Rocking The Boat

It has been 6 months since I retired from Dream Dinners. Many have asked me what I think of the Industry today. I am saddened. I do hope Darin Leonard, from One Accord, CEO of Dream Dinners can be the "super dream" hero and turn it around.

But it takes Innovation. Does He or Anyone at Dream Dinners have Innovation?

What exactly is innovation? Is it the result of long, arduous trials and errors? Or is it a practice that can be broken down into parts and learned? More importantly, does your company know how to effectively position its innovations and differentiation in the marketplace in order to drive sales and increase market share?

Are you ready to read more….I am LONNNNG winded on this one!

Rocking the Boat

Good managers solve problems, but great leaders create problems and then empower others in their organization to solve them. Creating problems leads directly to innovation. Of course, deliberately creating problems is counterintuitive; we’re wired to avoid problems. Culturally we’re trained to get rid of problems.
Businesses are structured to reward managers for their problem-solving skills.

However, the keys to the executive suite are not available to managers who only solve problems. Does your organization have structures in place to reward people who create problems? What could happen when you don’t have those structures?

More than a century ago, Henry Ford built an innovative company to solve a problem he created: make it possible for every American household to own an affordable automobile. He solved the problem by creating the assembly line. The people of Ford Motor Company changed the world. But, the company didn’t look ahead, didn’t pose new problems, didn’t continue innovating. When GM introduced style and color in its cars, Ford lost market share to this new innovator.

In 1979, Sony brilliantly created the personal audio market with the Walkman. The company created a problem: develop a device that will allow individuals to listen to music privately, anywhere, anytime. Today, however, Apple dominates the digital personal audio market with a 78% market share in the U.S. Signs that


Your Company Lacks an Innovative Culture:
Your CEO spends more than 10% of his or her time solving problems. Top leadership needs to challenge the CEO to create a problem or take it upon itself to bring a challenge to him or her.
Your company is content with the status quo. Being content leaves you vulnerable to competitors who can disrupt your business model. Without risk, innovation becomes happenstance.
Your company’s top line is growing while your bottom line is shrinking.
Your products or services have become a commodity. There is nothing to differentiate you from your competitors. This is an ideal time to create a problem for your organization.

Employees are afraid of failure. A learning and innovative culture embraces failure; a project that fails can still be valuable to the company’s larger goals.
Employees should be encouraged to create problems themselves.

Management is disconnected from employees in terms of innovative ideas and moving the company forward. Often, companies make the mistake of going it alone—relying solely on management and/or research and development to come up with innovative and creative ideas, instead of engaging the brainpower of employees throughout the organization.


How to Create an Innovative Culture

1. Lay out the problem clearly, with a definite objective.
2. Make sure people have the tools they need to solve the problem you or your CEO created.
3. Get out of the employees’ way as they solve it. Empower them to innovate.


Jack Welch, when taking over as General Electric’s CEO, declared that every division must rank number 1 or number 2 in its industry—or be sold. Welch dared to imagine a future dramatically different from the past. This was'nt just a “cut costs by 3%” memo; this was a whole new vision, which could only be fulfilled by committed people with a new perspective on their business units and the possibilities. What must happen to ensure buy-in for a vision that appears to be a problem? Organizations must design a culture that embraces a new mindset toward problems. Welch’s problem gave people in the corporation a greater purpose. He didn’t demand that people work harder and do better. He gave them an objective which didn’t require him to micro manage. Individuals were responsible for creating goals for which they could claim ownership.

When a leader declares a future that doesn’t exist, it’s inherently a problem. It breaks from the past; it may demand new skills and competencies. When the leader stands for something bigger than the problem, however, that stand becomes the value system of the organization. The value system inspires and motivates people to innovate. When people are empowered to be innovative, their commitment increases; they have a chance to take new actions and be proud of their accomplishments. Indeed, when people are allowed to create problems themselves, cost efficiencies, new products, and new services are created. Strategically Position Your Company Once you have created a truly innovative culture it’s important that you, as a leader, facilitate a communication structure and strategically position your company as an innovator in the marketplace.

