Putting Your Name Out There Via The Web

There are countless ways to get your name out there.  Radio advertising was big for awhile and still is for some.   Print advertising is all but done with newspapers devastated from the revenue lost.  Telemarketing is all but gone with the changing laws which leaves us with the web.   There are dozens of choices from major directories like Yahoo that cost a lot of money to free directories scattered all over the web.

I have followed with some interest the saga of the company that provides my business with a good portion of our tradeshow items.    My interest is two fold, one is a natural curiousity and genuine well wishing with also a good bit of interest in duplicating their success.  The value of a good eco friendly directory cannot be understated as we approach one of the biggest green days of the year.  If you are selling something that is recycled obviously you want to be into a recycled directory, if you sell organic stuff you should look for and get listed in an organic products directory.  The two directories I just listed are very popular in their respective categories.  Foot traffic from these sites may not be huge but it will drive some decent business.   According to my promo folks the traffic from run of the mill niche sites like those above actually exceeds more popular and sought after advertising listings.   The question comes down to cost and time, adding directory listings can take a lot of time and energy.    Our experiences are a little different as we actively publish our listings in Yellow Book and on the fairly expensive Yahoo directory as it suits are  needs and our revenue structure.   Someone selling a t shirt probably does not want to spend $1000 a year for yellow page and general directory listings.

 

Sometimes You Just Can’t Choose

I’ve got a 3 day conference coming up and I’m trying to decide between three different coolers.  This is kind of a meet and greet with a lot of time spent around the pool and beach.   I figured the best gift would be to give a cooler someone could take with them when we’re done.

I’ve narrowed it to five choices, the Glacier 10-Can Barrel Cooler, the slightly larger Glacier 24-Can Barrel Cooler or the huge Glacier 45-Can Barrel Cooler.  I like all three but I’m worried that they look too much like a beer keg for the corporate market.  They’re great coolers, I’ve played with a sample and they keep things pretty cool for a good period of time.  The same company I’ve used since last fall offers a whole bunch of promo coolers most of which are fairly inexpensive.

The other two coolers I have considered are from Rubbermaid and are just the regular store bought brands from Walmart or Target.  The problem with buying these is although I save about a dollar an item I cannot get a logo put on them and would have to use stickers or go with nothing at all.  It kind of defeats the purpose.   I try to keep my supplier honest so I check prices and what I found shocked me as shipping ran up to $400 from others and I get it free from them.  One other vendor was close on price but wanted $100 for a setup charge and $345 for shipping so in the end they were about $500  more expensive on a $5000 order.

 

Alchemy Needle Random Haystack

After almost two full weeks away I returned to host a “small” gathering today of 200 local entrepreneurs.   For a nominal entry fee each person was provided with a kit which included the Leeds Vortex Deluxe Sling and a Leeds Navigator Zippered Padfolio both of which arrived as usual with a perfect embellishment courtesy of my usual suppliers.

 I did also throw in some local chocolates which I ordered from the candy house nearby instead of going with the same people that supplied the padfolios.   Surprisingly this was on their recommendation as chocolate I guess tends not to travel well and generally the stuff you buy locally is better than the stuff that can be brought in for a reasonable price.   I do use my local printer for the banners and other assorted stuff as I have found that the cost of shipping in banners and similar items is so high now it is outrageous.  Staples hooked us up with the various little items we needed.  We had it catered by the local restaurant and overall I think things went great.

Well that is until we got down to discussing the matter at hand which is the economy and how it is effecting businesses.  Universally the answer is not well.   Realtors are dying, many are changing businesses and going back to school.   All forms of contractors are doing the same  with many picking up second jobs.  Some of the lifetime contractors are fine from repeat customers but those that focused on new construction are hurting.  All other associated businesses are struggling including banks which were busy signing note after note during the boom.  An informal survey showed about 40%, almost half planned on laying off people if things did not improve.    Nine out of ten indicated they had no new plans to hire staff.   A year ago it was two out of ten at the same conference!

