American Onslaught
The Nickel and the Dime
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So it has been a bit, be let me catch you up on something that many of you out there in virtual world might appreciate. I am talking about giving something away for free to get something better back. Easy right, well maybe not.
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Recently, I traveled. Let me tell you, that is something that has become distasteful. Not because of any line, or boarding procedure, but rather because of the business practices executed within the hopitality industry. However, they are not the only industry guilty of this practice. I am of course talking about the services sold in conjunction with modern day travel.
So you start by buying a ticket or renting a car. But of course you cannot just pay money for the service these days. There are the extras. If your flying its extra to check your bag and even, in the case of my recent trip, the soda while your 3,000 feet above the ground. I mean come one, I’m trying not to think about the fact that I am in a 50 ton vehicle that by all logic should not stay in the air but does, and I’m getting asked for $2 for the can of coke that should cost me $0.60.
But Airlines are not the only ones in on this new game in travel. Hotels are right on board, asking their guests to pay $12.95 for two days worth of internet access on top of the couple hundred spent on a several night stay. I mean its the Boston Park Plaza Hotel and Towers for crying out loud.
This nickel and diming is happening everywhere in America these days, and it is bad for business.
Some reading this may be thinking, “Well I cannot give it away for free,” or ”I have to get paid.” Well if this is your attitude you might want to take a few hours and come up with another way to develop a strong reputation, strong brand, and loyal customer base.
Far too many businesses now a days are putting out their hands for more and more money, without ever having to earn it. It comes in all forms too. Some beg the government while others pick the pocked of consumers. The idea and feeling people are let with are the same either way.
Now, I am not saying you should give something huge away for free, but help your customers without the all mighty dollar being the focus of every action. Do this and people will want to help you, which means spending their money. And they know this. It is not lost on anyone that businesses is valuable and the more of it there is the stronger a company will be.
What I am taking about can be done in a variety of ways. Here let me explain.
In the instance of small business owner with a website, here is a tip teach the basics. Don’t actually teach your customers some of the basics of your service, but offer them a way to learn via your business’s website.
So if you are a pool man, post a video about how to properly clean a pool or maybe how to change a filter. If are a bakery, then show the backing process in the morning or . This kind of content on your website does to things.
First, by offering people away to learn for themselves on your website, people will go to your website to learn. They will tell other people to go to your website and learn. It’s pretty straight forward and logical is this action reaction chain.
Second, they will be indeared to you and your company. If I find out how to clean my pool on this website, where do you think I am going to go to find someone who can fix my water pump. So instead of hassling the customer to make sure you got the $100 for cleaning the pool, you have made sure to get the $1,000 for fixing the pump.
So in the case of my trip, if the hotel had just given me Internet access I might have enjoyed my stay better and wanted to say there in the future. Now, I wont. Same is true for the airline, though it is trickier because they all charge for checked baggage far as I know. But if I find one that doesn’t I will make sure to fly on them, even if my tick is a few dollars more sometimes.
So business owners an operators, don’t be afraid to give something away for free. In fact, when it is something small it is a good business practice to do just that.
The Advertising Model, who came up with that anyways?
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The title of this post says it all. Really, who came up with the advertising model. I want to know. If you can shed some light on this I would appreciate it. But at this point who came up with it is a little like asking what killed the dinasors. It might be nice to know, but the real point is they are dead. And if companies keep following the advertising model for revenue generation they may find themselves in a similar way.
I think many realize that the advertising model was born form the newspaper. The first newspaper was printed in the early 15th century, and at that time advertisements were the most innovative way to reach consumers. Just think of it, at that point in history most of what people knew about what was going on in their community let along in the world was communicated by world of mouth. So newspapers were something everyone would want to read, advertisements and everything.
Over time, as it tends to happen, things begun changing. People were no longer as interested in reading papers let along reading the advertisements. Keep in mind, however, ads in newspapers took a long time to die but eventually they did. Now we are seeing the last stage of the, where the newspapers themselves are dying or committing suicide. Whatever you choose to call it, they are dying.
Before the final stages of the newspaper, of which we are seeing today, advertising hopped on the band wagon of another media. That media being radio. When the first ever radio broadcast happened on Christmas Eve 1906, they way people communicated changed. But other than the medium, the way business reach customers didn’t.
The same happened when the television hit the market. The medium changed, from air waves to video waves, but the message remained as an advertisement. Along the way there was some out of the box thinking, but most were content with the same old advertising method that has always existed.
