Changes they are a’coming

Changes are part of life.  We don’t grow if we don’t change and Linda’s Business Blog is now at a new home.

Past Performance is No Guarantee of Future Reward

This disclaimer is quite popular in adverts for stock portfolios and precious metal investments: past performance is no guarantee of future reward.  So true.  Have you considered that it is also true of your business?

You’re only as good as your last iteration.  Or hit song.  Or hit movie.

You shouldn’t rest on your laurels.  Your next “big thing” may bomb.

Here’s a good one:  There is always someone new who’s never heard of you or your products or services.  How do I know this?  The population of the planet is over 6 billion souls.

Our businesses, if they are currently enjoying success, can be something easily taken for granted.  Especially if a business is doing well in these times of recession.  But taking something for granted means that you aren’t really seeing it.  It’s like having a painting hanging on your living room wall.  Perhaps when you first saw it at the gallery you loved it.  It either conveyed an emotional meaning to you…or, as often happens, it simply matched the color scheme of your home.  Either way, you bought it and hung it in a place of visual prominence.  Over time, as human nature goes, you cease to even see it.  We get comfortable when things go well.  This getting comfortable can blind us to dangers and new opportunities.

I’m re-reading Michael Crichton’s The Lost World for about the fifth or sixth time.  [I get in these moods and love to read again the works of favorite authors.]  In the early part of the novel Crichton’s character of Ian Malcolm [played so wonderfully by actor Jeff Goldblum in the movie version ] gives a lecture having to do with chaos theory and the “edge of chaos.”  The character says [on page 4 in my hardcover edition], “…We imagine the edge of chaos as a place where there is enough innovation to keep a living system vibrant, and enough stability to keep it from collapsing into anarchy…if a living system drifts too close, it risks falling over into incoherence and dissolution; but if the system moves too far away from the edge, it becomes rigid, frozen, totalitarian.  Both conditions lead to extinction….”  [Great stuff!]

Said by me, simplistically – if we let ourselves become too comfortable with our current success then our businesses can cease to be alive and “vibrant.”  I think it is very interesting to liken our businesses to a living system because without constant growth and change, our businesses can indeed fall into extinction.  Sometimes staying on that edge means:

• listening to our customers – what are they telling us about our products and services?  Is there something we can do better or provide in a better way?  Are we not offering a product or service that our customer could truly use in addition to our current offerings?
• listening and watching the marketplace – trends shift; people may love purple widgets this year but will abandon them for yellow ones the next.  We have to constantly be aware of shifting needs in the marketplace.  This also means in times of recession we should be aware that perhaps our customers aren’t buying, not because there is a problem with our products/services, but because the customers simply don’t have the spendable income.  What can we do to adapt?
• watching for new opportunities – new technologies come out all the time; how can we adapt them to our business?

Be thankful and grateful if your business is currently showing a profit…or at the very least breaking even…right now.  However, also be constantly working on and revising your business plan so that you are not caught unawares of new opportunities, trends and technologies.

Stick to the Basics to Stay Afloat in Hard Times

Morrow Bay, CA Photo by Linda C Smith

*My article first appeared at Technorati [dot com].  I did just a bit of updating.

Have you heard the news?  Economically speaking it’s tough out there!  But we all knew that.  The small business sector suffers just the same as Big Business…so what to do?  Stick to the Basics and do what you do best.

First things first:  be sure you know your business.

• Have a dream and passion for the business that you chose.
• Have determination to make the business work.  Show up every day and be the poster child for hope.
• Give great customer service. Even if your business has slowed down, the very fact that you are still in business means that someone is paying for your business’ products and services and these customers and clients deserve your attention.
• Offer added value. Go beyond just being in business…make your business different by giving the customer more than they expect.  Instead of merely selling your product or service, engage the consumer in a conversation about his or her needs and wants and how your product or service can meet or fulfill that.  In 2010 pure sales won’t be enough.  Added value will be key.

To weather the economic storm, you might think about:

• checking and double-checking your current business plan; bring up-to-date your stated vision and mission statement; determine if you are on target.
• checking and double-checking your current business strategies: are you in the correct marketplace for your products or services?  Are you actually and effectively reaching your desired customer-base?  Are you sure you’ve correctly identified your customer base and know how to communicate with them?
• keeping your products and services clean, polished and ready to deliver…be proud to represent the products and services you have in your current inventory.
• contacting your customers – have you shown your current customers that you appreciate their business?  It is not just a cliché saying that ‘happy customers bring referrals,’ it is a truism: satisfied and happy customers will often be a good source for new customers…have you asked your customers for referrals?