You’ve heard the old saying, “If a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one to hear it, did it make a sound?”

The same is true for companies: if your company is highly innovative, but prospects and customers don’t know it, do your innovations really exist? It’s critical that companies understand how to position or reposition themselves in their industry. This involves developing a positioning statement that clearly differentiates your company from competitors, underscores your company’s strengths and explains how your company and its products/services provide a solution to a problem.

A positioning statement is not a tag line; it’s a sentence or two that establishes your leadership position in your industry. It also provides direction for the company and keeps everyone focused on a common goal. And, it’s important that it rings true with all constituents. It should be articulated by everyone in the company, from the CEO to the receptionist.

Risk and Reward You can’t have reward without risk. And nothing holds greater risks—and potential rewards—than creating problems in order to create the new products and markets that will transform your company into a recognized leader in its field.

One risk you can’t afford to take is being complacent and accepting the status quo—that’s perhaps the riskiest course of all.


Sources: www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/199907/99-059/ www.itworld.com/Tech/5051/060420appleipod/ www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dt13as.html

21 Marketing Types

I have researched over and over the 'Best- Marketing Practice would be for a small business' It is so confussing, which one works and which one is a waste of time. Here is what I discovered online: (there were more but stopped looking after the 21st one):

Email Marketing
Internet Marketing
Marketing
Affiliate Marketing
Search Engine Marketing
Online Marketing
Marketing Promotion
Offline Marketing
Word of Mouth Marketing
Marketing Plans
Network Marketing
Tele-Marketing
Brand Marketing
Multi-Level Marketing
Viral Marketing
Direct Marketing
Relationship Marketing
Promotional Marketing
Event Marketing
Loyalty Marketing
Target Marketing
Which did I miss…?

There cannot be 21 different types of marketing!

Look at that list, this is way out of control. On my list, 20 of the 21 so called “marketing strategies” are either methods or tools that you insert your marketing message into - most are simply tools. Not marketing strategies but marketing tools.

You Need a Marketing Strategy before Using a Marketing Tool

I define marketing as “the process by which information about a product or service designed to meet a need - real or otherwise - is communicated to those who have the need.” The goal of marketing is always to get people to seriously consider the merits of your products or services.

There are two key elements in the above statement:

*A product or service designed to meet a need - real or otherwise…
*Is communicated to those who have the need.

The confusion created by the hype of some marketing professionals promoting event marketing, viral marketing, telemarketing, or [insert favorite marketing tool here] create unrealistic expectations, wasted budgets, and disappointment

The entrepreneurs I meet all thought they were doing a good thing. In most cases these business owners would have been better off spending time developing a marketing plan and their marketing message before spending a dime on marketing. My favorite marketing strategy to mock is ‘target marketing’ because it is dead, gone, finished, over, a waste of time.

Why Target Marketing is Dead

We no longer targeting “markets” today, we target needs. We target the needs of your ideal customer and figure out how to best communicate with those that have the need (a.k.a. prospects and customers) - that is how I define marketing!

Once you have that figured out, selecting an appropriate “marketing tool” to insert your message into is the next most important decision. But that is a post for another day.

Inspire YOURSELF

Tiger Woods tops the list of the most marketable athletes of 2008, according to MSNBC. His annual endorsement income is expected to top $100 million this year, thanks to his partnerships with Buick, Nike and Gatorade. LeBron James is No.2 with an estimated $25 million a year from endorsements, which include his LeBron Nike sneaker. Tom Brady rounds out the top three with his 16-0 season and the possibility of an historic 19-0 record and a fourth Super Bowl ring.Here are the top 8 most marketable athletes...

1. Tiger Woods
2. LeBron James
3. Tom Brady
4. Peyton Manning
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
6. Alex Rodriguez
7. Dwyane Wade
8. David Beckham

You may be reading this and think, How does this apply to myself, or my business?

