What is your New Year’s Resolution for 2011?

Darian Richardson - Owner, RMC Franchise Connect - Cincinnati Franchise Consultant

What is your New Year’s Resolution for 2011? I know what it could be…

Can you believe it’s already the exciting holiday season? Turkey day has passed, and now we get to look forward to Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and whatever other holidays you and yours celebrate.  And after the holiday shopping is done, the holiday parties are over, and quality time with the family and love ones are complete…what next? For many people, planning for the new year begins. Many of us take this time to look back at the previous year and ask the question, “What did I really accomplish in the previous year?”  The next part of this self- analysis is to look into the future and develop a new set of goals we call New Year’s resolutions.  Some of the more “popular” and “traditional” New Year’s resolutions come in all forms:  a) Lose weight   b) Stop smoking c) Stop drinking d) Start a new relationship or e) Find a new job.

And what about starting a business? It might not be in your top 5, but it should be! Ask yourself the question, “What is my American Dream?” If your answer is, to building wealth, have more work/life balance, or be your own boss, then your New Year’s resolution is clear – starting a business is the answer.  And there is no time like the present.  According to a recent Economic Outlook Symposium in Chicago on December 3rd, the overwhelming forecast is that the nation’s economic growth is expected to increase at a solid pace in 2011. There is also positive news for business going into 2011 in terms of overall growth.  The November 15, 2010 specialist publication Fresh Business Thinking reports that 57% of companies are predicting revenue growth in 2011; 40% of businesses expect an increase in projects in the New Year, with over 30% anticipating growth in headcount.

During this downturn, more and more new businesses will be created.  Many people who have fell victim to being downsized, taken a buyout, or just unhappy at work have decided to start a business and 2011 should see much of the same.  There are risks associated with being an employee just as there are risks with starting a business. Those who have taken the opportunity to explore business ownership view it as a calculated risk. Tax benefits, earning potential, flexibility, great deals on real estate and lease agreements, and more access than ever before to (a) highly skilled talent pool (for less expense). Vanessa Reece, author of Top 10 Entrepreneur Business Trends for 2010/2011 says, “The downturn has also meant that many new business start-ups are looking for ways to build their business on a minimum budget. This could simply mean getting special deals from companies to buy products or services for their business.”

I am not suggesting that the economy will magically return to normal in 2011. The process will be slow but steady.  Though many economists are optimistic the recovery will take place in the New Year, it is still wise to temper your expectations.  But even if the economy moves a little slower than projected, that’s not an excuse to sit back and wait for things to improve.  The only sure way to change your situations is to initiate some form of action. If your resolution is to lose weight – get a gym membership and use it! , look for love – get back on the dating scene or try E-Harmony. And if you want take control of your future and be your own boss, then start a business.  Whatever your New Year’s resolution is, make this the year you actually do it!

Darian Richardson, owner of RMC Franchise Connect. RMC Franchise Connect helps you achieve the “American Dream” of business ownership. We provide free consultative services that connect you to hundreds of franchise opportunities. We will help you find the best business opportunity that meets your personal, professional, and financial goals….make the connection!

Visit www.rmcfranchiseconnect.com for more information.

Investment or Expense?

Doug Smith - Cincinnati Radio Marketing Consultant
Doug Smith - Cincinnati Radio Marketing Consultant

Would you take $5,000 to your financial advisor, have him or her put that money in the stock market, and then exactly one month later cash out your investment?  Of course you wouldn’t.  Why? Because investments take time to mature.

Oh sure, you could put the money into a high risk stock and get lucky, but if your approach to the stock market is “I want a big return and I want it right now” you are going to be disappointed more times than not.

That same methodology works for your advertising.  The money you put into advertising your business should be viewed as an investment, but most business owners seem to view it as an expense.  When you see it as an investment, you are more likely to take a long term approach and have the patience necessary for your advertising to payoff.  When you see it as an expense, you are more likely to take a short term approach and cut or cancel your advertising before it has a chance to take hold.