The biggest complaint is lack of funds.   Clients are broke and cutting back and as a result so are the small businesses being hurt.   Really it is not a great situation and almost everyone felt it is too little too late by the politicians and Federal Reserve.    I think things will rebound faster than people think come this summer but it is still going to be a slow uphill climb.

Oh and of course I do know that I spelled Savy wrong, that was by design.  Kind of like the weird title I picked for this post.

Not Even Good Promotions Can Save This Economy

Well I keep tooting the horn of a company I found several months ago so I might as well do it one more time before I leave for a two week vacation.  I had our last tradeshow today and once again the promo items we received from our new provider arrived and were a huge hit.  I made the mistake of giving the wrong address and later confirmed the wrong address yet through a lot of hard work on the part of Promo Managers they got the package to me by re-routing it through UPS.   A couple of years ago I dealt with another company where they screwed up the address and basically washed their hands of it so this was a pleasant change.  I did 500 padfolios which looked great.   That kind of ends the good news.

 We ordered 500 because last year we ordered 400 promo items for this show and we ran out halfway through.  This time we came home with three boxes not because people did not want them.  We gave some people two or three but there were just no visitors.   Across the board all of my partners and affiliate businesses are reporting a huge downturn in business over the last two or three weeks to the point of being worse than anything in the last fifteen or twenty years.  Most are saying literally the business has just vanished.  One of my large customers whom I have organized tradeshow events with for over fourteen years is not attending their industry show this year.   The costs due to high fuel prices are too high to ship and fly everyone in and the returns low.  This appears to be a trend as several other industry insiders report the same type of dwindling returns.

People that would typically drive to shows cannot afford $3.50 per gallon and most see prices going higher which means they have less interest in going.  With prices expected to tip over four dollars a gallon by spring it is just going to get worse.  With the news today of a huge bank bailout you have to wonder how close to the edge we are of a historic failing.  One of my other longtime clients had already pulled the plug on one of their summer events as they cannot justify a celebration in the face of such terrible financial news.  

I am on my way to fun in the sun for two weeks.  We made the reservations forgetting that this is spring break time so this should be an interesting few weeks down where it is warm.  I am pretty certain things are going to get worse before I get back.   For the first time in maybe ten or more years I leave with the fear that business many not return to the levels we saw earlier in the decade until the beginning of the next decade.   I also am coming to the realization that the economy of 2010 is going to be totally different than what most of us know.

Save A Tree By Using USB

The advent and incredible popularity of USB flash drives over the last few years has driven prices way down.   Although it is far from a perfect environmental solution using USB memory keys to carry your marketing slogan is a reusable medium that customers will keep in hands.  There are dozens of choices available from personalized versions to store bought and my recommendation to you is shop purely on price, here is why.

Your target market will care much more, or I should say should care much more about what is on the memory drive than what is printed on it if you are using it as a marketing message.  Simply put if you are using a flash drive as a promotional channel the message inside the drive is most important.   That is not to say getting a drive printed like the Leeds Beetle USB Flash Drive 1GB is a bad choice so long as the price is good, but there are less expensive alternatives that are just as effective.  If you are buying small numbers something like the Sandisk 1GB can save you a few dollars if you are buying small quantities especially when you consider shipping and setup charges.  The Sandisk requires a rebate and there is no loading capability at the store.  This means you will have to open each package and load up your marketing files yourself.   If you go with a factory drive that is printed you can pay a little extra money to have your message uploaded in bulk.   There are still cheaper alternatives but it surprised me greatly to find that the printed drives are now often less expensive than blank retail drives.  I am not really sure why this is unless competition is fierce or they are becoming a huge commodity.

The environmental benefits of going with a USB drive to put your catalog on are negligible in theory.  I am sure some company will try to claim they are green because they are reusable – that seems to be the big rip right now, everything is green if it is reusable.   At the very least it is a neat idea and one that your customer will almost certainly keep even if they delete the marketing material and use it as an in house drive to carry their own data.    Remember these are now commodities and prices will vary weekly so look around for the best deal and you will hopefully save yourself a few dollars.   Note the Circuit City listing I gave includes a rebate which would be a royal PITA while the Promo managers listing is direct pricing.  You can find even better deals in your local Costco or similar warehouse store.

