I stopped in, on my way to work this morning, to pickup some breakfast tacos for our office in Houston. Adjacent to the taqueria was tool store. Looked like a place to go to find any tool you could possibly need.
Posted on the front window was a sign listing the store's hours of business: "Monday-Friday, 9am-3:30pm. Closed 12n-1pm for Lunch." Below that sign was another sign. This one read, "Out of Business."
No kidding. Someone should have etched, "Duh!" after the "Out of Business" sign. As a business owner, you need to be sure your products and services are available to customers at their convenience, not your convenience. The lunch hour is a time when a lot of business gets done because lots of people use the noon hour to shop. So why lock your doors?
Not judging, just reporting...
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Attention Small Business Owners: Target "Wants" Instead of "Needs!"
During this recession, small business owners keep asking the question, “Where is there a need and how can I fill it?”
But is that the right question to be asking? Author Michael Cage wants you to consider these points:
• People NEED to get their roof repaired … but they WANT on-time, courteous service, clean workers and a guarantee their roof won’t leak again.
• People NEED a computer network set up … but they WANT someone who understands their business, will suggest things to make it run smoother before a breakdown prompts it, and won’t make them feel stupid by talking geek to them.
• People NEED to have a cavity filled … but they WANT to look good and have a pain-free experience in a friendly office with warm people.
Here’s the point:
1. People price shop for what they need, and even that makes them grumpy.
2. People pay premium prices for what they want, and they love it.
Cage says if your business struggles with commodity pricing or if you have to “justify” your price more than once in a blue moon, you are focusing on what your customers or clients NEED, and aren’t paying attention to what they WANT. And that makes them begin to not want you!
So you’re probably smart to forget “find a need and fill it.”
As Cage suggests, “To soar above the competition you need to find a want, touch your market … and lead a movement.”
For more suggestions about how your small business can start serving “wants” instead of “needs,” send me an email at info@mittonmedia.com.
See you next time.
John Mitton
President
MITTONMedia®
But is that the right question to be asking? Author Michael Cage wants you to consider these points:
• People NEED to get their roof repaired … but they WANT on-time, courteous service, clean workers and a guarantee their roof won’t leak again.
• People NEED a computer network set up … but they WANT someone who understands their business, will suggest things to make it run smoother before a breakdown prompts it, and won’t make them feel stupid by talking geek to them.
• People NEED to have a cavity filled … but they WANT to look good and have a pain-free experience in a friendly office with warm people.
Here’s the point:
1. People price shop for what they need, and even that makes them grumpy.
2. People pay premium prices for what they want, and they love it.
Cage says if your business struggles with commodity pricing or if you have to “justify” your price more than once in a blue moon, you are focusing on what your customers or clients NEED, and aren’t paying attention to what they WANT. And that makes them begin to not want you!
So you’re probably smart to forget “find a need and fill it.”
As Cage suggests, “To soar above the competition you need to find a want, touch your market … and lead a movement.”
For more suggestions about how your small business can start serving “wants” instead of “needs,” send me an email at info@mittonmedia.com.
See you next time.
John Mitton
President
MITTONMedia®
Monday, March 1, 2010
Three small business strategy questions
Three great questions for any small business to help test clarity, as suggested by author Michael Cage:
• Why does your business exist — what is its purpose in the world?
• How does your business sustain itself while fulfilling that purpose?
• What are the 3 key things you are focusing on this quarter to serve the last two questions?
As Michael writes, if you can’t answer those questions in a flash, without hesitation, you are due a strategy day. Ponder the big questions and how you day-to-day actions either serves your vision, detracts from your vision, or are absolutely aimless because you have no vision.
The former CEO of Southwest Airlines, Herb Kelleher, used to ask a single question when a new idea was brought to him. The question: "Will this help make Southwest Airlines the leading low-cost provider of air travel?" Great way to stay focused.
• Why does your business exist — what is its purpose in the world?
• How does your business sustain itself while fulfilling that purpose?
