Today I am trying to write a business plan for Marketplace-Solutions.com as we enter the world of website design. Over two years ago my father told me that he had figure out how to get his website found by Google, and I had no idea what it meant. Than a family friend asked him if he could apply this knowledge to get his cousins website found. Despite being an expert in Search Engine Optimization my father did not realize it was a field. After working together for 4 months, he taught me the field and together we created Help Get Your Website Found. com. We went from believing that we could just sell basic SEO packages to any customer and the customer would instantly be found by the search engines and everyone would be happy. After several variations of how to market and sell our services we have decided that we are going to be selling the website equivalent of Cadillacs which are ideal for any small business owner. My father has over 25 years of direct marketing experience and I am getting a degree in marketing and we understand how to make an attractive, effective, and lead building website. I am going through the past e-mails from my father for ideas about how to write the business model and it is in many ways like going through old yearbooks and being amazed about how much I have changed and how much I have learned. We see gradual changes on a day to day basis, but going back to the e-mails from even a few months ago this is a completely different business and through all of our changes we have continued to move forward to where we are selling premium Cadillacs.
I remember driving down the highway in the mid 1990’s listening to a talk radio program. The man being interviewed said that the cell phone companies were planning on everyone having a cell phone. I laughed to myself, “there is no way I am ever going to own a cell phone.” I believe I am beginning my second decade with a cell phone. Forgive the expression, but boy did they have my number. As a matter of fact, I no longer have a home phone.
What did cell phones companies do right? They did a great job of marketing. They let us know the security we would have if we had a cell phone. The day I decided to get a cell phone was the day I had to go searching for a pay phone. The only working one I could find was in a dark area behind a gas station.
The cell phone companies continue to improve the basic cell phone and service but also offered us innovations in technology. They don’t stop innovating and we don’t stop buying. Even though I don’t have a touch screen yet, it seems like there isn’t anything you can’t access with a touch of a button. I’ll admit it, I’m impressed.
Speaking of the new ways to communicate, who figured out text messaging? Geez, just imagine, you can use your phone to write to someone. Again, I have fallen into the technology. I have found texting (was that a verb before this decade?) is the easiest way to communicate with my grandchildren. I am too cool when I text. However, they can text a novel in the time it takes me to text a sentence or two. Of course, the communication usually isn’t in full sentences. For that matter, not full words either. I am anxiously waiting for Webster to do the first addition of TXT WDS. LOL. EVRE1 TC.
I just sat down with my designer, Sharon Dean, to discuss a new brochure that I am working on for MarketPlace-Solutions.com
I had someone write the copy. The copy was clear and concise and what I wanted, but Sharon couldn’t make anything work graphically. She wanted to “think outside the box.”
So I got my orange from Flexible Thinker and we started brainstorming.
I started with the idea of solutions, how can we make that graphic stand out?
Sharon started with the word “deliver” — from delivering Chinese food to delivering babies. The ideas were out there. “Yes & because”
We then started playing with ball — which is the start of the logo. I had never really considered it a ball, but that’s where she had started with it.
Well, it’s a red ball. Play ball. A ball smashing a window… all types of crazy ideas.
And then the obvious! It’s a red rubber ball. Let’s take a look at the words to “Red Rubber Ball.” I am thinking it’s a song by the Beatles on their album Revolver — but I am not a music scholar. By chance, I found an advertisement for the recently re-released Beatles albums.
We check on the lyrics. I guess it’s written by Cyrkle and performed by Simon & Garfunkel. The refrain is:
“And I think it’s goon be alright Yeah, the worst is over now The mornin’ sun is shinin’ like a red rubber ball.”
PERFECT! It just felt so right.
I’m excited to see what Sharon comes up with. Need to rewrite copy, but I have no doubt it will be a big success.
Last week I was in my Direct Marketing Class at IDC Herzliya and our lecture focused on direct mail. After living with a direct mail company out of my house for the past 10 years, I realized that my knowledge of the issue was a little bit greater than most of my classmates. As my teacher is going through her lecture about the advantages and application of direct mail one of my roommates from Germany asked “Why is direct mail allowed when they have already banned telemarketing.” The teacher did not know how to respond except for saying, “I have never thought about it.” In between games of Tetris, I raised my hand and said “the Post Office is dependant on direct mail in order to survive. If they cancelled direct mail than the Post Office as we knew it would disappear.” The teacher than said in Israel, the Israeli Post Office actually loses money on direct mail and they are able to make a profit in several different other areas like money exchange and as a place to pay bills. I recently had to go to the Post Office here in Israel and they were trying to sell me a product for a car.
The Israeli Post Office has moved to a point where they are able to make money from several different areas except for the typical mail. A country that prides itself on bueracracy has actually turned the corner and made what is a struggling sector in the US, to one that is generating a profit in Israel.
I was talking to a senior executive who told me, “It takes 7 years to change a culture and I don’t even intend to be here that long.” His statement reflected the culture of the company – short-term fixes, no commitment and focus on numbers over people. What I told him blew him away. “I can change the culture within 6 months.” I said. “Not only that, I have the instrument to prove it.” I told him about the Tetrahedron Culture Instrument and how it measured culture from a number of angles. “Okay,” he smirked, “then how can you change the culture in such a short time.” Here is how.
