The book "Blue Ocean Strategy" by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne describes a business mindset in which you make your competition irrelevant. It's a great book, but I would revise that a bit to say that one can make one's competition an asset. Your competition can actually help you grow and evolve.
The lowest margin business products and practices are those which are readily available elsewhere. If you model your business after a lot of similar businesses, you can expect to work very hard for low margins. How do you differentiate yourself and find your competitive advantages? That's where your competition can help. If someone else is providing a product or service better, faster, cheaper to the point that there's little business coming your way, take the hint. Focus your energy and resources elsewhere. Don't get caught up in the "who can be the cheapest" game. Visit your competition. Talk to your customers and theirs. Find out what customers are looking for that neither of you have. It may be a simple matter of packaging. Maybe people want larger quantities, or smaller. It may be a matter of quality. If you're not competitive at the low end, consider going high end, or vice versa. You may find that customers that use your product or service have other interests in common that you can take advantage of through your product and service mix.
Be agile and be attentive. Don't get married to a specific mix or model, or as radio talk show host Bruce Williams used to say "Don't fall in love with something that can't love you back."
Another key aspect to product and service mix development is to always do the math. Don't just look at percentages of return, look at hourly rate of return. If you're making a 300% markup, but it only amounts to $6/hour, you're not doing yourself any favors. Your time, your energy, your resources are better spent elsewhere. Sometimes raising prices to reduce sales in a particular category is a good alternative to dropping it altogether. If your customers want to pay a slight premium for the convenience of picking up a dozen widgets while they're at your store as opposed to making another trip to another store, that's fine. But if you know you're not going to make your fortune in high volume widget sales, don't focus on it.
Your competition can help you customize your product mix and make you unique. They do so by pointing out the areas you should avoid. Let the other guy work for minimum wage while you come up with new ideas, new products and new twists on old products.
You may be able to take advantage of new technologies to do so. For example Verizon now offers a plug-in device for your laptop that allows you to access the internet from anywhere. How can you use that? Well, if you're a real estate agent, for example , you can make house calls. You can search the MLS with your client at their home or office for their convenience. If you use free online apps, like those offered by Google, you can even schedule showings, appointments, closings and access all the files you need from someone else's kitchen table.
The up and coming Trader Joe's did not achieve success by trying to "Out Walmart" Walmart. They kept the idea of bulk purchasing, efficient distribution and low prices, but went for an entirely different product mix. They offer brands and varieties you can't get at Walmart. They recognized the fact that even Walmart can't offer everything, so why not focus on the things they're not interested in? They take pride in being different and have developed a kind of cult following. They can't open stores fast enough to keep up with demand.
You can also create "one-stop shopping" through your unique network. Always keep information on your trusted business associates handy. The more time and effort you can save your customers, the more you will be appreciated, remembered and recommended. One thing your competition doesn't have is you. You establish these relationships based on your parameters.
It's not necessary to talk down your competition. What you think of them doesn't matter. Let your customers and prospects do the talking. They'll tell you what they like and what they don't. Don't get defensive or offensive for that matter. Get pro-active. Focus on the customer. Solve their problems. No matter what industry you're in, if you're in business, solving problems and fulfilling needs is your job. Butting heads with other problem solvers is a waste of everyone's time.
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Friday, May 9, 2008
Distribution of Marketing Materials - Win/Win models
One of the most, if not the most expensive portion of your marketing efforts is distribution. Unlike free-market industries, the government protected monopoly known as the US Postal Service continues to get more and more expensive as it matures with zero increase in value. This has lead marketers and business professionals to seek new and creative ways to get their message out to their prospects.
Don't expect to get anything for free, but compensation doesn't necessarily have to be in the form of cash. Information is another valuable commodity and currency. Easy Street Designs has developed products specifically for mortgage brokers that enable them to offer information in exchange for distribution. The same principal can, of course be applied in other industries.