At this very moment, there are more people not in the market for your product/service than people who are in the market for your product/service.  Think about that for a second.  If you take a short term approach, meaning you run your advertising for a month or two and then stop, you are only talking to the small group of people who are wanting to buy now and ignoring the much larger number of people who will be in the market for you product/service in the future.

By taking a long-term approach, you give yourself the opportunity to talk to all of those potential customers BEFORE they need your product/service…..but you can also grab your unfair share of those who are in the market right now.

Handle your marketing like you do your financial planning and you and your business will be better off in the long run.

Doug Smith is a Senior Account Executive for WREW Rewind 94.9 and www.cincysavers.com in Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky.  You can contact Doug at  (513) 535-9123 or dosmith@hubbardinteractive.com

Increase your sales without spending MONEY!

Can you increase your sales without spending MONEY?

Matt Plapp - Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Marketing & Social Media Consultant
Matt Plapp - Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Marketing & Social Media Consultant

It’s amazing to see the results of your own work.  I’ve always told my customers and anyone who will listen that “Marketing is hard, but advertising is easy”.  Many people don’t understand what I mean when I say that.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen business owners opt for buying advertising on mass media that they shouldn’t buy (because their budget is too small) and then wonder why nothing happened.  Well for the past few months I’ve been working with a great new client, The Golf Exchange in Florence Kentucky.  The owners Jason and Mark are hungry, aggressive and they understand that their biggest strength is running their golf store and not marketing.  The first time I met them, I knew we would do some great things together.  They’ve entrusted the marketing to me.  And things are rocking.  October and November have been record months and it’s not a coincidence that those are the 2 months we’ve been working together (FYI, October & November are typically slow months in the golf business in our area for obvious reasons).  Now, my head is not big enough to believe that’s all to the marketing plan we’ve put in place, but I know we are moving the needle.

What have we done?  Have we bought a bunch of media and let the reps write our commercials (like many business owners do).  Did we put an ad in the paper and watch the door?  Or did we create a really clever direct mail piece with a terrible offer and blanked Northern Kentuck… NO!

We rolled up our sleeves and put in place a Grass Roots Guerrilla Marketing Campaign.  We used something better than cash, we used our team of employees.

First we hit Social Media with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and You Tube.  Next we created an 8-week series of in-store golf seminars.  We also filmed the seminars and created  short videos to post on YouTube, their website and facebook.  We re-branded the website and made it easier to use.  Then we launched our E-Newsletter to help promote the above items.  Plus we started capturing all of our customers contact information and put in place a Customer Follow-Up Program through F.U.$.$.  And, last but not least, we’ve started trained the employees about all these new marketing programs, how they can help and guess what…they are helping drive the machine that we’ve created.

THE RESULTS

  1. 1. As mentioned the best October & November EVER!
  2. 2. A Social Media Following upwards of 700 in under 6 weeks
  3. 3. Seminar attendance of the following
    1. a. Week 1 = 30
    2. b. Week 2 = 43
    3. c. Week 3 = 50
    4. d. Week 4 = 64
    5. e. Week 5 = 83
    6. 4. Email Newsletter opened by over 1,000 customers over 3 emails
    7. 5. 17 You Tube Videos viewed over 350 times.
    8. 6. Website Traffic up 33.29% in October & 37.92% in November.
    9. 7. Some great PR by the local press about 1 of our events.

Guess how much we’ve spent to do all of this?  Aprox $500 (a banner, few signs and fliers).  Yes, we fought the urge to buy advertising, put our feet up and wait for customers to come to us.  We put a true, HARD CORE, Guerrilla Marketing plan in place and WE made it happen. The owners and employees all bought into the system and took this to a whole new level.  This is why I always say “Marketing is hard, but advertising is easy!”  Now keep in mind, all of this was done in the OFF SEASON.  Just wait until we get some sun and temperatures in the 80’s !!!

Matt Plapp is a the President of Driven Media Solutions, a Full Service Marketing Firm in the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky area specializing in small business marketing via grass-roots, events, Guerrilla, online and social media marketing. You can contact him at matt@mattplapp.wpengine.com or www.mattplapp.com.