A ‘convenient’ truth to use in your small business
What do these business ventures below have in common? Grubhub Blueapron Amazon Go Yelp WeFuel Mac & Mia Four of these are business models centered around home delivery: GrubHub, which delivers restaurant meals; Blueapron, which delivers meal ingredients and instructions to the home, WeFuel, which will fill your gas tank when it’s parked at home or at work; and Mac & Mia, which sends parents a box of children’s clothes – families keep what they like and send back the rest. Amazon Go, is the new experimental grocery store where you don’t have to bother with any kind of checkout system. Yelp, as you probably know, is a vast resource for online reviews and ratings – you can quickly and easily find the kind of service that fits your needs. All of these leverage an increasingly valuable resource to appeal to their prospects: convenience. Several social and economic currents are coming together to make convenience one of the hottest items you can “sell”: One-parent families, Families having children later in life (when parents have less energy!), Two-parent families where both work, The need to work a second job, Digital work connections that extend well beyond 9-5, Super-scheduled kids who require rides and supervision, Increased commute times, and more. All of these changes in our lives and the way business is conducted have put a premium on our personal time. We are now willing to pay more for something if it will save us a little time. Consider Grubhub. This service allows you to enjoy a restaurant meal without having to spend the time driving to the restaurant and waiting for your table. I also believe that many of us now shop online more for convenience than for lower prices. After all, today many stores will meet or beat online prices. And, I’ve seen people crunch the numbers around Amazon Prime and it turns out that for most people, the money you save in shipping doesn’t offset the cost of the service. However, it’s as convenient as heck! My question for you today is “How are you cashing in on the value of convenience?” It appears that convenience is a commodity that will only increase in value in coming years. We know that it is very important to Millennials, who will work themselves through the entire purchasing continuum over the next several decades. I don’t see anything changing that will make us less busy in coming years and I think the group coming up behind the Millennials, the so-called Generation Z, will value their time just as much, if not more, than their elders. Don’t miss out on the opportunities this gives you. Build “convenience” into the attributes of your product or service...
read moreSocial media marketing importance growth and what it means for you
The writing is on the wall, on television screens, and in print: traditional forms of media consumption are falling by the wayside. At the same time, social media marketing importance is growing…big time. Let’s look at some figures behind the trends. During the recent NFL season, almost every week there was a story in the press on how viewership was down. I’m sure there were a variety of reasons, but one major movement in society has to be among the most important causes: Traditional daily TV viewership in the 18-24-year-old demographic dropped by an hour and 20 minutes between 2011 and 2016. This is according to Neilsen figures as reported by MarketingCharts. Do you expect the generation coming up behind this group to turn that around? Not going to happen. In the same way, you’ve probably experienced a local newspaper closing its doors in recent years and we know that national magazines have been going out of business as well. Time spent on the Internet, on the other hand, continues to rise. Globalwebindex says that it has gone up from 5.55 hours in 2012 to 6.15 hours in 2014. Further, daily engagement on social media networks has risen from 1.61 hours to 1.72 hours daily over that same time frame. Included in this social media statistic is .81 hours per day on micro-blogs, such as Twitter. I make these points because if you are not yet serious about social media marketing, these statistics and trends should be enough to convince you that now’s the time. And, if you need a good foundation to get started or renew your efforts, check out this recent post. I will, however, put in a little plug for the traditional marketing and advertising channels. Given the struggles that they are experiencing, you might be able to find some good values. Local businesses should touch bases with local publications and broadcasters and see if they can find some bargains. But with that said, my primary message today is that social media marketing importance continues to grow and there is nothing visible in the near term to reverse that....
read moreThis week in small business: Enough 2017 SEO tips and insights to keep you busy
SEO was really on everyone’s mind last week. If you’re new to the topic, or an old hand in search of fresh insights, you’ll find what you need in this week’s collection of curated content from around the Interweb. Leadership, management, and productivity If you want success, you need to keep negativity out of your life. Tim Denning shares how to not allow fear to stop you from becoming phenomenal. Want to do some binge watching? Check out these must-watch TV shows for small business owners, according to Tori Tsu. Some grants and contests are set aside for women-owned small businesses. In this National Law Review Article, Kristen M. Veresh tells us what’s required. Marketing and sales In his Forbes article, Jayson DeMers asks if we are overdue for an SEO revolution. On the same topic, Thea Partridge delivers three solid strategies for improving SEO. And if you still don’t have enough SEO ideas, Joel House has five tips for you! AJ Agrawal says that 2017 is the year of video marketing. Marketing departments today are expected to contribute revenue, but remember – it’s not just about technology when you start making your plans, says Steve Nakata. It may be a little late for this, but I think the principles still apply: How to Continue Your Small Business Success After the Holidays, by Rich Kahn. Carbonite’s Chief Evangelist Norman Guadagno shares four marketing tips that are sure to help your small business grow. Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible. – Tony Robbins Entrepreneurship, startups, and innovation Writer and programmer Marco Arment published two interesting graphs on his website that might give us clues as to the future of computing. If you want to drive your startup, you need to stay strong. Here are how 10 top entrepreneurs take care of their health. We talk about niche marketing a lot. Sometimes it’s good to hear a success story and that’s what Dan Schawbel delivers in his profile of Derek Flanzraich. Until you cross the bridge of your insecurities, you can’t begin to explore your possibilities. – Tim...
