The Sandbox
Mobile Device Growth for 2011
Our friends from mobilefuture.org passed along this awesome video on what is up with mobile.
Got a mobile website? If not, you better….
Content Marketing: Invitation vs. Invasion
elevate29 is partnered with BMA and a number of “big dogs” to present at BMA’s roundtable event in February. We’d love to have you come explore how content marketing has hit the scene hard and why it is important to secure that all-important invitation today. Gone are the days where we could pound down the door of our prospects with the hammer.
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Service to the Max
Quality Service
Here at elevate29, we just got convicted to evaluate “self” deeply and make sure that we love our clients.
In today’s economy, it is necessary to really watch costs (like it never was before). And, I think that the airlines are the perfect example of how to alienate your customers in a big way. There are plenty of other industries as well. Profitability is a big deal. Increased sales is a big deal. And so is customer loyalty. It costs something around 80% less to sell stuff to existing clients as compared to finding new ones.
Loyalty pays.
So, how do we earn loyalty? There are some heavy consulting dollars paid to folks who can build awesome loyalty programs. There are studies done all around the issue. There are rewards. There are programs.
And, then there is common sense.
My daughter has a passion for artistic expression. She finds all kinds of stuff that a father of an 18 year old might not dig so much. But, it is who she is. And, I support that completely.
She found some earrings here in Denver that are made by a company called Omeric Organic. I ordered her some as a gift, but they never made it to my daughter. Something happened in shipping.
I called support. They confirmed the order and said that a new pair would be hand made and shipped out this week. They didn’t fuss or make excuses or anything. They simply took care of the issue for me. And, when you get used to dealing with “airline” type companies, outstanding service is a bright light in dark place.
Now, they get a blog post written about them. Because, they have just earned some serious loyalty.
And, it may never show up in some study, but it will impact their sales.
And, that is common sense.
So, how much love do you show your customers or clients?
Apple issues Generational One iPod Recall
Ok, a little off topic from startup revenue love. But, free Apple iPod love is good love too.
Apple has issue a recall for all first generation iPod’s. This is way cool. If you go digging around and manage to find your old device, Apple will give you a new one provided it’s gen one.
Here is an excerpt from their website:
“Apple has determined that, in very rare cases, the battery in the iPod nano (1st generation) may overheat and pose a safety risk. Affected iPod nanos were sold between September 2005 and December 2006.
This issue has been traced to a single battery supplier that produced batteries with a manufacturing defect. While the possibility of an incident is rare, the likelihood increases as the battery ages.
Apple recommends that you stop using your iPod nano (1st gen) and follow the process noted below to order a replacement unit, free of charge.
Note: This battery issue is specific to the iPod nano (1st gen) and does not affect any other iPod.”
3 Basics to Establishing Your Presence Online
As we meet with various companies, there seems to be a common thread. “I must be doing this.” “I saw those guys doing that. How quickly can we get going on it too?”
There can be a trap to the Joneses mentality. Certainly, we like running in the crowd (makes us feel approved and validated). But, we can get ahead of ourselves trying to keep up.
When it comes to doing it right, sometimes the Joneses just flat have the beat on you, and you have to wait before you can catch up.
Take a look at your online brand and ask three questions:
1) Does my website communicate excellence? (Or do I still look like version one?)
2) Have I finished the race with my website so that it performs as the valuable asset that it should? (Do people find me at the top of Google? Or even close? Does it convert visitors to action?)
3) Where am I neglecting my website? (Is it with content? Is it keeping my blog current? Is it by utilizing that same design from five years ago that uses frames?)
Yea, that’s a few more than three…
But, we thought that we would get you thinking a little more deeply about what you have already invested into and maximzing your efforts there rather than spreading the peanut butter too thin and getting no love from any of it.
If you are working with stale cheese, even the mice won’t want to play around your trap.
Make sure that you are staying on top of the existing “stuff” before venturing into new areas. It will prove highly valuable to your ROI.
Circles or Lines?
Corporate America goes in circles. In lots of ways, perhaps.
When it comes to marketing, the big corporate troops gather round the yule log this time each year and look in the bag of money to come up with cool ideas and programs for the following year. At the end of next year, after having gone around the mountain one more time, they do it again. Circles.
Startups go in lines. We have $5 to spend. That’s it! No mountains to go around. No bag of money. Just the $5. If the fiver produces, we might be able to take the next step. Lines.
What to do?
The answer is simple but not easy.
Prioritize your spend. Make a strategic list, and check it twice. This starts with a basic understanding of your market. Know your audience, where they are, what their issues are and how they chat.
Deploy programs strategically picking the low-hanging fruit first that meets them where they are. Engage others in your space whom you can leverage.
PPC may not be on your radar right now because $5 wont go that far. Best to save the Lincoln’s and let them accumulate.
Sometimes spending nothing is the best strategy.
If you want starting points, look at:
1) Your website (look twice or thrice)
2) Blogging (it’s a cheap way to grow your site’s index pages and get content out)
3) Social Media (linked to blogs and occasional conversations)
4) Google Alerts on your keywords so that you know where the conversations are. Did you think of your own company as a keyword? Hide ‘n seek still rewards.
5) On-page SEO
Still not sure?
Give us a call.
When Value and Price Collide
Fear is a killer.
Perhaps this post should stop right there. If you get this point, sales will increase.
