Marketing Done Modern

Back and in Action

To my followers, I apologize for being gone so long.  A layoff, lots of interviews, more revisions of my resume than I care to think of, getting a new job, dealing with a deployment, and life in general have kept me away from the blogosphere.  Forgive me.  But I am back. 

I have always wondered why it is, when I go to the grocery store with a handful of coupons that the store seems to not have half of the items that I have coupons for.  I know that grocery stores can't stock everything, all grocery stores would be huge!  But I find it frustrating that when I'm willing to purchase something new, or something I normally wouldn't purchase because I have a coupon.  I would think that grocery stores have someone who is combing through the coupons each weekend to determine if certain products have to be better in stock.  I would imagine that if there is a coupon for Lay's Potato Chips, that there is going to be a higher demand that week.  If your customers want something, and you don't have, they are going to go somewhere else for it.  Anticipating your customers wants can really play to your advantage.  Look at printing photos and the difference in digital and film.

Even 10 years ago, if you wanted photos, you bought your film, took your pictures, brought the film into the store, waited two days, then got your photos back.  Now, you take pictures and either upload them online or save them to your computer and never print them, have them sent out to snapfish.com, bring in your memory card and have them printed out quickly, or buy your own photo printer and print them at home.  If you wanted to do film at home, you had to have a dark room.  If stores that usually only did film didn't adapt, they would have gone out of business.  Anticipation is important, whether it's groceries or photography.  Know what they want before they have to ask for it. 

Happy Marketing!

What is it Worth To You?

Over the past several months I have been job searching.  It has been a difficult task, at best.  Our economy is not in the best shape, but I am convinced that is not the reason it has been difficult for me.  I am being picky about where I apply and what jobs I am actually interested in.  Perhaps I am being too picky.  And perhaps that is a problem that happens with small business owners.  You may be marketing to a smaller niche group when there are many others that may enjoy your product.

Last year I was looking for some new stationary.  I like to write letters even though it is something that seems to have gone by the wayside.  I really like small stores.  There are a couple in the area I live so I thought I would check them.  I went into several different stores and they catered mostly to brides-to-be.  Almost everything was wedding invitations, save the date cards, thank you notes, etc.  After the third store like this, I got frustrated and went to the mall.  I went into Papyrus and finally found a lovely set of cards and paper.  I use them frequently.  My boyfriend and I lived on opposite sides of the country for almost a year and I sent him a card roughly once a month.  I love my stationary.  And those other stores missed out.  Perhaps that is the reason Papyrus is more well known than others and has really taken off as a high quality stationary store. Plus, they did get my business.  Now, wedding invitations and thank you cards are not that different from plain stationary.  Just leave off the printing, put the paper in a nice box, and you can sell that.  Not that hard, plus, you can sell to weirdos like me who still write letters.

Happy Marketing!

A Full Time Job

Being unemployed is a full time job.  An article on MSN.com today was explaining this in more detail.  And I have to agree.  Which lead me to think of a topic.  Your business may be good at what it does, but it is still not getting noticed through the clutter.  This is similar to finding a new job in the current economy. 

You may have had your business open for three years and you do well enough, but business isn't booming.  What's the problem?  Maybe the problem is you don't know.  Let's compare to a job search.  We'll use mine as an example.  I had a resume.  It was OK.  Nothing spectacular and just gave employers the information that they needed.  However, a month or so ago, a potential employer (who is also a former colleague) looked it over and gave me several ideas for revision.  He knew multiple hiring managers and what they would be looking for.  This was great because I was able to create a stronger resume that was sure to get noticed.  Unfortunately, the job was eliminated due to the economy.  However, I do know that if the job had been filled, I was a strong candidate for the position.  Maybe your resume is OK, but you need a little boost here or there to make it stronger and cause you to be a top of mind candidate for customers.

It may sound silly for you to have someone look at your "resume," but it may not be bad to have a consultant come in and help you understand what your weak points may be.  You never know, it may help you to be the next up and coming business.

Happy Marketing!

Hiatus

Greetings to all in the blog-o-sphere.  I apologize for my recent hiatus.  However, as we all know, things can change suddenly and drastically and life sometimes needs to be put on hold.

About a month ago I was laid off.  In this economy, it appears, no one is safe.  Well, after the initial shock and the "Oh my gosh, what do I do now?" moments, I started to gather my thoughts and think with a clear mind.  I had been wanting to move anyway, so I decided to uproot myself once again and move halfway across the country.  Now that I am closer to my friends and loved ones, life has taken a change for the better.  Granted, the lack of income is currently a struggle, I do have a strong support system which is there for me while I get back on my feet.