Cheap Ideas to Promote Your Way to New Business

Okay let us face facts; business is not good right now for many small business owners.   Inflation is shooting through the roof, home prices are falling like a rock and business is stagnate.   To keep yourself front and center with your customer consider giving them some promo items.   For a trade show I just attended I gave away the Leeds Multi-Function Sling Tote and the Leeds Saturn Sling .   For short money I had two great items to give to prospective clients.

 I printed my own multi-color brochures and stuffed them in each item along with a cheap pen I had already in my hands from Bic.   All total I got off for under $10 for each item and they were gone within an hour.  I provided direct links above to the vendor I purchased from as I was happy and their price couldn’t be touched when I tried five other vendors.  To be frank almost two months later I have not heard back from three of the five big name vendors I contacted as apparently by $900 order must be too small to warrant a call back.  Promomanagers selection is a little limited online but it seems to be growing.  I found the entire process beginning to end to be great.

 What I have done in the past is just give away a business card but am finding now that those are easily lost.  If you go with an imprinted item make sure you have your phone number on it and your website.  Don’t be obnoxious and place a huge copy of both on the item or nobody will use it.  One tip I was given is to use a subdued color or font so that it doesn’t overtake the message and make it so “loud” that nobody wants to actually use the item.  Do not place any type of wording on the item that might be considered offensive in any way.  Make sure it is an item that customers will use willingly which is why I picked totes.  Everyone uses a tote or backpack even if it is just their children that stuff it with toys.  They do not get thrown out like cheap stress balls that animals end up chewing on or worse end up choking on the darn things.  Pens are great but people stopped reading the message on pens about 1995.  They are a great adjunct gift but I would never hand a customer a pen alone as it goes into a draw with the other 500 pens they have been given recently.

 When buying these items quality is important.  Buy reputable brands versus going overseas.  I saw a guy at a recent trade-show for greener products handing out a plastic tote.  I asked him what type of message does it send when rather than giving out a green tote you give out a cheap plastic one?  If you are in the recycled business give out a recycled item.  Make your gift relevant to the event you are attending and also your product or brand.

Last but not least, make it useful.  Times are tough right now, give the customer something they can use rather than something you were sold.  Consider your targets needs and come up with an item that will help them or is in turn something they can give away to their customers.

Everyone Spends But Nobody Pays

In yet another shot across the bow of our economy figures released Friday indicate Americans put $2.2 trillion in debt on their credit cards in 2007.   This roughly equates to $7,000 per citizen in the entire country.  The number is both staggering and alarming.

 Overall the rate of increase has been over 325% since 1989 when credit cards first began to be heavily marketed on college campuses nationwide.  According to Cardtrack.com we are currently at a three year high in delinquent credit card payments.  

 This poses interesting questions to the small business owners looking to finance their businesses.  With changes in the Fico scoring model coming in 2008 it is widely predicted that heavy utilization will more severely effect scores than in previous years.   Looking ahead to May it would be wise for small business owners to begin planning for this change and to actively pay down debts as April approaches.  You may ask why April?   Because most credit cards report on the statement date – if the changes take effect in May you want your April balances to be below 50% so you are not overly penalized.

 Small business owners also probably want to take a closer look at pure business credit cards.   These cards are either totally guaranteed by the business or personally guaranteed by the owner.  The advantage being many of these cards do not report balances to your personal credit report and do not appear at all unless you become late.  The advantage here is true separation of business and personal debts which should be a goal of any business person.   Capital One is one of several banks offering these products.   Look for cards with low introductory rates, low or no annual fees and the ability to pay online.  Read the fine print to make sure you won’t be penalized too harshly for late payments or missed payments.

