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Filed under: Tip of the Day
Back in 1992, my good friend Bill thought he had what it took to start up his own produce company. A year and nearly $10,000 of lost savings later, he threw in the towel - the tiny customer base just wasn’t offsetting the unforeseen overhead costs like rent.
 In this month’s installment of “Second Act“, Counselor magazine examines another ad specialty startup and what they did right and wrong. Here are three classic mistakes to avoid during your first year of a startup company:
- Don’t Mix Personal And Business Finances. Too many small-business owners dip into personal accounts to cover business costs or slap down their business credit cards to buy a new couch for their living room. For distributors, working out of their home and funding the entire startup themselves – like Terri and Jim Brooks – it may seem fine to mix finances, since they’re likely coming from the same pool. Don’t do it, experts say. Why? It makes tracking finances (i.e. separating personal and business expenses) down the road a nightmare.
- Commute Every Day, Even If The Office Is At Home. If your daily commute involves walking from the living room to the den to set up shop, consider yourself lucky. But don’t forget about the doldrums that can set in from never leaving home. Get out and create a commute, advises Jeff Huckaby, CEO of rackAID LLC, an IT management firm in Jacksonville, FL. A quick, 10-minute walk around the block or to a local coffee shop is enough to create the sensation that you’re leaving home to go to work. The same should be done at the end of the day as well, he says.
- Know When To Quit. For many startup distributors, the office is tucked away in a corner of the house. That means work is always accessible and often a gnawing presence, making it hard to ignore. But it’s important to shut off the computer and step away from the home office at the end of the day, experts say. To do that, Huckaby suggests distributors set time limits for working after hours at home.
And for those of you who are wondering, Bill is doing well these days - he’s a regional produce manager for Whole Foods Market. Not the entrepreneur he’d hope to be 20 years ago, but not a bad gig I’d say.
Tuesday
September 13, 2011
Filed under: Tip of the Day
 Fifteen years ago in college I read a book called “Being Digital” in which the author, Nicholas Negroponte, foretold of a digital world, one in which you could literally do everything from your computer or TV, and that some modern conveniences of the day — like, for instance, Blockbuster Video — would soon be obsolete.
I scoffed. How could we exist without the convenience of Blockbuster, I thought, as I contemplated a 10-block trek to the nearest video store to return overdue movies.
Of course, 15 years later Blockbuster stores are going out of business in droves and, yes, we are doing almost everything from our computers and TVs. So Mr. Negroponte was right … and had the foresight to not only know that, but to write a book about it. very impressive.
But most of us don’t have the foresight which is why we have to be constantly vigilant with research and survey data to try to come up with the best business plans as possible. This month’s Counselor Marketwise section has a great article on five fastest-growing industries to watch for the next five years, and why you should target them. Check it out, and in the meantime, here are the industries:
- Testing & Educational Support
- Internet & Technology
- Green
- Residential & Commercial Construction
- Health Care
Source: IBISWorld
Thursday
September 8, 2011
Filed under: Tip of the Day
 This month’s Stitches magazine has a great article called “Social Media Smarts” that is rife with great online networking tips and marketing strategies that can help you find new leads and build your brand. What I find most helpful about this read is that it touches upon all the social networks, and not just the two big hitters Facebook and Twitter.
Advice on how to succeed with everything from LinkedIn and YouTube to Skype, blogs, QR codes and even mobile apps is included in the article. So do yourself a favor and take a few minutes to read this article — it’s definitely worth it especially if you’re just starting out with social media.
In the meantime, here are 5 quick social networking tips to whet your appettite:
- Update Twitter and Facebook regularly. “Once a day, or every other day, you should post new and interesting things,” says Dana Zezzo, vice president of sales and marketing at Pro Towels Etc. (asi/79750).
- Explore the social media pages of potential clients. Then, engage these people in discussions. Share information that would be useful to them.
- Integrate your website. Use social media pages to direct traffic to your website by posting links back to your main site. Also, embed Twitter and Facebook feeds into your website.
- Include photos and videos in your blog posts. This creates more interest and engagement.
- Connect with remote customers. Use Skype to impress far-off clients by giving them a tour of your shop, demonstrating efficient production methods and the like.
