Grow From Here

At one of our team meetings recently, we read through a list of wierd and wonderful error messages created by programmers (we try to have something fun in each meaning).  One could get very philosophical about the deeper meaning of each of these and what they say about life, but they can also be read just for fun and a little light relief

(sadly, I don’t know the origin of these or I would happily attribute them back…)

• I once tried to post-date a piece for publication and was given the error message, “The future has not happened yet.” Wow, really? Thanks for that news flash.
• I have a system that will occasionally throw out one word… PANIC. Oookay… I have many places that could be in a panic state, can you throw me a clue as to the location, at the very least?
• Back in the day, my Cadnetix workstation once put up: “We should never get here.” That’s high on my list of informative and reassuring messages.
• The server understood the request, but is refusing to fulfill it. OK,Hal. This message implies that there is a problem with a rogue server with an attitude problem.
• “A internal error broke out” – it was exactly this spelling etc.  I often wondered what kind of internal error it was, and where it broke out from!
• I was creating a HOBS payment back in the 90’s. The create instruction dialogue box popped up to let me the world as we know isn’t real…”the state of the atom is invalid – [OKAY]” Damn. That’s not “OKAY” at all.
• IF-YOU-ARE-HERE-SOMETHING-IS-TERRIBLY-WRONG. STOP.
• Many years ago I tried to install a modem program on a Mac. It didn’t work and the error message was: “Installation failed. Something is wrong. Find out what it is, fix it, and try again“.

I’m very proud to tell you that in our company we do not write error messages like these, but we sure had a good laugh over them

Communication, Fun, Technology

Facebook 101:

1. Some companies use personal pages to promote their business
2. Some companies have brand pages set up to promote their business
3. Facebook introduced the new ‘timeline’ feature publicly in mid December 2011 (to much controversy) – this features displays your data differently and allows viewers to scroll through all past posts and activity way back to when you first created your page.  Originally the Timeline was optional.
4. Yesterday, Facebook announced that the Timeline will be rolled out to all personal pages (i.e. no longer optional) over ‘the next few weeks’ – no more optional.  Once you get timeline (it will appear at the top of your profile, unless you choose to get it now) you will have 7 days to update it and preview it and then it will be rolled out live.

Business Implications

Currently only businesses using personal pages are impacted.  So if you are one of those (or if your personal page is connected to your business profile) you may want to get the timeline at your own convenience (i.e. schedule the time in and then get it yourself) to ensure that you can choose what will show up in the timeline.  You can hide items and delete them from the profile, and you can feature other items.  But don’t let your profile switch without you knowing what is there.

If your company uses a brand page, you are not affected yet (assuming your personal page is completely separate from that brand page).  There has been much speculation about whether the Timeline will be rolled out to brand pages, but no word yet on any plans for that.  However, this may be a good opportunity to do a quick brand review:

• Does your page reflect your brand accurately?
• Has this changed over time?
• Do you need to be concerned if an when the timeline is rolled out for brand pages?  If so, is there someone in your organization that is aware of these possible changes and watching for them?

The biggest risk here is ignorance – when you know it’s coming, you can manage the process and keep aware of what is happening, and make sure that your brand continues to be reflected the way your company wants.

Communication, Technology, Tips

What is your motivation behind starting a social media campaign?

Social media is all the buzz; it’s unavoidable whether you are at work or play.  It is extolled online by bloggers and web writers, and is ballyhooed in traditional learning environments like conferences and seminars.

Not only are we constantly being bombarded by social media, we are being sold on it.

Most of the information serves to hype the various platforms and to illustrate how ‘easy’ it is to get up and running.  This hype gets people eager to join in, or feeling like they should join in when they don’t want to.  A critical component has been left out.  The secret weapon behind a successful foray into social media lies in your answer to one question:

What are you trying to achieve?

Without asking this question first, it is easy to get overwhelmed and confused.  Multiple options, peer pressure and media hype can leave you stressed and unsure where or how to begin.  You may shut down at this point, or -worse- jump in feet-first, ending up frustrated and entangled in an unproductive task.

