Baby Boomer Marketing & Seth 'The Man' Godin on Surviving Change

Rant First!
I read quite a number of business related reports, articles and books
for topics to cover here and quite often I find a talking head that just
pisses me off in how dumb they really are. That's not the bad part really,
it's the fact they don't sit quietly in a corner somewhere and play with
their toes instead of talking in public.

Today it's a sickening specimen of humanity named Ann Fishman (name fits),
who is/was president of Generational Targeted Marketing. This brain-dead piece of work offered this little tidbit when giving a 'talk' (she would have been better off taking a nap instead) on why the diversity issue is not covered regards to the baby boomer generation and mass media mis-communications.

Here's what Ms 'Wish I Had A Brain' had to say:

These are definitely little important points (diversity in a 77 million strong market spread over 19 years with over a quarter of them racial minorities), but they don't achieve a level of prominence to qualify in my mind (when she can find it) as 'Oh my goodness, we've been wrong about this generation.'

Hmmm...guess as a business person, you should just stop accepting money
from these 'unqualified' prospects and focus your marketing message on
those who are more prominent in the mind of somebody named Fishman?

It's a remark that should never have been made and is an insulting attitude to take in business especially in marketing!

In the 21st Century 'Speed of Light communication of the Internet, she just let it be known to any group from Asia to Africa: You don't count and don't matter to us - whoever the 'us' Ms. Fishman considers herself a part of.

Here's the message for all of you as solo entrepreneurs: If your product or service is based on pissing off half the planet - Update your resume because Wally World is hiring.

Ready for business? Let's do it -
Do you market using email to other businesses? Some of you only have other
businesses as your market and yes, email does work when done right!

When it comes to email marketing, B2B companies have unique needs that are not
served by traditional email providers. The days of batch email marketing campaigns with low response rates are over.

Optimizing B2B Email Marketing for Lead Generation
is a webinar being held April 9th and includes highlights from MarketingSherpa's
Email Marketing Summit, held in February in Miami.

You'll need to signup and yes, someone may call to remind you about the time.
But if you are at all interested in getting more quality over quantity prospects from
your business to business email marketing efforts, this web seminar could be the
step you have been missing. I'll definitely be there!

Anticipate Change & How You Can Survive It
I have more Seth Godin's books than is good for me but the man knows his stuff. With that said, whenever I come across an article he writes that can help my business, I read it!

Whether your solo business is the next WII or you sell organic fruit at the local
Farmer's Market, change is going to affect you. Anticipating and being willing to roll with them is what being a solo entrepreneur is all about.

An article by Seth Godin on surviving change at Fast Company makes a valid point: Business as usual won't cut it and entrepreneurs are best equipped to handle change. Click the link and read what you can do or put into place to get through changes that may affect your business.

Entrepreneur Myths & Get The Job Done

I'm always reading blogs of other entrepreneurs
to find useful tips they may be helpful to me and other
solo entrepreneurs with doing business.

When I ran across these Top 10 Geek Business Myths, it
reminded me why I'm still currently running the
What Would Have Helped You? survey for
solo entrepreneurs and small business owners.

The post is from 2006 but remains true for anyone looking to operate a
small business. Read them and see if they ring true to you too in starting your
business: Top 10 Geek Business Myths

I've been working on the back office tasks for the new membership site for
The Solo Gazette. Not having created a membership site before, I decided to do
what every successful entrepreneur does and went looking for others who have.

I gave 4 options a trial run and ultimately I chose Membership Site Owner.
Though the first one, Teaching Sells was where I started, it became clear that it was nice but not necessary at this stage.

Though it's very comprehensive and offers a great deal of helpful tips, TS is geared to those who have both the free time and skills needed to pull it off right now. For me it was going to be a long learning curve that's not needed.

And that brings me to something you may want to consider before buying or joining anything related to your business.

Not everything pitched as being for micro or small business is going to be
right for your solo venture.

Being in business for yourself, it always seems to be more you
don't know or some expert claims you need to be successful.

Some of it is necessary, but it may not be needed right at the
stage you are.

For example, too many times those starting a home based solo business go into debt with the latest software, fastest computer or laptop, best Ergonomic furniture and fanciest business stationery.

