might be impressed and make a mental note about Thomas’ creative and professional approach and efforts. Believe me, this will not work against a student!
4. Okay, so what is this LinkedIn and why is it a good idea to begin building a profile during college? LinkedIn gives you an opportunity to:
i. Position yourself as a serious student on the way to a professional career.
ii. Market your strengths and talents.
iii. Build a professional network within your chosen career field.
iv. Join professional groups. Spending time interacting with members of these groups gives you additional potential contact, a great forum for learning about your industry or field and even work or related opportunities. For example, if you are considering work in the Human Resources field, there are many HR groups on LinkedIn (even local ones) where you can ask career-related questions of seasoned HR professionals. Don’t be afraid to ask if anyone in the group knows of a summer job opening in your area; ask, too, how to fine-tune your resume or what companies are looking for today in college grad that’s looking for HR work.
v. Post your resume. Use one of the presentation applications which are available for free. Build your resume in PowerPoint and import it into the presentation application.
vi. Add a web address to your business cards. LinkedIn offers you the ability to customize your page address, so take advantage of that. People who may be interested in learning more about you, might appreciate a web page they can look at when they have time.
5. I mentioned business cards. So, what is that about? www.vistaprint.com is an inexpensive way to design and print your own business cards. Go ahead and get that done now. You can order as few as 250 for under $20 or less. My niece, Elitsa, has been marketing her various skills ever since she was a young teenager offering baby-sitting and house-sitting services. The first thing she did, once she had a reserve of cash, was to get business cards…and then she handed them out to everyone. It is very impressive to meet a college student who has a business card and not a post-it note with an e-mail address. What a simple way to give you and edge!

Poetry + Abuse Survivors = Marketing Success.... say what?

2009-06-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

It seems that Georgia poet, Alice Shapiro, has no creative limits.

With a new book of poems out this month, a poetry reading with David Axelrod and writing well under way for her next book, you'd think she'd filled her time quite well and used up all of her creativity. Well, not so it seems. Here's the BizBuzzz.

Alice has been working on the marketing of her book, Cracked: Timeless Topics of Nature, Courage and Endurance. Alice's creative marketing methods prove that you don't have to have a huge budget. With a little time and a well-laid plan, marketing your own book can be productive and even a little fun.

READING TO SURVIVORS: Alice is one of those wonderful people who give back more than they receive, only in this beautiful marketing example, everyone benefits. Alice coordinated a reading for residents of SHARE House, a shelter for victims of abuse. She read to these brave women and to their children. They heard poems of endurance and courage. Alice was comforted by the hope that she saw in their eyes. She was also able to build a press release to submit to area papers, which will help in the marketing of her book, Cracked, and raise awareness of the good work of SHARE House at the same time.

GETTING LINKED: Networking is nothing new, but these days a lot of it is done on-line. "I have used social media to great advantage," Alice tells us. She has found LinkedIn to be helpful in finding other poets, and some like her work enough to contribute a blurb for the back cover of the book. "I got some great comments," she continues, "including one from the Livermore Poet Laureate, Connie Post. The people on LinkedIn are so generous with relevant, professional advice on marketing, blog/website development, and life lessons."

TWEET-TWEET: And what's all that Twittering you've been hearing about? Was Alice able to figure it out and use it advantageously for her book marketing? Yes, she tells us, "I found a Florida Journalism teacher who helped her students submit poems to my website." Alice Shapiro is not a teenager having fun using the latest technology--she's a real live grown-up, who's managed to identify her market and learned how to use the latest technology to raise awareness of her book through this technology.

RED ROOM FOR WRITING: Alice says that on redroom.com she was "able to develop an extensive profile with audio and article-linking features," and adds that this helped her to build a strong connection to other writers. "It has given me good exposure to the writing community," she says. So what's to stop any of us from using social media to build networks on-line and get the media and marketing bang we need for the buck that is harder to part with these days? Absolutely nothing! If you're in the greater Atlanta, Georgia, area this June 21st, stop in and meet Alice. You'll find yourself inspired by the poetry, and quite possibly by the can-do marketing attitude of a Long Island-transplanted Georgia writer named Alice Shapiro.

