bizthreads.net: Business Information for Entrepreneurs by an Entrepreneur

Branding is something that gets talked about a lot when it comes to businesses. But branding applies to people as well.

I was thinking about this the other day when I watched The Sentinel, starring Michael Douglas. Through the show he always seems to be just a step or two behind and you're sure that he's going to be bested by the villain. Then in one scene he puts on his suit, straightens his tie and you know that he is now about to turn the tables and come out victorious. In fact, during this scene, I turned to my wife and said, “This is why I watch Michael Douglas movies.”

When he puts on a suit, just a regular business suit, he becomes a powerhouse. From movies like Wall Street to Perfect Murder to The Game and, of course, several others, he seems to play the wealthy-but-haggard role very well.

I mentioned this to a friend of mine and he pointed out Bruce Willis, who seems to play the worn-out-cop (Die Hard, Sixteen Blocks) or the confident-assassin role (Whole Nine Yards, The Jackal, Lucky Number Slevin) very well.

I could go on and on about the types of roles that different actors seem to play again and again. For whatever reason, when Hollywood writers want a specific role, they seem to choose a specific actor. This is branding at work in a person.

Each one of us is a brand, although most of us (I think) don't try very hard or even realize the potential of that brand. What kind of brand do you portray when you're doing business?

In a previous blog I talked about Mark Cuban's critical analysis of YouTube.com being a copyright infringement lawsuit waiting to happen. Just a week later, Google bought YouTube for $1.6 billion.

No one sued YouTube before because it didn't make any money. But what about now that it is owned by the obscenely wealthy Google.com?

It seems that during the deal signed between Google and YouTube, some companies including Universal Music, Sony BMG, and Warner all are participating in some kind of deal in order to get in on the action as a way to (potentially) ward off lawsuits.

Then, one day later, and no surprise to anyone,YouTube deleted over 29,500 videos because a coalition of over 20 Japanese organizations wanted to deal with copyright infringement.

What's my take on this? The problems are just beginning. They'll get ironed out eventually but there will be more deletions before it's through.

But more than that, there's a greater copyright issue at stake here. The web is redefining what people think about copyright and how they treat it. It's so easy to copy and paste and call it your own that companies are struggling just to keep up… with very little to effectively deal with the situation.

Looking for a way to understand yourself and communicate more effectively? The Myers Briggs Type Indicator is a way to discover how you act and react in situations and it can help you improve your interpersonal relationships. As far as personality tests go, this is one of the best I've ever used: it is accurate, revealing, and exciting.

Take the test yourself and have your staff take it to help you function better as a team. Then apply its principles with your customers and vendors to make sure you communicate clearly with everyone.

Improved communication can lead to better understanding, mutual benefit, more sales, and improved loyalty.

We are about halfway through this last quarter of the year. That means that there is about another month and a half to work to reach our goals… and the pressure is on not just to reach the goals for this quarter but to reach the goals for the calendar year.

How close are you? Can you reach the goals you've outlined for the quarter? What needs to be done differently to do so? What about your calendar year goals? Will they be reached by the end of the year?

With the holiday season approaching, many companies find that holiday shopping can really make or break their business and they set their goals to rely on it. If it “comes through” for you every year, than you may continue to do that… but if it seems to be sensitive to the whims of the economy and doesn't always help you meet your goals, perhaps you should consider basing your goals on the other 11 months of the year and work at raising those sales.

With just a month and a half to go, consider this effective business builder: Commit to making 2 more sales calls each day. That's an additional 10 calls a week or about 60 more calls by the end of the year. Now compare that to your closing ratio… how much more business will that bring in?

Laura asks, “Do door-to-door sales still work?”

Dear Laura,

According to SBTV , there are 13 million sales people making door-to-door calls resulting in over $28 billion in sales. The numbers show us that it is effective. But aside from the numbers we need to also do a gut check: What do your instincts tell you about door-to-door sales?

While it does generating buying activity, it may lower the perceived respectability of your business. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with it, but I am suggesting that consumers may lump your business in with other door-to-door contact, including religious organizations or those companies that sound like they are the power company offering to lower your energy bill.

If you do want to use the face-to-face method of sales, it's okay to use door-to-door methods as long they are not your primary method of contact. Let people connect with you through the telephone or Internet first and then offer the value of coming to their home to display your wares. This makes you seem like you add value to their lives by saving them time.