Throughout the web you will see references to SBA loans as another possible funding alternative.   The general consensus is good luck getting a loan from the government.   Despite all the claims to the contrary these loans are often very difficult to obtain and will end up requiring just as much collateral as a traditional loan.  Many readers have reported that the premise of “no or low collateral” is a total myth.  Most SBA participants will want you to put a lien on your home and if you don’t have a home they won’t lend you money.   The entire point of the SBA was once to provide loans to small business owners that did not have access to traditional funding sources.   It appears that over the last ten years this has all changed and it is now almost if not more difficult to get an SBA loan.   The program offers great promise but with most small business owners already having leveraged themselves to start their businesses it’s unlikely they’ll qualify.  In the process they’ll take several more hits to their credit report in the form of inquiries.

 We’ll elaborate more on the financing options available in the coming days.   In the meantime be mindful that Fico08 is coming.

TV Ads Becoming Less Effective

The fall of television advertisement effectiveness would seem to be common sense with the proliferation of digital video recorders.  A survey released today by the National Association of Advertisers in conjunction with Forrester Research details that most marketers believe television marketing is becoming less and less effective.

 Over 50 percent of those surveyed reported that once DVR penetration reaches 50% they would cut television advertising by at least twelve percent on average.  To date Digital Video Recorders are reportedly in about 25% of all homes.   Approximately one in four respondents believe their current agency is poorly equipped to handle the changes in TV advertising.

 Most stunning of all the numbers – 62% of those surveyed believe television advertisements are less effective than in previous years.  Many indicated a desire to explore new options within existing media channels.   We tend to think one of the larger problems isn’t that advertisements are inherently less effective than they were years ago but that the quality of the advertisements overall is inferior.   Really how many good commercials are there on television these days that are different?   Many are outright obnoxious, loud, crude or otherwise offensive to large groups of people.

 Then we have the incredibly successful advertisements run by Apple for their iPhone.   These have to be some of the simplest but catch commercials in ages.   Literally they are just demonstrations of the actual device with a catchy song.   A few months ago they released the iPhone with a song from a barely know singer from Canada.  A few months later the song is a hit and the iPhone continues the long string of Apple successes.  Everyone knows their commercials and they continue to be on the cutting edge.  In many ways their modern commercials are equivalent in impact to the hammer throwing Olympian from the 1980s. 

So many of our current commercials are largely useless – drug commercials for medications large percentages of the target market will never require.  While typing this blog I sat through two commercials for a herpes medication when most reports indicate approximately 12% of Americans have it.   Add that to the redundant cable and satellite TV commercials and automobile commercials and what you have is very little in the way of originality.

 If marketers want to see a more responsive audience they need to take a closer look at the commercials they are producing.   It is only then that they will once again captivate an audience and increase effectiveness.

Print Advertising Continues To Fall

Expenditures for advertising in major newspapers decreased between 17% and 20% depending on the paper in 2007.  This continues a several year trend of downward sales which are only partially being offset by increases in online advertising sales.

Gannett Co. saw a 17% decrease in print advertising sales compared to 2007 and a dramatic 20% plummet in real estate classified ads.   Tribune Co. watched help wanted classifies drop 19% and real estate 24% indicative of the growth in online marketing for both of those items.  McClatchy witnessed real estate classifieds collapse by 26% and automobile advertisements dropping 20%.  The drop in automobile advertisements is particularly troubling for many of the papers as that was long a major reason customers purchased the profitable Sunday Editions.     Rounding out the trend Dow Jones & Co.’s ad volume dropped 20% with a 75% decrease in technology related advertisements.

 The numbers themselves are staggering are only partially offset by the 20% increases seen in online ad sales.  The major problem for the newspapers is that online sales are still only about 5% of traditional paper print ads so even a major increase in online sales can only partially offset the decreases in paper advertisements.   The result has been layoffs across the industry and decreases in paper sizes.   The trend will likely continue in 2008.