• What are the 3 key things you are focusing on this quarter to serve the last two questions?
As Michael writes, if you can’t answer those questions in a flash, without hesitation, you are due a strategy day. Ponder the big questions and how you day-to-day actions either serves your vision, detracts from your vision, or are absolutely aimless because you have no vision.
The former CEO of Southwest Airlines, Herb Kelleher, used to ask a single question when a new idea was brought to him. The question: "Will this help make Southwest Airlines the leading low-cost provider of air travel?" Great way to stay focused.
How Often Should I Send Out E-Mail Marketing Pieces?
I once had a friend in sales. A new business prospect was being especially troublesome and rude. To the point where it became a game for my friend to see what it would take to close an appointment. One tactic he tried was to send the prospect a postcard. Every day. For 60 days! No, it didn't work but did lead to a nicely written restraining order and the undying admiration of his Sales Manager!
So what about today. The age of the "E-Mail Blast." How often should you send out email marketing pieces in order to be effective, yet avoid any of those nicely worded restraining orders?
Basically, as you may have discovered already for yourself, there is definitely no one-size fits-all answer. Daily, weekly or monthly. You are probably going to find weekly or every other week as the approach that will work best. Daily, too much. Monthly, not enough.
Equally important is "content." Are you letting customers know how much better their lives will be once they have your product or start using your service? If so, your emails will be welcomed, especially if you have attached something of value which can be redeemed before a certain deadline. If there is no perceived value, you will soon be seen as a nuisance and your emails will be jettisoned straight to the Junk Folder.
A word about how much information to communicate per email. Do you know the suggested word count for those giant outdoor boards you see as you fly down the freeway? Seven words. Can you communicate your message in seven words? 20? 50? The shorter the message the better. Shorter more frequent emails will boost your response faster than long-winded, rambling messages. Check it out for yourself and let me know what happens.
To sum up:
1. While you don't need to stick to a precise schedule, weekly or bi-weekly will probably give you the frequency you need to build positive name awareness for your products and services. Note which days your readers seem more responsive: Your readers may be more responsive on some days than others. Do a little testing to see when they are more likely to open and act on your emails.
2. Offer valuable content.
3. Keep your message short and to the point.
5...4...3...2...1...Email blasts away!
So what about today. The age of the "E-Mail Blast." How often should you send out email marketing pieces in order to be effective, yet avoid any of those nicely worded restraining orders?
Basically, as you may have discovered already for yourself, there is definitely no one-size fits-all answer. Daily, weekly or monthly. You are probably going to find weekly or every other week as the approach that will work best. Daily, too much. Monthly, not enough.
Equally important is "content." Are you letting customers know how much better their lives will be once they have your product or start using your service? If so, your emails will be welcomed, especially if you have attached something of value which can be redeemed before a certain deadline. If there is no perceived value, you will soon be seen as a nuisance and your emails will be jettisoned straight to the Junk Folder.
A word about how much information to communicate per email. Do you know the suggested word count for those giant outdoor boards you see as you fly down the freeway? Seven words. Can you communicate your message in seven words? 20? 50? The shorter the message the better. Shorter more frequent emails will boost your response faster than long-winded, rambling messages. Check it out for yourself and let me know what happens.
To sum up:
1. While you don't need to stick to a precise schedule, weekly or bi-weekly will probably give you the frequency you need to build positive name awareness for your products and services. Note which days your readers seem more responsive: Your readers may be more responsive on some days than others. Do a little testing to see when they are more likely to open and act on your emails.
2. Offer valuable content.
3. Keep your message short and to the point.
5...4...3...2...1...Email blasts away!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
There’s an iphone app for me: advertising and marketing advice to go
Note from John Mitton:
Charles Moger is a friend. Has been for a long, long time. When it comes to outside-the-box thinking and creative problem solving, he's one of the best. Enjoy the article!
by Charles Moger on 02/17/2010
A whole computer that fits in one room. When I was a kid, it was hard to believe computers could get that small. My kids can’t believe they were ever that big. Today, mobile computing is taking things a giant leap smaller.