They have been told by SCORE counselors, family, friends and some
small business 'expert' that all that stuff is necessary to succeed in
their business.

You and I know better. It's 'nice to have' but isn't needed to start and
operate your business.

What's necessary is get started with what you have, find your first paying customer and making your very first (dollar, rupee, peso, dinar, or whatever) coin of the realm!

You operate from home, what do your customers care that your desk chair
just happens to be that 10 year old bean bag that helps your bad back?

The point is to know the difference between what's
nice-to-have and what's absolutely needed to get the job done.

If your business is strictly online, having a website that is easy
to navigate, fonts that are easy to read (12 is better than 8, trust me
on this one) and getting traffic so you can sell your product or
service is what's needed.

Getting on page one of Google, adding a bunch of widgets and hover ads
is nice - but doesn't put food on the table. I see too many new to
how the online business world really works trying all sorts of weirdness
that doesn't do what's needed - Get Card Carrying Buyers to the site.

I've added a widget or two here in the past, remember Blog Rush? Do you also
not see it anymore. Because those of you who are regulars here know it was
a 'test'.

I hope this short article has helped you in not stressing over what your business doesn't have.

If what you have is working, then you can begin testing something new. But don't start changing things just because some expert or talking head says you need to change it. Not even Georjina Sinese.

That's it for today and I leave you with this:

If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat,
if your house is on fire--then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience.-- Robert Fulghum

More Resources, Rant & Sign Spinners

Another week of doom and gloom. A good thing solo entrepreneurs
take it in stride, right?! Otherwise, we'd be doing like the other
chickens - running away from one of the most profitable
times to be in a business of your own to come around in the
last 15 years!

Let's get to it -

1. If you are looking for interesting ways to get walk-in traffic
for your consumer based service business, you might not have
considered Sign Spinners. It's a bit corny and not for
everyone's business but I've seen these during tax time -
people standing on street corners wearing green Statue of
Liberty head gear and robes. Does it work? Couldn't hurt.
Find out more about this marketing trick at Great
Business Cards

2. Here's one of those sites that you may want to bookmark for later.
Legal Docs offers generic forms you can customize.
Most start at $7.95US and can be used for either your business or personal.
Despite popular belief to the contrary, there are some times you just need a
form to fill-in with legalese without paying a lawyer to do it. Take a look and
see if this could be something useful down the road.

RANT
This is to the 'no work, make millions' people who might by
accident wandered in here. Being a solo entrepreneur
takes work, and growing your business is going to take effort.

That's the reason why many of the resources I recommend is for those
actively doing what it takes to create whatever income they want in a
business they've chosen.

But I also know that many people are not cut out to be self-employed.
A promise of easy riches with no effort or sacrifice results in these "time-wasters" making it more expensive and much harder for those of us operating legitimate businesses.

Being an 'armchair entrepreneur' isn't who I'm referring
to here because we all started with a dream.

Here's the catch: If you are not willing to put in the skin, get out of the chair and take some kind of step, no matter how small, towards starting a business, Shut Up.

What?? Yes, shut up. I answer a number of questions on Yahoo!Answers for people who want to start or are running solo ventures, and see it all the time.

On any given day, there are the 'What business will make me money from home without working and isn't a scam' or 'How do I make money and not work, but make thousands of dollars tomorrow'.

I've said it before: No Free Lunch! It might be fun teaching people to surf, but unless you're getting paid for it - you will be living on the beach and hungry.

Pro surfers have financial managers, business advisers and file taxes just like any other solo entrepreneur. And just like every solo or small business owner, they must keep track of expenses, income, sometimes even employees. Surf boards don't make themselves, customers don't just 'show up' and competition from what I've heard is fierce.

Rant is over but I want to put this so even the most avid text messenger can get it: It's better to be a Smart Ass than a Dumb Ass! That wisdom tip comes from a young man named Timothy Xavier Brown, look for him to do great things in the future.

Back to it!
3. Many of you either offer your services or products as your online business. I found this resource that may save you a bit of money. Zoho offers office applications that you access through their website.

The applications available mirror MS word processing, spread sheets and presentations software all the way to web conferencing services and the best part they are all available in one place.