Marketing Tip: Ask yourself How Dream Dinners or any other small business could Partner with like minded Corporations. If these athletes can do it- SO CAN YOU!


"My mind is my biggest asset. I expect to win every tournament I play."

Tiger Woods (1975 - )American golf champion

Ten Simple Ways to Discover the JOY Factor

In the past, I have written briefly about the pursuit of happiness and about how, according to recent research, the JOY factor is not increased through more and more money or possessions. So where does it come from? What experiences, thoughts and relationships help you reach a momentary state of jJOY or happiness? Here are some of mine.

1. Set goals and complete them. There is something very satisfying and joy producing in crossing something off a list. I believe we are programmed towards accomplishment. We are frustrated with procrastination, indecision, lost dreams. You may be very "busy" but unless you have a tool to measure progress (goals), you will not appreciate the satisfaction and joy of completion.

2. Dance, Sing, & Listen to music. It is difficult to hold on to a frown when enveloped by a rollicking Irish jig or a rap song playing in the background. Happiness might have been a warm puppy to Charles Schultz but to me is it being in the arms of my warm husband and listening to music.

3. Make something. Cook or Make something Yummy! or try something like knitting , the hum of a sewing machine, the pounding of a nail. Not only the act of creating a product but the pride of producing something tangible always brings JOY to my life.

4. Grow something. Not unlike creating a product, growing a tree, a garden, or an African violet, brings ongoing satisfaction and joy. My best friend Michelle, The Gardener, virtually beams (I can hear it over the phone) when she talks about her wonderful gardens.

5. Give freely. When you give your time, your talents, and/or your money, you will give yourself a shot of happiness. There is something powerful about giving freely (not out of guilt or duress).

6. Get physical. Move your body. Talk a walk, go for a run, have great sex, row a boat, paint your bathroom. We all know there is strong scientific evidence that significant physical movement activates endorphins that make us feel happy. What are you waiting for?

7. Add color.in your wardrobe or around your house. Feeling low? Take off that black skirt and sweater and put on something colorful. I just painted my bathroom celery green and it calls me in. I love it! Have you observed the ladies of the Red Hat Society? They are dressed in purple and wear red hats (in public!). Boy, are they ever a happy bunch! I look forward to wearing my purple hat one day!

8. Take a friend to lunch. Friendship is one of our greatest gifts. Spending time with girlfriends nearly always makes us more joyful. Call an old friend you have not spoken to in a long time, set a date for lunch with someone who makes you laugh, visit a friend who is homebound.

9. Learn to be alone. Spending time alone, regrouping, being silent can have a surprising happiness quotient attached. Learn to find joy in your own company.

10. Stretch your mind. As much as I sometimes resist learning something new, I always come away feeling renewed and fulfilled when I stretch my mind and take in a new idea, skill, or information. My husband finds joy in card games like spades or on-line pool games and I was happy when my Son taught me how to set up a program on the computer.

It is a good thing the title of this article is "10 things" because otherwise I would go on and on. There is practically no limit to the happiness possibilities if you look for them, appreciate them, and acknowledge how you are feeling when you are involved. Make your own list of happiness factors and then make sure they are a part of your life!

Marketing Plans can Prepare you for Success! (JOY)

Planning by itself will not guarantee your success. However, not planning has proven repeatedly that you will almost certainly fail.

One of my favorite resources that I use repeatedly for my own planning is Steve Hackney's Steve describes his Power Marketing Super System as 90% preparation and 10% application. He not only tells you what to do, he also explains why you are doing it and gives detailed steps on how to do it.

An effective marketing plan will keep you from falling victim to the "episodic marketing" approach that is so common among small businesses. You know what that looks like don't you? Business slows down, so you come up with a new "marketing idea" such as a direct mail postcard to try to drum up some new business.

Then the next time business slows down, you come up with some different idea (maybe a newspaper ad, a new brochure, or an open house) in another desperate attempt to stir up some new clients.