Buzz

Dividing your customer base into segments is a helpful way to more effectively target them. There are a number of ways to divide customers into segments. One of those ways is on the price/value spectrum.

On one side of the spectrum are the people who will spend whatever is necessary to get good value. On the other side of the spectrum are the people who want to buy the product at the lowest possible price and who will willingly forgo value to do so. In the middle are the average shoppers looking to balance value and price in a reasonable way.

My advice to new business owners looking to start a business: forget about the price shoppers. Instead, focus on the groups looking for more value. Although the price shoppers can be a valuable customer base, they are also potentially fickle if you can't maintain your low prices.

I confess to not really being into video or computers games very much. I spend large portions of my day online running my businesses so I'm happy to turn off my computer and do something else. So perhaps you'll forgive me for completely missing this trend until now.

Recently, a news article reported that Reuters (the news agency)has bought into something called “Second Life.”

I didn't know what Second Life was so I checked it out. At first I thought, “Oh, it's just an online game; it's strange that Reuters would buy into it.” Then I looked closer.

It's more like a social site (like MySpace.com or Yahoo360 where people can interact with other people) in a computer-based 3D world. People can live personal and professional lives online in this Second Life world

What amazed me is, according to the Second Life website, there are nearly a million users and (at the time of this writing) almost $400,000 real dollars have been spent in the last 24-hours. These fictional people represent real people and these real people are buying real products and services… which is why Reuters has joined them.

Does your business have an opportunity to make money by selling products to computer-animated people? Second Life is inviting businesses to take part: http://secondlife.com/businesspartners

Although most of my clients tend to be small and medium sized businesses, I have the fortunate experience to be working with a huge multinational company right now (one of the biggest in the world!). They're rolling out a key product and wanted help in training their sales staff on selling it. They sent me the marketing materials they have developed so far to give me something to work with. As I reviewed it I was really impressed!

Among the marketing materials they sent there were…

· A document on external communications describing the product, including the proper way to name the product (for example, whether or not the word “the” should be in front of it or whether it should be capitalized or abbreviated).

· A list of competitors and what their competing product was along with a brief outline of why this company's product was better.

· A book of sales guidelines, including upselling and cross-selling ideas, customer's “hot buttons” (the things that make them want to buy).

In all there were nearly 5GB of documents to help the salespeople sell!

The company has used its massive resources to help its salespeople sell the product. But that isn't limited to a multinational company. What can you do in your own company to sell more products (or help your salespeople)? Develop more resources to make more sales.

As a business owner you need to be vision-casting, motivating your staff, and planning.

Here are the top five areas you should be planning:

1. A business plan: You need this before you start! It should include a market analysis, a competition analysis, an industry analysis, and a financial analysis, among other components.

2. A marketing plan: This should be constantly updated to reflect your growing business. It should have samples of your marketing with ideas for the future.

3. A financial plan: This is part of your business plan, but also can stand alone if necessary, to help you anticipate and control income, expenses, and profits.

4. A customer satisfaction plan: You'll want this to make sure you're creating policies and structures that keep your customers happy.

5. A contingency plan: This is something you do in case your business succeeds more quickly than you imagined or in case it fails. Both can be disastrous but you can come out ahead with careful planning. Don't forget to plan for emergency contingencies as well.

Do you have each one planned? If not, get out your planner and plan to plan!

E.Y. writes, “Buzz! Help me! I want to start a business but I have no idea where to start. I feel overwhelmed by the possibilities.”

Dear E.Y.,

“Many people feel that way; you're not alone. If we met in person I'd start a dialogue with you about a few things including:

· What do you like to do? (As a hobby, for example.)
· What are you good at?
· How long have you done that?
· Would you say your knowledge on the matter is a little, intermediate, or a lot?
· Create a list of 5 — 10 things that you love to do.
· Create a list of 10 — 25 things that you feel other people need.
· Compare your two lists. Do you notice any overlap?
· Are there businesses currently doing any of the 5 — 10 things that you love to do?
· Do you think the marketplace can sustain another business in that sector?
· What would you do the same as those other businesses?
· What would you do differently?

Once you've asked yourself these questions, then you're ready to start… PLANNING! Click to MoreBusiness.com and check out the resources there (such as business plan templates).

Other Resources: Health insurance leads can help you grow your business through a good return on investment.