Beyond Free

In the days of brick and mortar stores, people went into book stores to browse, look at books, magazines and esoteric periodicals from all over the world. Then the E reader happened. Kindle happened and people were able to download books on their new reading devices.

As the Kindle became more sophisticated and added features, other competitors, most notably Apple, jumped into the fray and offered up their version of an E reader with many more features.  It was called the “I Pad” and sales of this product skyrocketed into the millions.

Now Kindle (a product of Amazon) has gone to the ultimate marketing route by introducing its “Kindle Zero.”  The cost for this product? ZERO, Nada, It is Free.

Why would they do this?  Simply because you need to buy books and the only books you can buy, you must get through Amazon.  I guess they figure that over the life of the product’s cost, the consumer will buy enough books not only to pay for the product but to provide a handsome profit to the company.

But Kindle has also moved beyond FREE. Those books that you could get for free, as a kindle subscriber, some 10% of their inventory will now be offered to the Kindle Zero buyer as will a monetary stipend to read the book.

 In other words, “get a free Kindle Zero, read this book and get paid!”  The idea is to sell advertising that would pop up on these readers’ devices as a way to generate income.

Pretty cool marketing. Pretty innovative. 

Now I am contemplating whether to offer my consulting services for free, sell advertising on my electronic marketing system that you have to read and offer you a FIAT 500 when you complete the course.

Is this the wave of marketing in the future? 

What does it mean for your bowling center?

Or for any other business selling products to consumers?

Are You (Still) In The Way?

When I take on  a new client, and after completing the initial marketing and management audit, I spend some time talking with key employees. Based upon the results of the audits, I can usually expect to hear the same comments I have been hearing over and over, lo these last 20 years.

Predictably, in about 95% of the time, they fall into these three main areas.

Result #1: "The boss is a jerk; is out of touch, doesn't know the business anymore and should either sell it (to me) or retire.He's always right and we're always wrong. He is always in the way."

Result #2: "The son/daughter.nephew, niece is a jerk; is out of touch, doesn't know the business anymore and should either sell it (to me) or retire. He's always right and we're always wrong. He's always in the way."

Result #3: "The boss/owner/son/daughter/nephew/niece micro manages everything. He/she is into everything always second guessing my decisions and always telling me that I screw up too much.  I try to please him/her, but nothing works. He's always right and I'm always wrong."

"Now", says the boss, to me,  "that you have spoken to our staff, do you still think you can help us?"

Some days you're the hammer and some days you're the nail. On this day I am both the hammer and the nail. So I tell him/her that some communication problems exist and I ask if he can see why an employee, who remains anonymous, might say some of the comments.

Sometimes he explains why such comments are possible.  Other times I am getting a defensive rebuttal. Most of the time, I see confusion and almost a sense of surprise.  Mostly, I am also seeking his agreement on getting together for a brainstorming session with the troops so I can observe their interactions.

In 95 out of 100 situations, I notice that the boss/owner/etc is more of a "my way or the highway" type of person than an unflattering jerk, as described by the staff.  Its his business and he wants it done his way.  he has that right, but that's not how you manage a 21st century employee.

Perhaps it is the difference between employees and entrepreneurs

An employee gets a paycheck for doing his or her job. An entrepreneur takes distributions should the business make a profit.  My job is to explain to each of them the other person's position and why they come off the way they do.  Sometimes it opens their eyes, other times it nudges them to promise to be more understanding of the other guy. Other times it does no good at all. Both parties are dug in and are not going to change.

How do you make that change? Obviously, you would try to change the environment inside of the center and have a fresh airing of the issues (usually done by a 3rd party for objectivity) and a new "agreement" on how to communicate.

However; and NO matter how that resolves itself, you will always need to hire good people. If you are right, then you should hire people like yourself: ambitious, competitive, achievement oriented, goal centered, reward driven, BUT be prepared to have them challenge you, to ask WHY?, to offer up other suggestions and to not accept, "we have always done it that way or "because I'm the boss, that's why." Be prepared for it, but also be prepared for your business to improve...if you can handle a little constructive criticism.

If you're not prepared for that, you can always go back to hiring people who will never challenge you, who will always grudgingly do it your way, who have given up offering ideas, who expect nothing from you and they, in return, will give you nothing but time and unfortunately will eventually call you a jerk.  You in turn will continually second guess them, not trust them and refer to them as "the help."

If you can't live with that, and not many leaders can, then develop a very clear vision of your business; develop a very precise plan and share it with motivated employees willing to make a difference and share in the rewards.  This is where the rubber meets the road.  This more than sending out emails and doing fliers; it is the very essence off the structure of your business. You cannot afford to get this wrong

As Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric used to say about his management philosophy"  "I hire the best people, give them their marching orders and stay the hell out of their way."

Do you have that? Where are you on this continuum?