Worse yet, the advertising model has been transfered to the internet. But why. What are we, the companies of tomorrow, still reaching customer and supporting our businesses with a business model that dates back to the 15th century.
There is no need for this. Start thinking outside of the box folks. We all recognize money needs to be made, but is advertising the best way to do this. No, its not.
At least for the Internet, subscription is an easy way to get steady revenue and make sure the you can continue to deliver. Subscriptions work because the consumer is getting a service and the business delivers top quality. This is a model not exclusive to the internet. Does HBO, Showtime, or Cable rig a bell. That is pay for television, a subscription business model. And it works, people pay and line up to do so. Maybe not as many people pay to watch Showtime as they do to watch the free networks, but they are likely more profitable or at least have the potential to be.
If the web business you are opperating does not lend itself well to the subscription model, then affiliate or resale model is always an option. Do what you do best, and let someone else do what they do best. There is no reason why two companies, so long as they are not indirect competition, cannot find ways to profit off one another.
So if you are a website that rates tee-shirt designs they you cannot pair up with a graphic printing company to mutually benefit. You send the printing company business, they give you a percentage of the sale.
Even if, for whatever reason, you are stuck on advertising, there are better ways to do it than just in the traditional manner. Think outside of the box, outside of the norm, on this one. Video games. Strategically placing products in a video game, whether you build it for the promotion or not, can still advertise the product but in a more effective way.
The message here is step away from the traditional. There is always a way to monetize a business. And if there isn’t then you might want to take a step back, an analysis that business.
Survival
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I saw something today that makes me think there is at least one old media company that will survive this New Media Revolution.
So we all know that many television networks are slowly making the transition online, allowing full episodes of show to be watch, fans to join groups, etc. But there all have yet to really do some out of the box thinking and promotion, at least until today.
Last night I tweeted my intentions about watching the show Damages on FX. So nothing new there. But to my surprise this morning I was notified that I was being followed @PattyHewes on Twitter. For those of you who do not watch the show, Patty Hewes is Glenn Close’s character on the show. Now obviously Glenn Close, or Patty Hewes for that matter, was not following me (probably some poor film student intern) but you have to love the idea.
And what @PattyHewes was tweeting about was not just a shameless promotion of the show. It was as if the character was real and really using twitter. In fact, all the characters from the show (at least the main ones) are on twitter, truly embodying the characters.
Other than the fact that this is pretty cool, step back for a minute and really think about it. FX, or really News Corp., is really grasping what the change is that is happening within media. As far as I can tell, they are the only company I have seen that has realized what is going on and decided to change with the times rather than resist. This is what will make them survive, where others will fail.
All media companies, new and old, should consider the innovative thinking of News Corp., at least in this capacity. Use social media and develop your characters on the screen and in the real world.
Cruise Control or The Fast Lane
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I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about what it takes to be not just a business owner, though the same principles apply, but an entrepreneur and a successful one at that.
With the currently economic climate, the challenges of raising capital, the environment for entrepreneurs has gotten harder. But those who are truly ready to start something amazing will survive. Don’t think for a second, however, that this survival is easy. It takes a never dying spirit, a willingness to never give up, and a need to overcome.
I use the analogy of the fast lane or cruise control because it is an appropriate euphemism getting a business started. Let’s face it, life let alone business, does not work parked in a lane set on cruise control. You have to be both willing and able to take it past 100 mph in the fast lane. And sustain that speed, adrenaline, for the life of your business.
Don’t take this lightly, it is not an easy thing to do. It takes both passion and dedication that only increase with each obstacle and not dwindle. Trust me when I say, speaking from personal experience, everything that can go wrong…does.
There is no such thing as an easy ride down the highway of starting your own business. And if you are going to head down that road, you better go faster and be better than everyone else. Because there is no such thing as an original idea, everything you can think of someone has already thought of it and someone else has before that.
The point I am trying to make, at the risk of sounding cliche, is that if you are starting a business, especially during these time, you have to be willing to go big or you might as well go home. Be bold, be strong, be passionate.
The one thing you have to realize is you will never, never get anywhere in business or life if you don’t take that big bright world by the horns and make it yours. Go 167 mph in the fast lane.
Take the risks. Live and breath your business. Believe in it and be it. And make sure to check your mirror for those obstacles that can stop you long that highway.