Remember when having a fax was a big deal? How about email? Your next step: a own mobile app of your own. I created the adMISSIONs iPhone app on my own in less than 15 minutes using about that many clicks. Why does it matter? It’s all about service and credibility.
The mobile screen is a growing battleground for your customer. Already there are applications to scan the bar code or take a picture of a product in your store and compare its price at stores nearby and on the web. If you expect me to buy it from you, there better be a reason beyond price.
Gone are the days of Name That Tune in my family. My son and I reach for our iPhones and Shazam tells us the name of the song, the artist, album and where we can buy it right now. Last weekend I heard a perfectly restored recording of Edith Piaf singing La vie en rose. It was on my iPhone before the song was over.
While having the adMISSIONs iPhone app in the app store gives me a chuckle, having one of your own gives your brand something important: parity. There are God only knows how many apps in the iPhone App store. Your app stands shoulder-to-shoulder with every one of them. And, you stand shoulder-to-shoulder in customer perception too.
REI, a customer service hero of mine, has two iPhone apps. Pizza Hut and Starbucks have apps for ordering from your phone. Southwest Airlines has one that pings every time there’s a ticket deal. CNN pushes alerts for breaking news. ESPN will alert me if the Astros win the pennant. (I’m taking their word for it on that one in lieu of demonstrable team performance.)
The point is, a mobile app puts your service promise and product knowledge in the hands of customers anywhere they go. Since getting your app set up is so easy, what’s stopping you? I created mine with AppMaker . Or, if you want to create an app for multiple mobile platforms, check you MotherApp . Follow the link and stake your turf on the technological frontier of customer service.
Charles Moger is a friend. Has been for a long, long time. When it comes to outside-the-box thinking and creative problem solving, he's one of the best. Enjoy the article!
by Charles Moger on 02/17/2010
A whole computer that fits in one room. When I was a kid, it was hard to believe computers could get that small. My kids can’t believe they were ever that big. Today, mobile computing is taking things a giant leap smaller.
Remember when having a fax was a big deal? How about email? Your next step: a own mobile app of your own. I created the adMISSIONs iPhone app on my own in less than 15 minutes using about that many clicks. Why does it matter? It’s all about service and credibility.
The mobile screen is a growing battleground for your customer. Already there are applications to scan the bar code or take a picture of a product in your store and compare its price at stores nearby and on the web. If you expect me to buy it from you, there better be a reason beyond price.
Gone are the days of Name That Tune in my family. My son and I reach for our iPhones and Shazam tells us the name of the song, the artist, album and where we can buy it right now. Last weekend I heard a perfectly restored recording of Edith Piaf singing La vie en rose. It was on my iPhone before the song was over.
While having the adMISSIONs iPhone app in the app store gives me a chuckle, having one of your own gives your brand something important: parity. There are God only knows how many apps in the iPhone App store. Your app stands shoulder-to-shoulder with every one of them. And, you stand shoulder-to-shoulder in customer perception too.
REI, a customer service hero of mine, has two iPhone apps. Pizza Hut and Starbucks have apps for ordering from your phone. Southwest Airlines has one that pings every time there’s a ticket deal. CNN pushes alerts for breaking news. ESPN will alert me if the Astros win the pennant. (I’m taking their word for it on that one in lieu of demonstrable team performance.)
The point is, a mobile app puts your service promise and product knowledge in the hands of customers anywhere they go. Since getting your app set up is so easy, what’s stopping you? I created mine with AppMaker . Or, if you want to create an app for multiple mobile platforms, check you MotherApp . Follow the link and stake your turf on the technological frontier of customer service.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Recession in Porn Business Has Lessons for Mainstream Advertisers: Faster, Smaller, More Expensive
You never know where good advertising/marketing advice is going to come from these days...
