Cashflow Blog

An article from Scott Cooney (author of Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur (McGraw-Hill)). He hopes that someday the green economy will simply be referred to as…the economy.

While counterintuitive, a recession is actually a terrific time to start a business. Sure, credit is tight, and venture capital is definitely hard to come by, so startup ideas requiring large amounts of up-front capital are perhaps best left to the drawing board for the moment. But for many entrepreneurs with a dream, startup capital requirements are small, and other elements of the economic outlook are very favorable.

As far as timing, for most businesses, it simply takes time for their product, service, or brand to become recognized, trusted, and sought after. Estimates vary widely, but it is simply a truth that average customers have to see your product or company several times before they make a purchase. This makes a recession a great time to get your name out there while most other companies are cutting back and the competition for people’s attention is less. Your company will be in good shape when the economy rebounds.

So while recessions can be a good time, and historically have been a good time for businesses to get their start, this particular recession is a great time to start a green business. Here’s why:

to continue reading this article CLICK HERE

More here:
Top 7 Reasons Why This Recession Is a Great Time to Start a Green Business

Business week online

Small business owners are banding together to encourage consumers to
shop nearby independents. Would such a campaign help your business?

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/feb2009/sb20090226_752622.htm

View original here:
To Beat Recession, Indies Launch Buy-Local Push

January 29, 2009

Here’s a terrific article from GreenBiz.com that deserves repeating, and your time to read:

There’s a standard journalistic trope that abounds during times of crisis: take the hot topic du jour, mash it up with something you know about, and you’ve got an instant article. For example: “Peanut Butter Preferences during a Global Recession,” or “Sparrow Migration Patterns during the 2008 Wall Street Collapse.”

Now, after nearly a decade of build-up, sustainability and “green” were the issues du jour for much of 2007 and 2008; but with the recent market crash, the national dialogue has turned more toward keeping a roof over your head than keeping a green roof over your head. So what’s a sustainable brand to do? Here are a few strategies to keep you afloat during these tumultuous times.

TO READ MORE CLICK HERE

Read the original post:
Ten Steps to Sustainable Marketing in an Uncertain Economy | GreenBiz.com

Online video is becoming the new website.

Pretty soon every business will be using it (or desperately exploring how to).

Should YOU use it?

Well . . .

My basic suggestion is: yes.

You might not need the level of quality Erica Ross has in her video

<a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDxM9IAe4eU&feature=channel_page
“>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDxM9IAe4eU&feature=channel_page

but consider this . . .

I’d be willing to bet that when people meet you they like you.

I’d be willing to bet that your marketing materials will never be as powerful as meeting you in person.

Sure, your website and brochures and ads might sound good, but people are going to doubt them - after all - you have a vested interest in them buying.

I’d be willing to bet that when you really have a chance to explain how you do what you do and tell your story - that people are impressed and far more likely to do business with you.

Isn’t there something about meeting someone - and getting to read their vibe - that matters a lot?

How many times have you heard of people meeting celebrities and telling their friends, “Wow. He was so down to earth. He wasn’t pretentious at all.”

I doubt most celebrities are that pretentious.

But most people are naturally suspicious.

And, sad to say, they’re suspicious of you too.

Which is a shame.

After all, you’re nice. You have integrity. You’d never try to lie, cheat or steal from them. But, until they meet you in person, they just aren’t really going to trust you.

People trust their experiences, not your rhetoric.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had folks come to my free intro sessions and come up to me afterwards to tell me, “You know, I’ve been to so many marketing sessions and I thought, ‘Hmm. This sounds good but maybe he’s just another hype filled marketing ass****.’ But you weren’t. You were really down to earth. I like you and I think I’ll be coming to the weekend.”

How can you create this personal connection?

This can mean:

1) Teleseminars
2) Speaking at events
3) Running free intro sessions
4) Meeting with people one on one

But all of the above are very time intensive. You have to actually be there in person.

What if there was a way for people to ‘meet’ you that required almost none of your time?

Wouldn’t that be useful?

I recon it would.

Before I tell you what I did - let me come at this from another angle and then tie it all together.

Word of Mouth is powerful, right?

But, why?

Because, instead of people having to take the time and energy and risk of meeting you in person (and being trapped in a two hour seminar that ends up sucking) they can hear about your experience. And since you’re someone they trust and since you’re independent of the business you’re recommending - you can be trusted.

But sometimes, this isn’t enough.

After all, can’t you think of times when you have recommended some workshop or seminar or restaurant to someone only to have them never act on it?

Of course you have.

Why?

They hadn’t experienced it for themselves yet.

They weren’t sold on the relevance or value or the product or service for themselves (and maybe you aren’t as credible to them as you thought you were - owch).

