Speak Life

          I watched all the interview videos, and it is obvious that the most used, and often times the most effective form of advertising for small businesses is word of mouth. In these small towns, people talk. What the locals say about a business is usually the word. A single bad experience is all it takes to totally destroy the reputation of a small business. It can not even be the businesses fault that the experience was bad. Maybe the customer in question may be having a bad day, and every experience they have is going to be bad that day. The customer perception makes all the difference in the world. Like the Bible says, Life and death is in the power of the tongue. The same is true in the life of a business.

What Makes You Different?

           When it comes to the business world, it makes a difference if you're different. There are only so many businesses, markets, and products out there. There will always be competition. Someone will inevitably have a better product, a better price, a better deal, or a better pitch. It is up to you to make yourself stand out from the crowd. What is it that is going to make a customer pick you over all of your competitors? It really depends on the customer. Every person is different, but there may be something that appeals to a specific group of people. your job, as far as marketing yourself goes, is to find out what that is, and use it to your advantage.  Let's say that you want to open a fast food restaurant, but you want to attract the kind of people that wouldn't usually go for fast food. You would find some way to appeal to a group of people that normally wouldn't look twice in your direction. Maybe you could offer a vegetarian option, or a healthy alternative to the classic cheeseburger. Maybe you use an oil that has less fat, maybe you have even found a potato that is digested differently so it doesn't count as carbs. Whatever it is, scream it from the rooftops, and let those healthy people kn0ow that you can eat here. Different can definitely be a good thing.

Mmm Mmm Good

         There are a million ads all over the place that we see every day. Many of them have something to do with food. There are ads on food, for food, and all around food. There are games made up to sell more food. There are coupons in the ads for food. It's everywhere you look. You can play Monopoly while you eat a cheeseburger, or play scrabble while you have your french fries. It seems like the most appealing thing that there is to this particular nation as a whole is the idea of a good meal. So, businesses have caught this, and decided that this is a good way to reach people.
        What better way to sell a good knife than to put it in a picture with a big juicy steak? What better way to get someone to buy a new set of cookware than to show it cooking something delicious? Is there any better way to get someone to buy a new dinning room set than to show a family eating an amazing meal on it? Food is the way to go when it comes to the U.S. You want to reach the general public? Put your message on a cheeseburger.

Words in The Web

            With the boom in technology in recent years, e-marketing has become a businesses advertising dream. There are hundreds of ways that a company can get themselves seen in the digital world. Whether you are starting out, or if you're a large company that has a massive marketing budget, there is an online option for you. Most new businesses these days are taking advantage of sites like Facebook and Instagram, where they have the ability to make customized pages that they can use to solicit likes and notices from consumers. These pages are usually free with very low costs for promotion of your business or your page. Many larger corporations make their own websites and partner with search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo to have their sites be featured on their pages when a consumer searches for a certain product. Most big companies offer the customer the convenience to shop online and have their purchase delivered to the closest store for the customer to pick up at no charge to them for shipping. These companies often have their ads emailed to their loyal customers. This allows company information to be at the consumers finger tips, and offers more market penetration for the company that utilizes the services. As time goes on, more and more companies are developing apps that customers may use to buy, order, keep track, and shop from a smart phone or tablet. Sam's Club, Target, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart are just a few. These are aside from strictly online retailers like Overstock.com and Amazon. Needless to say, the internet has become a huge marketing tool for all businesses big and small. As the country moves more toward everything being digital, the internet will become more and more important, and the definition of traditional marketing will change.

Penetration.

     

       

        Market penetration is defined as the act of  increasing the market share of a product, or promoting a new product through different strategies such bundling, advertising, lower prices, and volume discounts. The second definition is the measure of the extent of a products sales volume relative to the total sales volume of all competing products. This may sound like a bunch of gibberish, but it really can make sense. 
        All this refers to is the amount of space that a particular product takes up in a particular market. For instance, McDonald's is all over the place. There are billboards, commercials, toys, clothes, cartoons, movies, you name it, they have it. More children in the world can identify Ronald McDonald than can identify the president of the United States. This company has some of the best market penetration in the food industry. The more places you see a logo/sign, the greater the penetration. 