Thursday
September 1, 2011
Filed under: Tip of the Day
 From “To Do Before 2012″ in Advantages’ September 2011 issue.
While following the to-do list is important, there are also some “to-don’ts” that salespeople should keep in mind. A few common mistakes:
- Letting your network get static. Harvey Mackey, author of Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive, urges sales reps to make sure “your network is current and relevant to your career position today” and evaluate “whether you need to set a goal of building it more effectively in the new year.”
- Bringing business forward from next year. Sales reps may be tempted to boost their year-end numbers by getting clients to place orders earlier than they normally would. This can put strain on the client relationship and sets a poor precedent.
- Avoiding year-end financial analysis. “A big mistake salespeople make in the fourth quarter is not doing a financial analysis and cleaning up your financial records,” says Mackey. “If you don’t, you won’t be prepared to set goals for the next quarter.”
- Saving heavy selling for the end of the year. “A lot of people try to use the holiday time to try and close their year strong, but that can come off a little desperate,” says CanvasPop’s Salamunovic. He suggests seeing the final month or two as a time to continue selling, but not to expect huge sales.
- Playing it safe with next year’s goals. Especially in the current economic climate, many sales reps might be tempted to lower expectations. “Safe is important in baseball, but in business you must be prepared to take some risks,” says Mackey. “To triple your success ratio in the next quarter, sometimes you have to triple your failure ratio.”
Filed under: Tip of the Day
 From “Blueprint” in Counselor’s August 2011 issue …
Once a financial checkup is conducted, business owners often realize that they need more cash on hand to adequately run and finance their growing operation. While credit from banks is still tight, here are three ways to get lenders on your side:
- Get organized. Know how much you want to borrow, what you can pledge as collateral and how you will use the loan, says Mike Griffin, business services manager for United Federal Credit Union. “The institution is going to request a lot of information from you, so have your financial records in order,” he says. “When applicable, have projections – this will demonstrate to the loan officer that you are prepared.”
- Do your research. It is important to find a financial institution that is able and willing to lend money, says Griffin. Then, the key is to find a loan officer who is willing to work with you. “A good loan officer will be of assistance long after you close the loan.”
- Move your “business relationship” to the lender. Show potential lenders that you’re willing to expand the financial partnership past the terms of the loan. “Tell the loan officer you are willing to move your checking accounts,” says Griffin. “Having statements is a big plus. Ask them about other services and products. Business relationships for a financial institution are more important than ever.”
For more information, check out the Blueprint section of this month’s Counselor magazine.
Filed under: Tip of the Day
 Great tips from Successful Promotions Trend Report, vol. 65 …
Why do so many trade show booths fail to attract prospects? According to Trade Show and Event Marketing author Ruth P. Stevens, the reason is that marketers often assume show organizers are going to do all the work of attracting the right attendees.
No, just showing up and propping up a booth certainly isn’t going to entice quality visitors. You have to be an active participant in getting people to your booth. Here are 12 surefire ways to fill your trade show booth with bona-fide prospects.
- Get your own prospects
- Know where to exhibit
- Make your booth advertise itself
- Use a winning layout
- Attract quality traffic
- Give the right promotional gift
- Select and train booth personnel
- Get friendly with organizers
- Use technology to capture information
- Do something different
- Consider sponsorship opportunities
- Put Your Message Everywhere
For complete details of how to boost your booth traffic — as well as ideas case studies, monthy constest and more — go to the latest Successful Promotions Trend Report now.
Filed under: Tip of the Day
 From Counselor’s July 2011 issue segment on “Management, by Genae Ginard …
Every company is trying to use Facebook in an attempt to move their business forward and stay connected to their customers. Why are some companies more successful at this than others? Content is the key to staying in touch with your customers and keeping them informed. The content, however, must be a rich mix of information, education, humor and fun.
Indeed, every Facebook effort is not equal. Some companies put forth a concerted effort to update their Facebook page consistently with news, tips and contests to keep their audience engaged. Others? Well, others don’t update their pages consistently enough to make any noise online.