The "Divorce and Your Home" brochure is designed to be customized for the individual mortgage broker, with their photo, logo, contact info, etc. and offers insights into issues one should consider regarding one's home and mortgage if one is going through a divorce. The broker offers these brochures free to divorce attorneys within their network in exchange for the attorney's offering them to their clients. The attorney gets a free means of communicating valuable information to their clients. The broker gets free distribution. The same principal is at work with the "Understanding the Mortgage Interest Deduction" (for CPA's) and the "Financial Strategies and Your Home" (for financial advisers) brochures.
The key is to think of related businesses within your network and what information might be useful to their clients and customers. How did Easy Street come up with these particular ideas? They didn't. Their customers did. They asked, they received. Your network is not just about sharing leads and getting referrals. Talk to your network partners about marketing strategy and how you can work together, especially on distribution, and never forget that your customers are also a part of your network and an invaluable source of information.
Don't expect to get anything for free, but compensation doesn't necessarily have to be in the form of cash. Information is another valuable commodity and currency. Easy Street Designs has developed products specifically for mortgage brokers that enable them to offer information in exchange for distribution. The same principal can, of course be applied in other industries.
The "Divorce and Your Home" brochure is designed to be customized for the individual mortgage broker, with their photo, logo, contact info, etc. and offers insights into issues one should consider regarding one's home and mortgage if one is going through a divorce. The broker offers these brochures free to divorce attorneys within their network in exchange for the attorney's offering them to their clients. The attorney gets a free means of communicating valuable information to their clients. The broker gets free distribution. The same principal is at work with the "Understanding the Mortgage Interest Deduction" (for CPA's) and the "Financial Strategies and Your Home" (for financial advisers) brochures.
The key is to think of related businesses within your network and what information might be useful to their clients and customers. How did Easy Street come up with these particular ideas? They didn't. Their customers did. They asked, they received. Your network is not just about sharing leads and getting referrals. Talk to your network partners about marketing strategy and how you can work together, especially on distribution, and never forget that your customers are also a part of your network and an invaluable source of information.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Create Your Own "Gas Tax Holiday"
Gas prices have got a lot of people upset. John McCain has gone as far as to propose a "gas tax holiday" from Memorial Day through Labor Day. That is, to eliminate 18 cents/gallon from the price of gas over the summer. Psychologically, this has some appeal. Realistically, it might mean something like $1.80 in savings to the typical driver per week, assuming the market doesn't simply drive the price up 18 cents in response. It's a political move, which is to say it's a marketing move. Here's how you can beat him to the punch.
Team up with a local independent gas station. Send your customer list a coupon or certificate for your "Gas Tax Holiday!". Offer 18 cents off per gallon on a specific day from 8am to 7pm (with this numbered and signed certificate), good for up to 20 gallons. Assuming a mailing list of 200 local clients and a 50% response rate (which would be astronomical) the cost of the discount would be $400, if they all got the max 20 gallons. The cost of printing and mailing, about $130. Split between you and the station owner - total cost, $265 each. Leverage your promotion by sending out a press release to area publications. Take pictures during the event to post to your website. Post banners or signs at the station saying "Welcome Bob's Realty customers!". It could be a relatively inexpensive and "buzzworthy" event for you and bring in new customers for the station owner. Raise your profile. Generate goodwill. Maybe even make some news.
Team up with a local independent gas station. Send your customer list a coupon or certificate for your "Gas Tax Holiday!". Offer 18 cents off per gallon on a specific day from 8am to 7pm (with this numbered and signed certificate), good for up to 20 gallons. Assuming a mailing list of 200 local clients and a 50% response rate (which would be astronomical) the cost of the discount would be $400, if they all got the max 20 gallons. The cost of printing and mailing, about $130. Split between you and the station owner - total cost, $265 each. Leverage your promotion by sending out a press release to area publications. Take pictures during the event to post to your website. Post banners or signs at the station saying "Welcome Bob's Realty customers!". It could be a relatively inexpensive and "buzzworthy" event for you and bring in new customers for the station owner. Raise your profile. Generate goodwill. Maybe even make some news.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
New Print and Mail Service
Easy Street Designs (producers of this blog) now offers Print and Mail. Easy Street Designs will print and mail your brochures, postcards or newsletters to your Xcel formatted mailing list for one low price. Design services (if needed) are not included in pricing, but are available for an additional fee. It's part of our continuing quest to Make It Easy!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Eli Estrada Returns $140,000, Receives a Fortune in Publicity
By Ed Duffy, Easy Street Designs
When Eli Estrada found $140,000 in unmarked cash in the street, he wasn't thinking promotional value. He was thinking "What's the right thing to do.". He decided to call the police and turn in the cash. While many have criticized his decision, the reward has been immense. Not only did he reinforce his own image of himself as an honest man, but his story is all over the news and the internet, along with the fact that he is part owner of the Tuff Turf franchise in Huntington Park, California.
