Follow!

Free advice: When you're new at something, latch onto someone that knows what they're doing and hang on for the ride.

I purchased a new road racing/triathlon bike about 3 months ago. I am not an experienced road racer, but I know how to ride and use the bike. There is an entire subculture of "roadie" riders, many following time-honored customs. There is a certain way to ride in a group or pace line. There's a certain way to relinquish the lead of the pace line. If you don't do it correctly, those "in the know" will be critical of you, or worse, give you that "evil eye" when you cross paths.

This is very similar to what we see in franchising. Most of the people that purchase a new business to operate as a franchise are new to that specific industry.  They need help.  They come with expertise in some areas, but usually not enough to go it alone.  So the options remain:

• Engage the pride and ego of someone who has succeeded elsewhere and show the world you can do it yourself.
• Dabble with the help offered, almost choosing "cafeteria style" which elements you'd like assistance with. Usually you don't pick things that are a real challenge, you center your help on things you like, not necessarily what you need the most.
• Go for it! Surround your efforts with the help and guidance of others. Shortcut the learning, take from those willing to give, grow and learn.

I didn't think of this when I was riding the bike, I just knew I didn't have the time to try and pick it all up myself. Everyone else riding on the weekend is more experienced than me. I will ask for the help, instead of attract attention as "the new guy" and trip over my own assumptions as to how things should be.  It works. I found others were happy to help - they got to show me how much they know. Wonderful, enough of these and I'll have a great diverse pool of info to work with.  I will keep improving, keep asking and obviously keep pedaling! The lessons will keep coming, I do not expect to be an ace that quickly. I'll give myself credit for leaning into the tough part of asking others, because most don't operate in this manner.

If you had the chance (and you do) wouldn't this make sense? Come prepared, with an open mind, a willingness to work hard, and let it work for you. There's nothing wrong with putting yourself in a new realm and expressing a desire to learn.  You can elect to be bigger than the situation and run solo, but it's not as effective or honestly, as much fun.  There is so much help available, if you can humble yourself to accept it.  When it seems like the options are limited and the going is tough, tuck behind the group and let them pull you until you're ready to lead again.  You'll never lead the whole way, if you add it up, most of the time you'll be in the group. It's where the conversation is, the learning happens and the success is forged. Follow!

I missed it again!

Air Travel for Thanksgiving, but there could be a silver lining...I always think about those people that book flights over this busy Thanksgiving weekend on the "2 for 1 plan".  What's that you ask? They purposely buy airfare and go visit a different city, then opt to be a valued "volunteer" off an overbooked flight, receiving great incentives and credit for future flights at  a time the airlines are happy to get people where they need to be.  I always want to do this, but never put it all together.

Have you ever done this - not just bought tickets and been offered flight credits, but did it in an orchestrated manner?  Chime in, I'd like to hear the tale! 

Like never before...

This holiday shopping season, "Black Friday" is being hijacked.  TV and radio will have their ads as usual.  The lines will still be at the mall, the traffic still churning early in the am, but a swelling undercurrent is changing the game.

The social media sites are the new focal points. Twitter is ablaze with special offers and coupons, good at traditional retailers and/or online merchants.  Facebook groups and Facebook ads target people where they spend countless hours. (See live stats, WARNING: Fasten seatbelt first, this is WILD! http://tinyurl.com/356y6s )  The action is on your PC, Mac or smartphone now.  Shopping before the holiday rush now equates to sitting at a computer, thumbing through offers, and planning where you'll spend your money this season.  This is a profound change that shouldn't be ignored by our retail franchisees.

Have you made an investment in social media? Do you have an upkeep a Twitter page for your store?  You should. It's free financially, but like anything relationship-wise, it demands an investment in time.  You have to collect and suggest followers, and follow them back to form a community of folks with like interests.  Then you have to keep updates flowing on your Twitter site to make it relevant and interesting A new feature of Twitter is called "lists", which allows a user to categorize the people or businesses he/she follows and sort them for easy reading.  This is a great addition to help users organize the many "tweets" or messages that parse through your system once you develop followers and look to keep up with those you follow.  Shoppers will use Twitter this season like the coupon inserts of the newspapers I once delivered in New York.  Nothing was as big and heavy as the Sunday edition the week before Thanksgiving here in the US.  Now it's all in your hands, 24/7.  Have at it!

Knowing this is not a fad, can you commit to making this change to add to your existing marketing efforts?  I say "add" because it is not a replacement for traditional face to face sales... thankfully!  You need both.  Get a friend, relative or "Gen Y" employee to manage this for you.  Be a reliable and informative resource online to your clients all year, not just in the holiday crush.  This works, like most plans, if you'll work, too.  Happy tweeting, and Happy Thanksgiving!  See you online...

Give first and see what happens.