1. Start at the top
What are the values of the organization? What are your goals and the strategy to get there? The first place is a strategic planning session that aligns with the values and ethics (and yes, they are different but more on that later) of the organization.
2. Look at the rewards
The fastest way to change a culture is to change the rewards structure of the organization. People respond to how they are punished or rewarded. Do rewards, including compensation, recognition and promotion, aligned to both the values of the organization and the goal/metrics? If you reward people who “hit their numbers” even in conflict of the organization’s values, you may do well in the short term but the long term sustainability and values of the organization will be undermined. Recognition for good things is more motivating than punishments for bad. People who are rewarded are engaged to achieve. People who are punished are disengaged and hide.
3. Communicate and train
Coaching and mentoring are very important. Great leaders create more leaders. They help their people develop the skills they need to succeed and recognize their strengths. Often intuitively they use the Appreciate Inquiry model and focus on strengths and solutions rather than weaknesses and problems.
When it is all done, you measure the before and after and, within a short period, you will start to see a significant shift in the culture.
Do you ever feel like a dinosaur?
The world is rapidly changing and it’s survival of the fittest.
In today’s business environment, the race is being won by the fastest, not the largest.
I am, thankfully, surviving in this tough economic environment that is killing many of my larger competitors.
The days were I envied people working at large corporations and steady paychecks have long vanished as I go to work in my garage.
Yet there are many days I feel like a dinosaur. I have yet to learn how to text. Don’t want to. Still not on Facebook, but I am on LinkedIn, but haven’t yet figured out why.
But I survive because I adapt and am flexible.
My business is constantly evolving – even though my main source of revenue is old-fashioned snail mail. However, I am expanding my marketing expertise to include web design, search engine optimization, and e-mail marketing.
I recently changed my company’s name from MarketPlace-Mail.com to MarketPlace-Solutions.com to reflect this change.
I have a degree in journalism from the University of Illinois. Talk about Jurassic Park! I remember hot lead type and bulky typewriters. It’s hard to believe that in high school, I was the only male to take a typing course where we learned how to set margins and type fast so we could be good secretaries.
I can’t learn everything, but I have stayed enough ahead of the curve to stay afloat. I adapt disruptive technology to keep my business growing.
It’s all about being flexible and curious. Change is happening whether you want it to happen or not. The challenge is to embrace the change that suits you, reject what is irrelevant, and realize you can’t do everything.
The most important tool I have learned is how to effectively use the web. I sat down and learned how to do search engine optimization – the ability to be found on the web.
I started off by paying someone, but quickly determined he was a fraud. I probably spent an hour a day for over six months figuring out how to make Google my salesperson instead of trying to make cold calls.
You cannot go to school to learn this skill. I don’t think there are any college courses on the subject because the people with the knowledge don’t have time to teach it.
I feel I have given Daniel a master’s course in search engine optimization. Daniel’s help and advice have benefited my business – and help pay his college tuition. I feel Daniel’s knowledge puts him in a better position than many of his peers in finding a job or starting his own business.
As I became more involved in SEO, I realized that I had to learn more about how websites are constructed. Again, I find many people claim knowledge, but few really know what they are doing.
I spent the last several months learning the intricacies of Cascading Style Sheets. You see, a website that was constructed 5 years ago or more was done using HTML tables. That way is obsolete, yet many are still doing it. Between the books I read, the online videos I watched, and the time I spent actually doing it, I spent more time on the subject than if I had taken a course at a university.
I learned that there are probably only 30 or less basic web designs. The infinite variety of websites is a result of manipulating the CSS.
It’s best when you have the CSS in a CMS – a content management system, which is the latest wrinkle in web design. But that is another speech.
I also learned to delegate it to other people who I can trust so I can concentrate on the business. But I have enough knowledge to look under the hood and make repairs – and determine who knows what they are talking about and who is faking it.
However, the most basic form of communication – speaking and listening – is never going to go out of style. That’s why I am in Toastmasters. Speaking and listening are skills that need to be constantly honed.
I am obviously a dinosaur. When I talk to my children about days before computers, cell phones or cable TV, I feel a bit obsolete. I have yet to figure out all the functions on my 4 remote controls.
Yet, I am surviving because I keep adapting. My secret? Going to Toastmasters every week. Every meeting I learn something new, laugh a little, and enjoy the camaraderie of my fellow Toastmasters. You can’t become extinct when you have to give a speech!
I recently had a conversation with a middle level bureaucrat from the Canadian government. This agency provides consulting to small and medium sized businesses that they lend money to. They have an extremely high opinion of themslves (which comes from being told you are great by people you are giving money to). What this guy told me blew me away.
“We really don’t have any programs to help people think differently.” he told me. “The problem you have is that you haven’t worked with small businesses and don’t understand them.”
I guess having a small business for over 14 years doesn’t qualify me to be an expert who has spent his entire career as a civil servant, collecting a nice paycheck.
This man’s attitude was like being stuck on an escalator. His obstacles were his own thinking and he had the attitude that we should ‘wait’ for the government to help.