read more20 quotes to encourage the new entrepreneur
“Imagination rules the world.” – Napoleon Bonaparte Someone tweeted that quote the other day and I immediately copied it so I could come back to it, share it, and ponder it a bit. I think it makes a great new entrepreneur quote because when you’re starting out on a venture – or hoping to – you need to let your imagination run free. The new entrepreneur is always trying to create something where before there was nothing, and it takes a great imagination to accomplish that. You know I believe that coaching is important if you’re serious about success. In some ways, I find that inspirational quotes can give you similar encouragement and insights as a coach. And, they are always at hand. With that introduction, here are some of the best new entrepreneur quotes from my “collection.” Find a way to save them so you can lean on one or two when you need a little push. Also, feel free to use them in your social media posts. “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence…” – Calvin Coolidge “You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” – George Lorimer “One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.” – Andre Gide “Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” – Les Brown “Vision without action is daydreaming and action without vision is a nightmare.” – Anon “The road to success is always under construction.” – Arnold Palmer “Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.” – Dale Carnegie “You have to be able to get up and dust yourself off and always be going forward.” – Rita Moreno “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” – Henry Ford “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison “Everyone’s dream can come true if you just stick to it and work hard.” – Serena Williams “If you want to succeed faster, you must double your rate of failure. Success lies on the far side of failure.” – Thomas J. Watson Sr. “If you hear a voice within you saying ‘you are not a painter’ then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” – Vincent Van Gogh “You need to spend all of your time and energy on creating something that actually brings value to the people you’re asking for money!” – Gary Vaynerchuk “What do you need to start a business? Three simple things: know your product better than anyone. Know your customer, and have a burning desire to succeed.” – Dave Thomas “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John R. Wooden “Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable.” –Theodore N. Vail And let me leave you with this advice because in many ways it relates to how you might use all of the previous quotes: “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why...
read moreFedEx grant contest could put $25,000 in your small biz bank account
Could you use $25,000 in cash and $7,500 in credit for FedEx Office print and business services? (Okay, dumb question, I know.) That’s the grand prize in FedEx’s fifth annual Small Business Grant Contest. If you want to enter, you have until March 29, 2017 to get your application in. Head over to the company’s Grant Contest page to write a short profile of your business, upload four photos – including your logo – and submit an optional 90-second elevator pitch. The second-place finisher will get $15,000 and $5,000 in credit for FedEx Office print and business services. Finally, eight “bronze prize” winners will each receive $7,500, plus $1,000 in FedEx Office print and business services. I’m a student of the small business topics owners and would-be founders search for on Google, and “small business grants” is always a popular search. Unfortunately, with very few exceptions, there aren’t grants out there for small businesses. Government agencies facilitate loans, but unless you’re in a very special category, there are virtually no grants available. Further, many of the competitions that are popular today are limited to startups and even business plans. That makes this FedEx contest pretty special. By the way, the basic requirements for entry are to be a “U.S.-based for-profit small businesses with fewer than 99 employees and operating for six months or more.” That chunk of cash and those valuable services could do a lot to greatly help any small business. Last year’s winner – Ginjan Bros., a small business that develops and brings to market traditional African drinks – used the money to increase production. They needed the boost to fill current orders and get enough inventory on the shelves to expand distribution. I’m glad to see that the contest is in its fifth year. Sometimes these things come and go quickly. Over its first four years, 13,000 businesses have entered the U.S. competition and the total prize money has grown from $50,000 to $120,000. Further, there are now contests in nine countries. I urge you to enter. It won’t take a lot of your time and the payoff could be a game...
read morePlug your small business into these free digital learning resources
February 23 is Digital Learning Day, and what better day to introduce your team to some amazing free resources that can help build a better business? Not only will your team build better personal and professional skills, you will enjoy increased loyalty and dedication to your business by demonstrating your commitment to your employees’ growth. Here are some excellent resources to build business skills: TED Talks: No list about free learning is complete without mentioning TED Talks. This collection of speeches from the world’s greatest entrepreneurs, inventors, authors, activists, scientists, and thinkers is filled with ideas to spark creativity and encourage exploration. Many of the talks are short enough to be watched over lunch break or first think in the morning, and all of them include some great nuggets of information to glean on a huge variety of topics. Have you seen my TED talk? Duolingo: One of the most interesting language learning tools on the Internet, Duolingo is totally free and can help users learn or brush up on nearly two dozen languages. CodeSchool: While not all of the courses on CodeSchool are free, your employees can learn the basics of JavaScript and several other coding languages completely free in this self-paced course. I’m not a coder myself, but Jordan Minor gives Code School an “excellent” rating in his PC Magazine article. EdX.org: Completely free university-level courses in business, finances, computer technology, and more. Send your employees to brush up on the tricks of public speaking, analyzing data with Excel, or building and managing great teams. Udemy: Udemy is another online educational resource that allows students to access both free and paid courses. Check out the many personal development courses that are free, such as “The 7 Essential Steps to Getting Your Dream Career” here, which can help employees narrow their focus to better serve your business in their perfect position. The Muse: The Muse is an aggregate site that collects some of the best business-related educational resources from around the web. Not all are free, but many are! Depending on what types of skills you and your team need to develop, be sure to check out tools that can help you learn how to manage your time better and how to reduce distractions in the workplace. Also, don’t forget YouTube! I have nearly 100 videos on my YouTube Channel. Finally, many top universities post lectures and speeches from their professors to YouTube and these can be prime resources for gleaning valuable information. There are hundreds of free educational resources out there that are waiting to be discovered on Digital Learning...
read more