Imagine you’re at an ice cream shop with a friend.

You want them to try the Mango Tofulatti. They shrug. You tell them it’s the most delicious thing you’ve ever tasted. They seem unimpressed.

“Think I’ll just stick with strawberry.”

You keep trying to convince them but you are afraid to push it too far. After all, if you push them too hard they might decide to never try it just out of principle.

So, why don’t they try it?

Well, if they spend five bucks on the cone and they don’t like it, they’re out the money and they know they could have spent that money on something they know they would have liked. Right?

But, what if you said, “Here, try this little pink spoon.”

They do. They’re curious after all, they just don’t want to have to commit their whole five bucks.

Pink spoon marketing is powerful.

You give people a sample - not enough to satisfy - but enough to let them make an informed decision about whether or not they want more.

Do you have any of these for your business?

What are YOUR pink spoons?

Your pink spoons should fit a few critical criteria.

1) It should contain enough to let them know if it’s a fit.
2) It should be something that your existing clients will actively WANT to pass on to their friends.
3) It should be low risk (or ideally NO risk) for people to try out.

Now, there’s lots of different things you can do:

- Offer people a free buyers guide or special report on a critical topic
- Free downloadable audio files
- A Blog

etc.

But there’s a relatively new medium that’s available to you now - for almost NO money.

Online video.

It’s a powerful way for people to learn about you, who you are and how (and why) you do what you do.

Instead of simply reading words - they can see you, read your body language and get a sense of who you are.

Again:

I’d be willing to bet that when people meet you they like you.

I’d be willing to bet that your marketing materials will never be as powerful as meeting you in person.

Online video fits the criteria below extremely well.

1) It should contain enough to let them know if it’s a fit.

An online video can give them a chance to get as much or as little information as you want.

2) It should be something that your existing clients will actively WANT to pass on to their friends.

A link to an online video is incredibly easy to send. Youtube.com has made it brainless. And it’s becoming more and more common to do. People are sending each other videos all the time. Remember: your clients probably love you. They want to support you. They want to spread the word - but you almost certainly haven’t given them the tools to do so.

And your website likely isn’t exciting or novel enough to warrant them sending it to folks.

But a cool online video?

Why not create one about your business.

I know - you don’t know how. I’ll address that in a second.

But, imagine the email from your client to a friend of theirs . . .

“You remember that organic restaurant I was telling you about? Check this link out.”

“You remember that practitioner I was telling you about? Check this link out.”

“You remember that eco-friendly house cleaner I was telling you about? Check this link out.”

3) It should be low risk (or ideally NO risk) for people to try out.

Is there anything less risky than watching a video on your computer? No pushy salespeople. Nothing to print off. You can stop it (and restart it) anytime you want. No obligation to buy.

And it doesn’t have to be perfect.

You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars. It can be a quick 7 minute video shot on a friends camera of you giving a tour about your restaurant or your clinic.

The point is that people get to meet YOU before they take the risk of meeting you in person. And, right now, YOU are likely the critical piece to your businesses success. People are likely buying YOU as much as they are your product and service.

Online video gives YOUR clients an easy way to introduce you to their friends.

It gives you something you can send to someone you meet briefly so they can ‘get to know you better’.

**How can YOU put up your own online videos?**

To be honest, I have no idea.

But Gurbeen Bhasin from Meow Films does. She made Erica’s video.

Why not drop her an email to see if an online video might be a fit for you?

gurbeen (at) meowfilms (d.o.t.) com

<a href=”http://www.meowfilms.com
“>www.meowfilms.com

And feel free to drop me a line with any questions you might have.

–
warmest,

tad
radical business

P.S. Please consider the environment before printing this email - Thank You!

FREE 195 PAGE “THE WAY OF THE RADICAL BUSINESS” EBOOK: www.tadhargrave.com (sign up on left hand side)

FREE ‘CONSCIOUS MARKETING’ ARTICLES: www.radicalbusiness.blogspot.com

FREE RADICAL BUSINESS VIDEOS: www.youtube.com/radicalbusiness

Read more:
Should I use online video?

CORE FOCUS OF THIS MAKEOVER:
Making your business an authentic expression of who you are.

This makeover is hard to summarize – you really need to read it to ‘get it’.

To read your free copy of Hayley’s 17 page Offer Makeover go to:
http://www.tadhargrave.com/backyard.pdf

Hayley came to a recent weekend workshop I did in Edmonton.

She had this idea of starting a clothing store – all second hand – but collecting the particular kind of clothes that she loved to wear. She wanted to create a collection of clothes that was wild, eclectic, colourful and fun. Clothes she usually had to spend hours searching for herself.