I just attended a 2.5 day crash course in how Las Vegas Meetings by Harrah's Entertainment runs their operation. This is the team that manages the conference facilities I just used for World Expo 2009 in Caesars Palace.  I was one of about 160-175 attendees.  It was very interesting for me to witness meeting planners attending a meeting they didn’t organize. Contrast!

First, as most would expect, the facilities were A+ and the food and entertainment were superb.  They paid to fly their top customers to town and put their best foot forward, I say they did a great job!  I attended seminars and speeches, great meals, nightly entertainment and a raft tour on the Colorado River.  Is this wise for them to do this in our economic state? I say sure, it is customer service doled out to the people they believe can put more “heads in beds” and help fill their meeting space.  Partners, agents, sales teams, Harrah’s decided they were best served by investing in those that could specifically impact their bottom line.  You can do this in your business, on a smaller scale obviously.  Get on the good side of the administrative person that cares for your biggest client.  Bring donuts to satisfied customers when they don’t expect it.  People remember acts of consideration.  This is good for you! How about trying this and seeing if it leaves a mark? Do so and comment back here as to how (or if) anything happens for the good… I’m interested in discovering how your swing at it goes!

Will it really work? Just say, "YES!"

How is it that some of our franchisees have a GREAT web presence, get awesome leads and use the online tools available to them, while others remain benign to what they can do with the Internet as a marketing tool? Do they spend more money to get this almost unfair leverage over competition? Are they at an advantage because they have a grasp on how these elements plus traditional promotions grow a business? Resoundingly, the answer is YES.

Let's understand what has happened in our marketplace. The web and all it delivers is the game changer.  Prior to a society that uses Facebook and Twitter each day, our marketing efforts were broad and large in scope. Like casting a net into the ocean and hoping you'd catch something.  (Anything!) Marketing your products and services was easier, but less measurable.  Get a yellow page ad.  Do a direct mail to hundreds of other businesses. Hang signs for passers-by to read. Don't forget, change things usually only once a year and hope like heck it flies.  All good, common sense implementations, with positive intent, but who knows which pieces worked, stuck with a consumer, or bombed?   

Now, we search online for anything and everything.  We can see results (or not!) from our efforts and measure them in clicks, dollars, cost per thousand, email forms submitted, you name it. This is where we are, can you say you're on board?  If so, don't be stymied into believing it's just you, it's also your friends, relatives and customers, too.  I find that folks who ordinarily would never have engaged desktop computing now do so with regularity because of sites like Facebook. It's real easy to upload vacation pics and keep your status shiny and new for friends to see and share.  They may not realize it, but they are customizing their "personal websites" every day.  And it works!   People are being driven to these social sites and they like the experience.  Give some of the credit also to smart phones.  Why wait idly in line for anything when you can surf the web while standing there and get answers.  In this new realm, people are becoming marketers of their lives to their friends and business contacts.  They do this because they can, technology has made it easy.  They also do this because they have to ~ in order to hold a conversation these days with the rest of us... 

Is it too late if you're not into the "web scene?"  Can you catch up with the scores of people and businesses "in the buzz" of web marketing?  Yes you can, here's how to, laid out in some simple steps. Your only requirement is  flipping the switch on some things you aren't doing right now.  It could require a change in habit, a change in thinking on your part, and a willingness to say, "YES".  Try this:

• Participate in the AD FUND for your brand.  Get involved, learn about the things they're doing to promote your store online. Move forward in this direction.
• Customize your store's website!  A huge plus is treating it like your Facebook page.  Don't leave stale pictures up on your doorstep, put new, vibrant photos and stories of how locals loved your products and services. 
• Update your PRESS ROOM, NEWS or LOCAL HAPPENINGS pages to get lots of coverage regarding towns and communities you service.  The search engines like this, your customers love it, say YES and do it!
• Setup profiles on Yahoo Businesses, Google, MSN and Microsoft's new BING search pages.  Detail who you are as a business, where you are and what you do.  This helps your search engine relevance greatly!
• Let other local businesses help you promote your store by linking to your business' site - Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, BNI, they will each help you promote your site if you'll ask.
• Get involved in social media - Many stores have a Facebook page for their business...and a Twitter account and a LinkedIN page.  Each one is free, each addresses a different segment of interest among your potential client base... say YES and do these yourself or delegate it to a GEN Y employee that will relish the chance to perk up your sales doing something they know well!
• Use Flickr.com (photos) and YouTube or Vimeo.com (videos) to get more in depth info into the hands of your customers.  Some stores have been very creative in doing this, and the results show!  Have some fun with it, the boundaries have yet to be drawn, so use these FREE sites to help promote what you do. Link them to your website and grow. 

Does any of this seem far fetched?  Too difficult?  Probably not, if you'll commit to doing it.  It is a departure from the norm, but realistically, we are not going back, things are more likely to keep moving in this direction at a more rapid pace than before.  Call us, we can help!  We have suggestions, best practices, dos and don'ts.

Say, "YES" and experience what others are getting - a new, fresh response to their store and products.

-dm