Excited to meet!

Line 'em up! We are two events into a five meeting swing of Super Regional Meetings this summer. Dallas and Orlando are in the log, Los Angeles, Chicago and NY/NJ lie ahead. These are fantastic meetings for us to get the team together and share what's new among our franchisees. If you haven't made the first two meetings and you're considering or already registered for the ones coming up, here's what you can expect...

• News and updates for your brand. Our Marketing team, coupled with the Advertising and Marketing fund boards for SIGNARAMA and EmbroidMe have exciting announcements for you. See it, learn about them and get your questions answered in person. This is HUGE!


• Suppliers - A "mini" trade show from prominent suppliers dominates the first half day of your Super Regional Meeting experience. New material and product vendors, your business management software folks (Trade Only and SignVox) will all be there. Get great news and info on up and coming advantages you enjoy by being a part of a large organization.


• Your peers - It's amazing to see how far others have taken the same concept you learned in our Training School. What's working best, what's new and surging forward? Also as important but sometimes overlooked is what's NOT working. Share and participate in roundtable discussions, meals and after-hours activities with fellow franchisees. This to many is their best reason to attend.


• Distance - Shhh. I'm parting with a UFG secret here. We know you're most likely to absorb new ideas when you climb out of the day-to-day events in your store. If you can mentally distance yourself from your projects for a day or two, you'll open yourself up to better methods and plans to succeed. It happens most to those that ride the fence, wondering until the last minute if they should attend. I say it's these franchisees that benefit greatly. It takes some doing to say, 'Yes." Consider the stale alternative of not putting yourself where you could grab tips and new systems to build on. It's worth your time to attend the meetings that are coming to your region!

We have a full schedule of items on each city's agenda, that much I can promise. This series of meetings will allow you to keep rolling forward towards your 2013 goals, for which you have less than 6 months left. I won't be touring with the band this summer, so your postings to social sites and photos shared with our Marketing team will tell the story. Apparently I'm in the "on deck" circle, having been recently tapped to lead the effort to produce World Expo 2014 in Orlando. I'm happy to be spearheading the massive effort behind our Expo again. I'll bring new ideas, format changes and some of the fun and excitement that belong at our events. If you've been with us awhile, you know how it works. Many of your suggestions fuel the content for World Expo, speakers, sessions, events. etc. If you enjoyed San Antonio in 2006, Disney in 2008 or Caesar's Palace in 2009, you're already looking for the REGISTER NOW button to click! We will have that up and live soon so you can plan to be in Orlando during the final week of May. Now do you understand why we are so excited to meet?

It's a geat time to be growing a business - allow our traveling show of support services to help your efforts.

-dm

Expo Intangibles

It's coming in less than two months, the big support event we sponsor for our franchisees. World Expo 2012 is set to fire off April 15-19th in Las Vegas at the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino. It's a big deal around here, we work for months leading up to the conference to make sure we are delivering what our attendees need. It is an educational experience sharply pointed in the direction our franchisees should be heading. It is suppliers, products, special deals, samples and demonstrations from big names and innovative newcomers that look to have their goodies represented in your business. It is peer-generated excitement, the sharing and learning that comes with close quarters contact over the four day event. It is worth your time and money to attend.

Traditionally we tout the reasons above as why you should attend the event. True, they have merits. But if you've been to the Expo before, you may think, "I know about the new products, thanks Internet, I don't need new equipment, mine works, and I just can't afford it, time or money-wise this year." If these thoughts or similar have been in your head, I need to have your attention for 3 minutes. That's all it would take to discover what things an Expo brings to you that you don't see coming, won't see on the brochure, and probably need in your business. Here's my take on Expo Intangibles...

• Confidence - You will come home more confident about what's possible in your business. That will happen in breakout sessions when you give time to learn what's new and working for others, as provided by franchisees and suppliers. This is not industry-wide knowledge, it's relevant tips and ideas that work - especially for you from those who share your brand. 
• Energy - In all my past dealings with franchisees, I have NEVER spoken with anyone that came back from Expo and didn't have a new "fire" under their shorts to get into the things they found at our event. It could be marketing and sales ideas, technology advances, operational things, new ways to organize, new gadgets to buy. It always happens, you come home ready to move a bit quicker. You need that!
• Grounding - Knowing the truth can help you focus on what's possible. It's great to set goals and strive and reach, but you'll dissappoint yourself if you set unreasonable and unattainable goals. Come see what is happening among the others that are breaking records. How many employees did she have? What type of promotion worked best? Stop kidding yourself, the collective knowledge at Expo feeds your growth with the truth. Come see the facts as provided by your peers. Then return home and chase your records.
• Friends - You have some from Training School, you know other local franchisees from meetings in your area, make a trip to feel good about those that you know and enjoy being around. Eat drink and see Las Vegas. You work hard, when do you reward yourself and make memories about your business that aren't 100% business related? Expo time!
• Dream - If there's one thing I like doing that always motivates me, it's seeing the best of the best perform. How do they do it? Are they different from me? I watch, I listen and I learn. Attend the Awards events and see just how far people have taken the same concept you practice each week in your community. Know that they started just like you, probably not an industry expert, fresh out of training school and green. Many of our superstars came to an Expo early on in their careers and said, "That's going to be me." And it is today. Start your dream at Rio.

