Archive for January, 2010
There Will Always Be New Ideas
Lessons From Dominos Pizza’s Ad Campaign
I know almost everyone has seen Dominos Pizza’s new ad campaign. The company is painfully honest about people’s comments about their pizza, which include comparing the crust to cardboard and the sauce to ketchup. They are offering a 100% money-back guarantee on their new and improved pizzas. They also have a website with a live feed of Twitter comments about their new pizzas.
The internet is filled with people’s opinions about this approach and its potential success or failure. This may or may not help the company overcome its many recent PR nightmares. But it has been reported in The Brandweek Buzz Report by YouGov that Dominos’ positive buzz score has increased from 2.3 to 35.3 (out of 100), since the campaign began. Whether this leads to a permanent shift in perception for the brand is yet to be seen.
What is interesting, though, is that Dominos is taking this risky approach. I think they realized they had to. Since the dawn of man, bad news has always traveled a million times faster than good news. Dominos experienced this with the unfortunate YouTube experience last year. Maybe that social media lesson is what led to their current campaign.
Beyond the stark honesty, they are actively incorporating social networking sites into their ad campaign. While many large corporations have a presence on Facebook and Twitter, the communication is frequently one-way – toward the customer. Dominos is encouraging communication from the customer, and they are acting upon what they are being told. As things continue to evolve, companies are going to have to interact this way. If a customer feels screwed over, trust me, everyone that follows them and has friended them, will hear about it.
By going on the offensive, Dominos is giving the customer (or potential customer) the chance to support them with positive comments. If that’s what happens, it will should help Dominos, because a third-party endorsement carries a lot of weight. If it goes the other direction the damage will be huge.
The world is continuing to change. Keep this in mind when making decisions or reacting to problems. If your company does everything right, people may tell their online community, but if you do something wrong, they will tell them.
DBA vs Trademark
I have recently talked to three different people on three separate occasions that had the wrong idea about filing for a DBA. So I’m going to (hopefully) clear things up.
When your business has a name that does not include your legal name you must file a fictitious business statement (also known as a DBA – Doing Buisiness As). For example if your name is John Johnson and your company name is John Johnson Plumbing Services, you do not need to file for a DBA certificate. But if your company name is On Time Plumbing, you need to file, and notices need to be placed in local area newspapers. This does NOT give you legal rights to the name On Time Plumbing. Filing a fictitious business statement is all about the right of the public to know with whom they’re doing business.
In order to gain legal ownership of a company name you must register your name as a trademark. The registration fee is $325. You can conduct a trademark search and file yourself, or you can use one of the gazillion websites out there. Some will do it for you for a reasonable fee, and some for an outrageous fee. No matter what route you choose, though, protect your name and logo up front. It could save you time, money and heartache.
This should clear things up, but if you have additional questions, just ask.
Changing The Failure Habit
Constant failure may be nothing more than a bad habit you picked up, like biting your fingernails. This is great news, because it is simple to change a habit. Of course, simple doesn’t necessarily mean easy.
Have you, over the years, set goals for yourself and then repeatedly not followed through? If so, your brain has come to expect you to give up, and will even assist you in doing so. Over the years you have created a strong neural pathway that your thoughts follow; thoughts of quitting before achievement, thoughts that are reinforced by your negative self-talk.
It is commonly accepted that it takes about 30 days to create a new habit. This ishow long it takes to strengthen a new neural pathway. So, to overcome a habit of failure, you must stick with your new goal for 30 days before it starts to feel normal to you. If you want to start exercising daily, or you want to start actively networking to find new customers, go into it knowing that your subconscious will be fighting to stay on its familiar old pathway. If you know the source of that urge to quit, and that it is temporary, this should help you to forge ahead.
I just read that our will power is weaker as the day wears on, and it’s negatively affected by emotionally upsetting incidents. With this in mind, perform your new task as early in the day as possible, before other issues can get in the way.
Another tip to help keep you on the path is, stay positive. Pay attention to your thoughts. When you think “I just can’t do this”, stop that thought in its track and replace it with a supportive statement. You can accomplish anything, but you’ve got to give yourself a chance, and about 30 days.