The problem is that typically none of these ideas has anything to do with the one before. They are isolated episodes that are a reaction to the current business slow down. It is like riding on a marketing roller coaster. We "market" when things slow down and we "stop marketing" when things are busy.

It should be understood that marketing plans are crucial to your small business success. Yet everyday people do not take the time to stop and actually think about how much better off they would be with even a simple plan.

If you are like most small business owners, I meet, then planning is something you know is important, but it does not always happen. Most small business owners need to feel like they are "doing" something to be productive. In addition, not all that planning sure feels like doing when there are so many day-to-day things to be done.

It does not have To Be So Complex.

Take a few days to a few weeks to follow these seven identifiable steps to create your own small business-marketing plan.

1. Begin with a Clear Purpose and Focus. It is imperative to begin by making sure you are very clear on where you are going with your business and what you want to accomplish. It sounds simple enough, but so many small businesses cannot think past their desperate need for one or two new guests by next week.

With a direction and focus, you can be passionate about, key marketing activities can begin to line up and all point in the same direction.

2. Position Your Business For Success Others Cannot Generate.

Key elements such as an attention-getting message and testimonials have been proven to work repeatedly. Many small businesses just do not understand how to implement them.

3. Create More Compelling Marketing Materials. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but most small business marketing materials are bad. They are poorly designed and written. They do not compel people to read them and do not make much of a case for the product or service they are promoting. In some cases, they are actually driving away customers in droves. Not having a call to action can drive your business away.

4. Get Busy Being Known. You cannot do business with someone if you do not know about him or her and they do not know about you. If you are invisible, then your guests do not even know you are in business.

5. Maximize Income And Profits From New And Existing Guests. By far the easiest and most rewarding, but often ignored part of a typical small business is reselling. It has been said that it costs at least seven times more to get a new guests than it does to work with existing guests.

Do not get overwhelmed By Planning.

Most small business owners seem to get overwhelmed when they start thinking about marketing. But if you just start with a simple outline like this and commit to spending some time filling in the spaces each week, you'll realize it's very possible.

Marketing Plans by themselves will certainly not guarantee you success. However, the process of creating even simple marketing plans will put you ahead of 90% of the small businesses out there. The few weeks of time you spend now and the continuing effort you spend ongoing will launch you past your competition who is continuing to use the episodic (flavor of the month) approach to marketing.

Marketing is not Over Even When Your House Is Clean

Once a week I spend a few hours cleaning our house. Yes, you are correct. This is not my favorite task to do but it does have some benefits. It burns a few calories, which is not a bad thing. And, it's actually somewhat relaxing. (Sometimes its nice keeping your hands busy while your brain rests.)

However, the best thing about cleaning your house is you get instant results. You do the work, and you get a clean house. No waiting. You get to enjoy the fruits of your labor right away. What could be better, right?

This reminds me of the reason many small business owners get frustrated with their marketing. It is because they often want instant results from something that is not designed to deliver instant results.

Effective marketing can make your business or organization almost a household word in your community. It can push your revenue through the roof. And, it doesn't have to cost a fortune.

However, it does take time. You could compare marketing to exercising because they have a lot in common:

• You rarely get results right away.
• You need to do it on a regular and frequent basis for best results.
• The longer you do it the better it works.

*What is your marketing message you want people to hear?

The more times people see or hear your message, the more they will remember it. The more they remember your message, the more likely they are to believe and trust it. Therefore, they will be more likely to do business with you.

Example:

What if you heard about new toothpaste that promises the freshest breath, the whitest teeth and no more cavities. If one person tells you about it or if you see one commercial touting it, you might not even remember it. It is in and out of your consciousness so fast you might not even realize it was ever there.

On the other hand, let us say you hear about this new toothpaste on the radio when you wake up in the morning. Then you read about it in the newspaper during breakfast. Then you see it on a billboard while you are stuck in traffic.