Are You Still Trying To Win The Popularity Contest?

When you were in high school, there were always some kids who were the “in crowd” and one of them always became the “most popular” and got this title immortalized under his picture in their high school year book. Others got “most likely to succeed” immortalized in their year book as well. 

Were you that popular kid in high school or did you always want to be?

I (barely) hung with the "in crowd," but I was never even in consideration for most popular or most likely to succeed.  

Did I care? Damn right I cared!!

Back in those days (and even today) peer pressure was tremendous. Everyone wanted to be “popular.”  Who wouldn't?

Did you carry the need to be popular over to adulthood? Like most of us, you probably did. After all, nobody wants to be unpopular or disliked, right?

Wrong!

By wanting to be popular either with customers, clients or friends or acquaintances you sometimes had to bend and twist yourself into being something that you’re not.

Eventually the strain of having to be something that you’re not caused a small tear, maybe even a big split with the person you have been trying to be popular with for all those years.  

Worse, they found out that you have been disguising your true feelings and are angry at you for being dishonest…and that unto itself makes you unpopular.  The very thing you were trying to avoid turned around and bit you in the butt. Karma is real.

Maybe you are doing that with your business; trying to be popular with everybody. Trying to appeal to everyone because you think everyone is a potential bowler is like trying to be a Republican and a Democrat at the same time. It just doesn't work.

So in your bowling business you have to decide what your business stands for.  You have to tell it like it is and be honest. Even if it may not be popular.

If you want to have bands do it because you think there is a market for it AND YOU THINK IT REPRESENTS YOUR BUSINESS VALUES.  Oh, you might piss of some of the regular open play bowlers on Saturday night, and be unpopular with them, but if you see a greater value in “doing bands, than by all means go and do it!

Just don’t do it because it seems like another way to make money.  Look, there is nothing wrong with making money, but if you make a business decision like this because “it seems like a good idea” and you don't really believe in it, how many people in the center will get behind it, if you’re not pumped up about it?  How many people in the center will think you are being “honest?” ZERO.

Oh you might be popular, but at what expense?  

So from now on, stop trying to be all things to all people. That DOESN'T work anymore. 

Instead be the person who stands up for her business who promotes, offers and sells what she believes in  and if it’s unpopular with some people, so be it;  they weren't going to be your customers anyway!

Commodity vs. Creativity

I have heard some people say that the bowling industry is now a commodity business and as such are treating it that way by marketing their business on “a price only” strategy. 

One guy is even selling bowling at 93 cents. Why? Because his competitor is at 99 cents?   Is someone going to actually bowl in that center to save 6 cents?  Really?

This rush to lower pricing is not a long term solution to staying in business. Oh, you can get away with it for a short while, but ultimately you will be attracting customers that do nothing to feed your league bowler base and just may make your center a less desirable destination in your community’s eyes.

Isn't anybody thinking about the bowler experience and what you can do to differentiate that experience from some other competitor? Isn't anyone thinking about a creative experience that is less price sensitive and more “fun oriented?  Or maybe it’s just too much work?

Some of my clients are doing things like:

·         Creating a cupcake and bowling experience…and filling their center by the way.

·         Other centers are holding sweepstakes so every time you bowl you have a chance to win a valuable prize, gift certificate, t shirt or bowling ball, charging higher prices and getting it.

·         Another client is holding band night every Saturday night and where "lights n strikes" used to generate 40 or 50 people, he is now generating 100 to 120 people who are eating and drinking as well.

You can go down the commodity path and hold on for dear life or you can choose to be creative, work on the bowling experience, communicate your differences and have a bright future or you can sell apples just like the other guy’s apples.

I know what I would do and am doing.

 

What are you going to do?

If You"re Not Lady Gaga, You're Nobody

Ever notice that to get noticed today you need to almost border on the ridiculous? Or on the outrageous?. 

Take Lady GaGa (pictured on the left) for instance. Not that Lady Gaga is ridiculous, but she is certainly someone who stands apart from her competition. 

Her "brand,” if you will, is a unique blend of musical talent matched with daring costumes and bejeweled elegance. Her demeanor suggests “new, exciting, creative, and relevant" to her target audience.

But let’s get back to ridiculous. And I mean that in a positive way. Ridiculous can be outrageous which can be exciting, fun, and most importantly “attention getting.”

Ever notice that the more ridiculous/outrageous looking people are (Madonna, Boy George) the more we pay attention to them. The more ridiculous/outrageous things they say (Bill Maher, Rush Limbaugh), the more we pay attention to them.  The more ridiculous/outrageous things they do (Evel Knievel, Chris Brown), the more we pay attention to them.

All these folks found a way to differentiate themselves from the crowd which makes them almost household names. They found a way to break through the clutter and GET THEIR MESSAGE HEARD!