What became immediately clear was that Hayley had a great idea. Whenever I shared it with women their eyes widened. They just ‘got it’. And, in marketing, the most critical piece is the core concept. Is it a good idea? Sometimes you’ll hear an idea and, for some reason you just know it’s good.

But where could she sell them? How could she find a space?

In the end, she made the brilliant decision to sell out of her backyard in women’s only clothing events – and the name of her company was born. “The Backyard Clothing Company”. The name captures a lot of who she is. And it invites her story. It raises the question, “what’s the backyard piece about?” And that allows her – whether or not she continues to sell from her backyard – to tell her story of being a scrappy entrepreneur with a good idea but a shoestrong budget trying to make things happen.

The ‘backyard’ element also speaks to her desire to make shopping a fun, intimate, social experience for women – not just some sterile process in a chain store. She’d grown up in the markets of London and wanted to bring that experience – in some small way – here.

In marketing lingo – the ‘backyard’ is her USP. It’s the heart of her story. It speaks to her authentic self. And by bringing that to her business – it’s infinitely more attractive.

Before this name, she was playing with “Perfect Fit” (i.e. these clothes will fit your style perfectly). It’s a good name – but, ironically, it wasn’t a perfect fit for her.

Another issue raised by this makeover is really clarifying what people are buying. What’s the result they want?

Every business must identify this. And it’s always something simple like, “more money” or “live longer” or “better communication”. There’s always something simple at the core of it.

Consider these examples:

FEDEX – When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.
DOMINOES – Hot, fresh pizza to your door in 30 minutes or it’s free.
CLEARASIL – Visibly clearer skin in three days – guaranteed.

And I think we captured hers well in the headline below:

psssst - Eccentric Edmonton women - revealing one of Edmonton’s hidden gems:

“Everything on the rack screamed my name.”

How you can snag more fabulous, wild, eccentric, outrageously colourful and inspiring clothing in one hour than you did all last year (and at a fraction of the price you’d expect to pay).

To read your free copy of Hayley’s 17 page Offer Makeover go to:
http://www.tadhargrave.com/backyard.pdf

Candid feedback from Hayley on how the process was for her:

How valuable was the process from 1-10?
The process was a great big 10 that is how much I got out of it. The process gave me confidence to go for what I wanted with Tad standing on the other side of it cheering me on. If you have any doubts, contact me at: hayleyrothenberg@gmail.com or 780 819 4636.

What would it have taken to make it a 10?
An even bigger 10 would have been to understand the questions in more depth to begin with. This would have helped me a lot because I spent hours trying to understand what the questions meant! Although none of this was really a waste because it becomes part of the process in becoming clear, it was very time consuming within a very short time frame. I suggest having a guideline for the questions, a guideline to the offer, make it even clearer that it is a lengthy process to get it all clear. That there will be a lot of back and forth’s, which is a lot of work with amazing, results at the end.

Roughly how many hours did you invest?
Not sure, as we went back and forth for at least 2 weeks! Perhaps have time sheets available to note how long we spent on this process.

If money were no option - what would you like to have paid for this?
Wow what a question, the back and forth’s were worth their weight in gold, without that process I would have not got to where I am today so quickly. Tad deserves the going market rate for his consultations in the back and forth’s.

What was hardest?
The questions and defining those questions with my answers.

What was most valuable?
Becoming very clear that I had something to offer which I did not need to change to fit into what is considered normal for success. But most of all it was that Tad believed in me which helped me in moving forward and NOT holding back. Part of the back and forth’s is you get to really see where you could be resistant to moving on and I loved that Tad would stretch me by asking a bit more of me, which is ultimately what I wanted.

What did you think it would be like before and how does that?
Compare to how it actually was? I had no idea what it would be like, I had only the willingness to go for it , a vision and Tad’s enthusiasm. In reality what it is actually is, is a lot of good wholesome work and the more you put in the more you get out of it, to me that’s the key.

When you look at what you first sent me vs. what we created in the end - how do you feel?
Its great, I love it, when we first started it was all an idea which became a reality, one of the things that struck me the most in the process was the more I dived into tads back and forth’s the more I became clear and could define my vision. One of the things that also startled me the most is that I started to remember as a child being involved in a lot of bargain shopping experiences, going to Markets etc, I forgot most of this which is what gave me the natural ability that I have today in what I do!

Was there a good balance of loving encouragement and honest challenge?
Absolutely, that was the best part for me

To read your free copy of Hayley’s 17 page Offer Makeover go to:
http://www.tadhargrave.com/backyard.pdf

More here:
Offer Makeover – Case Study Summary #2 - Hayley Rothenberg - http://backyardclothingcompany.com/