Many pricing strategies focus on getting the deal at all costs. If a prospect pushes back on price, fear’s natural response is to agree and to retreat. Pretty soon, the deal is won but at a price point that becomes impossible to serve the client well.
Value is the fear killer.
What you have to offer provides utility. It benefits your market and makes them better off for knowing you.
Understand the value that you bring to the market. Write it down. Meditate over it. How do you solve problems better than anyone else?
Once you fully grasp how you provide value, price yourself confidently. Do the research. Know the competition. And, know the intersection between your price and your value. There will be plenty of folks who do not agree with your assessment. Excellent. You cannot serve everyone.
But, the ones you do serve, you will serve well.
It’s in your best interest to price yourself according to your value so that you can effectively deliver what is in your heart to do.
Fear has no place in you.
Seminar: How NOT to Build a Web Campaign
elevate29 will be at Corporate Office Centers in Denver on December 14th at 9:30am to do a joint presentation on developing Internet Marketing campaigns.
We will be covering the 2 Traps and 4 Pitfalls to avoid when going to market online. 2by4 web will be joining in on the discussion.
All are invited.
Seminar InfoAre you talking to me?
When starting a business, survival requires us to put the word out in a hurry. We get excited over anyone who will talk to us. We have to eat, right?
So, we tell everyone about our new venture. The business rolodex that we have accumulated over the years gets dusted off. Friends from the past are now our closest companions. Even our family can become a target for our new stuff.
At launch, companies often give away their services to build references. Others discount what they know is a good price to value ratio because the need to get revenue running is so great.
And, that is great when you first start. But, there does come a point in time when talking to anyone who will talk to you no longer proves fruitful.
How do you break out of that mode?
1) Courage is a good start. Know that you have value, and there are people and businesses who need what you have.
2) Realize that not everyone is your client or customer. Your goal should be to price your widget to such a point that maximizes profitability and market share. For example, if you offer your widget for free, everyone is a customer. And, profitability is zero. If you charge $1billion, only a few might fit. And, profitability might be tremendous. Find the interesection.
3) Size your market. How many clients/customers need what you offer based upon the characteristics of your offering?
4) Define your target market. Inside the scope of all who might buy your widget, what is it that defines who you really should be selling to? Developing product or service differentiators helps to tighten down who you will see as your market. As you increase price, for example, you will decrease the size of your market. Perhaps, your greatest value is found working with startup companies who have sales between $50,000 and $5,000,000.
5) Know your sweet spot. Where do you really excel? Maybe, those startup companies between $100,000 and $1,000,000 located in Colorado or Georgia are the ones where you shine most brightly and clearly communicate your value equation.
As you develop your market profile, you should gain clarity in who your customer really is. Know how to communicate with him. Know where she lives. Get inside her closet and solve her problems. The connection will be obvious, and you will no longer need to talk to anyone who will talk to you.
This will save you a ton of time. And, entrepreneurs are taxed to the max with time demands. Consider who you are spending time with in sales, and you might just find that you don’t have to sell to nearly as many and talk to a whole lot less.
Life is more than just eating, right?
Revenue Growth Strategies
3 Keys to Predictable Revenue
With all of the startups that we talk to, we have found that there are three areas that, when focused on, help create more predictability to revenue growth. Each of these three is really elementary. But, when collectively worked through, they provide a solid foundation to growth. And, they help steer your decision-making process so that you are not chasing prospects who don’t fit your profile or partners who should be talking to someone else or even developing marketing campaigns that focus on the elephant when the rhino is your customer.
I. Identity (Who are you?)
Key areas to address:
Company (What are your values? Why do you exist?)
Brand (How to know and be known?)
Customers (Who should they be? Where are they? How do they buy?)
Competitors (You have to be different or you will be commoditized and fight along price. How are you doing?)
Product/Services (Value is king and selling on price kills. Which are you?)
Sweet Spot Targeting and Segmentation (What is your sandbox? How big is it? How much of it do you really play in?)
Your Goal: Develop clear understanding of who company is, what it provides to the market in terms of value that is unique and how that should be priced.
II. Communications (How you gonna to tell people about it?)
Key areas to address:
Identity (How do you tell the world who you are? Does everyone in your company say the same thing?)
Value (Can anyone in your organization clearly communicate what your value chain looks like? How about your website?)
Engagement Terms (Do your companies know how to do business with you? Do they have to translate Greek to English?)
Channels (What are your primary and secondary communications channels? How well do you utilize them?)
Content (Where is your message? What piece of stone have you scribed it onto? Should you have used a brick?)
Your Goal: Create a communications strategy so that target market can easily understand who company is, what it offers and how that will change their lives (value chain). Secondarily, how will company achieve top-of-mind in and outside the industry.
III. Revenue Generation (How you gonna get paid for it?)
Key areas to address:
Sales Channels (What is THE best way to sell your widget? Where do highest volume and margin intersect?)
Internet (How do you use the Internet to generate revenue?)
Sales Staff (Does your unemployed uncle sell for you or the stud who produces revenue like no body’s business but costs an arm and leg?)
Partners (What kinds of partnerships should you have? What kinds have you been chasing? Are they the same?)
Your Goal: Define the right types and number of channels and create sales momentum in each.
Predictable revenue doesn’t have to be as hard as a rhino’s hide. Nor is it so big that you have to eat it like an elephant. Try focusing on the basics and see what improvements happen.
