0Posted by David Beckham, MarketProMBA on February 28, 2010 at 3:05 pm
Are you a small business owner who is still trying to decide if your business should be on the internet? I came across a video on YouTube yesterday by Jesse Thomas that really makes you stand up and take notice about the internet. We have come a long way since the day that I started messing with the internet back in 1991. Watch this video and form your own opinion.
For as many bad things that come from being on the internet like spam or viruses, there are also some very good things. Many businesses have found great success by marketing online. If you are still thinking about getting your business online, stop thinking and just do it. Don’t do it half way though. If you are not sure how to start, hire a professional. You will save a great deal of frustration by hiring a professional to set up your web presence. Once your site, blog, or social network is up and running, you can let the professionals manage it or get trained to manage it yourself, after all it’s not rocket science.
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David Beckham, MBA Marketing, small business developer, writer, consultant, and advertising specialist.
22Posted by David Beckham, MarketProMBA on January 28, 2010 at 10:47 pm
Has anyone seen the recent Office Depot commercial about the small business barbershop? Dan, the small barbershop owner has a look of concern as a big chain barbershop opens across the street from his little shop. The sign out front of the big chain store says, “$6 Haircuts”. The grand opening was full of the normal pomp and circumstance that you see in most openings. The manager of the big chain looked confident and sure.
The story is about Dan, who saves money because he shops at Office Depot. He reinvests his savings and buys a huge banner that says, “We Fix $6 Dollar Haircuts”. Six months later, the big chain store goes out of business.
I am not necessarily promoting Office Depot or their claims of savings. What I love about this commercial is the idea of the small business owner taking on the big giant chain store. This really hits home with my wife and I as owners of THE original basket boutique, a custom gifts and gift baskets shop in Gulf Breeze, FL. We find ourselves always competing against “big chain” stores who flood the market with cheap gift baskets. This is the nature of being a small business owner in America today.
Small business owners today, have to be smart, creative and forward thinkers to compete in this market place. This isn’t a new story. When Wal-Mart came in to towns many years ago, everyone thought it was the end of small business America. At first it probably looked like small business wouldn’t survive, but this wasn’t the case. Small business owners needed to adapt and find creative ways to effectively compete with the chain stores.
In this commercial, while it isn’t outright said, Dan’s strategy was to sell quality. He couldn’t compete on price and survive, but his advertising banner that says, “We Fix $6 Haircuts” made a huge statement about quality. Small business owners that survived the onslaught of the big chain stores learned to adapt to a new target market. Instead of competing directly with the chain store, they competed around it. The fact is there is enough market for a lot of business if you can figure out your target market.
One of the best examples of overcoming big chain stores that I know was my In-laws’ gun shop in Fairfield, IA, Outdoor Ventures. For the longest time, Outdoor Ventures was a very successful gun and archery shop in a small rural town in Iowa. People would travel from hundreds of miles away to buy guns from my father-in-law. Why you might ask? Because he carried what people wanted, unique guns and archery equipment, hard to find ammo and so on. Then one day, here comes Wal-Mart. There was no doubt that my in-laws were concerned. Instead of quitting thought, they changed their strategy.
They couldn’t compete with Wal-Mart for selling standard ammo or arrows, but they had something Wal-Mart didn’t. My father-in-law was a master wood worker and gunsmith. Wal-Mart sold cheap guns and ammo, but my father-in-law could fix them. Once a person saw the quality of his work, they were more likely to use him for special orders and work. He adapted to a new target market. They sold the business several years later to retire in Florida.
It is easy to see why I love this subject. It is a part of my life now and in the past. There is no reason a small business can’t be successful in a market with big chain stores. So what are my recommendations? Figure out your target market. Then analyze your target market for opportunities that are not being met by the chain stores. Once you identify your opportunities, change your business focus and strategy to capitalize on your findings.
Most importantly you need a plan. Don’t go at it half hearted and think everything will be ok if you just keep doing what you have always done. Your business plan will keep you on track and focused on your goals.
I would really like to hear some of your ideas. Leave me a comment or send me an email. Make 2010 a great year!
David Beckham, MBA
MarketProMBA Small Business Developer
1Posted by David Beckham, MarketProMBA on January 4, 2010 at 11:42 pm
I guess we have all heard the old saying, “Don’t dwell on the past”, but I think in order to move forward, we sometimes have to look at where we have been. It goes without saying that 2009 presented many challenges both on an individual level and from a business owner’s prospective. The economy seems to be the topic of choice when talking with most people. Whether you own a business or work for one, the economy has had some affect on your year.
