Storm Dawg Marketing

Hey all,

My tips on trying Paid Search Marketing.  (Did anyone catch my blooper at 2 minutes and 20 seconds in?)

Don’t work too hard!

StormDawg

Good morning StormDawg fans,

I came across a very inspiring article in The New York Times entitled, Small-Business Owners Are Coping, and Feeling Grateful for the Bright Spots, and thought I’d share some of it with you this morning.

A restaurant owner, squeezed by a slump in sales and growing debt to his landlord, discontinues his health insurance. A contractor decides not to replace a member of his small crew who quit. An industrial bicycle maker starts selling to universities, prisons and zoos. For a quintet of small businesses that The New York Times has been tracking for the past year, the persistent recession has hurt some more than others. As fall began, some cautious optimism about a recovery crept into recent interviews conducted by Patrick McGeehan, Erik Olsen and Gabriel Johnson.

Small businesses have been (and are going through) a lot these days.  But these interviews show signs of improvement.  Georgette Blau’s tourism company has started to see a lift from European tourists and notes that customers have begun tipping again.

Wayne Sosin’s industrial tricycles and bicycles has had to create a new market for his products.  While he typically sold to auto plants, big factories and warehouses, this recession has inspired him to expand his market, selling to universities, zoos and prisons.

And while people like Mouhamad Shami still struggle with their restaurants (Shami had to recently drop his health coverage) and Ruben Villasante decided to hold off replacing some employees who quit… others such as Michael Menna are using the business slowdown to economize, reduce operational costs, and even pay down some debts.

Absolutely read the article for yourself, and keep your chin up. We’re on our way.

As StormDawg would say… “Don’t work too hard!”

Bryan D. Jennewein – StormDawg S.W.A.T. Team

Hey all,
Sometimes there seems to be so many things going on that it is hard to concentrate on anything in particular and so everything gets done halfway. There is work, family and friends and social obligations that pop up almost every minute of everyday, and they are all important. That is the real challenge, keeping them in balance.

For me, if things get out of balance for very long, my performance starts to suffer in aspects of my life. I realized awhile back that unless I make time to take care of myself, both mentally and physically, I could lose everything in a heart beat.

Man, I am into some pretty heavy stuff for a Monday morning. To me it all boils down to taking some time out to have fun and if you do, you will be energized to take on the world.

Writing this blog is one of ways I am having fun at work. It is so amazing to me how connected we are and how things work. This week we saw stormdawg.com really go viral. Here is an example of what can happen.

These guys entered the September contest for the StormDawg stimulus package. The ironic thing is they are promoting each others entry. Nicholas Seltzer is promoting Keith Fix’s entry, and posted it to his Facebook account and look what happened.

Keith posted to his wall… 572 friends (impressions)
Nicholas posted to his wall… 154 friends (impressions)
Bret Masterson comments on both posts… 302 friends (impressions)

Grand total… 1,028 StormDawg impressions on Facebook amongst these three people alone.

I am not sure how all of this will play out but I can’t wait to see what happens next. I have a couple of speaking engagements this week where I am talking about social networking and social media to a group of marketing students and to a conference of small businesses. The real message I have is to jump in and get started and you can figure it out as you go.

Take a little time out, take care of yourself and have some fun. You will be a lot more productive if you do.

Don’t work too hard!

StormDawg

You can directly impact your bottom line by cutting your costs. Some small businesses like yours are looking to things such as Buying Groups to do this. Should you?

We know that if we buy more of something (in bulk), we’ll get a discounted price. With buying groups, this happens on a much larger scale when you join a whole group of people buying the same products. With groups like these, you may never have to worry about pesky purchasing minimums or additional freight on smaller orders. Best of all, you can offer a better price to your customers and become more competitive.

How much does it cost? I know…I thought the same thing! According to the attached research from our friends at ORC Guideline, there may be fees that apply when joining these groups, but most likely the fee will be more than made up for in the additional savings and possible rebates you would receive from being part of the group.

Like StormDawg would say, “Don’t work to hard!”
(Maybe you won’t have to if you find the right buying group. Good luck!)