Join a Networking or Mastermind Group (or Start Your Own)
When I started my t-shirt business 6 years ago, I forged ahead on my own. My accounting background was a huge help with many of the required tasks. As far as finding resources and marketing, though, it took about me 18 months to get my footing. Everything I learned, I learned through trial and error (mostly error). That is why I believe whole-heartedly in joining a networking or mastermind group.
If I had been involved in such a group 6 years ago, I would have saved myself thousands of dollars and countless hours. To be fair to myself, online social networking hadn’t evolved, yet, and there wasn’t the variety of groups that there are now.
These days, women can choose from Savor The Success, Smarty, or Ladies Who Launch, just to name a few of the larger organizations. And social networking has grown beyond anyone’s expectations, with Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn and myriad specialty networks on Ning. The online and offline groups feed each other and there is tremendous value in participating. There is so much you can learn from others’ experience, and people are very willing to tell you about mistakes they’ve made, so you can avoid the same pitfalls.
If you can’t find an existing group in your area, set up a casual meeting of local entrepreneurs, yourself. Visit local businesses and talk to the owners. Having a group of diverse members will be beneficial. If you aren’t up for that and can’t find a way to participate in any other live meetings, become an active participant in online discussions. I know there are people who say online relationships aren’t “real” relationships, but that’s just not true. There are several people I’ve met online that I speak to regularly. We support each other and share information. Some I’ve since met in person, and a few I haven’t (yet), but I feel like I know them, because I do. And I’ve come to trust their input.
Working for yourself is challenging and rewarding, but at times it can be overwhelming and cause feelings of isolation. Participating in group meetings and events (online and offline) will alleviate these feelings, and offer you the chance to build valuable professional relationships.
Another Movie Recommendation – Favela Rising
Talking Out Loud Can Lead To Solutions
Talking to yourself doesn’t mean you’re crazy, unless you’re responding to voices in your head. And it may very possibly help you solve any problems you’re facing.
According to an article in Scientific American, people achieve better problem-solving results if they get the information out of their head. Psychologists in Spain conducted studies with college-level math students. They found that people who detailed their thinking processes out loud, solved complex math problems faster and with greater accuracy, than the students who kept silent. The same positive results occurred with students who drew pictures that mapped out the problems.
Although there is no clear explanation for why this occurs, the researchers believe if the problem is represented verbally and visually, more areas of the brain are activated, and thus the possibility of finding a solution is increased. As you come up against problems, increase your odds of finding a good solution by talking it out and writing it down.
Intuit’s “Love A Local Business” Grants Extended
Last month I wrote about Intuit’s Love A Local Business grant awards. I was so happy to see they have extended their grant contest through January and February. They have also substantially increased the dollar value of the grants.
As before, five businesses will be randomly selected each month to receive grants worth $5,000, and judges will select one of those five to win the Grand Prize, valued at $35,000. Each Grand Prize includes $25,000 worth of local radio advertising on the Westwood One Radio Network to help them get more customers, a $9,500 cash grant to invest in their small business, plus $500 in Intuit products and services to help them manage their business.
Here’s what you need to know:
-The deadline for submitting a nomination is 11:59pm PT 2/28/10.
-You may nominate yourself. Just describe why you love serving your customers and community
-The businesses are chosen randomly from all qualifying nominations. The more unique nominations received for a business, the better their chance of winning.
-Judges will review the nominating comments of the five selections. Based on your words, they will choose the company that best represents a business that is loved by its customers, vendors, and employees as the Grand Prize winner.
Each unique nomination counts as a separate entry so enlist the support of your friends, family and customers. There is also a chance to win if you nominate 3 or more businesses before midnight on January 31, 2010. Through a random drawing you could win a $250 Visa Gift Card.
So show a little love to a deserving business, and who's more deserving than you? Love A Local Business
Even Small Things Can Stretch Your Boundries
Doing Something New from Beth Andrus on Vimeo.