Then you get to work and receive a flyer in the mail promoting this toothpaste. Then a co-worker tells you all about the new toothpaste they tried. Finally, you get an email from a friend asking if you know anything about this new toothpaste.

After all this exposure in one day, do you think you might remember this product? In fact, you might even try it next time you buy toothpaste.

Of course, this concentrated level of exposure is unrealistic in one day, unless you have a ton of money to spend. That is why you need to keep your message in front of people on an ongoing basis. What you lack in concentration, you make up for with repetition.

If you expose people to your message frequently, regularly and through multiple media, you develop awareness of your brand. Do this long enough and your brand becomes part of their long-term memory. It becomes part of their world.

The bottom line is this:

You get best results from your marketing when you focus on building awareness and credibility for your brand over the long term. The more people know you and trust you, the more they will want to do business with you.

Therefore, if you want instant results then go home and clean your house! However, if you want to build your business, plan on a long-term investment in your marketing. This does not have to cost a lot of money. Your time is money. Plugging yourself in community’s events, speaking engagements, clubs of interest can build business.

Resources: Kevin Stirtz developed a unique concept called ‘Blow up your Business’

What Is JOY? A Simple Tool

I love to word JOY. It makes me smile just looking at those three letters. What is JOY? What does it mean it you? I have applied JOY in my daily life. In addition, especially in Owning and operating a business. This may seem dorky, or a waste of time. However, it works. The first thing in Marketing is KEPPING IT SIMPLE but first here is a tool that may help you and something I hope you never forget:

JUST JESUS

ORGANIZE OTHERS

YOURSELF YOURSELF

Take out your left hand: follow along with me.

• Your thumb represents your daily projects
• The pointer finger (pointer) is the weekly projects
• The Second Finger is called Follow- UP the tallest and MOST important finger on your hand (all goal setting, projects need to be re-evaluated and followed thru to success. This is where Thanks you cards, phone calls, Hand written cards of encouragement come into play)
• The ring finger is Monthly projects you have set out to do- How did your daily (thumb) help you achieve this. This finger is the vision of how you can envision your business to be.
• The baby finger. This is the where your three month outlook should be on goal setting for your business, what does your business look like? Re-evaluate business revenue. What is not working? Or Working? Setting Goals three month in advance keeps you and your business Organized.

Applying this Simple tool can keep You full of JOY and even make your business strong and profitable.

Creating a Marketing Plan

Start with a well thought out blueprint for your marketing, just as you would for your dream home. Here is how to start putting your marketing plan together.

1. Identify Your Marketing Goals
What specifically does your marketing need to achieve for your business to grow? You can state this in terms of the number of qualified events generated each week, the percentage of events converted to sales, total revenue, and profit.

What are your marketing goals?

2. Define Your Marketing Strategy
This is your overall approach and positioning relative to your goals and your competition. My marketing strategy is an educational one. It is based on giving people ideas and information they can use as a means of getting their attention and demonstrating the value I provide.

What is your small business marketing strategy?

3. Set up Your Marketing System
Develop a plan of action. To increase sales, your marketing activities and the media you use need to reflect your marketing strategy and work together as one.

What is your marketing system?

4. Map out Your Marketing Activities
You’ve decided what your marketing activities will be; now for each marketing activity you’ll need to determine who will create and implement it and when.

Who will be responsible for developing, implementing and maintaining your marketing?

5. Learn what Your Marketing Tools Are
Each marketing activity involves using one or more marketing tools. These include everything from your web site to your phone scripts to your marketing messages. To cut through the information clutter and get your guest’s attention you will want finely honed tools.

Could you sharpen your marketing tools?

Plan your marketing as you would your dream home. The time you spend developing a marketing plan - your blueprints - based on your business goals, a clear strategy, and a coordinated system will pay off.

Summary:

Tip: Your marketing plan should be evaluated every three month. Keeping a daily/weekly/monthly tracking sheet on marketing results will help further your goals for your marketing plan.

Resources: Charlie Cook http://www.marketingforsuccess.com/