Business Plans Are Hard

       One of the hardest things about marketing is writing a marketing plan. To do this correctly, the process is long and detailed. It takes time, dedication, and concentration to get all that is needed into a plan. The marketing plan is the part of an overall business plan that includes a market analysis, the demographics, psycographics, and geographics of your target market, location, distribution, market research, sales forecasting, and what makes you different. All of these things come together to let the reader know what kind of market you're trying to get into, how you're going to get into it, and what you're going to do when you get there. One has to be able to almost look into the future to make these kinds of decisions and discoveries. I have learned that if you cannot get through the process of writing a business or marketing plan, then there is no way that you are going to able to run a business. So think long and hard before you decide to open your own business. Be sure to write a business and marketing plan first.

It's All In Your Mind

          There are many things that go into setting an appealing price for things. There are psychological rules that many companies follow that make people believe that they are getting a better deal than they really are. These rules aren't known by most people, and most consumers don't realize that their minds are being tricked. 
         One of the most common rules that is implemented is that by leaving the comma out of  a large number, like $1000, it makes the number appear smaller at first glance. Take a look... $1000 vs. $1,000. When you first look, which number looks smaller to you? Another one of these pricing tricks is that when an item costs a dollar or less, it more appealing for the price to end in a 9, like .99 or .89. When an item is priced over a dollar, it is more appealing to have the price end in a 9 or go in increments of .50, like 9.99 or 9.50. When an item is priced over $100, it is best to keep the decimal out all together, and keep things to round numbers, like $115 instead of $115.00. All of these things make the customer believe they are getting a deal regardless of whether they actually are or not. So,next time you go shopping, pay attention to the price tag. It is saying more than you might think.

It's All About Who You Know... And I know Crackle.

        

I heard a comedian once tell a joke about what it really meant to be famous. According to Mitch Hedberg, one was not really famous until they had a picture on a popular cereal box. He said that he wanted to be on the Rice Crispies Box. It would be Snap, Crackle, Mitch, and Pop. He then said, "It's all about who you know, and I know Crackle." 
   This joke is quite funny, but it isn't incorrect. If a product has the right face associated, or the right logo, it will be more appealing to the everyday consumer, and will sell more. Putting athletes on the Wheaties boxes proved advantages. Having a peanut in a top hat with a cane made all the difference in the world for Planter's. This principle doesn't only apply to food. A customer would likely pay two times the amount of money for a shoe with a picture of Micheal Jordan on the side than they would for the same shoe with nothing on it. A that sports Rachel Ray's name will be perceived as a better product. Perfumes endorsed by celebrities are more expensive, but they sell better. These facts are irrefutable, when it comes to branding, it really can be all about who you know. 

Going Up

   

    Working in the Elevator Pitch, really made me think about all the things that go into planning a business and what it takes to get one's business out there. The only way for a business to grow is to bring it to the attention of the general public and potential investors. To do this, one has to do quite a bit of research. They would have to know their target market, all that there is to know about their product or service, and all there is to know about their competition. They would have to be different in some way in order to set themselves apart. Sure, one could just throw the information about their business out into the void that is the market, and see what happens, but that would be silly. The smart thing to do is to research, think, and know what you're doing, who you should be talking to, and who you are up against before casting your line.

The Market is Wide Open

          

    One of the fastest growing positions in the job world is in the field of marketing. There are more and more positions available in marketing every day. Every company in the world has need of an expert in marketing, whether it be in traditional adverting or in the pr or customer relations. There is much more to marketing then advertising, so there really are almost endless potential job opportunities.  Some companies may be in need of someone to organize focus groups. Other companies might just need an idea man. Whatever the need, it is evident on websites like Monster and Jobs.com. So if you're in search of a marketing job, I would say that now is the time to shine.

Things Are Not As They Seem

        

  Subliminal messages are still around. Most people think that subliminal massages are all about what is hidden in a television program, commercial, or piece of music. Subliminal means below the threshold of sensation or consciousness, perceived by or affecting someone's mind without their being aware of it. There are many ways to communicate with people's inner most being. 
          Advertisers are constantly looking for ways to bring their product to the attention of consumers. They will use television, radio, magazines, social media, or any other medium that is popular at the time. Years ago, they even used those hidden messages that we have all heard about.  It was such a problem that the U.S. outlawed the use of subliminal messages in advertising. However, there are still subliminal ads in plain sight. A message doesn't have to be encoded into a movie to be subliminal. Like the definition says, it can be any thing that communicates with your subconscious mind. A particular word that may stay with you whether you know it or not. There are images that affect us greatly, but we don't realize it until a while later. Repetitive mentioning of anything will imprint itself on your mind, and you may not know where you got the knowledge of that subject later. There are subliminal messages all around us. We just don't consciously notice that they are there.

