Widgets

As the Internet and open source computing continues to evolve, widgets and API is becoming so much more popular. Have you implemented new sales & marketing systems to further increase market share? Well, what are you waiting for?

Here is an example a widget:

Social Media = Social Marketing

You constantly here businesses talk about word of mouth advertising as the most cost effective. Why? No cost, and high ROI. It works in reverse as well; poor performance = high negative ROI (not just low ROI, but a negative return which really means a LOSS of business). What others say about you, your business, and the brands you represent is now viral. This video will shed some light on the subject from a new millenium viewpoint.

Evaluating a Franchise System

Franchise Fundamentals
10 Keys to a Quality Franchise System

How do you know if a franchise is the right one for you?  Selecting a franchise and a franchisor can be a difficult and confusing process.  For this reason, the following list to help you in the franchise selection process.  We suggest you follow these steps to find the right franchise for you. 

1) Interview Franchisees
The best way to learn about the quality of a franchise system is to speak with current franchisees. Call at least five franchisees and visit at least two. It will provide you a realistic look at the opportunity.  In particular, ask about the following:

• Start Up Assistance
• Market Demand
• Profitability of the Franchise
• Whether the Franchisee Would Do It Again

2) Visit the Franchisor's Headquarters
You should know what support the franchisor provides. Interview the franchisor's employees and see if there is an organized support effort. Most franchisors claim to have a comprehensive support system. Be sure you see what you've been told by the sales force.  Visit the franchisor's team:

• Training Department
• Field Operational Support
• National Accounts
• Product and Supplies
• Information Services
• Advertising Department

3) Analyze the Financial Stability of the Franchisor
If the highest source of revenue is franchise sales income, you should be concerned. A franchise must generate enough royalty revenue to maintain all company expenses. Otherwise, the franchisor is very vulnerable to problems. Also, note the equity in the company. A company should not be heavily in debt.

4) Talk to Executive Management
Are they focused on the future of the company, or are they acting as day to day operations? How long has the management been in place? What have they done to improve the company? What are the current initiatives? Are the executives open and willing to speak with you?

5) Initial Training
Talk to the last three franchises that completed training.

• Was the training complete?
• Do they feel well prepared?
• Is there complete documentation?
• What did their training consist of?
• Is your equipment/products package complete?

6) Operating Support
The franchisor should offer comprehensive support, especially in the following areas:

• Regular Meetings
• Complete Documentation
• Regular Visitations To Your Site
• Training
• Newsletter and Bulletins
• Product and Equipment Research & Development
• National Accounts Support
• Software/Automation Assistance
• Local Training Assistance

7) Quality Name Recognition
The name, or trademark, is a primary value of the franchisor. Make certain the name of the franchise is known by key clients in the industry.

8) The Industry
Within what industry is the franchise operating? Is the product or service a necessity? Is it a luxury/fad orientated item? How large is the industry? Is the product or service diversified enough to react to difficult entry markets, or is it a single product/service offering?

9) Size of the Franchisor
The length of time in business and the total number of franchisees will indicate how mature the franchisor is in the marketplace. Quality Franchisors have steady growth and a good history of service to the franchisees.

10) The Application Process
A franchisor should have a profile of the best franchise candidates. There should be an organized process of learning about the franchise offering. There should also be a qualification process for the franchisees.

 

Are You Prepared?

Many business owners think they can just hang their shingle and people will come.  More than ever, having a strategic plan is important.  Your business plan needs to include a marketing plan, an operations plan, and a financial plan.  Each needs to broken down.

 

Marketing:  PR, Advertising, Branding, and Sales. 

Operations:  Supply Chain (Vendor/Suppliers, as well as Distribution), Work Flow, Management, Administration

Financial:  Accounting, Inventory Management, Cash Flow, Forecasting, Business Goals

 

Do you have a written plan for each of these?  Perhaps the best place to start is in reverse order:

 

Financial Planning: where are you today (Balance Sheet)? where were you last year (Tax documentation and P&L)?  where do you want to be in 2010?  Most importantly, what needs to happen in order to achieve these goals by year end?

 

Operations:  What systems do you have in place?  How can you either outsource or integrate technologies to make you more efficient and productive?  What can you do to improve cashflow and distribution?

 

Marketing:  What is the most cost-effective way for you to generate more sales, improve customer retention, increase referral business, and expand distribution of products and services?

 

Start here:

What do you want?

When do you want it?

What are you willing to do?

What are you willing to sacrifice?

How will you measure, monitor, adjust, and control the outcome?

 

Start working smarter, rather than harder.  Don't blame the economy for poor sales, as many companies are thriving and having record-breaking quarters of growth.  Don't stand by and wait for the economy to change...change yourself. 

 

Be better!

Entreprenerial Development

Successful people associate with forward-thinking, positive people. If you can't change the people around you, change the people around you.  Surround yourself with people that are going somewhere--identify a mentor or mastermind group.  Eat, drink, and breathe what successful people do, and you are on your way to achieving success as well.  Some resources I recommend:

 

Entrepreneur Magazine

Inc. Magazine

Fast Company

Success Magazine

 

Stay tuned for lists of books, audio's, PodCasts, articles, etc. 

 

Be something!