Once you know clearly what your goals are, building an effective social media strategy is almost formulaic – just follow the steps to get to your goal.  Social media is a tool to help you get where you’re going:  it is not an end in itself.

A social media campaign is strategically no different than a traditional marketing campaign: it all begins with specifically identifying what you want to accomplish.

You can’t hit a target you can’t see, and you can’t see a target you do not have. (Zig Ziglar)

This means that before you commit to a social media plan, you need to know what the success measures will be.

• Are you looking for more customers?
• Increased sales from existing customers?
• Are you looking to increase traffic to your website?  If so, why?
• Is it a branding exercise?  A public relations move?
• Are you trying to build credibility with prospects reached by your sales team?
• Are you trying to find strategic partners to work with?

Know what you want to accomplish, and then check out companies that have successfully done what you want to do, and see how they did it.  For example, Blenz Coffee has been extremely successful in getting great PR using social media.  They also use it to increase sales to existing customers and to find new customers.  Do a simple google search for ‘Blenz Social Media’ for some great examples of ways to get achieve business results.

But before you try to jump in, remember the question – what do you want to accomplish? And if you look at the best ways to accomplish your goal, is social media the right tool for your company?

Best Practices, Business Growth, Technology, Tips

It’s not just techies who need to be able to remote connect.

Have you ever wished you could see what someone is talking about during a phone conversation?

Has someone ever asked you how to do something & you’re trying to describe the steps?

Have you ever wondered what someone was stuck on when they couldn’t explain it?

Communications problems cost all businesses a lot of money (watch for our upcoming video series about the trials and tribulations of communications in business!) and one fabulous tool that lets you see the other person’s screen (or show them yours) instantly and for free is Join.Me

It works with macs, pcs, iphones, androids and much much more.  All you need is an internet connection on both ends.  Try it out and see how much time and frustration you can save.

Productivity, Technology, Time Savers, Tips

Recently I came across an interesting tool on Google Labs that show’s how most people using the world’s top search engine view content.

Using the tool, you can input any URL and get an insider’s look at how visitors see the site:

Click on the image to visit Google Labs...

Most people using Google to search don’t have a full sized browser window open. When a visitor does click on your website link, they will only see a certain amount of the content. The smaller the window, the greater percentage of visitors.

This tool is a fascinating insight into what people see when they look at a website – especially as our fixed computer screens get wider and wider.

Looking at these results, the first assumption would be that the ideal website would fit into the small purple area that most visitors see.  I disagree.  I think it is important to be aware of what people on mobile or other devices will see, but at the same time, you don’t want to waste the real estate screen that other visitors will see.

So my advice is to design your website so that the most important message is getting seen by everyone, be aware of what is most common and how changing behaviors will start to affect website design, and then make an informed decision about what will be best for your company.

What would a visitor to YOUR site see if they had a smaller window open?

Click here to learn more about this tool and check it out.  Or visit Google Labs to take a look at all the other fun stuff they’re working on.  And come back to tell us what you find

Search Engine Optimization, Technology, Tips browser size, Design, Google Labs, search engine, Website

Have you ever said that keeping franchisees happy is like herding cats?

The biggest impediment to franchise growth, as you likely know, is unhappy franchisees. Even if you have leads, you won’t be able to close them if the existing zees are unhappy.  Don’t worry; no one’s franchise operations are perfect!   Let’s look at how to improve this area.

While you are working to improve operations (or trying to find the time to do so…) good communication will go a long way to improving franchisee satisfaction. If you can quickly and easily share information with your franchisees and get useful feedback from them, then you will either:

• get good franchisee validation when new prospects are in the  funnel, or
• know why you’re having trouble with franchisee validation

Sometimes when I’m discussing communication with franchisors, I hear:  “The last thing I want is more complaints – then I have to deal with them!”

The trade-off is that allowing franchisees to express their thoughts and feelings often alleviates the emotional impact on them, and it deflates the problems.