This is not to say that you oughtn’t to try anything new during an economic downturn; to the contrary, one thing you could do is experiment with new ways of communicating with your customers, find new ways of finding customers.  If you aren’t already, make internet marketing a part of your strategic communication and marketing plan.  You don’t have to get complicated to start, begin small:

• build a web page...or do a little web page redesign and clean-up
• tout your business on a few top social media sites like Twitter, FaceBook and LinkedIn
• direct people to your website by writing articles
• anything new or improved you do, write and submit a press release about it
• start a blog, either as a part of your business web page, or independently [and have it point back to your business web page]
• if appropriate for your business: (1) have classified and display ads in your local newspaper and regional magazines; (2) run radio and/or television spots; (3) arrange speaking engagements for yourself at local groups who might be interested in your area of expertise; (4) leave your business card everywhere and with everyone

I read a fantastic article in my local newspaper over the weekend that highlights a solo-preneur in my area who does stick to the basics and has built a successful business.  The article is written by David Morrill, the online title: One-stylist hair salon thrives on personal connections. Mr. Morrill wrote about hair stylist Jenny Mui, whose business is Zen Jen Hair Studio, and she has built her business on:

• customer service
• added value
• word of mouth

…which builds her reputation.  According to the article Ms. Mui says, “…’How great is it to know that it’s your reputation that has built your business,” she said. ‘For me, it’s always been about making sure the customer comes first, and people appreciate that.’…”

The article describes how she marketed her business through personal service and word-of-mouth: “…When she first started in the profession, she would go to the nearby coffee shops and seek out the baristas. Mui would tell them that she’s going to do their hair for free. The only thing asked in return is if someone asks them about their hair, she refers clients to her. ‘I got many clients that way,’ she said….”

The present economy might not be the rosiest to look at, but you don’t have to let it ruin your day…or your business.  Just keep doing what is working and use the present climate as a time for continuous improvement.

Marketing phenomenon of Human Billboards

Went out today to take care of some errands and saw not one, but two sidewalk corner sign spinners hard at work in the winter sunshine.  I’ve been meaning to talk about this marketing phenomenon for awhile and what sparked this post today was the enthusiasm that radiated from the sign holder advertising a pizza eatery.  This young man was singing Michael Jackson songs at the top of his lungs and dancing all over the place while keeping his sign moving in time to his own music and – miraculously – still keeping the sign readable to those of us in cars passing by.

The other sign holder I passed by today was dressed in a Statue of Liberty costume and advertising a tax return preparation business [I think].  I was in the far lane going the other way, but pretty sure.

Our community isn’t that huge, just under 80,000, but we seem to have a lot of  human sign holder marketing going on.  Over the past year or so I’ve seen signs being waved, tossed and rocked by men and women, teens and older, advertising pizza, new housing, furniture store opening sales, furniture store closing sales, tax preparation services, new restaurant opening, retirement apartment openings and much more.  I can remember a time when the only human held signs advertising something were by high school students letting folks know about their car wash at the gas station across the street.

I wondered about this so I did a little research and found a small article at Entrepreneur [dot com] talking about the home-business idea of human billboards.   According to the article, “…Human billboards advertise everything from new home developments to car dealerships and are starting to catch on as a highly effective cost-efficient method of advertising and promoting their products and services. Human billboards are simply people that hold signs or banners emblazoned with promotional and advertising messages in high-traffic areas of the community; usually outside, in front, or in close proximity to the business they are promoting….”

It seems that the whole idea behind this unique method of advertising is to get noticed.  Humans carrying advertising signs is nothing new in commerce…been around for a long time.  However, it fell out of practice only to become new again.  To be truthful though, it’s becoming so common that I don’t actually pay attention to them anymore…except for that singing young man today.   It was like watching a street performer…and he was good; as far as I could tell in the whole 5 seconds it took for my car to pass by.

The photo above shows a fellow with AArrow Advertising practicing his moves.  I looked them up and they have some interesting history of human signage on their about us page.  Their philosophy, in part:

• “…a new advertising medium that is hard to forget and impossible to ignore. Each AArrow Sign Spinner is trained to perform hundreds of tricks and endless combinations; instantly creating a stage for this new-age type of performance. AArrow Advertising employees take pride in our ability to create a one-on-one advertising experience with each person that passes us by delivering what no other form of advertising can: eye contact and a smile….”

Another company I found, EyeShot, says of itself, “…If you’re looking for a reliable way to direct traffic to a new home community, the grand opening of a retail center, a hard to find service location, or a great new restaurant, EyeShot gives you many creative and highly effective methods to ‘point the way’ and grab the attention of your customers….”