As a business owner, we were not untouched by the economic woes of 2009. Sales were soft, vendors were often short of products, and we found ourselves constantly adjusting and readjusting our marketing and business plans. Still, the year proved to be better than 2008. We sold 5 new franchises in the U.S. and many more in Canada. So even with the touch economic times, we still saw growth. We also picked up many new customers and managed to secure more market share in our region.
Working for AT&T Advertising Solutions in 2009 was also filled with challenges. Since many businesses were having a tough year, it goes without saying that we saw a decline in advertising revenues. This decline forced the company to make some very tough choices, which resulted in the loss of hundreds of jobs. Many of these people were personal friends, so it was not an easy to watch this happen.
Last year I made a commitment to become more involved with our Gulf Breeze Chamber of Commerce. I took over as chair of the Small Business Development Committee and was picked for the 2010 – 2013 Board of Directors. I was also nominated for 2009 Emerging Leader of the Year and our business, THE original basket boutique was nominated for 2009 Small Business of the Year. So despite the challenges, I will still look back to 2009 as a good year.
Now that 2009 is behind us, we need to look forward to 2010. I truly believe this year will build on the successes of the past and I expect 2010 to be another year of recovery and growth both personally and professionally. In order to make 2010 a great year, we have to add some structure around our plans. To be honest, it is January 5th and I really hadn’t thought about any plans for 2010 until I read a January 1st post on Chris Brogan’s blog. (A big thanks to my friend Betsy Wuebker of www.passingthru.com for introducing me to Chris Brogan!) I really like Chris’s approach to goal setting. He selects three words to guide his goal setting and keep him on track to his objectives. I think this is a very good way to plan your year and it is easy enough to keep you focused.
As I started to ponder on my three words, I realized that this wasn’t as easy as you might think. I was having trouble with one word, let alone three! Chris describes his three words as something that would take more than one sentence to describe. His word sits upon his actual goals and acts as his guiding principles. These words need to have meaning and life to them and not just be a description. In the past, like many people, I have set resolutions for each new year but like many years previous, they didn’t have any solid goals or structure to back them up. By the 2nd quarter of the year, many of my resolutions were already just a memory because life has a tendency to throw new challenges in your path which takes the focus away from your “new year resolutions”.
After some careful deliberation and a little soul searching late into the night, I came up with a list of words that had some meaning to me, but I still needed to narrow them down to three. Growth. Flexibility. Vision. Bend. Flexible. Change. Stretch. Expand. Teach. Spread. Time. Fix. Course. Tack. Tool. Path. Plan. Gift. All of these words have some meaning to my goals for this year, but when I narrow it down, my three words are: Expand. Tool. Bend.
Expand: This year, my personal growth plan is to expand my horizons and education. I want to become better at online marketing & business strategy. I order to achieve this goal; my strategy will be to become better educated by reading more expert blogs and books. As a business goal, Expand means that I am going to increase our business footprint, regionally and nationally. This goal will be achieved by my increased knowledge of online marketing and business strategy.
Tool: You can’t build a house with out a hammer. In this decade, you can’t build a business with out a website, blog or social marketing. These relatively new marketing tools have become the norm in business. This year, my goal is to build more tools for our business. I plan to develop more sites, better email marketing and increase blog posting. I am also going to start pod casting, twittering and an online video blog. My strategy for “Tool” builds on the “Expand” goal to become better educated on alternative marketing.
Bend: You might have figured this one out. I need to learn to bend, be flexible and embrace change much better. The only constant in this day and age is change. Bend means that I need to be ready to change on a moments notice to capitalize on opportunities. My goal is to be flexible and open minded to new ideas. I will look at challenges as opportunities for growth and development. I will bend, but I won’t break in 2010.
Well, there you have it, My Three Words for 2010. I hope that my three words help you to come up with your own so you can effectively plan your 2010 to be one of the most successful years of your life. Good Luck & Happy New Year!
6Posted by David Beckham, MarketProMBA on December 10, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Around my house on any given night, the television is usually on and just providing background noise to drown out the chaos of a household with 3 dogs, 1 bird, 1 teenager, and my 9 year old. I really don’t watch much TV other than a few select shows, the news and late night television. Last night, while working on my new blog posts, I heard a strange sound that was not a bark, scream or crash that normally goes on in the background. Instead, I hear a Snap, Crackle and a Pop. No, it wasn’t someone pouring a bowl of cereal, it was my 42 inch Sony TV. Needless to say, I was a bit concerned. My TV went black and nothing I could do would bring it back.