As the government starts to take over businesses and gets more involved in telling us what we need, this may be a good story to think about.
Although these books are all different on the surface, I realize that all of them are about corporate culture. It’s a term Mike uses a lot.
The only way GM can survive, according to the book, is by changing their corporate culture — making more innovative and less bureaucratic. The author details some of the changes that have been going on for several years. It’s the vision and leadership of a few people that can determine the fate of hundreds of thousands.
Same thing with “Gamble.” It’s about the complete change that Gen. David Petraeus had to implement to keep Iraq from descending into hell. His plan was not well-received and he had many, many political obstacles to overcome. But he had a vision and a team and they changed the dynamic.
“What Would Google Do?” gives ideas on how to think outside the box — and how Google’s mindset has changed almost everything in society. I am currently trying to build membership for my synagogue. My idea? Lower membership dues and increase the base!
These are ideas and thinking processes that Michael covers in “Flexible Thinker.”
As a small business owner, I have no concept of office politics and trying to influence a huge bureaucracy. However, I constantly have to stay sharp and re-invent myself. I am redoing my website. There is no such thing as resting on your laurels in small business and failure is an option. My business has been steady this year and I am paying my bills. Not an insignificant accomplishment. Reading books is one way to “sharpen the saw” and I recommend it to other entrepreneurs.
There is a large adjustment for a child from riding a bicycle with training wheels to being able to handle a full ‘2 wheeler’ without the support that the additional wheels provide. Many parents spend literally hours and hours of backbreaking labor holding their kids steady, running with the bike and then slowly letting go.
The reason that I am writing this post is that my youngest daughter, Hannah who is 7 years old, has just learned to master a 2 wheeler in about a day. The approach that was taken has significant impact for adult learning and applying what we have learned to help shift an organizational culture.
My secret? It is the art of nothing. I literally did just about nothing. What I did (and I also did for my older daughter Rebecca to help her learn to ride a 2 wheeler) was to take off the pedals of a small bike (one that she could comfortably stand with) and told them to just run up and down with the bike and try to coast with their feet up. There is no micromanagement -trying to hold her up while she pedals and only let go in little spurts. There is simply the act of playing and getting comfortable at her own pace in learning to balance on the 2 wheeler. The result? Within 1 day she could ride a 2 wheeler.
What does this story do with organizational development, culture and learning? Everything. The idea of accelerated learning is to give the participant space to learn. Let them play around with it and have fun and they will learn it much faster and at a deeper level. It is the same with organizational development. Micromanaging and trying to ‘control’ the learning takes longer and is much more expensive. The ‘traditional’ way of teaching a child to ride a bike takes weeks and causes incredible back pains. Letting them do it on their own, at their own pace and have fun with it takes much less time. When you apply learning to help create an organizational culture shift the same principle applies. Micromanagement takes much longer and is more often a pain in the backside than it is to simply let people apply what they have learned.
I am very blessed to have 2 outstanding children — Rachel & Daniel. Rachel was recently laid off from her job in a midsized accounting firm and Daniel is a student at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzilya, Israel.
As are many people across the globe, they are being impacted by today’s economic chaos. I look around and see the world changing faster than any of us imagined.
The one certainty is there will be a long time of uncertainty. There are no such things as stable jobs in today’s world. I feel much better off as a mom & pop operation with low overhead than I would as a senior executive at General Motors.
I am convinced that a college education is a minimum requirement in today’s economy, but not quite sure of the reasons. I told Daniel yesterday that colleges are creating priests for a church that doesn’t exist. If the goal of a college degree is to get a steady paycheck, that is just not going to happen. I don’t care what field you are in or what degree you earn, the world has changed and there is no going back.
I am reading the book “What Would Google Do.” The author makes the point that fast is the new big. As an entrepreneur, I have been constantly changing my business. Rachel complained that there are too many ideas and course changes as we strive to launch the idea of wholesale Search Engine Optimization. Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t. Maybe taking over the whole website and becoming a webmaster is a better course of action.
What are Rachel’s chances of landing a job that paid as well as she had right of college? I don’t think they are that great. But fortunately, I have a need for her services and can teach her skills that she cannot learn in a classroom. How to sell, how to deal with clients, how to market. Real world stuff. I just hope that Rachel understands that it is her business to run and doesn’t look at it as a placeholder while she finds an ideal job. If she does that job, great. But in the interim, I need her skills to grow my business. We are very fortunate that there are no pressing obligations — mortgage, children, etc — that tie her down.
Daniel understands what I am doing. Daniel gave me the ultimate compliment when he said he was finally appreciating what I have accomplished. Daniel appreciates my attitude of “I don’t care what other people think, I’ll do my own thing.” It hasn’t always been easy, but I have done it my way. Daniel is trying to get an entrepreneurial scholarship to help African war refugees in Israel. He knows that HelpGetYourWebsiteFound.com is his business — though decisions are collaborative.
Can we thrive, not just survive, in this economic climate? There is no alternative. I pray that my children learn the lessons of trying new things and constantly innovating to stay one step ahead of the competition.