Interestingly, at the top of their webpage in the banner, EyeShot shows some examples and locations – two of those locations are right in my geographical area…one in my community and one just up the road.  In fact one of the errands I had to run today involved driving the 20 minutes [not in commute traffic time, would have taken most of an hour] to that community that has a shop where I purchase wild bird seed.

I, along with other artists and a selection of local vintners, will take part in an “art and wine crawl” in our downtown tomorrow evening.  Artists and wineries are being paired with a business and folks can stroll around downtown for several hours tasting the various wines, eating hors d’oeurves, [hopefully] buying some artwork and visiting the hosting businesses.  I’m being stationed along with two other artists in a particular business and we’ll have a sign on the sidewalk reading something like “more art here.”  I wonder, should we have someone dancing outside and spinning our sign?

The Epic iPod to iPad and Old Bones

Wow. Technology moves with the speed of a sirocco wind sucking the air from our lungs and leaving our brains mushy. This photo shows a gentleman in South Korea who just got his iPhone just this past November and now, today, Apple is announcing the iPad.  Which I have to admit I just can’t figure out.

Here’s my wondering: what would I, as a small solo-preneur business person, need with the iPad?  Actually what do I need with a netbook or notebook when I have a laptop, a cell phone and an iPod already?  I admit I don’t have a smart phone yet, that is on my wish list for this year but only because I’d like to check email on-the-go…I happen to have a 7-year old cell phone that does exactly what I want it to do – send and receive phone calls.  I got an iPod because I really wanted the ability to customize music listening for myself and have it really portable.  And I actually do watch some tv shows on that teeny screen.  Then there’s my laptop for all my other stuff: email, document writing, photo work, blogging, networking…general work and social use.  What would I use an iPad for?

In doing some research for this today I came across the opinions of four members of the Harvard Business School faculty who addressed this new Apple Tablet.  It was very interesting.  Here are my favorite excerpts:

• says Bhaskar Chakravorti, Senior Lecturer of Business Administration, “…The Apple tablet has already been declared the savior of many chronically – even terminally – ill industries: newspapers, television, movies, and computing, for instance. Enthusiasts believe that the tablet could be the magic pill that will do for all these industries what its predecessor, the iPod, did for the dying music industry in 2002.”  He continues, “…But can Steve Jobs upend the status quo once again? He can if the tablet fundamentally changes our behaviors. But that does not happen through phenomenal design alone. Design can capture our attention and spark excitement. But for a product to lead to sustained behavioral change, we also need an innovative business model that changes our incentives as consumers or content creators or distributors – and motivates the entire value chain to do things differently.…”
• from Karim R. Lakhani, Assistant Professor of Business Administration: “…This singular focus on owning the customer experience, end-to-end, has separated Apple from its rivals, first in computers and now in consumer electronics. The eager anticipation for the tablet is driven by the expectation that the user experience will be beyond what most firms have delivered.…”
• here’s an excerpt from Daniel C. Snow, Assistant Professor of Business Administration: “…Watch for the tablet to generate spillbacks that support smart phones, netbooks, and notebooks. For example, increasingly sophisticated App Store apps will take advantage of the iSlate’s screen size and computing power…As technological barriers continue to fall, I expect to see the emergence of a hybrid computing device – something with serious onboard computing and graphics power (always connected to the cloud) that represents the best of both worlds. The iSlate is a stop on the way to this hybrid destination….”
• and from Stefan H. Thomke, William Barclay Harding Professor of Business Administration: “…If executed well, the tablet could take Apple into entirely new businesses and an aggressive reuse strategy in software and hardware will keep their R&D and manufacturing costs in line. It has also has the potential to change how people work and play with their computers.”  He goes on to say, “…The publishing industry could certainly benefit from an alternative to reading devices such as the Amazon Kindle and more imagination about how its content is packaged, sold, and used. At the technology level, we have reached a perfect storm where components are so advanced that it takes a brilliant integrator to give customers a product that they want, use, and love. This is what Apple does best. It is rarely first to market when it comes to products or technology, but it is often first when it comes to deeply understanding the user…Ultimately, success will depend on the user’s experience with the tablet.…”

These gentlemen have said, sort of, what I’m wondering: will this new invention change any of my work or leisure behavior?  Is this new invention another piece of hardware I need to cart around from place-to-place?  It won’t replace anything, so what is its ultimate value to me, the consumer?  Or is it a step on the way to, as Professor Slate says, “…a stop on the way to this hybrid destination….”