By Jim Edwards | Jan 12, 2010
Pornograpy marketers are still gripped by the recession but are finding new ways to advertise their products and generate revenue, it emerged at the Adult Entertainment Expo. AEE is a porn business conference held in parallel with CES, the giant technology conference held annually in Las Vegas. Both just ended.
And while the business media pays much more attention to CES, advertisers know that it is AEE that often presages the future of their industry. It was porn that laid the economic groundwork for VHS, DVDs, and paid web downloads. Where porn leads, advertisers and traditional media soon follow. That’s why AEE this year had panels such as “Online Marketing: Your Key to Success in the New Economy” and the conference sponsor, Adult Video News, reports in excruciating detail on the FCC’s latest universal broadband access plans.
The news from AEE was mostly grim. Gram Ponante reports:
The show [AEE] has been shrinking since 2005, with fewer and fewer companies renting booth space. What once took two floors of the Sands Convention Center took one this year around.
Nostalgia abounds: … each year those who remember the good old days lament the days when even something God-awful would sell 30,000 units at $79.95 a tape.
Those days are gone. Porn is suffering from the same ailments as the music, TV and movie businesses: They can’t compete with free content offered on the web, Ponante says: … frankly, some people were starting to sound a little desperate. “I would be so appreciative if you would buy my movies,” I was told by Belladonna, arguably the world’s most recognized porn star, stressing the word “buy.”
New promo media and cash streams are starting to look very different from even just a few years ago, when the business was dominated by DVD sales. This year, the watchwords seem to be “faster,” “smaller,” and “more expensive.”
In terms of promotion, porn has its own version of Twitter: PornStarTweets. Performers (who are verified to weed out imposters) upload rotating galleries of photos to accompany their tweets. The experience makes Twitter look lazy.
Full-length movies may eventually be replaced by bite-sized downloads. Clips4Sale offers offers clips (surprise!) for around $1 a minute. Clips tend to be 2 - 5 minutes in length, from a search-able database.
Another new technology is LipStream, in which consumers can call a performer’s “home” phone number and chat with them for a per-minute fee. The phone connection is actually an internet-enabled voice protocol that disguises the true location of the performer. Lipstream has widgets to allow voice chat on performers’ personal websites, Facebook and MySpace pages.
How these innovations might be adopted by the packaged goods marketing business is anyone’s guess — but they suggest that the future is less about the mass marketing of full-length product, and more about slicing and dicing ever-smaller chunks of content for lower total prices (but higher individual fees), in addition to offering premium customers remote virtual access to stars (or brands).
Old-fashioned bricks-and-mortar retail stores, oddly, may be faring the best. AVN reports:
… chains have barely been affected [by the recession], with Peekay’s California stores up 15 percent from last year, and their Washington state stores up a whopping 36 percent—even with an uncommonly snowy holiday buying season. Franks didn’t provide specific figures, but indicated that his 18-store chain had scored good profits as well, and that his company is about to open its newest outlet—in Wasilla, Alaska, home of a certain failed vice-presidential candidate.
By Jim Edwards | Jan 12, 2010
Pornograpy marketers are still gripped by the recession but are finding new ways to advertise their products and generate revenue, it emerged at the Adult Entertainment Expo. AEE is a porn business conference held in parallel with CES, the giant technology conference held annually in Las Vegas. Both just ended.
And while the business media pays much more attention to CES, advertisers know that it is AEE that often presages the future of their industry. It was porn that laid the economic groundwork for VHS, DVDs, and paid web downloads. Where porn leads, advertisers and traditional media soon follow. That’s why AEE this year had panels such as “Online Marketing: Your Key to Success in the New Economy” and the conference sponsor, Adult Video News, reports in excruciating detail on the FCC’s latest universal broadband access plans.
The news from AEE was mostly grim. Gram Ponante reports:
The show [AEE] has been shrinking since 2005, with fewer and fewer companies renting booth space. What once took two floors of the Sands Convention Center took one this year around.
Nostalgia abounds: … each year those who remember the good old days lament the days when even something God-awful would sell 30,000 units at $79.95 a tape.