What happened to me is not uncommon in this economy.  People are being laid off, businesses are closing, and the media likes to remind us constantly of the doom and gloom that appears to be surrounding us.  But here's an idea, why not make the best of it?  I did.  I know that moving 600 miles away isn't really the answer to anyone's problems (except mine) but what if instead of worrying about what is happening on Wall Street, we think of how this can be beneficial.

Juli, you're crazy.  I know, I'm sure that's what you're all thinking.  And yes, maybe I'm an optimist, but let's give an example.  Let's say you own a coffee shop.  People may be buying less coffee which hurts you.  But what can you do to ensure people still visit your shop after times get better?  Here's a simple idea: Start a book club.  If you create your space as a place people can meet and don't feel obliged to buy something, you're at least getting people in your store.  Plus, with so many people out of work, they are available during the day.  Some people may be out of work a week or four months.  Borrowing a book from the library and spending some time with people in a coffee shop can really brighten your day after the countless applications and resume revising.  People will associate your coffee shop with a good time even when they were down on their luck.  After they have a job, they may continue to come, and this time, to buy a cup of coffee. 

I know it's hard, but sometimes we have to look for what good can come from the bad.  If we don't, doesn't that just fuel more unpleasantness?

Happy Marketing!

Christmas is Over, Now What?

First off, I do have to apologize for my lack of posting for the past several weeks.  Being the holidays, I have been out of town for two weeks and now I am preparing for a whole new year.  The start of a new year is very exciting.  It's a chance to do things differently.  Personally, I am trying to be more conscious of my spending habits, continue working out, and in general, be a kinder person.  Although I can say these are my resolutions, they are more goals that I am working towards.  This is also a good time of year for businesses to have resolutions.  Where do you want your company to go in 2009?  Do you want to have more loyal customers?  More customers in general?  Higher profits?  Just stay in business?  Redesign?  What is it that you want to do?

This is a great time for businesses to look over what happened in 2008 and determine what it is you want out of the next year.  But it doesn't have to be a year long plan.  Start by planning the next month, the next six months, the next year, and so on and so forth.  Sure, you could continue the strategy that you are currently using, but maybe it's time to look where your company is going, rather than where it's been.   For example, you decide you want to have a sale to draw in new customers.  Think about when your target market is going to be purchasing your product.  Do you own a candy store?  It might seem obvious but special discounts around Valentine's are always a big draw.  Do you specialize in children's clothing?  How about a sale during the Easter season?  I always got a new dress for Easter. 

Another idea is to go through the books and determine slow times of the year.  Come up with a few ideas to bring new people in during your slow times.  For example, if you own a ski and snowboarding store (depending on your geography) my bet is that you're busiest between November and March.  What can you do the rest of the year?  Well, you are a ski and snowboarding store, why don't you sell water skis and other water sports paraphernalia.  It's just an idea.

There are many ways that looking to the past can help you in the future.  Just make sure that when you are looking to the past to help your future that you don't get stuck there.

Happy Marketing!!!

Unlike in High School, Different Can Be Good in Business

I remember my freshman year of high school.  I was still sort of the new kid (I moved the year before) was short, going through my "awkward stage", had braces and was just a little different.  This was also one of the hardest years of my life.  The other kids weren't mean, but they also didn't accept me for who I was.  It took me almost a year to find out where I fit in.  I am really glad that business is not like this. 

When I was in business school they kept talking about finding your niche.  Sometimes you don't have to find a niche and you create mass appeal.  For example, let's look at the Swiffer.  There are a million ways to clean the floors.  You can use a broom, a mop, get on your hands and knees, a waxer, a buffer, a sander, etc, etc, etc.  About 10 years ago the people at P&G introduced the world to the Swiffer.  While cleaning floors is not a new concept, the way the Swiffer cleans is.  The Swiffer has replaceable pads that are sort of like dirt magnets.  While it's not the same as mopping (they have the Swiffer WetJet to solve that problem) it's a good way to keep your floors clean.  I don't know if I know anyone who does not own a Swiffer.  It's different, but it has mass appeal.  Being different and unique can be good.  Time to gather around children, it's story time.

This summer, a girl I know won a free engagement photo session.  I love pictures and photography.  I also love looking at wedding and engagement photos.  Who doesn't like pictures of people that are in love?  It's almost as great as looking at pictures of babies and puppies.  So off I went to Beautiful Union Portraits.  I was extremely impressed with the pictures that I saw.  They weren't the traditional sit-here-pose-and-make-it-look-like-it's-spontaneous kind of pictures.  While on their website, I looked through their blog and their gallery.  What I found was incredible.  They do wedding pictures with a photo journalistic style.  It catches the emotion of the day.  They state that they will do the traditional stand up and pose at the front of the church photos, but what really caught my eye was everything else.  They really have an eye for detail and for beautiful photography.  I was completely blown away.  I hope one day, if I get married, that they will take the photographs for me.  This style may not suit everyone, but it's different, it's unique, and it really appealed to me. And that's why I liked them, they're different.  Anyone with a good camera can take a nice picture, but it's something else to take photos that make a complete stranger feel like they were there. 