Eli could have kept the money. He'd be $140,000 richer and nobody would have been the wiser. Instead, after returning the money he has received millions of dollars worth of exposure. Perhaps an unintended consequence, but a well-deserved one. Kudos to Mr. Estrada, and his partner, who was with him when he found the cash.
Tuff Turf is located at 3418 Hill St Huntington Park, CA 90255-6432, 13.77 miles from the center of Long Beach, CA. Phone: (714) 342-8873
When Eli Estrada found $140,000 in unmarked cash in the street, he wasn't thinking promotional value. He was thinking "What's the right thing to do.". He decided to call the police and turn in the cash. While many have criticized his decision, the reward has been immense. Not only did he reinforce his own image of himself as an honest man, but his story is all over the news and the internet, along with the fact that he is part owner of the Tuff Turf franchise in Huntington Park, California.
Eli could have kept the money. He'd be $140,000 richer and nobody would have been the wiser. Instead, after returning the money he has received millions of dollars worth of exposure. Perhaps an unintended consequence, but a well-deserved one. Kudos to Mr. Estrada, and his partner, who was with him when he found the cash.
Tuff Turf is located at 3418 Hill St Huntington Park, CA 90255-6432, 13.77 miles from the center of Long Beach, CA. Phone: (714) 342-8873
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Taking it to the Streets - Street Marketing
By Ed Duffy, Easy Street Designs
Maybe it's the backlash against telemarketers and door to door solicitors. Maybe it's the never-ending postage rate hikes. Maybe it's an increased need to stand out among an ever-growing crowd of competition. Whatever the reason, "street marketing" has become very popular of late.
What is street marketing? It's taking the promotion directly to the people. Ideally, you want to create some "buzz" in the process of distributing your promotional message. Street marketing can be very elaborate or very simple. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.
The most common form of street marketing takes place at events. These days marketers are no longer content to sit behind a table and offer informational flyers and free pens. They're showing up in costume, working the crowd, handing out coupons, making appointments and making sales. The event doesn't have to be huge or expensive. Greg Wickherst of Custom Concept Exteriors reports that his company recently participated in a very small event, attended by only a couple of hundred people. The result; tens of thousands of dollars in window and siding sales. Kerns Water Treatment likes to make a splash at area events with their converted VW minivan which now serves as a dunk tank. They also have a mobile coffee and beverage stand which they roll out to local events. The refreshments are free, but there's always a donation jar for a local charity on the counter. The idea is to get you thinking about water and more specifically, how their products can make it better. If you're a handyman, consider offering a live demonstration every thirty minutes of how to patch a hole in your drywall. Attorneys could offer free 10 minute consultations. If you're a vendor, send your folks out among the crowd with product for sale, or with coupons. Attract, entertain, demonstrate, sell. When done well, street marketing at events can make the event more entertaining to the public, more successful for the producers and profitable for you.