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AFTERNOON WITH AUTHORS: Poets Alice Shapiro & David Axelrod
Sun, June 21, 3pm – 5pm
Cultural Arts Center, 8652 Campbellton Street, Douglasville ()
Hosted by the Douglas County Writers Group
Free & open to the public.

CHILDREN'S POEMS from Alice's website. http://aliceshapiro.com/childrens-poems/

TWEET ALICE by joining up at http://www.twitter.com/crackedpoems

How To Build a Website, and How NOT To

2009-05-06T04:27:00.000-07:00

by guest blogger,

Barry Parham, web application developer and witty wordsmith

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Barry walks us through some of the basics of website development. Your site will be your "face on the internet", and it should look like you and sound like you and the business that you represent. Your website should be consistent with all of your other marketing efforts. Barry has done this many times, so save yourself and your business a little time and apply what the seasoned site developer, Barry Parham, recommends, including some of his "insider" tips.

If you find that it's all too much, or that you don't have time to do this yourself, give barry a call and see if he might schedule in a little time to work with you. And, don't forget that I'm always here to help you with marketing strategy and with writing content for your website and all of your other marketing materials.

The bizbuzzz, according to Barry Parham:

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The answer is “Yes.”

If you have a business, then “yes,” you should have a website. Even if it’s one page, with your company name, address, phone number, and 2 lines of good copy about what you sell. Yes. Many people don’t even remember anymore that they HAVE a copy of the Yellow Pages -- they search for what they want on the web.

Disclaimer: I am no expert. I’ve been involved with websites for longer than I care to admit, and they’ve been my career for nearly as long, but I am no expert. “Internet Expert” is very much a moving target. Okay, enough said.

It’s all been discussed and re-discussed and disclaimed and argued and counter-argued, in thousands of books. Not much for me to say or add. But it never, ever hurts to stress the simple, non-technical, you-can-absolutely-do-this-too basics. I’ll go with that -- plus a little insider info on an oft-ignored topic: what really ticks off website visitors.

The first four rules are the most important:
1) Proofread
2) Proofread again
3) Get somebody else to proofread
4) Proofread what they proofread
And don’t just check spelling, check grammar, too. The best spell-checker will never notice the difference between “she is sane” and “she in sane.”

Beyond that, here are some general, and highly recommended, guidelines:
1) Be honest.
2) Be prepared to respond to emails, at least -- at least -- as quickly as you would respond to a phone message.
3) Pick a font or two, and stick with them. Pick a color or two, and stick with them. Your website should not look like a ransom note.
4) Confirm that all your links, both internal and external, work. Then check again. Next week, check them again. Some studies show that broken links are the single most irritating technical shortcoming of a website.
5) Avoid navigational dead ends. If you have content that links to another of your pages, then another, then another, etc., make sure to include very visible, obvious ways to move backward, to move forward, to get back home.
6) Avoid underlining words for emphasis. People have been trained to think that underlined words, at a website, mean that the words are clickable, to go somewhere else. For emphasis, try bold, italic, a slightly different color, a different font size if you must - but only if you must.
7) Avoid what I call the “256 Crayola Syndrome.” There are literally thousands of visual things you can do with a website, but that doesn’t mean you should figure out how to use them all. Just because you have 256 crayons doesn’t mean you need to use all 256. Blinking text, in particular, is almost universally despised. I’ll say it again. Despised.

I put websites into three broad categories:
1) Content: just that: a lot of content. This could be your personal site, a collection of documents or pictures, 50,000 pages of jargon, whatever. Consistency is most important for this category: navigation, page layout, colors, fonts - they should all be similar, or be used to clearly differentiate between content sections.
2) Billboard: an advertisement for your service or product. In this category, be more liberal with colors & graphics, but minimize fluff, diversions, sidebars. Remember that, like an ad, every word matters, and 2 words are better than 3. People are in a hurry. Include every possible, sensible opportunity to provide contact info: phones, emails, hours, locations if relevant. Also, be careful where you place links to other websites: remember, when they go to that site, they’re leaving yours.
3) Workspace: this is generally a form, collection of forms, lots of fields, lots of typing to do, lots of time to be spent by the visitor. Avoid flashy colors: nobody wants to (and few will) spend 30+ minutes typing purple text into a yellow box on a black screen. Generally, workspaces are complex, have databases behind them, require design / maintenance / monitoring / security. But the main thing to remember, for your visitors, is that they’re going to be staring at it for some time. Be kind.