We want as many people as possible to join in the Expo experience. The theme is Reconnect, Refocus and Revitalize. That's what Expo can do for your business! We have discounts on airfares this year, that's helpful. We have a great hotel serving as the base of the event. If you would consider going to one event to help your business over the course of a calendar year, why not attend the one that's custom made for you? Make a move that will springboard your 2012 plans into high gear. Register for the World Expo today.   Expo Website.

CES sans me.

First time in many years I won't be in Las Vegas for CES techno-geek-mania. But I will be following as many streams and updates as I can this next week to keep the info coming as to what's hot, what's a flop and how the industry sees things evolving for 2012. I have a few contacts there I'll be leaning on for personal updates, so expect some good stories, too. I love this time of year. Minus the bags full of brochures, USB memory sticks and my Nikon D90 full of pictures, I'll do as best as I can to keep the news interesting and fresh! Stay with me on this...

Google+ Business Pages, no rules - yet.

The release of the Google+ Business pages yesterday introduce many businesses and new users to the new kid on the social playground. Now companies, artists, performers, individuals and brands can have a page a la Facebook to spread their word. Geat and long awaited, G+  finally has relevance to the business community.

This is a big shot over the bow for Google to companies like Facebook. The intention is to woo businesses with the promise of pertinence and relevance in search. If the forecasts prove true, soon a search for "+anybusiness" should yield that company's Google Business Page. Marketing GOLD! Not just yet...

Due to reasons yet explained, anyone can setup a Google+ Business Page for any company they choose. I could be IBM or Starbucks or Sears and Roebuck. That's going to mess with the accuracy of any search until Google has a method to verify that someone from the business in question is establishing the new Business Page legitimately. When you create a Google+ Business Page, it becomes a subset of your Google+ identity. Right now, a checkbox next to a "terms of use" statement is what validates your worthiness to create such pages. Google has said that they intend to incorporate a badge system that once hovered over, would signify that this Google+ page is the real deal. So the question is, where are the badges and how was this released without them?

Yesterday when the curtain came up on this, I scrambled into manifest destiny mode to quicly capture all of our brand names and get a Google+ page up for each of our brands ASAP. At the same time, a coworker, equally connected online, was doing the same thing. Highlighting the problem at hand, we were sitting less than 25ft from each other, thinking we were both beating the world to the punch and claiming our company's valuable names on Google+. Until I posted a tweet saying the Google+ Business Pages were live and saw a tweet announcing our company's new Google+ Page (that I hadn't posted) the plan was working well. I learned as early into the launch as possible that we had both created duplicate "official" pages for SIGNARAMA, EmbroidMe, Billboard Connection and Plan Ahead Events. So anyone could have done that, too. And I thought I was on top of the whole Google+ Business Page release?

We'll eventually be able to verify by address or some neat Google means that we are the rightful creator of our brand's Google+ Business Pages. Until then, we have issues with duplicates or unauthorized copycats. I'm glad we're not in a mission-critical industry, like Homeland Security! I have faith that Google will sew it all together now that it's being discussed worldwide. They have a good set of ideas to help push this Business Page concept forward and back it up with the search results that can drive traffic to the pages. The correct, verified, authorized Business Pages.

Franchise Financing, who knew?

I preface this posting by saying, "I work here everyday, I should know this stuff."  

I had heard the chatter in the office and at our last Quarterly Meeting about a new financing program that we had been selected to tap into at United Franchise Group. Not being from that side of our business, I half listened and therefore only half understood this to be financing that people could use to start a franchise. Traditionally, we help candidiates secure financing to launch a new business.  Some get there own sources independently, some use SBA, others opt for financing we provide.  This Franchise Financing program is just that, but it is also good for established franchisees looking to grow or restructure their business.

I had a brief conversation with Tim Phillips, our expert here on all things financing.  That's how I learned new entrepreneurs aren't the only ones using Franchise Financing.  He reports that existing franchisees are also using this "line of credit" style financing to boost their business in their community.  These are some examples Tim shared with me, UFG franchisees can:

• Grow your business through expansion of facilities, new staff, new product offerings, new equipment, new services offered to customers.
• Dive into a niche market you've had your eye on.
• Buy-out competitors, taking on their customer lists and incorporating their business into yours.
• Consolidate credit and make sense of spending and borrowing that might have occurred over the last two years.
• Support large deposits. When a significant project is secured, can you proceed with the confidence that you can fund the job with your vendors before being paid in full by the customer? This financing has proven to be the piggy bank buffer some franchisees need to service larger accounts and deliver higher volume sales.

In many cases, this approach is better than what some would hatch on their own. Some attempt to borrow moeny from family members... a daunting task with long tenticles.  Others say they are reluctant to apply for financing because of their credit history or past transgressions - here's where family can help. A family member can secure this type of financing on behalf of your business, freeing their money from being the source of your growth.  In speaking with Tim, he says franchisees are usually pre-approved in 24-36 hrs, with the bulk of approved applicants receiving their funding in 2-4 weeks. 

I am not the financial advisor for our franchisees as many people know, but I have great contact with many of our franchisees over the course of a week.  I told Tim I'd like to get the word out, this could be just what some of our franchise operators are looking for to pull their business to new heights!

Link to post with Franchise Financing Press Release info.