You may be very pleasantly surprised by positive feedback that comes through these free-flowing communication channels.  This positive information can validate you as it confirms what you are doing right.  It can further be used to strengthen marketing materials.

You would be surprised how easy it is to set up a system that allows people to share their thoughts, comments and questions without taking up a lot of your time or energy. 

One great way to do this through the use of an employee ‘Intranet’ - a place where franchisees can have an online conversation with you (and ideally with each other) in a protected environment.  This system also allows you to review the exchanges at your leisure, and to share information with them simply and easily.

Managing these communications so that you don’t end up with online gripe sessions (which only further inflame people) is a huge issue in itself.  But that’s a topic for another post!

Does the idea of an Intranet feel overwhelming to you?  You’d be surprised by how easy we can make the process.   Contact us at online@openboxinc.com and a 15 minute demo will show you how you can get started easily.

Business Growth, Communication, Franchise, Technology franchisor, good communication, happy franchisees, Intranet, strategy

Continuing from the last post, “Your Secret Weapon for Social Media,” keep in mind that social media is one marketing tool among many.  Remember the keys to success:

1. know what success looks like for your company
2. use that knowledge to select your strategy
3. implement and then
4. measure using your key metrics
5. adapt direction as necessary based on your results
6. repeat

With a good plan, social media can be a great boost to your business.  Your first step lies in defining exactly what it is you seek to accomplish.   There are five common business needs that social media can facilitate.

Choose the most appropriate one for your company:

• You want to grow sales directly
• You are trying to drive online traffic
• You want to learn about what your customers are thinking and get product feedback
• You are building your brand
• You are looking for people who will make good strategic partners

Focussing on your goal will dictate what particular strategy to follow and what to avoid. We’ll describe strategies that one might adopt for each of these goals using fictitious companies.

1-          Grow sales directly. ‘Sock-It-To-Ya’ is a new company that manufactures ladies socks and tights (their customers are young, fashion-conscious women).  They have a website, have set up e-commerce and are eager to begin direct sales and are sure that having a presence online will serve them well.

2-         Drive online traffic to the company blog. ‘The Hard Software Company’ is expanding rapidly.  The highly creative owner knows that she has a high level of expertise, and wants to establish herself as an industry expert so that she can be invited to speak at conferences and further grow her business.  She has recently set up a content-rich blog and wants to drive traffic to it so that she can expand her influence and firmly entrench her industry position.

3-         Learn what my customers are thinking and get product feedback.

‘Juicy’s’ is a regional chain of juice bars.  They are about to introduce a new high-protein smoothy, targeted to fitness fanatics.  The samples have been well-reviewed, but the owners are deliberating what to call the new offering.  They decide to launch a contest that allows customers to vote on name choices.  Juicy’s already has a website and a mailing list; now they want to harness the power of social media to get as many people involved as possible, so they have a wide base of feedback.

4-         Build our brand.   Texas is no longer big enough for ‘Texas’ Biggest Buns,’ bakers and wholesalers of hamburger, hotdog and sandwich buns, and it is high time to move into the surrounding states.  Siggy, the CEO, turns the task over to Johnson, telling him to, “Spread the word over the internet waves!”  An anxious Johnston needs to formulate an online strategy to build the brand online so that other states will want to buy franchises.

5-         Find strategic partners. ‘Cats vs. Dogs’ find themselves in an enviable position:  their business has soared to new heights.  They have done so well, that they are ready to expand into bigger -perhaps international – markets.  They want to find experts in financing & business expansion in other countries that they can joint venture with.

Each business knows specifically what they want to accomplish.  But how will they do it?  Tune in to the next posts to follow their progress.

Best Practices, Business Growth, Technology, Tips

Online Coupons Bringing In New Customers

CBC had an interesting interview recently related to the recent increases in online coupon usage.  They’re in huge demand these days and websites like Red Hot Deals are doing a booming business.  Online coupons can be a great way to attract customers and bring new people in to your location.   People are looking for ways to save money these days, and many are open to trying new suppliers/companies if they can get lower prices.  Coupons can be a great way to entice new customers, and the cost can be extremely low (close to non-existant) if you use online coupons.