Those days are gone. Porn is suffering from the same ailments as the music, TV and movie businesses: They can’t compete with free content offered on the web, Ponante says: … frankly, some people were starting to sound a little desperate. “I would be so appreciative if you would buy my movies,” I was told by Belladonna, arguably the world’s most recognized porn star, stressing the word “buy.”
New promo media and cash streams are starting to look very different from even just a few years ago, when the business was dominated by DVD sales. This year, the watchwords seem to be “faster,” “smaller,” and “more expensive.”
In terms of promotion, porn has its own version of Twitter: PornStarTweets. Performers (who are verified to weed out imposters) upload rotating galleries of photos to accompany their tweets. The experience makes Twitter look lazy.
Full-length movies may eventually be replaced by bite-sized downloads. Clips4Sale offers offers clips (surprise!) for around $1 a minute. Clips tend to be 2 - 5 minutes in length, from a search-able database.
Another new technology is LipStream, in which consumers can call a performer’s “home” phone number and chat with them for a per-minute fee. The phone connection is actually an internet-enabled voice protocol that disguises the true location of the performer. Lipstream has widgets to allow voice chat on performers’ personal websites, Facebook and MySpace pages.
How these innovations might be adopted by the packaged goods marketing business is anyone’s guess — but they suggest that the future is less about the mass marketing of full-length product, and more about slicing and dicing ever-smaller chunks of content for lower total prices (but higher individual fees), in addition to offering premium customers remote virtual access to stars (or brands).
Old-fashioned bricks-and-mortar retail stores, oddly, may be faring the best. AVN reports:
… chains have barely been affected [by the recession], with Peekay’s California stores up 15 percent from last year, and their Washington state stores up a whopping 36 percent—even with an uncommonly snowy holiday buying season. Franks didn’t provide specific figures, but indicated that his 18-store chain had scored good profits as well, and that his company is about to open its newest outlet—in Wasilla, Alaska, home of a certain failed vice-presidential candidate.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Why Subway's $5 Footlong Dominates Fast-Food Market
There is an old saying in sales, "When price is the only objection, price IS the objection."
Is advertising a low price point the best way to move your products/services in today's economy?
Marketing Consultant, Steve Tobak, has a few thoughts on the matter in this recent article:
"Tired of seeing his business evaporate every weekend, Stuart Frankel - the owner of two Subway franchises in Miami - came up with an idea. He decided to offer all foot-longs for $5, about a buck less than regular prices, on weekends.
Next thing he knew, Frankel had lines out the door and double-digit sales growth.
Next thing Subway knew, it had one of the biggest hits in fast-food history.
The $5 footlong promotion alone generated $3.8 billion over the past year - more than Arby’s and Domino’s entire U.S. business. At a time when everyone’s business is down, Subway’s sales grew 17 percent in 2008, making it the number two fast-food company, worldwide, behind behemoth McDonald’s. Actually, Subway should surpass McDonald’s in total number of franchises in 2010, an amazing feat.
The big question is this: Is the $5 footlong just a flash-in-the-pan, a round number that resonates with fast-food customers? Or is it a function of consumer price-points and price elasticity that affect virtually all markets?
It doesn’t surprise me one bit that Frankel came up with the $5 footlong seemingly at random. Finding the price-point where product flows readily, like water through a frictionless pipe, is often far less scientific than some marketers would like to think. Sometimes, it’s just trial and error. Other times it’s born of necessity or even desperation.
For example, at a microprocessor chip company (Cyrix) in 1996, a unique situation caused sales to stall and inventories to grow to dangerous levels. With our worldwide distributors sitting on almost a million units (the chips sold for $50 - $80 apiece) and our company close to bankruptcy, something drastic had to be done.
After a week or two of analysis, I became convinced that there were certain price-points that would cause product to flow readily and relieve our inventory bottleneck by enabling PC resellers to sell systems at certain lower price-points. I wasn’t exactly sure what those price-points were, but there was no time to test a theory, so I took a stab and presented my plan at a heated board meeting. Our CEO angrily exclaimed, “Is that all you marketing &#*$s know how to do, lower prices?!”