Happy Marketing!

If You Think You're High and Mighty, Get Your Head Out of the Clouds

If you have been following the news recently, you will have read about how the Big 3 automakers are asking for a multi-billion dollar bailout.  One of the things that stood out in my mind was some members of Congress noted that the CEOs came begging for money on private jets.  This was interesting for several reasons.

1.) How much money do they need if they can afford a fleet of private planes?
2.) Why couldn't they fly first class on a commercial airline?
3.) Did they think that no one would notice?

The first two were mentioned a significant amount when the bailout was initially at the forefront.  But one thing that I paid particular attention to was the third.  Did they really think they could come asking for billions of dollars on private jets and have no one mention it?  It does seem a bit hypocritical.  I understand that a CEO of a giant company such as Ford or GM has a different role than a small business owner.  They may feel like they are above other people and they can take these fancy jets, but it did come back to bite them.  And you can tell me over and over it's for safety reasons, but until they went asking, I had no idea what these guys looked like or even cared.  As one congressman said, couldn't they have jet-pooled?  However, there are some things you should do to show that you actually "get it."

There is a small restaurant near my boyfriend's house that we like to go to called Francesco's Restorante Italiano.  He thinks the food is amazing and while I do agree with that, there is more to this place that makes me go back.  It's a small, family-owned restaurant.  The food, I will admit, is some of he best Italian that I've had since my Italian grandmother was alive.  Everything is cooked to order and you can change whatever you want.  Plus, the ingredients are fresh, the bread is homemade, and the cannoli is out of this world!  But the service and the atmosphere are really what stand out to me.  Both times that I've been, I have learned and remembered the names of my servers, and they've asked for our names.  Both times, they have personally recommended one of the specials (and let me tell you, they've always been right).  But here's what makes this place different to me.  Everyone does what is necessary.  This past Saturday I watched the owner do many different jobs.  Not only is he the chef, but he seated people when he wasn't cooking, he told them the specials, and even recommended a wine.  Now, there are other servers there, but since it was slow, the owner took it upon himself.  And I respect that.  To me, it means that he is willing to do jobs other than cooking.  He's invested in his business and he's doing what needs to be done, when it needs to be done.  I may not be a great connoisseur of food, but I know dedication when I see it.

Happy Marketing!!!

  

The Price Must Be Right

Have you ever walked into a home decor store and found the perfect accessory for a bedroom?  Then noticed that the price tag is 4 times what you thought it would be?  I have.  Just this past weekend I was shopping with my mom in my hometown at a place called Perennial Accents.  I am currently looking for a little basket to put my boyfriend's parent's Christmas present in.  My mom pointed one out and it was beautiful.  However, it was over $50.  I understand that somethings are worth more like Longaberger baskets which do have a higher price tag.  But there was nothing special about this basket.  It was pretty and had some decoration on the side of it, but I didn't think that it was worth the price tag.  Plus, I had never heard of the company that made it.   And I did't blame the store, however.  I happen to know that this is a reasonably priced store that sells high quality products.  I have bought many a Christmas present for my mom from.  But I started thinking about how many times we look at something and don't feel that it's worth the price.

When it comes to pricing, we have to be sensitive.  Not only do we need to know how much our product is worth, but we need to find out if our customer is willing to pay what we charge and if we're making a profit.  One thing that always comes to mind for me is truffles, and I don't mean the mushrooms.  A handmade chocolate truffle can bring in about $3 per truffle.  I used to think that this was extravagant until I made truffles myself.  There's a lot of work that goes into them.  I understand now why they cost so much.  Plus, they are delicious.  But would I pay for a truffle if it was $5.  Or would I think it was really cheap if it were only $0.50. 

In research we use a technique called the Van Westendorp Pricing Sensitivity Meter.  It is a few questions that ask about pricing.  From the data, we are able to determine the optimum price.  We also can determine what is considered too high that it isn't worth price and what is too low that makes customers question the quality.  It's a really interesting technique.  I'm not saying everyone needs to do marketing research to price every thing in their stores, but price does have to be a consideration.  If you get a lot of people in your store and you know that you're selling a great product but you aren't selling much, it may have to do with your price.  Sometimes you have to start lower and work your way up so that people recognize the value of the product that you are offering.  There's a reason that Rolex and Mont Blanc can charge really high prices for their products while Seiko and Cross have more reasonably priced offerings. I guess you have to look at your pricing and determine if you're charging a Rolex price for a Seiko product.

