Don't Stunt Your Growth; Keep Learning!

Inundated with offerings of free, online , web-exes, seminars, networking presentations? Feeling overwhelmed by the plethora of offerings designed to lure you into still another class or to sell you something? Think you can't afford the time so you don't respond to any of them and don't partake at all? That is an easy point to come to, but it would be a mistake. With so many of us still trying to become truly proficient on line or awakening to the the fact that our business model may need to change to stay relevant in the changing world, it is incumbent upon us to take advantage of those offerings which seem to make sense, even as frequently as one or two every week. The key is to probe what the content will be and whether it will be of value. Send an email back to the sponsor; look the organization up on the web and try to contact it before you make the commitment in your calendar. But, when you realize that it could be worth your time, take the time. Be sure to accommodate a few every month: keep abreast of changes, become adept with social media, or become informed enough to decide they are not for you. Whatever your field, the world is changing and you need to know how to change your own business with it!

Can "Down & Dirty" Research Be Trusted?

The issue of spending money on research is a difficult one for entrepreneurs and small companies on tight budgets but an important one. Some new entrepreneurs and small business owners intuitively believe that market research is not needed before launching their new product or service; others believe it will be cost prohibitive and not worth the expense; and still others hope they can get away without either making the effort or spending the funds despite its potential value. However, sounding out prospects'needs in advance can be critical even if funds are truly limited, especially on pricing and positioning issues. Can insight be gained through what is often referred to as cheap "Down and Dirty Research" or is the process so risky as to make the findings suspect?
Most marketing experts will probably take exception to "casual" or informal exploratory work and advise against it but maybe they haven't faced the reality of being an underfunded entrepreneur. And, in my experience, while I don't advocate it as the best way to proceed, an informal exploration can often help ferret out a promising way of talking about a new service or product, or, at worst, eliminate approaches which are truly flawed. Such "research" can be done inexpensively by developing a few alternate positioning statements (different ways of wording and rationalizing the benefits) and trying them out on 15-20 people who judgementally appear to be logical prospects. Friends and acquaintances who meet this criterion will have to suffice if money is not available to gather a random sample of likely purchasers for formal focus groups or a 1-on-1 study or to hire a trained group facilitator. Once this phase of the exploratory is completed, the favorite two or three statements can then be put into a web survey of 300 to 400 prospects, whose demographics seem to fit your likely target profile. Names and emails of "likely interesteds" can be obtained by visiting relevant trade shows, talking to retailers in the types of stores which might carry your product, chatting up ad sales people for the type of media where you might run an ad or through relevant Linked In industry groups to which one belongs. Costs can be kept down by using a Survey Monkey or Zoomerang type of online study to confirm the findings of your informal conversations. And while this isn't the best way to do research, it strikes me as a step worth taking: it could prevent one from going off in a totally wrong direction...... a way to lower the odds of being on the wrong track before spending real money.

The Value of Networking,...Online and Off!

If you're like me, you spend a lot of time networking online through Linked In, Plaxo, Face Book and other social media. While it hasn't paid off for me in terms of new clients yet, I bet it has for some of you and the difference may lie in the nature of the business we are in. Mine is not a transactional business; I only seek to work with 3-4 clients at a time a la a selective coach. Over the years all of my assignments have come from in-person referrals...from people who have come to know me through personal networking at Chamber of Commerce meetings and the like. But,if one is in a transactional enterprise involving the purchase and sale of commodity-type products or others which can be bought via e-commerce, the seller's integrity is probably less of an issue.... the key is more in the reputation of the brand being offered. Here, online networking can perform wonders provided one is committed to it and has the discipline to participate every day. When you do,it will work, even without a face to face get together. However, for those of us in personal service businesses, while the ability to meet initially through online intros is important, we still need to establish mutual trust and confidence. Therefore we must augment the online intro with a "face to face" over a cup of coffee. But, whether as the source of an initial lead or an opportunity to complete a sale, the online world is here to stay as an all-important business development tool.