Your website’s pitch is very much like any other standard public speaking or discourse:
1) Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em
2) Tell ‘em
3) Tell ‘em what you told ‘em
This is not only to get your point across. The repetition will help search engines rate your site’s content.

Start small. Manage your site (like every other aspect of your business, this never ends), and manage your expectations. One estimate calculates that there are over 185 million websites. You will have 1.

Me, too.

Good luck!

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Barry Parham, the owner of PM Productions, is a freelance web application developer and, when time allows, the author of humor columns, essays and short stories. He is a music fanatic, a recovering Southern Baptist, and is very pleased to be a resident of South Carolina. Barry can be reached, at the most ungodly hours, at barry@pmwebs.com, and he maintains an online catalog of his work at http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/502451/barry_parham.html.

For an example of Barry's work, visit http://www.unitrends.com/

Marketing Your Way Through a Negative Situation

2009-04-28T03:44:00.000-07:00

Pandemic Planning
Brian Wingfield, 04.26.09, 08:00 PM EDT
The U.S. government still seems ill-prepared for a massive flu outbreak.
U.S. officials have now declared a public health emergency as 20 cases of swine flu have been confirmed ... for more of this story, http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/26/swine-flu-cdc-hhs-obama-business-washington-flu.html?partner=daily_newsletter

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How do you communicate with your market during potentially difficult, embarassing or negative times? How does a negative become a positive? Well...it ain't easy, and your integrity will either shine or your name will be mud. It's not impossible, but it does require some serious thinking, good timing and a consistent message. Here's the BizBuzzz.

You've got to respond quickly to aleviate any of the concerns that rise to the top of a bad situation before anything else happens. What this means is that you have to say SOMEthing, but you've got to be sure that your something shows your understanding, compassion and willingness to take action towards a solution or resolution.

We all want the truth. Some of the worst marketing and communications mistakes have come from businesses who try to hide or cover over a mistake, a product malfunction or a deathly workplace crisis. Tell the truth, acknowledge an error, give "the facts" of any accident or crisis that you are legally able to share--give your market some bit of information, so that they don't have to hunt down the information from other sources (who may not get it right).

Ration information strategically by scheduling some (any) bit of news every so many hours or minutes, depending on the situation. Even no news is news--it clears the air and sets the schedule for your market, letting them know that you will keep them informed at regular intervals.

NEVER, ever say "no comment", as my friends at Positive Management Leadership, Inc. instruct all of their PML Experience® participants. You can always say that you are concerned, that you are meeting shortly to gather all the pieces, that you are shocked too, that you will have the facts to share just as soon as you come out of the meeting that your'e headed to, that you send your personal thanks to the first responders who kept the situation from escalating....you get the picture, right?

Talk to the media!!!!!!!!!!!!! They live by the stories that they air, publish or print. Get them your news a.s.a.p. Give them ANY little thing that you can share and schedule a time to speak to them and give them more, more, more. And, by-the-way, while we're talking about the media, call them before you need them. Take an editor, a reporter, a photographer to lunch. Here's an idea, call them after their deadline and meet up for a cup of coffee. Ask them about their work, about their day, about their family and hobbies. (Light bulb!) It's easier to catch up with and talk with someone from the local paper or T.V. station, if you already know them.

Send out an e-mail and call your key clients. These actions can be executed at any time during the initial communications, but they are most effective when done right away.

So, just as soon as you can, send a quick informational e-mail to your customer base. Tell them that something's up and give them the facts. Tell them that they are important to you, tell them that you appreciate their support over the years and tell them that you wanted them to know first. And don't forget to ask for their patience and for their continued support during this difficult time.

Your key clients should already know that they are very important to you and to your business (if you've been doing your marketing homework and communicating that message to them). Identify who these people are and place an "urgent" call to them. This is you dialing their office or cell phone number; not your assistant or receptionist or the intern you hired last week. This is an important situation, an important client and an important piece of news.

We are constantly faced with great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems. Some wise person somewhere said something like this; it's the essence of what I am trying to share with you. It may not be good math, it may be considered creative accounting, but it is good marketing. I hope you never have to execute a marketing strategy of this kind, but build it in to your overall marketing plan and be prepared.

