Ideas2Consider

Internet's marketing myopia

2008-03-20T11:26:00.003+07:00

On internet marketing terms, SEO, keywords and tagging are among important or focused aspects to be considered. Keywords are one or more words used by internet user when using search engine like Google or Yahoo search. The importance of this element has driven internet marketer and web developer to focus his or her attention on targeting the right user with the most effective keywords and tags. Then come hegemony of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) that rules everybody. Software are even developed to facilitate this need : ways to define the most effective and successful keywords! Believe it or not, this trend of SEOs has lead internet marketer to what so called by Marketing Guru like Philip Kottler and Garry Armstrong : Marketing Myopia. This myopia as uttered by Ralp Waldo Emerson : ... if a man makes a better mousetrap…the world will beat a path to his door.....”. One of a better mouse trap was laser mouse trap costing $1,500 and failed to market. Same thing goes, marketer might think that by building a better mouse trap (effective keywords) then profitable sales shall automatically be on hand. Well, that’s no naïve and definitely a marketing myopia! Yes, you might gain a certain high level of hits and clicks due to your effective keywords, but it won’t be worth without acceptable sales turnover and profits! By theory, the higher probability of people clicking your links or sites, the higher chance of sales you earn. But remember a simple fact that your customer (internet user) do not buy your keywords but contents, products or services that you offered through the links or sites. When their needs and wants are not in a line with your product proposition, you simply fail to market.

There is another point that internet marketer should see. It is the fact that in any market and any customer, there should be “dynamics”. There’s nothing such as a “static” market in term of behavior, trend, and adoption of product or services. This principle applies in internet marketing as well. If you think that a certain keyword will be as effective as your first launching, well think again. If you consider that your sites looks and features shall always be compatible with your user’s needs and wants, it’s a bit naïve. Most SEO software works on an empirical (given) data. As a modern day marketer you should never be blinded by the statistics. It is indeed a useful tool but you should consider other factors as well, such as unseen potential changes or trends on your market. This is your only option to survive in marketing any products or services in any markets!

Fine-tuning your uniqueness (USP)

2008-02-28T19:04:00.005+07:00

It's a good start that you become one of a kind, a unique personality as perceived by your target market. But second to this advantage is an ability to adapt to the market condition. Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is merely a potential that you need to enhance as to achieve your profit objectives. USP solely may speak itself of who you are or what your abilities are, but could not instantly attract your market. You must prepare yourself as well as the market to the idea of adopting your products or services. There should be a bridge for customer and you. When I imply a bridge, it won't simply imply communications like educating consumers but mainly fine-tuning your product features in order to be an effective products or services that fulfill customer needs or wants. Recently Coke has launched "Coca Cola zero". Its USP of "a low calorie (no sugar) soft drink" surely speaks for "healthy diet" customers. I believe the company has prepared the products, campaigns to educate the markets of its "uniqueness" thoroughly. Otherwise the products shall become only a variant of drinks on the store shelves. Speaking of USP, this giant legendary company has a strong commitment to maintain its' loyal customers, by fully understading the dynamic of its customer behaviour that evolves from time to time.
Surely It's the only way to survive : adaptability to changes in order to survive.

How special are you? : A critical question to ask before starting a business

2008-02-09T12:35:00.000+07:00

As a starter in small buiness, what should we do once we have a good business idea? Well, you should evaluate it prior to execution. Good idea is a good start but you might as well have to consider one critical question: what is your niche, your specialness?

DR. Lynda Falkenstein emphasized this concept in “Nichecraft”(1996): “..Eliminating the competition (without bloodshed), distinguishing your business from everyone else’s,and getting the right customers clamoring for your product or service in any economy are the most basic requirements for business success today. Whether you are running a small “Mom and Pop” operation or are CEO of a major corporation, the rule applies: you can no longer simply compete against anyone in a similar field. Not if you want to win, that is. The fact is , you win by being perceived as special, singular, unique, one of a kind. You must create a niche that you own, that nobody can steal or take from you, and that achieves your goals…….”

In this tight competition world, you have to be “special” in order to stand out of the crowd”. Once you chose to become average guy ,you surely become a commodity. Thus, your business should have a certain position in customer mind. Position that differentiate you profitably compare to others. As Regis McKenna once said in his “The Regis Touch:Million Dollar Advice from America’s Top Marketing Consultant”(1985): “ …Product Positioning must be the first step. The idea behind product positioning is simple. To gain a strong product position, a company must differentiate its produsts from all other products on the market. The goal is to give the product a unique position in the marketplace…..”

That way, you shall have a very strong fundamental for business success.

Business Idea : where to start

2008-02-06T00:38:00.000+07:00

Whats
It's never been easier for a newcomer to start even a small business venture. Major questions is what would I sell ? Would there be enough significant buyers to prolong my business? What product or service offerings should I think of?