Happy Marketing!!!

Consider Your Customers, And Where They Come From

Location, Location, Location.  This adage is one of the most well known sayings in business.  But location is more than being situated on a busy street or having the prettiest building.  Being in research, this is something that I think about a lot.  Who knows, one day I may want to open a bakery, I need to know where to locate it to bring in people who are truly interested in my product.  If you are already set with your location and don't plan on moving, that's fine.  This is a lot easier to do if you don't have a brick and mortar location yet or you're looking to move locations. But you need to think about where your customers are.  If your product appeals to soccer moms that live in the suburbs, then opening a store in a large, downtown, urban area is not a great idea.  It may be a great location, but are you really getting to your customer. 

Ok, today we are going to pretend that we are a jewelry store.  Let's say you want to set up shop in a college town.  Remember, not all college towns are based solely on the college, there are other things and other people in the area.  There are two locations.  One is on a very busy street, there is a lot of foot traffic that walks in front of the store.  This same location is also across the street from the university.  To the left of you would be a pizza place, to the right is an off-campus bookstore.  The other option is in a different part of town.  It's a quieter part of town and there would be less foot traffic.  The road, while not as busy as the other one, leads to a few new subdivisions.  There are several shops in this area and it's like a mini-downtown.  The shop to your left would be a gourmet food market and the shop to the right is a boutique clothing store.    I'm hoping it would be easy for you to determine which location is better from these two simple descriptions.  There are countless reasons why you shouldn't choose the location near the campus.  Although there is a lot of foot traffic, it's probably from college students who don't have the money to buy jewelry.  Also, if you're next to a bookstore, unless you have good sound protection, you'll probably hear a lot of what's going on in these stores, especially during the season when shelves are being stocked.  Not to mention, do you want to smell pizza all day long?  The other location caters to the type of clientele that you want.  It may not be as busy, but you're closer to the clients that you want and it's likely that if they are shopping at the stores on either side of you, they may have the money or the interest to stop into your store.

In my college, there was a video rental store called Video Hits Plus across the street from campus.  Being poor college students, a good night for us was renting a movie and picking up Jimmy John's to take back to our dorm.  It was reasonably priced to rent from there, plus, instead of getting a card, all you had to do was show your student ID.  It was perfectly situated.  While other video rental places are probably going under, this one is thriving.  Location does matter.  A lot.

Happy Marketing!

Your Employees Are Your Biggest Asset

"Stereotypical."  "Cliche."  "Nothing new."  I bet that's what you're saying to yourself right now.  But it's true.  Whether your employees are the people who do all of the work or are who is interacting with the customer, they are your most valuable resource.  Especially in small businesses.  Look at restaurants.  Nobody wants to have a waiter or waitress that is rude, snippy, and doesn't care about the customer.  I feel that at times, employees are not hired for their personality or skills, but because the job needs to be filled and they have some experience.  And I'm not talking about companies that need highly skilled workers like statisticians because sometimes that can't be helped.  But you need employees that work well together and work well with the customer.  Plus, they need to be treated well.  You treat a good employee poorly, you're not going to have a good employee anymore.  They may quit, their attitude might, a lot of things could change the person you once hired.  Once again, it's story time.

In the town next to my hometown, there's a restaurant called Sophia's House of Pancakes.  My parents love going here.  So does half of my town.  And I'll admit, they have delicious food.  But one thing that keeps us going back is their service.  The gentleman who owns it mans the cash register, the waiters and waitress are super friendly, and you know that you're getting a great price for a great meal.  This place is no different than the other million pancake places, except that business is always booming.  Always.  I don't think I've ever been there where there hasn't been a parking lot full of cars. 

I digress.  Not only is the service great, but the waiters and waitresses remember their regulars.  There is one in particular that my parents always hope they get when they go there because she is super friendly and nice.  This isn't just a place for people to eat anymore, it's a place where they feel like a part of a community.

Normally I don't have more than one example, but today I'm doubling up.  In the same town, there is a very small credit union, United Federal Credit Union.  However, it has a lot of customers for being so small.  This bank has more foot traffic than any other bank that I've ever been in.  There's almost always a line.  I remember in high school, I would take my check from my summer job to the bank to have it deposited.   And there was Dottie.  I loved Dottie.  She was this cute little old lady who worked at one of the counters at the bank.  And she was just so friendly, efficient, and nice.  I would purposely try to get her counter because I liked her that much.  Now, if there were only more Dotties in this world, everyone would have great customer service.

Happy Marketing