Nevertheless, he approved the plan. It worked, of course (or I wouldn’t be writing about it). Within two quarters, inventory levels were back to normal and we had a new strategy for driving low-cost PCs. The following February Compaq launched the world’s first $999 multimedia PC - with a Cyrix processor - and we were off to the races.
In a prior post, I extolled the virtues of product positioning as a means to gain market share, even chiding marketers who think of price as their only lever. But as you can see, there are times when price is still the best lever. And recognizing those times is often more a function of desperation than marketing wisdom.
Which still doesn’t answer the question: Is the $5 footlong phenomenon a fast-food prime number, or is it a function of “magic” price-points and price elasticity that affect virtually all markets? I think it’s the latter, but that’s just me. What do you think? Can it work in your business?"
(Source: BNET Insight, The Corner Office, November 11, 2009)
So what do you think? How are you choosing to advertise your products/services?
Is advertising a low price point the best way to move your products/services in today's economy?
Marketing Consultant, Steve Tobak, has a few thoughts on the matter in this recent article:
"Tired of seeing his business evaporate every weekend, Stuart Frankel - the owner of two Subway franchises in Miami - came up with an idea. He decided to offer all foot-longs for $5, about a buck less than regular prices, on weekends.
Next thing he knew, Frankel had lines out the door and double-digit sales growth.
Next thing Subway knew, it had one of the biggest hits in fast-food history.
The $5 footlong promotion alone generated $3.8 billion over the past year - more than Arby’s and Domino’s entire U.S. business. At a time when everyone’s business is down, Subway’s sales grew 17 percent in 2008, making it the number two fast-food company, worldwide, behind behemoth McDonald’s. Actually, Subway should surpass McDonald’s in total number of franchises in 2010, an amazing feat.
The big question is this: Is the $5 footlong just a flash-in-the-pan, a round number that resonates with fast-food customers? Or is it a function of consumer price-points and price elasticity that affect virtually all markets?
It doesn’t surprise me one bit that Frankel came up with the $5 footlong seemingly at random. Finding the price-point where product flows readily, like water through a frictionless pipe, is often far less scientific than some marketers would like to think. Sometimes, it’s just trial and error. Other times it’s born of necessity or even desperation.
For example, at a microprocessor chip company (Cyrix) in 1996, a unique situation caused sales to stall and inventories to grow to dangerous levels. With our worldwide distributors sitting on almost a million units (the chips sold for $50 - $80 apiece) and our company close to bankruptcy, something drastic had to be done.
After a week or two of analysis, I became convinced that there were certain price-points that would cause product to flow readily and relieve our inventory bottleneck by enabling PC resellers to sell systems at certain lower price-points. I wasn’t exactly sure what those price-points were, but there was no time to test a theory, so I took a stab and presented my plan at a heated board meeting. Our CEO angrily exclaimed, “Is that all you marketing &#*$s know how to do, lower prices?!”
Nevertheless, he approved the plan. It worked, of course (or I wouldn’t be writing about it). Within two quarters, inventory levels were back to normal and we had a new strategy for driving low-cost PCs. The following February Compaq launched the world’s first $999 multimedia PC - with a Cyrix processor - and we were off to the races.
In a prior post, I extolled the virtues of product positioning as a means to gain market share, even chiding marketers who think of price as their only lever. But as you can see, there are times when price is still the best lever. And recognizing those times is often more a function of desperation than marketing wisdom.
Which still doesn’t answer the question: Is the $5 footlong phenomenon a fast-food prime number, or is it a function of “magic” price-points and price elasticity that affect virtually all markets? I think it’s the latter, but that’s just me. What do you think? Can it work in your business?"
(Source: BNET Insight, The Corner Office, November 11, 2009)
So what do you think? How are you choosing to advertise your products/services?
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