Positive Management Leadership, Inc., for leadership and crisis training

For one of many stories about the swine flu, Forbes.com

Detroit: Brace For Impact, another difficult situation of the times.

Coca-Cola's Belgian Marketing Fiasco, a lesson that we all should learn well

Dealing With a Product Crisis, from icmrindia.com
Consider training from The Black Sheep, Jeffrey Black. He can help you and your crew "stand out from the herd".

Your First Assignment

2009-04-18T13:38:00.000-07:00

Now that you know all about social networking, I'll give you an assignment. There's a visit involved... to each of the popular networking sites used by business.

Visit my page on LinkedIn to see what a typical page looks like. My LinkedIn address is
http://www.linkedin.com/in/despinapanagakosyeargin
Set up a LinkedIn account and add me to your network.
Visit http://www.twitter.com/ and set up an account. Do a search for a business, person or organization that you know and click "follow" to follow their updates. Wait a day or so and make a note of what happens--do they send you a welcome or thank you? If you cannot think of anything or anyone to search for, try "Chicago Art Institute" or "New York Times" and see how they use Twitter to stay in touch with their markets.
Send me a message at despina@alphaconnections.net to share your experiences. Let me know if you learned something, if you became frustrated and gave up OR if it was much easier than you thought.

If you need assistance in...

Setting up a profile on any of the social networking sites,
Getting a web site for your business,
Learning how to use any of the networking sites to promote or grow your business, or
Developing a strategy for using social networking in your business marketing efforts.

I am easy to work with, my rates are very reasonable and I love helping people.

WHY facebook...Twitter...LinkedIn...?

2009-04-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

The latest BizBuzzz is all about the social networking sites that they say every business should be a part of. Are they right? What is all the buzz about, anyway? Why should your business be represented on the internet at all, and why on any of these upstart social networking sites, eh?

Let's take a look at the basic steps for evaluating the benefits of any of these sites and if they're right for your business.

The first step you take should be to find out what these sites can do and get some sense of what they're all about; only then can you consider the remaining questions.
The second step should be to find out if the benefits of belonging to any or all of these sites will help your business in any way. This is your business, not every other business, and you are the only one who can decide if membership in these networks will improve exposure to your existing market or assist in providing growth via exposure to a new market.
The third step is to understand how much of your business time is required for maintaining and growing your network on any of these sites. Additionally, will it be you who invests this time or will you assign this responsibility to an associate or employee and will that person represent your business in conguence with your businesse's identity and other marketing efforts.
The fourth step is to identify your expectations or Return On Investment (ROI). If you don't know what you want, how can you measure any progress or the lack of progress. While the networking sites can keep you busy; while you may amass hundreds, even thousands, of friends or supporters on these networks, you have to have a way of knowing if the activity and time invested are helping your business in some way.
The fifth step is to schedule your maintenance time. This part is easy--you can spend 30 minutes every morning or 30 minutes after dinner every other day. You decide when and for how long and schedule this activity as if it were an appointment. Some people can do it on the fly, but others feel overwhelmed and burdened by the simple task of adding a new friend, making a comment on a friend's page or even reading the daily or weekly updates from your network which are e-mailed to you. The best way to handle the maintenance, for those who are in the second group, is to schedule the time and bill it to your marketing efforts.
The sixth step is to quit or to grow. At some point, you have to check the ROI and make a decision--either this is not right for your business (or for your business at this time) or, it's working and you need to move things up a bit. If you're ready to "kick it up a notch", the growth will come from any of the following and you don't have to jump into all of them at once: join a group and participate in the discussions, evaluate a friend's work and write a recommendation on their page, apply one of the useful applications that are available--reading list, presentation software, start a blog on your web site and post updates to Twitter and so on. There are many options on each of the sites and you get to choose which one is right for your business and for your style.
The last step is on-going and requires that you continue to evaluate the ROI for your business. You can stop membership at any time, so, if you decide one day that the time is right for backing out of facebook (for example), do it and dedicate your time to LinkedIn. Of course, you can always quit all of the sites, but...the newest social networking site may be just around the corner, so get ready to evaluate.