Using the internet to distribute online coupons for some retailers has led to a reduction in catalouge production/distribution, saving both the consumer & the supplier money, not to mention lowering environmental impact by reducing paper waste.

Statistics on Online Coupon Usage:

Many retail franchises have traditionally used coupons to bring in new clients, and according to a site called Prospectiv, “Tough times are seeing more people using coupons – 72% of consumers are using more coupons than they did six months ago and three quarters say the state of the economy is the reason for doing so”.  This is strong evidence that using online coupons to promote your product(s) or service(s) is a sound marketing strategy.  When times change and new trends on consumer spending practices surface, they often become the norm for the long term rather just surfacing as a “fad”.

Prospectiv also quotes the following survey stats from polling 1,386 consumers, (August 2008): 

• 80% said they would be very likely or likely to increase their use of coupons if they could be tailored to their interests and delivered online.

• 87% of shoppers said they would be more likely to shop at a retailer that offered coupons.

• And the good news for newspapers: 47% found print and online coupons equally convenient, while just 9% reported online coupons were most convenient.

An article on how to market your coupons can be found at TamingTheBeast.net, where ideas such as; raising standard prices; offering a coupon sign up registry on your site; submitting your coupons to online coupon sites & setting up an affiliate program are discussed.

Creating Your Own Online & Print Coupons:

Other options are to create your own coupon(s) using websites such as MerchantCircle.com (for a fee, their service is to assist you with online advertising), or CouponsReady.com  (design your own coupon for your business website, or print distribution).  Each charges a fee for their service, but make the process of online coupon creation a relatively simple process.  Even better, you can set coupons up for free using Google Coupons.

Get set up with Coupons in 10 minutes or Less With Google:

If you’re not already set up on Google Maps, do that first (5 minutes).  Then go to www.google.com/local/add to create an online coupon for your company.

Google Coupons

Best Practices, Business Growth, Communication, Franchise, Technology, Tips advertising, clients, consumers, creating, Design, distribute, economy, franchises, Google Coupons, Google Maps, ideas, marketing, new, offiliate, online coupons, polling, prices, print, product, promote, retailers, service, statistics, strategy, submitting, trends, usage

So You Want To Franchise Your Business by Harold Kestenbaum and Adina M Genn, 2008

This book  is jam-packed with ideas, suggestions, reminders and information.  It is invaluable for anyone who is thinking about franchising their business.  As a sidenote, I have been interviewing a number of franchisors about their experiences recently, and the most common advice they have for someone thinking about franchising is ‘know what you’re getting in to’ or ‘do your homework about franchising’ or some variant thereon, so this book is a great resource to help you do just that.

So You Want to Franchise Your Business contains four main sections, a useful add-on; guidelines for an operations manual, and lots of good stories – both success stories from franchisors and also warnings from franchisors who got some thing wrong.  The four sections are

1. Why Franchise?
2. Moving Forward (information about advisors, operations and so on)
3. Rolling It Out
4. Keeping it Going

I found Part 1 to be the most valuable.  As I kept reading, I realized I was mentally accumulating a huge to-do list, and it started to feel a bit overwhelming.  This is not a book to try and read in one sitting.  But do read it.

This is clearly written by people who have been through the wars (or, if they haven’t, have spent a lot of time with people who’ve been there!).  I was struck by the phrase ‘you get what you pay for’ – one franchisor I spoke with a couple of days ago was telling me what a disaster one particular attempt to do things with few resources had been for her in her early days.  There is also a good exploration of what makes a succesful operations manual (including a sample table of contents) and a whole chapter on exit strategies.  The exploration of what makes a suitable franchisee is also a nice combination of theory (fit, skills, attitude, funding) and practical (review committee, discovery day, earnings claims, etc).