I signed up for an account to test it and it's easy to use. Moving between applications is as simple as clicking on the 'Switch To' drop down menu at the top of the page you're on.

Take a look because it can make your projects and tracking activity for your business a bit easier.

That's it for today and I leave you with this -

Make an effort, Not an excuse~Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad
Poor Dad

Get Real and Get On With It

Hey Folks,
I've been thinking about what it takes to be a solo entrepreneur lately. You who have already taken steps, even a baby one, know there is always something you thought you knew that you don't. Same for me. Just when I get all 'Happy Dance' over something, damn if something else doesn't come up to give me a reality check.

The post I was going to make for today can wait, because I want to share something I wrote to someone from one of the forums I'm with. This person, let's call him BF for short (stands for Brain Fart, but that's another story in itself). Mr. BF 'used to' so he claims have a business in a country other than the one he currently lives and yes, he was what Michael Gerber calls a 'technician' - one man band with no life.

Any who, BF was looking for members to join his mastermind group. So far, so good. After-all, he was on a forum for small business - it made sense, for about the first 2 emails. What BF wants from his 'mastermind group' is amazing: Put up his website, add the content, also write his newsletter, create his blog and post to it, add the subscriber forms for all his sites and manage the emails.

See a pattern forming here? It gets better. What does BF bring to the table? Must be big bucks, right?! Not in this lifetime it isn't. He wants the 'mastermind group' to do it for him for free because (hold on to your lunch) he wants all this done so eventually he can do a television show (for free). What is the nature of his 'business'? People who want self improvement. Huh?! WIF????

I wish I was making this up but it's the truth. So why am I telling you folks this - if you have to ask, you're definitely at the wrong blog!

Those of you still waiting for Prince Charming, the Tooth Fairy, Oprah's millions to drop into your lap so you don't have to do what every one else with a successful business does to make money => Keep Your Day Job and Find A Part-Time Night Job if anybody will hire your dumb ass!

Life isn't fair, sorry to disappoint you and there are some things about building a profitable business that aren't fun! Free left with the Tooth Fairy.

Please, let me keep the illusion that those of you reading this blog are:
1. Smart and intelligent people
2. Seriously want your financial picture to be better without killing your dreams in the process
3. Know that you will have to give up something, not necessarily money to grow your business, and
4. Can think for yourself!

Sheesh!

Here's the email I wrote to BF after recommending he purchase a book (gasp! I wanted him to spend money to learn a certain step in his business! Shame on me...Bad Georjina!). The book costs $18 US and where I sent him it was only $12 - go figure. Anyway, here's the email I sent this DF (yes, I do know the letter 'B' from the letter 'D'). It's a bit long, but worth thinking about if you are sitting on the fence waiting for 'Perfect Timing' to come along.

1. What are you willing to give up to have this business succeed?
2. How comfortable are you with failing?
3. How much are you willing to invest in making this business a success?

Until you have the answer to these questions and take an honest look at yourself,
you are not ready to do what you want to do. Not criticizing you, just want to
be very clear about what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

If you are not willing to invest in educating yourself on being an
entrepreneur/business owner until you have money, then your best
bet is to stay an employee.

Every entrepreneur, from Donald Trump to Richard Branson is a constant reader.
They have to be! Neither one could wait to make money before
they started their business, neither can you.

However, if you want me to continue to make suggestions and offer ideas
to help you, the whining must stop - get off your butt and take some
action and responsibility for whether you want to succeed or not
with your own business. (This goes for those of you subscribed here who
after 2 years are still looking for the Holy Grail of Free Money!)

It takes commitment, learning, making mistakes, learning from the mistakes,
trying something else, see what is working and keep going.

If $12 is beyond your current budget, then learning about
cash flow is going to be a huge part of your education. The same book
cost me $18 and it wasn't a hard decision for me to make - education
comes with the territory in business.

If you are not willing to do the same thing, spend money to learn how to
make money - you are in for a very short and frustrating journey as an
entrepreneur.
//end of email

Told you it was going to be a long read! Hope it helped some of you get
moving and for those of you in motion - keep going!

That's it for today and I leave you with this

Even when people are more successful than they had
imagined, nothing is ever achieved without giving something
up. " - Judith M. Bardwick