So what did I do? The same thing any modern American would do. I went straight to the Internet. I researched my model of TV and sure enough within minutes I had determined that the likely culprit was a burned out projection bulb. I found instructions on how to remove it and verify that in fact it was dead. Then I researched the best replacement bulb and online retailer and placed my order. In about 2 days, I will have my new bulb and we will be back in business.
It’s easy, right? What on earth did we do before the internet!!? The whole episode really started me thinking about life before the internet and how this modern communication tool has been woven into our lives now. Before the internet, we would have called a TV repairman or taken our set into a repair shop, then waited until a diagnosis was made, then pay the labor and parts and what ever other costs they come up with. Now, it’s with a stroke of the key board, a little bit of research and online purchasing we do in minutes what used to be a lengthy process.
According to Nielsen Online, there are 227,719,000 internet users in the U.S. as of August 2009 which represents 74.1% of the population. Over 69 million of these internet users are also broadband customers. So what’s my point? It is simply that the internet is now used as much as television or likely more than many other forms of media. What does this mean to small business owners? It means everything! As a small business owner, you can not afford not to be on the internet and expect to stay in business.
The internet has opened doors and expanded territories of many small businesses. If you sell a product, you can easily market this over the internet and open up a larger market for sales. Most of this might be old news to many small business owners, but the truth is I still come across business owners who do not have a presence online. Some of them don’t even use email? How do they conduct business? Some of these businesses are actually the ones that have lost business to the internet. Let me explain: In my example, I stated before the internet I would have to call a T.V. repairman or a repair shop to have my T.V. fixed. The internet has most likely reduced the need for a T.V. repairman so what would you do if this was your business?
The simple answer is you get your business on the internet and retool. Use your expertise in the form of a blog to talk about common T.V. problems, then offer solutions on how to fix these issues and instead of making a house call, you sell them the parts they need. Now you have a new door to your business and you still have an opportunity to gain local business. On top of the local business, you also open yourself to market outside of your area. Instead of being beaten by the competition on the internet, you embrace it and use it to change your business and offerings.
Out of the 227 million internet users, how many people do you think were just like me last night trying to figure out how to get their beloved television working again? Imagine how I would have felt to find a local company that offered the parts I need or the know how to fix my problem even quicker than it took me? The internet shouldn’t be looked at as “what killed” the small business owners, but rather it should be looked at as “what saved” the small businesses of today.
In our business, THE original basket boutique, the internet could be considered the 800 pound gorilla in the room. It is both a blessing and a pain for us. We use the internet to expand our sales region and reach out to our customers on a regular basis. We conduct more business over email than we do over the phone. The downside is in our business, we have heavy competition from the internet. There are a lot of very big gift basket companies out there, so how do we compete? Like any small business owner should, we focus on our local business and we go after one client at a time. We use the internet as a tool to find new potential clients, educate our current clients and stay in touch. Our best sales tool is still personal sales and that one-to-one connection you get when you look someone in the eye and demonstrate your products and knowledge.
The bottom line is the internet has changed all of our lives. I can’t imagine what to do without it? Even when I try to “unplug” and get away from the internet, I still have my smart phones, internet appliances, iPods, and now even our cars can be connected. The internet is going to be part of our lives forever more and I believe will be woven even tighter in our lives as technology advances every day. So don’t fight it, embrace it. If you are a small business owner and you are not on the internet, get on the bus. Brainstorm ways to grow your business by using the internet. If you can’t think of any ways, then contact me. I will throw some ideas your way. Make it your 2010 resolution to “rethink” your business and look for new ways to grow your business.
Around my house on any given night, the television is usually on and just providing background noise to drown out the chaos of a household with 3 dogs, 1 bird, 1 teenager, and my 9 year old. I really don’t watch much TV other than a few select shows, the news and late night television. Last night, while working on my new blog posts, I heard a strange sound that was not a bark, scream or crash that normally goes on in the background. Instead, I hear a Snap, Crackle and a Pop. No, it wasn’t someone pouring a bowl of cereal, it was my 42 inch Sony TV. Needless to say, I was a bit concerned. My TV went black and nothing I could do would bring it back.