I’m all for improving technologies that can make my work easier or more enjoyable.  I absolutely love that the laptop computer was invented because:

1. I love the portability – it’s lightweight and I can easily use it wherever I wish.  When there is no internet connectivity I can still use the offline programs and functions.  When there is internet connectivity I can do those tasks needing that function.  I can work at my desk, or the sofa, or the bookstore, the coffeeshop and my daughter’s house.
2. I love it’s full featured-ness – it’s a fully functioning computer, just like the desktop pc in the bedroom office.  I can do emails, web browse, post to my blogs, do research online, and even watch my favorite television episodes and stay up-to-date on the news of the world.
3. If I wanted to, I could even add functionality like telephone and video conferencing.

I probably won’t get an electronic reader because (a) it’ll be just one more piece of technology I don’t need and (b) like Captain Picard I just love the feel of a book in my hands.  My husband and I collect books…we have a literal library in our home.  I love to open the cover and turn the pages.

Daily Finance [dot com] today has a great article about the iPad which had a few interesting points.  The article is written by Sam Gustin, Apple Tablet: 10 Things We (Already) Hate About You.   Of those 10 things, the ones that struck me most:

• point #2: “…You don’t need a giant thousand-dollar smartphone. You’ve got an iPhone. You’ve got a laptop. You just received a Kindle for Christmas. Why do you need a tablet? You’re probably not sure. Unlike the iPod and the iPhone, this is a product without a clear need…”
• point #4: “…Multifunction devices can do a lot — just not well. Other than your couch, where might your tablet be more useful than what you’re using now? Will you use your tablet instead of the PC at your office desk? Will you watch videos on it instead of your flat-screen monitor? Will you use it instead of your smartphone when you’re out? No, no, and no….”
• point #7: “… No keyboard, no mouse, no dice. Typing (or “typing”) on touchscreens is annoying. How many Tablet buyers will wind up connecting peripheral keyboards and mice? And then…well, what’s the point? Besides, mobile devices are only as useful as their battery life. Unless the tablet has more than about six hours of power, it’s going to wind up tethered to a wall. Just like your desktop.…”

And from USAToday Technology Live earlier I read as reporters Ed Baig and Brett Molina gave a nearly minute-by-minute account of the iPad unveiling:

• 1:12 p.m. ET: It’s official. Jobs unveils the very thin iPad tablet computer.  Jobs claims it will offer the best browsing experience you can have, like “holding the Internet in your hands.”

• 1:14 p.m.: The device will include e-mail, photos, maps, built-in iTunes store and YouTube functionality.

Well, my laptop does all that. I’m one consumer who will wait until I can see an actual need for this new bit of hardware before I put it on my Christmas gift wish list for this year.  Not that I’m being negative, but with money being so tight right now, I just can’t see the need to spend the whatever hundreds of dollars this will cost at this time.

OLD BONES. From new technologies to the work other people do with old bones that just fascinates me.  There are times when I wish I knew how to do software programming because I have this idea for a fun iPhone app – if anyone knows how and wishes to collaborate send me an email.  But my expertise and interest is not in coding…rather in mosaic-ing and painting and writing.  I do, however, have a lifelong interest in and fascination with archeology [see my alltop page for a couple interesting sites] and paleontology.  Hunting for ancient artifacts and dinosaur bones.  There are those romantic times when I wish I’d gone in those directions while still in college.

Today’s newspaper carried a story about dinosaur digs in China.  The article, written by Washington Post writer Ariana Eunjung Cha paints an exciting picture of a massive dig site with thousands of Cretaceous period fossils.  From the article, “…The fossils here — more than 15,000 fractured, mangled and blackened bones from about 65 million years ago in the late Cretaceous period right before they went extinct — support theories of a catastrophe. Global fires. Explosions. Climate change…’This find is very important for understanding the very end of the age of dinosaurs,’ said James M. Clark, a paleontologist at George Washington University who has examined some of the fossils…The excavation here, believed to be the largest dinosaur fossil site in the world, is one of a number of groundbreaking research projects…The pit has yielded some of the world’s largest duck-billed dinosaur specimens, bones of a type of dinosaur that had never been seen outside North America, and at least six new species….”

I just the other evening watched Jurassic Park [for probably the 40th time-looking forward to the blu ray edition] on our new 46″ plasma tv [which is why I don't need any kind of hand held technology to watch movies].  I would never want to travel in a time machine and go back to the time of the dinos but I find the whole idea of them fascinating.  My husband has a tooth from a megladon that he found back east on a dive trip years ago and it is huge and extremely old.  Yes, I’m a believer in the idea that we humans can learn important lessons from digging up the artifacts of the past – artifacts of societies long gone and artifacts of ecologies long gone.

What would future archeologists think if they uncovered a cache of items that included a smart phone, a desktop computer, a laptop, a hand held reader, an iPod, a netbook, a notebook, a laptop, a personal dvd player, a transistor radio…?