No doubt, the former strategy is preferable. You can’t succeed with online social marketing right now unless you’re prepared to put in the time to create compelling content that engages customers and prospects. There’s a lot to be drawn to online right now, so you need a Facebook page whose content stands out from the crowd.
Here are six steps for ad specialty distributors to pump up their Facebook presence and connect with a whole new audience online. Use this approach to make your Facebook page more successful.
- Humor Is Vital - Humor allows your audience to come away with a warm-and-fuzzy feeling and a friendly attachment to your message. It doesn’t have to be industry specific, although it can be. You can do viral searches on YouTube and/or sites that plug social media. But a note of caution: humor online shouldn’t cross a line that you wouldn’t be prepared to cross when meeting somebody in person. Always watch a video all the way through before posting, as you don’t want it to include any profanity or other unmentionables. Remember, video is king. Written blogs are being trumped by the clever, colorful and often fun video blogs.
- Ask Questions That Solicit Responses - Don’t be afraid to ask open-ended questions to your group. For example, think of timely promotional programs and ask something like, “What’s your favorite corporate summer outing?” The purpose here is to begin the conversation. People posting their answers will create a community buzz. Letting the responses unfold naturally also gives you a marketing advantage. You can then track the answers to find a pattern of summer promotions or even find specific information about potential customers that you can use to call them with down the line. The key is to track it. Don’t just let the responses occur in a vacuum – take notes off the Facebook page so you have actionable data about your new contacts.
- Consistent Content Is King - If you don’t provide a myriad of interesting topics, information and trends, current customers as well as future customers simply go away. Clicking “Unlike” on Facebook is just as easy as clicking “Like.” Smart, clever and challenging content will keep your audience waiting for more. Plus, the ability to provide that type of information consistently is what really separates your Facebook presence from that of other companies. Consistency and creativity count when it comes to providing content online. With most companies having a presence on Facebook, competition will become fierce and you have to stand out.
- Talk About Current Events - If you haven’t done so already, get plugged in to all online media and/or online trade publications. When something interesting pops up, pass it along for other people’s knowledge. If something political or legislative occurs that could impact your customers or the ad specialty market in general, pass it along. Never make a personal judgment about the event. Let your community unfold. One of the best ways to ensure that you’re always connected to current events that impact the market is to use Google Alerts to notify you of events and news feeds when you program in key words. You can also use a program like Hootsuite to consolidate and tweet events out to all of your feeds and accounts at one time. The more you can tie your Facebook content into current events that impact your audience, the more likely you’ll be to consistently connect with a growing audience.
- Use Industry Facts - Keep your followers abreast of changes in the ad specialty market and relate them back to your own business. For example, product safety and legislation are important right now when it comes to ensuring the viability of products in the ad specialty industry. Post articles you find about changing laws and provide insights into how this can impact your customers’ orders. Think of Facebook as a way to educate your customers and prospects about information they may not otherwise seek out. Cotton prices, for example, have increased significantly over the past year or so. This isn’t information that your customers may be directly seeking out, but it does impact their T-shirt orders. So, they need to know about it, and you can be the vital source that provides the information to them. This would be a specific action that endears your customers to your brand.
- Run Promos & Specials - Mention specials, promotions, new products and services on your Facebook page as much as possible. It shouldn’t be a hard-sell approach, but rather a way to entice customers. You can get creative here and run a coupon or contest. Talk about new employees, business awards or articles written by your staff. You can drive traffic to your business and services by using this concept.
For more, go to Counselor’s July 2011 Management section now!
Filed under: Tip of the Day
 From Counselor magazine’s 2011 State of the Industry:
With 600,000 apps in the online marketplace and 61 million smartphone users accessing them, targeted mobile marketing continues to ascend in reputation and relevance. According to a recent study, the mobile app market will be worth $17.5 billion by next year, with downloads reaching 50 billion. “We’ve found our customers are on the run and our mobile app is great for them,” says Kim Laffer, director of strategic development at New York-based distributor Motivators Inc. (asi/277780). “We developed our app last year and we keep making edits.”