Christina Kudym, StormDawg S.W.A.T. Team

Hey all,

I continue to be amazed by the stories that have been submitted to the StormDawg Stimulus package. It demonstrates a real need in the marketplace, and hopefully with the help of the StormDawg S.W.A.T. Team, we are able to help.

Today is the last day to send in your story for the September contest. Take a little time out from your hectic day, think about what your business needs and send in your story.

Just click here to submit your story now for your chance at FREE marketing!

And don’t forget to have your friends vote for you!

Don’t work too hard!

StormDawg

Good Afternoon StormDawg fans,

StormDawg just forwarded me a very interesting article from last Sunday’s edition of the Omaha World-Herald titled “Making it on your own.” 

The article presents some intriguing statistics on the success of small businesses that started during a recession or bear market.  Among them…

“More than half the companies in the 2009 Fortune 500 list were launched during a recession… [and] nearly half the firms on Inc. magazine’s 2008 list of fastest growing companies in the United States were started during similar economic conditions.”

What does this mean for you?

It means if you were thinking of starting your business, but the economy’s got you scared, don’t be.  And it means that if you’re struggling right now, have hope because many similar businesses made it through just fine.

The article mentions a few local Omaha businesses that are great examples of success.  Karen Bothwell left her job at a cardiologist’s office to develop a new kind of medical gown for echocardiogram and ultrasound patients, featuring built-in bras for women, a shorter length, and more comfort. In short, Karen took a problem she saw over and over at her job and made a business around solving that problem.

Creighton University senior Ben Schaechter had a bright idea of his own: provide an online polling software that provides real-time data about respondents. His product, GoPollGo.com, can show survey creators where their responses are coming from as they come in.

It’s bright ideas like these that turn into successful companies.  And it’s brave entrepreneurs such as Karen and Ben who are planning for success during these tough economic times.  And if the data included in the article is any indication, Karen and Ben have little to fear… and neither do you.

As StormDawg would say, “Don’t work too hard!”

Bryan D. Jennewein – StormDawg S.W.A.T. Team

Good morning StormDawg fans,

Today I stumbled across (quite literally) a great article in American Express’s new Open Forum website.  I was surfing the new site by AMEX, perusing the latest from John Jantsch, and I experienced a classic case of fat fingers.  Suddenly, up popped a very informative article by Mark Stevens (Entrepreneur) entitled, “The 8 Myths of Marketing.”

Here’s the quick list of Mark’s 8 myths of marketing:

• Doing any marketing is better than doing nothing.
• Advertising and marketing are the same.
• The best marketing presents a company and/or its products as beautiful, creative or sexy.
• Great marketing is dreamed up by highly paid executives who make ads, brochures and websites, then let them loose in the marketplace.
• Salespeople aren’t really part of the marketing process.
• More on selling: With the right training, you can turn non-closers into closers.
• Great marketing agencies are the ones who win lots of awards, so choose them.
• Good marketing is based on two rules: A. You should spend x percent of your revenues on marketing; and B. Great direct mail generates an x percent response rate.

Take a few moments to read Mark’s article.  If you don’t know a lot about marketing, this piece provides some great information.

Mark makes one assumption about his audience: he assumes that they market.  I would add one very important “myth” to Mark’s list, and in fact, I’d even put it at the top.

“I don’t need to market because I’m just a small local business.”

How do you expect people to buy from you when you don’t communicate who you are, what you do and who you do it for?  Mark’s right, though… you can’t just blindly market.  Not only is it like throwing thousand dollar bills out the window, but it could very well be like hanging an Out-of-Business sign on your front door.

Heed Mark’s words and take StormDawg’s advice: Act rationally about marketing your business.  Understand who your customers are and reach out to them.  Need help?  Reach out to StormDawg!

As StormDawg would say, “Don’t work too hard!”

Bryan D. Jennewein – StormDawg S.W.A.T. Team

Hey all,

Things have been pretty hectic the past couple of weeks, both professionally and personally. I keep hoping that things will return to normal for a little while, and then I am reminded of a quote from the movie Tombstone. Doc Holliday was on his death bed and Wyatt Earp came to see him. Wyatt was hoping to have a normal life and Doc said, “There is no such thing as a normal life, Wyatt, there is just life, so get on with it.”