Let's See Who Is Watching

     It seems that everywhere we look these days there is some kind of advertising. A billboard here, A commercial there, and even signs on doors in public bathrooms. There aren't many places that you can go where there is isn't a product being shoved in your face. There is a question though. Why are these ads here? Why are certain ads places in certain places via certain mediums? The answers can probably be found in the Focus groups utilized by the marketing teams in these different companies.

    A focus group is defined as a diverse group of people assembled to discuss a certain product before it launches, and to provide ongoing feedback. These groups of people often help companies determine who might be interested in a product, and how much someone would be willing to pay for a particular product. For instance, say there is a new vacuum cleaner being released into the market. The key features if this vacuum are that it is light weight and silent. The focus group to this product is made up of many different peoples, several of which are stay at home mothers of small children. Based on the information that was given, these women find that this product is most appealing to them and would be most likely purchased by woman in similar situations. This product would enable them to clean house, and not wake their napping children. Going on the results of the focus group, the vacuum company will advertise for their product in places, on channels, programs, and radio that will reach this demographic. So the nest time you see an ad on the back of a bathroom door, or inside your favorite magazine, know that that particular product is meant to be there because it will probably peak some interest in you.
 

The Bus is the Word

While in Nashville this past weekend, I saw several if these buses driving around the city. They were everywhere I seemed to look. I decided to snap a photo, and do a little research to see what exactly it was that they were advertising. 

      Motor Coach Industries is a part of a bigger corporation, Motorcoach Counsel. Their main objective is to promote public awareness about motor coach transportation. I'd have to say that they are doing an amazing job of spreading the word. By having their vehicles prevalent in densely populated, tourist area, they are hitting all of their target markets. The colors are attractive and eye-catching, and the message on the ads is just enough to make someone want to find out more. This is a pretty good marketing strategy if i do say so myself.

What's Going On Downtown?

          Studies have shown that in the last several years, there has been a shift back into to cities. There is a great migration taking place that is moving people away from the suburbs. This is not just happening in larger cities. This movement is taking place all over the country, even here in little historic Selma, AL. 

          Selma has always been a small city. Most of it's residents live outside of the city limits, and there is a large farming community that is still active here. However, there is a shift that is being facilitated by the powers that be in Selma, to get more people to move back into the city. The majority of the downtown area is lined with old multistory buildings that have businesses on the bottom floor but have nothing occupying the upper levels. City officials have passed a bill that would allow for the renovation and revitalization of these buildings, with the upper levels of them being turned into loft style apartments. There has been lots of talk about this change in the community. What will that mean for local economy and property values? Will it increase the the traffic to the many local businesses that call downtown home? Will this make room for Selma to have a public transportation system? 

         I believe that the shift to city living here in Selma would not so much draw current residents into the city as it would bring all new people in. It would open to door for many new businesses and ventures in the downtown area. There would be room for rental services, pet services, maid services, and cab services. There would be need for more sidewalks, entertainment, and restaurants. The economic potential and business possibilities are endless.There are many people in the area that are against the redevelopment of downtown however. They feel that Selma will loose it's historical value and significance if there is too much of a change.

I love Cake

        To own and manage a business, one has to possess many qualities. One of the most important, if not the most important quality one should have, is passion. You can have loads of capital, business knowledge, education, and the best location, but if you don't love what you are doing, there's not much of a chance that you will be successful. 

        I have had many jobs in my life. Most of them have been in the service industry. When I started college initially, I was studying to become a nurse. I thought that it would be good money, and that I was pretty much guaranteed to always have a job somewhere. After my first semester, I began to think about the choice that I was making, and I asked myself, Will you be happy in this job 20 years from now? Is this really what you want to do for the rest of your life. The answer was no.

       As the title of this post says, I love cake. I love to bake it, decorate it, serve it, and of course eat it. I would rather be elbow deep in sugar and frosting than in any other job in there is out there. My dream is to one day open my own bakery so that I can share my love of cake with the world, even if it's one slice at a time. I have a lot to learn about business and management. I still have plenty to learn about cake. I'm not nervous or worried about opening my own bakery though, because the on thing I'm not lacking is passion.

       The point that I thought was most interesting about the introduction to this ETP course was that 50% of small businesses fail after the first five years. That really surprised me. It seems that if a business can make it the first five years, it can make it all the way. It was also interesting to me that 65% of the businesses that fail, do so because of a people problem. The dynamics between family, employees, and partners can make or break a business. This just goes to show you that no matter how amazing an idea you have, if you don't have the right people in the right places, you can fail.