Another form of street marketing takes place...in the streets. It can be as simple as handing out flyers and coupons to passers by. The Enchanted Fairy in Security has had great response to handing out flyers with coupons in high traffic areas. It can be a bit more involved. Domino's Pizza on B Street once handed out bags containing a doughnut and a pizza coupon at an intersection near the gate to Fort Carson at 5:30 in the morning. It was a big hit. Gordon Ramsey of "Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares" often uses street marketing to draw attention to his rehab projects. He employs things like impromptu parades and clam eating contests. Sometimes pleasantly surprising a few dozen people can have a much bigger impact than presenting a few thousand with more of the same ole same ole. What if a whole neighborhood came home one fine Spring afternoon to find one your promotional frisbees on every lawn? Tape a coupon to the underside and you've got a very easy distribution system. What if your local tire dealer handed you a flyer offering to take away any old tires from your home or garage free of charge? It might make you think of the tires on your vehicles and whether it's time to replace them. Of course a big truck with a company banner on each side would show up to pick them up. It could all be scheduled for one or two days to maximize efficiency as well as "buzz".
Getting help for your street marketing project can be as easy as calling up your local church group, boyscout or girlscout troop, or other non-profit organization. They need dollars, you need a few hours of their time. Make a donation in exchange for their help. You not only help out one of your favorite causes, you also help out your own company. Don't be shy about showing your company colors while you help out the community. The big guys do it all the time. In fact they'll often spend millions of dollars letting people know about their tens of thousands in charitable contributions. There's nothing wrong with benefitting from your good deeds, unless you're an Emmanual Kant fan, in which case you don't own a business anyway. But that's another story.
People have more choices in how and where to spend their hard earned money than ever before. I have to buy gas, but I don't have to buy it from you. However, since you handed me a coupon for a free chili dog with the purchase of $20 or more in gas as I was walking out of the movie theatre, I might just stop by.
There is no single best way to advertise. But street marketing can be a very effective and fun part of the mix. Make it fun. Provide value. Make it personal. Make it memorable.
Maybe it's the backlash against telemarketers and door to door solicitors. Maybe it's the never-ending postage rate hikes. Maybe it's an increased need to stand out among an ever-growing crowd of competition. Whatever the reason, "street marketing" has become very popular of late.
What is street marketing? It's taking the promotion directly to the people. Ideally, you want to create some "buzz" in the process of distributing your promotional message. Street marketing can be very elaborate or very simple. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.
The most common form of street marketing takes place at events. These days marketers are no longer content to sit behind a table and offer informational flyers and free pens. They're showing up in costume, working the crowd, handing out coupons, making appointments and making sales. The event doesn't have to be huge or expensive. Greg Wickherst of Custom Concept Exteriors reports that his company recently participated in a very small event, attended by only a couple of hundred people. The result; tens of thousands of dollars in window and siding sales. Kerns Water Treatment likes to make a splash at area events with their converted VW minivan which now serves as a dunk tank. They also have a mobile coffee and beverage stand which they roll out to local events. The refreshments are free, but there's always a donation jar for a local charity on the counter. The idea is to get you thinking about water and more specifically, how their products can make it better. If you're a handyman, consider offering a live demonstration every thirty minutes of how to patch a hole in your drywall. Attorneys could offer free 10 minute consultations. If you're a vendor, send your folks out among the crowd with product for sale, or with coupons. Attract, entertain, demonstrate, sell. When done well, street marketing at events can make the event more entertaining to the public, more successful for the producers and profitable for you.
Another form of street marketing takes place...in the streets. It can be as simple as handing out flyers and coupons to passers by. The Enchanted Fairy in Security has had great response to handing out flyers with coupons in high traffic areas. It can be a bit more involved. Domino's Pizza on B Street once handed out bags containing a doughnut and a pizza coupon at an intersection near the gate to Fort Carson at 5:30 in the morning. It was a big hit. Gordon Ramsey of "Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares" often uses street marketing to draw attention to his rehab projects. He employs things like impromptu parades and clam eating contests. Sometimes pleasantly surprising a few dozen people can have a much bigger impact than presenting a few thousand with more of the same ole same ole. What if a whole neighborhood came home one fine Spring afternoon to find one your promotional frisbees on every lawn? Tape a coupon to the underside and you've got a very easy distribution system. What if your local tire dealer handed you a flyer offering to take away any old tires from your home or garage free of charge? It might make you think of the tires on your vehicles and whether it's time to replace them. Of course a big truck with a company banner on each side would show up to pick them up. It could all be scheduled for one or two days to maximize efficiency as well as "buzz".