The Perfect Economic Storm

It is exciting to be able to offer people a solution and hope during all of the economic fireworks and turbulence. The timing has never been better to build businesses because we have people's attention and we have a solution. We are building the economy of the future by establishing our own sub economy and ecosystem, using our collective buying power and marketing plan.

In any economic crisis, the deck of cards that everyone has gets reshuffled. If you don't like the hand you have been dealt, it offers a chance to do better. If you have a good hand, you need to know how to protect your position and hold onto the cards you want. There is still an opportunity to gain better cards from the reshuffle. I would like to take a few minutes to talk about the economic climate, what some of the causes and effects are, some of the opportunities, and how you can actually benefit from this.

"While some see a crisis, I see an opportunity. This is an opportunity to grow like never before."

The economic turmoil has been appropriately referred to as the perfect economic storm. In other words, different or separate economic problems or storms are converging together at the same time to create a much more powerful storm. Let's look at the storms, the results, and evaluate each…

Storm 1: The rising cost of gas and fuel, causing price escalation in all areas of travel and commerce. Some say we are running out of oil and do not have time to find alternative sources. And that is why the prices will continue to increase to a point where the economy crashes.

Storm 2: Jobs and job security is on everyone's mind. Because of the sluggish economy, there are fewer jobs and unemployment will continue to rise. Combine that with the credit crunch and stock market slump, and there will be many mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcies resulting in many people with secure jobs being eliminated from the workforce.

Storm 3: The real estate market is depressed, the mortgage market is frozen, and Wall Street and the stock market have failed. They had to be bailed out by the government to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.

Storm 4: Consumer spending is down, because people don't have any money, and many businesses will close up as a result.OK, let's evaluate each — looking at the cause and effect, and how this reshuffles the cards. Behind every problem and crisis is the seed for an equal or greater opportunity.

History has proven that repeatedly. In discussing this — bear in mind a couple laws of life or of the universe. All bubbles eventually burst when they over-expand. The economy and the markets that make it up are really an ecosystem with an equilibrium equation. When things get out of whack they will always adjust and come back into balance over time. The important thing is to anticipate and take advantage of the direction of change.

It is a shadow, not the final reality. Behind these challenges at hand is the opportunity to leverage it to greater success, regardless of what has happened in the markets or your own portfolio. To do nothing is to be the effect and to be swept away by circumstance. That is not a smart thing to do. People need to be around positive, forward-looking, and solution-oriented opportunist… not defeatist. Life will go on.

~excerpted from JR Ridinger

A New Era in Marketing

In the past century, we've seen numerous successful marketing and distribution trends. We've seen Direct Sales in the 20's-30's, Franchising emergence in the late 40's, Multi-Level & Network Marketing evolved from the direct sellers in the 50's, catalogs in the 60's & Direct Mail in the 70's, and the first technological movement in direct marketing found its way in the marketplace in the 80's with Infomercials (direct response T.V.).

The Internet dramatically changed the course of history in the 90's and gave birth to a new trend called One-to-One Marketing and Mass Customization. Although, Mass Customization was thought to be short-lived, it is still in its infancy and will be less of a means of marketing and more like the distribution trend of the next century. People want what they want, how they want it, and will pay top-dollar for their unique product.

However, the most successful marketing method has been around since the dawn of commerce...word of mouth, or referral marketing. People want to do business with people/companies they know, like, and trust!

Well, the new era in marketing is here: finally technology and traditional marketing means meet. The fastest growing trends are Social Media and Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce)in this decade. These trends can take the word of mouth/referral marketing to a new level by exposing a brand, product, or company to BILLIONS of people in less than a second by virtue of ever-increasing technology.

Want to take your product, brand, or business to the next level? Social it up!
Looking for business opportunities? Identify a product, brand, or company that identifies these trends and has systems in place for the individual to be a success, and you can't help but succeed.

There are only 2 ways human beings learn: Nature and Nurture...Mother Nature or Mother Culture

Financial Intelligence is 100% learned from Nurture (Mother Culture).

Your personal culture begins at birth, some would disagree and say the moment of conception. However, I believe it begins much sooner than that with your ancestors and THEIR culture. It gets passed on ages and ages, and when you are born, you do not decide your culture. It is given to you. As we age and become free-thinking young adults, we may begin to make decisions, but certainly society begins to "nurture" us as well. Things that impact our culture:

-family history
-upbringing
-religious/spiritual views
-family political views
-media: news, radio, television
-literature: books, magazines, articles, etc.

Here is the kicker: you are EITHER financially intelligent or financially ignorant, and it is a CONSCIOUS CHOICE! Because, we know that financial intelligence is 100% based on your personal culture. If you want to increase your financial intelligence you need to increase your awareness of the things that will positively impact your personal culture in this arena: finances and economics.

Now, today information is free to everyone, and it is pushed out faster and faster everyday. Those that DECIDE to become financially intelligent can do so, as soon as they make that commitment. Here are some things to start your path:

Read books (Bachman, Kiyosaki, Trump, Buffet (either one!), Maxwell, Pilser, Tracy, etc.)
Listen to audio's, audio books, and podcasts
Watch video clips and movies on the subject
Surround yourself with positive, successful people
Identify a mentor
MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS (Start a business. There is no better way to learn than to get in the game)