Sundays are my day to think about stuff and figure what to do next, and so it goes…..

We had the Trinity fundraiser last Thursday night and I would give it a B+. A lot of things were done right - more than 60 people attended the event and we raised a little money. With the mentoring of Gretchen Littlefield from infoGROUP’s Triplex division, a fine event was planned and executed. The event included the superintendent of the local school district and a speech by Ralston Mayor Donald Groessers’ wife, Deb. Ralston High School Culinary Arts class did the catering, and as usual, a whole host of Trinity volunteers did the heavy lifting.

Bob Whitehouse, one of leaders at Trinity, is also on the University Of Nebraska Board Of Regents, so it was decided to hold the event honoring him and raise money on his behalf for the community center. Bob provided a list of contacts, and invitations were printed and mailed out. This worked pretty well, except there was some confusion and the invitations were sent a little too late to allow for follow-up phone calls.

I believe if we could have made the phone calls, attendance at the event would have been much higher. So the lesson learned for a fundraising event is to get the invitations out at least 2 weeks before the event, make sure you have phone numbers for the invitees’ and call them before the event. It will be worth the effort.

The only disappointing part of the event was that nobody from the list of foundations and local donors attended or responded to the invitation. In retrospect, we should have known a random invitation to an event would not be enough to pique their interest. The list will have to be pared down and the contacts will have to be worked the old-fashioned way: phone calls, letters, email, personal networking and whatever it takes to get in the door. The invite was just the beginning, and much more work needs to be done, but the payoff could be huge if the right connections are made.

Finally, the Rev. Nan has been working with our American Church List division and we set Trinity on a recurring program to send a postcard to families that move into the surrounding ZIP Codes inviting them to Trinity.  Also the new community center will send a targeted mailing to businesses in the area introducing the facility and inviting them to use it for meetings, conferences and the like. These efforts are not very expensive, and if even 2 or 3 new families join the church or 2 or 3 business book the community center for an event, they will have paid for themselves.

We have said it many times on this blog, but it is worth repeating: Marketing takes patience and perseverance, but if you keep pitching, it will work. Be honest about what worked and what didn’t work, tweak it a little and “get on with it”.

Don’t work too hard!

StormDawg

Are you stressed? I am at times, but not nearly as much as when I ran a small business. Five years ago when I was a financial adviser, one of my clients asked me if I would like to change directions - to open and run a mortgage bank and real estate firm for him. I was honored and excited for the opportunity, so one year later, I began my new career.

One catch…he wanted me to open this company in Fort Collins, Colo. I thought to myself, “This is going to be very challenging.” I lived in Omaha, Neb., so branding would be given top priority, especially when  learning that Fort Collins and the surrounding area has a business mentality of a “good ‘ol-boy club.” Long story short…we weren’t welcomed, and I was opening this business at the beginning of the mortgage and real estate meltdown.

At the time, I thought I had an insurmountable amount of stress until I began talking about it with my wife, pastor, and yes, even a therapist. I realized I had stress, but not the apocalyptic amount that I believed I had – I just didn’t know how to deal with it. The more I talked about my problems, the less stress I had, but this only took it so far.

I began exercising before work, changed my diet, took “me time” every day for one hour, and turned work mode off at 6 p.m. every evening and never turned work mode on during the weekend. After a few months, I felt as if I were back to normal and could handle anything that came my way. This small company, which I ran for two years, not only survived but was also out of the red within the first 18 months of opening. I know it would not have been possible without changing the way I handle stress.

A recent article in The New York Times, “Tackling Business Stress in Trying Times,” provides more stories about how business owners manage their stress. Everyone has their own way to deal with stress; reading about how others handle it may help you find yours.

Remember this: Misery loves company, so find a way to not be invited!

As StormDawg would say, “Don’t work too hard!”

Mike Shults – StormDawg S.W.A.T.

Good news!  More and more lenders are finding ways to get you the money that you need to keep your doors open! Smart! Here is some great information from our friends at ORC Guideline on a variety of ways that you can get your hands on the funding you need!

As StormDawg would say, Don’t work too hard
Christina Kudym – StormDawg S.W.A.T.