Getting help for your street marketing project can be as easy as calling up your local church group, boyscout or girlscout troop, or other non-profit organization. They need dollars, you need a few hours of their time. Make a donation in exchange for their help. You not only help out one of your favorite causes, you also help out your own company. Don't be shy about showing your company colors while you help out the community. The big guys do it all the time. In fact they'll often spend millions of dollars letting people know about their tens of thousands in charitable contributions. There's nothing wrong with benefitting from your good deeds, unless you're an Emmanual Kant fan, in which case you don't own a business anyway. But that's another story.
People have more choices in how and where to spend their hard earned money than ever before. I have to buy gas, but I don't have to buy it from you. However, since you handed me a coupon for a free chili dog with the purchase of $20 or more in gas as I was walking out of the movie theatre, I might just stop by.
There is no single best way to advertise. But street marketing can be a very effective and fun part of the mix. Make it fun. Provide value. Make it personal. Make it memorable.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Procrastination Can Work For You
I believe it was E.W. Scripps who said "Never do today what you can put off for tomorrow. In fact, if you can put it off, it's probably not worth doing at all." At first glance, this may seem like a counter-productive piece of advice. It is actually among his 12 points for success, and quite profound.
How can procrastination lead to success? First of all, you have to have clear goals and be actively working toward them. Each day, make a list of the things you would like to accomplish that day. Now prioritize them. At the end of the day, look at what you've actually accomplished versus your list. The undone portion may become part of tomorrow's list, or other priorities may move them down the line even further.
It's important to reconcile your behavior with your stated goals. Sometimes this means you should change your behavior. Sometimes it means that your stated goals aren't actually your goals. Did your list of accomplishments reflect someone working toward financial well-being or were you working on some other agenda? Acceptance? Validation? Revenge? Take an objective look at your own behavior and see if there may be some sub-conscious issues influencing your decision making process.
It's possible that these sub-conscious issues need to be top priority, but they should be addressed consciously for maximum efficiency. It may also be that you are burning time and resources on trivial issues without being aware of it. Become aware of it and stop doing it.
If you continually tell yourself and others that something is very important to you, but it never seems to make it to the top of the "to-do" list, your own behavior is telling you that it's not nearly as important to you as you think it is or as you would like others to believe it is. Either take it off the list, or get it done, right now.
The key, as always, is awareness. Self-observation and analysis can help you discover what is really important to you. Once you have determined that, you can focus your attention and resources on achieving what you really want to achieve. It's not as simple as it sounds. It takes continual awareness and evaluation. We don't always know what it is we really want or need, and the answers often change over time.
How can procrastination lead to success? First of all, you have to have clear goals and be actively working toward them. Each day, make a list of the things you would like to accomplish that day. Now prioritize them. At the end of the day, look at what you've actually accomplished versus your list. The undone portion may become part of tomorrow's list, or other priorities may move them down the line even further.
It's important to reconcile your behavior with your stated goals. Sometimes this means you should change your behavior. Sometimes it means that your stated goals aren't actually your goals. Did your list of accomplishments reflect someone working toward financial well-being or were you working on some other agenda? Acceptance? Validation? Revenge? Take an objective look at your own behavior and see if there may be some sub-conscious issues influencing your decision making process.
It's possible that these sub-conscious issues need to be top priority, but they should be addressed consciously for maximum efficiency. It may also be that you are burning time and resources on trivial issues without being aware of it. Become aware of it and stop doing it.
If you continually tell yourself and others that something is very important to you, but it never seems to make it to the top of the "to-do" list, your own behavior is telling you that it's not nearly as important to you as you think it is or as you would like others to believe it is. Either take it off the list, or get it done, right now.
The key, as always, is awareness. Self-observation and analysis can help you discover what is really important to you. Once you have determined that, you can focus your attention and resources on achieving what you really want to achieve. It's not as simple as it sounds. It takes continual awareness and evaluation. We don't always know what it is we really want or need, and the answers often change over time.
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