Technology – Integrated Throughout

I have read a lot of books about franchising, and since I run a company that uses technology to help build businesses, I am always curious whether technology is even mentioned.  Often not.  With So You Want To Franchise Your Business, I was intrigued to find ways to benefit from technology running through the various sections:

• Chapter 6 talked about website and marketing tools, including how to provide branded sites to franchisees
• Chapter 8 talked about training tools and how beneficial automated or online training programs can be
• Chapter 9 was all about the website, including how it can support and strengthen branding, sales, quality assurance and lead generation
• Chapter 10 talked about advertising, building buzz online, internet marketing, public relations and electronic coupons
• Chapter 11 talked about online support; including internet training, the convenience of web access, the advantages of a strong audit trail, the benefits of communications tools and how to advance your branding.

This type of integration of technology into core business strategy can be a huge competitive advantage for franchises that see the value and implement it.  One franchisor said to me that technology had been her source of greatest expense & irritation, but had also provided opportunities for revenue and company growth that she would never have had otherwise.  So thank you to the two authors for including the technology thread in their exploration of how best to franchise your business.  And guess what?  You can find Adina Genn online via twitter at http://twitter.com/AdinaGenn (no real surprise there, right?).

Words of Wisdom/Quotes:

“For starters, not every business is franchisable.” (p. 10)

“Most franchisors agree that moving into the business of selling franchises is a tough transition….  So the more you know about the difficulties, the better equiped you may be at overcoming the challenges ahead.” (p. 21)

“If you have franchisees but do not have the appropriate infrastructure to handle them, it can lead to disaster.” (p. 34)

Past Book Reviews

Outliers by Malcom Gladwell

The Franchise E-Factor by Greg Nathan

What No One Ever Tells You About Franchising by Jan Norman

Book Review, Franchise, Technology

There are lots of online technical tools out there. I’m not a fan of tools that just let me play with technology, but the ones that actually forward business purposes are the gems. One good one (and free) is the Press Release Grader from HubSpot. Improve the quality of Press Releases that you send out & make them more effective by getting direct useful feedback before you release them.

“HubSpot’s Press Release Grader evaluates your press release and provides a marketing effectiveness score. This score is based upon basic factors from public relations experts including the language and content of the release, plus advanced factors from Internet marketing experts such as links and search engine optimization characteristics.” (from the Press release grader website).

To test the press release grader, I submitted a sample press release. The results were returned instantaneously, with a follow up email of the full report. The first screen returns a clear and concise analysis along with suggestions on how to improve the press release.

Main page

Some of the suggestions made on how to improve our press release were:

· The anchor text of the link did not seem to match any words in the page title of the target page. For Search Engine Optimization (SEO), use keywords in the anchor text that describe the page being linked to

· Press releases should contain 3 or more links to get the maximum SEO benefit.

· A standard practice when authoring press releases is to include an About section at the bottom of the release. Following this convention makes it easier for those interested in information about the organization mentioned in the release to find it.

· For a press release to have maximum value from a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) perspective, it should contain a hyperlink to the main website of the company.

· It is a standard practice of press releases to include special text at the end of the body of the release. This is usually ### (three pound signs) at the end of the text. This can be either ### or -30-. This special text is used by press release submission software to recognize where the official release ends.

· It is usually a good idea to get a link to your website earlier in the release than I had done in my sample

· (Love this one): This content contains 0 words that are considered gobbledygook (they are overused and lack specific meaning).

The report also offered two additional resources to assist with writing a press release: Which of these rookie mistakes are you making? and a link to join the Pro Marketers Group on LinkedIn

Even though my “grade” came back at a respectable 78/100, it is good to know which tweaks would make it even more effective. After all, the whole point of sending out press releases is to have them be noticed & generating PR for your business.  Five more minutes to know I’m not wasting my time sending it out is definitely a winner.

Past Technical Tips

Keyword Analysis Tool – Write Content that Works for You

Google Keywords Selector – Help the Right Customers Find You

Google Maps – Let Customers Find You

Google Alerts – Keep an eye on the Competition

Technology, Time Savers, Tips