The Motivators app – available for the iPhone and Android devices – offers customers the chance to view products, check pricing and even send images of items to others. The app also links to the Motivators website, allowing customers to purchase products online without being in front of a computer. “We really listen to our customers and it’s taken time to get a feel for what they need,” Laffer says. “We did a bunch of tests and we’ve gotten a great response from customers.”
Even if a company doesn’t immediately earn sales directly from an app, some consultants argue there are still valuable gains to be made by marketing your brand through a mobile device. “These are really social apps,” says Tyler Musson, CEO of Musson Media Consulting. “You don’t want a hard sell with them. They’re important in nurturing relationships.”
Musson says creating a custom or native mobile app can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $100,000, depending on what services a company wants to present. It’s common for app developers to charge $100 per hour and take weeks to finish a project, which is why the cost can escalate quickly. “It can take six to 12 weeks just to write the code,” says Tobias Dengel, CEO of WillowTree Apps. “A good average is to say it takes three to six months to develop an app.”
And yet, despite the hefty price tag and development time required, experts believe mobile apps will eventually overtake computers as the best online avenue to reach customers. In fact, in a recent interview, Ilja Laurs, the CEO of mobile app provider GetJar, had this to say: “It is easy to see how mobile apps will eclipse the traditional desktop Internet. It makes perfect sense that mobile devices will kill the desktop.”
For more tips like these, go to the article High-Tech Tactics.
Filed under: Tip of the Day
 It should come as no surprise that a company’s customer service speaks volumes about the company itself, and one bad experience can send them to your competitor. For example, when I’m sent into phone automation land or am transferred a bunch of times to people that I have to give the same info to over and over, I’m outta there. Seriously. Nothing’s more frustrating than being spun around like a record.
This year’s Counselor State of the Industry has a section on Client Connections that has tons of great tech tips and advice, including four tips on how best to improve your customer service:
- Call your company during business hours. “Get one of those cloaking devices, or have someone call for you, and find out what it’s like to call your company,” says Scott Gingold, owner of business management consulting firm Confidential Counselor. “Do this during normal business hours and after hours. How long are you put on hold? How friendly and responsive are they? If it’s after hours and you have an answering machine, maybe leave a bogus message, and see how long it takes somebody to actually call back.”
- Ask your people. Many distributors don’t like to hear it, but Gingold says it’s crucial to routinely ask your employees for honest feedback about what aspects of your company’s customer service experience could use improvement. “Ask, ‘Can you tell me what areas need improvement so I can try to make it better?’” he says. “Don’t become negative or offensive.”
- Surveys. “Distributors need to have a frequent online and offline survey that they provide to their clients to get feedback, not just on what they’re doing well, but on what they need to work on,” says Ryan Sauers, president of Sauers Consulting StrategiesSauers. “Customers, whether they fill them out or not, appreciate the chance.”
- Remind your customers that you’re thinking about them. “Get in the habit of writing follow-up, hand-written notes after all customer meetings, because no one does that anymore, and that will separate you,” Sauers says. “Whether it’s thanking someone with a holiday card or a hand-written thank-you or birthday card – anything that takes time out and says, ‘I’m thinking of you’ – that’s a customer experience that, quite frankly, no one gets in today’s world.”
For more information on securing your data — including four additional threats you want to be mindful of — check out this year’s Counselor State of the Industry.
Filed under: Tip of the Day
 Are you fanatical about protecting your data? You’re not alone. In fact, short of retinal scans many industry companies are going to great lengths — including finger-recognition technology and explosion-proof safes — just to protect their data, as well as their customer’s.
This year’s Counselor State of the Industry has a section on High-Tech Tactics that is chock full of great tech tips and advice, including four tips on how best to secure your data:
- Use A Layered Defense Model – Combine tough-to-crack passwords (uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as numbers, in every one) with up-to-date antivirus software, operation system and application security patches as well as a strong firewall.
- Employ Encryption – Make sure all removable media and devices are encrypted.
- Click With Caution – Don’t ever open unexpected attachments or click on embedded links in e-mails. Also, never respond to unsolicited requests for information.
- Choose Wisely – Pick a hosting company and website designers that understand security.
For more information on securing your data — including four additional threats you want to be mindful of — check out this year’s Counselor State of the Industry.
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