Meanwhile on the internet Google watched the rate of growth at AdWords slow later in 2007.   Nobody is quite yet sure what to make of the ebbing in growth but it is very likely the result of saturation within the market.   These ads were once new and exciting to web surfers while now they are becoming so recognizable they are being ignored.   Worse for many online advertisers there is a limited understanding among actual users of the expense involved.   This results in high click rates but low conversion rates or repeated clicks on the same ads over the course of days rather than bookmarking the site.  In some categories rates have gone so high as to make the ads no longer appealing from an advertiser point of view and the problem of click fraud still exists.   Google has gotten much better at addressing click fraud with automatic refunds of clicks they view as fradulent but the perception among many bloggers and many advertisers is that the click fraud rate is still exceedingly high.  In one online non-scientific study roughly 40% of all clicks were competitive in nature during a 24 hour period.   Though not truly fraudulent clicks it’s hardly conceivable that the advertiser is getting their money worth.   Google is a brilliant company and going forward it is likely that they will continue to modify their processes to take into consideration not only the quality but the source of such clicks.

Yahoo meanwhile is continuing the down-slide.  Microsoft has made it clear that they will not raise their offer for Yahoo and this spells continued trouble for the former internet giant.  The only real chance either of the two had to be competitive was through a joint venture combining technology.   It now appears that is off the table for the time being.

A Failure To Launch

With the announcement today of Toshiba abandoning the HD DVD format we have yet another historic product failure. In many ways this most recent stumble is even larger than the attempt by Coke to reformulate a successful product or the earlier Beta failure of Sony. The core reasons for the inability of Toshiba to gain market share demonstrate just how much Sony learned from previous experiences.

The premise was simple, two formats offering true 1080p picture resolution. HDTVs have been heavily promoted for almost two years now with native 1080p format with the only source capable of delivering that quality being Bluray or HD DVD. Toshiba had the support of Microsoft which made the option of an HD DVD player part of the new XBox and Sony of course integrated their Bluray into new versions of their game console. Both effectively targeted the gamer market and least initially there was no clear winner. That quickly changed however over the last few months as one major studio after another dumped the HD format in favor of Sony Bluray.

So what ultimately cost Toshiba the most? First they failed to effectively and efficiently promote their product. Simply releasing the product and touting the benefits of it are not enough to sell what for many was still a $500 DVD player. The name itself was boring and easily confused with many other HD related items including hard drives, camcorders and even desktop computers. There was nothing about the name that brought excitement and although Bluray is hardly breathtaking it captures color and technology within the trade name. Second, they were far too slow in adopting a lower price position and never really promoted that position until it was too late. By the time they became the clear low price leader this holiday season most already heard rumors of the format fading and would not sink the money into what could potentially be an obsolete product. Third as support dwindled Toshiba was unable to maintain studio support which ultimately became the proverbial nail in the coffin. It is prohibitively expensive to stamp movies in both formats. With the sales so low on the HD-DVD side the studios really had no choice.

There are plenty of lessons to be learned that can be applied to just about any business. First and foremost know your competition and know them well. There is an old saying if they are big and you are small they are slow and you are fast. In short use your size to your advantage. Toshiba actually was the little guy in this case but acted way too slowly to head off the challenges it faced. If you are up against giant competitors the chances are great they cannot focus on any one segment or niche in their business. As a smaller company you probably can. Exploit that opportunity to your advantage. Second in order for any product to be successful it has to be appropriately and effective marketed. There are dozens of ways to market your product or service; media advertising, promotional marketing, viral marketing, word of mouth, affiliate programs and co-ops are just a few mechanisms. Whichever course you choose you must be efficient but more importantly fast. Toshiba failed to successfully promote their product and distinguish it from the other available options. It appears to me they failed to do a basic SWOT analysis – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. In the end Sony played to their strengths and forced Toshiba into a corner which exploited their weaknesses.

You may have the best product in your market but if you fail to successfully promote and advertise the product it will inevitably fail. Just ask the maker of the steam engine.