So how will you find your ridiculousness; ridiculousness that is both outrageous and relevant.  If you look around, some of the hybrids and some of the FEC’s strive for that in their architecture, their design and in their service and service attendants.  

Their goal is TO BE outrageous; to create buzz and to obviously stimulate your curiosity so you will visit their business and then keep coming back.

You could start there. Or consider some of these ideas (maybe they will stimulate some other thoughts):

Or you could start with an outrageous mascot that is always available for kids parties and adult parties.

Or outrageous service people dressed in top hat and tails.

Or service people wearing white gloves, baggy pants with suspenders  and a bowler hat while wearing white gloves. 

Or valet parking cars.

Or serving 2' ft long hot dogs, 36" pizzas or 2 lb. cheeseburgers.

Or reserving parking spaces for Moms whose kids are having birthdays.

Or getting customers to play a NEW game of bowling, readily available from your scorer manufacturers like Brunswick, Qubica and others.

Or creating marathon bowling events every Friday and Saturday night for prize moneys.

Or becoming a real Rock N Bowl Club with live bands every weekend.

Whats it going to take to get your business to stand out and become a household name in your community? 

What is it going to take to get your message to be heard.  

Because sad to say, and as many proprietors have told me, "We have to find a way to get our message out because what we're doing just isn't working any more."

Blogs Outrank Social Networks for Consumer Influence

A recent poll by “Technorati” magazine indicated that the #1 way to influence consumers’ purchasing decisions is by blogging.  

The report found that blogs are now the third most influential digital source behind retail sites and brand sites.

Consumers said that blog ranks higher than Twitter for shaping their opinion and higher than Facebook for making purchasing decisions.

Why are blogs so influential?  Because bloggers tend to be very honest and sincere in their reviews of products and services.

By talking about both the positive and negative aspects of a brand, they become a trusted source of information.

And as you know trust drives action, and thus consumers look to bloggers before they buy.

Trust is the currency of influence and consumers are looking for trusted digital friends to give them advice on what to buy and where to go.  That's why bloggers who offer such advice are influential - because consumers trust their guidance.

So if you want your influence to grow, you need to become a trusted source. You can only do this by providing compelling content on your blog and then amplify it through social media. 

People will listen.  And you will become their go to resource for specific advice.

Here is one suggestion to get you started thinking in the right direction...

You do this by establishing an "entertainment blog" and telling people what there is to do in and around the area.

Report on other activities for families and kids and include your center as well, making sure to be very subtle in the advantages of coming to your "Happy Lanes" instead of a local competition.

If there is a great activity in town; encourage people to go to the (I.e.) championship HS football game AND then come to "Happy Lanes" to celebrate.

Talk about health and fitness and calories burned by activity  Talk about local charities and what  and where fund raising events are happening (like at your center).

I know you are sitting there, scratching your head and saying, "Now Fred, you've said a lot of out of the box things in your blog, but now you want me to tell people about my competition?  R U NUTS?"

Yeah, I want you to become the expert on entertainment. Yeah, I want people to look to you first for advice and Yeah, I want people to trust you.  Because trust breeds action which = sales at your center!!

As far as the second question goes, its a toss up :)

The real question is do you even have a blog?  If not, what are you waiting for? 

Do you need assistance in creating one?  

This Is Change. This is Marketing.

If marketing is about change, then it stands to reason that change, in marketing terms, is the process in which the seller gets a potential consumer to buy his product or gets an existing customer to continue to buy his product.

A third element, however, is in play and its one we don’t really think about; that element being the ability to deliver a buying experience that has the buyer talking about it to his friends and recommending the product.

So how do you get that these elements to line up?

First, you need to know what your prospect wants.  You find this out by asking your present customer why he bought your product and why he continued to buy it.

Second, you replicate the appeals of the product, as described by your existing target, to an identical target audience, or as close as you can get, and create an offer that is compelling. And you test it. And you test different variations.

Third, you find the top two offers and communicate each to half of your target market.

Fourth, you need to communicate this in many ways. Individually, massively, and frequently in every possible affordable way.

Fifth you need to stand back, measure and see if your research and analysis as well as your communication did its job. Which appeal did better?  Why?

If you didn't get any "change" in the target consumers’ behavior or get anyone talking about it positively, go back and reanalyze your research, your analysis, your offers and your execution.

This is the process of getting and retaining new customers.
Don’t be afraid to fail. Or succeed.

This is it. There is no other way.

The best average in the major leagues, since the dawn of the 20^th century was .381, held by Jesse Burkett of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1900. He was wildly successful even though he failed to get on base more than 60% of the time.

If you truly want change; if you truly want your potential customer or existing customer to buy from you, here is the mantra, “Never, never, never stop the marketing process."

And if you don’t get it, find someone who does to mentor you.