Finding the Real Opportunities
Business ideas are all around you. They are lurking in your garage, in your basement, in your kitchen, and in your children’s room. You’ll find them in magazine ads, at your neighbor’s house, and at work. They are right there in the vegetables you brought in from the yard . . . in the stack of papers next to your laser printer . . . in the back of your truck . . . and at the back of your mind.

Quick Advice on Business Ideas
" Don’t be tempted to start a retail store just because you find a cute, affordable space. Location means everything in retail and a good location usually costs a lot of money. In fact, a super location, good signage, and an attractive storefront may be all the marketing you need. "

The Lottery Mentality

2007-09-23T08:10:00.000+07:00

In one of his Business Wisdom Radio Programmes, Tanadi Santoso, an Indonesian well-known business consultant and motivator,uttered an interesting pointer on success. He suggested that in order to succed one should put more focus on good execution rather than merely positive thinking. To my opinion, positive thinking and well execution are both requisite capital for success. Surely We can not assume that good execution is more important than positive thinking, vice versa. Why? Because they complete each other. It won't be perfect if you have a bright idea but without successfuly realizing it. On the other hand, if you succed in doing one particular thing while have no ideas why you have felled into success, you wouldn't be happy for long. When you intend to do some thing good, it won't be complete until you actually do it. Anticipating future with positive thinking is surely a good foundation of success. Certainly we need more than just "happy thoughts". Lot of things should be considered : planning and preapration, execution and evaluation are mandatory. Now let us see an interesting phenomenon. What if some one succed but without previous preparations (or even thoughts about it)? Well, I call him a lucky person but there is no guarantee that it will last long. Why? Simply put, he does not have a complete picture of his success formula. That way He may not be able to replicate his success in the future. This lottery mentality could lead him into frustration. You may succed one time but faill the other time. When discussing the importance of niching, Lynda Falkenstein in her book Nichecraft said: The problem with falling into something good is that you could also just fall into something bad. Worst of all, when a niche happens by accident you can't replicate it, because you don't know the process that you went through in the first place. Success, as we know it, is not merely destination but also a journey through which you carry positive mental state, planning, execution and evaluation.

If only I have more time....

2007-09-15T09:58:00.000+07:00

These are the most common responses people give when asked about time : “I don’t have much time”, “It’s not easy for me to allocate time..”, or “ If only I have more time..”. In short, most people crave to have more time in order to do more things. Parents want to spend more time with their children. Employee negotiate deadlines. Companies hope that their customers will tolerate the length of time to process orders, manufacture and deliver products to customer premises. Everybody crave for more time. Unfortunately, time will not compromise. Time waits for nobody. Those who can not manage their time shall not reach their dreams easily. Denis Waitley in his book The Joy of working said : Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes everyday. Rich people can’t buy more hours. Scientist can’t invent new minutes. And you can’t save time to spend it on another day… Success depends upon using it wisely – by planning and setting priorities. Waitley suggest that we can not have more time since we can not manipulate it. But we can manage and allocate time through planning and priorities. It is the only way to utilize time.

Gainning Acceptance through good will or deception?

2007-09-14T10:42:00.000+07:00

In career, friendship, or social life, intentionally or not one should sell something to other. In any group we are required to provide contribution. If we want to be accepted we should sell something that the group needs. Otherwise we are no longer a member. Although most people reluctantly admit it selling is what people actually do. We sell our expertise in order to get pay checks. We sell ideas to friends or community in order to get accepted. In any field of expertise or social environment we choose, we sell. John Cantwell Kiley once said that successful salespersons are those who sell their products by expertly calling attention to the blossom instead of hiding the thorns through deception. As a matter of fact this applies in our social life as well. If you want to succeed in selling an idea to friends, first you have to understand the blossom of your idea. You have to know “what’s in it for them”. Then comes the harder part that is how to sell it. You can use an an honest approach or the opposite. When a person hides the thorns (weakness) of his or her idea through deception then we do not appreciate him or her as a good salesperson. Once such truth revealed this person has been put in a black-list and even sent away as an outcast. On the contrary, when a person sell honestly other will acknowledge it as a good reputation.
As Kiley put it, successful salespersons know how to make themselves blossom in the mind of a potential customer despite the thorns (any personal limitations). But he insisted that it should start from the creation of good will (keeping your word to a customer). Doing otherwise is an act of disrespect and contempt for the customer and quickly destroy your most precious asset in selling.

Difficulty on finding healthy foods in big cities

2007-09-05T15:01:00.000+07:00

After receiving unpleasant comments on my body shape, I began to think of my life style and more concerned on health issues. The journey began by studying nutrition, weight-reducing system and exercises. In the beginning it was so hard to cope with abundant and massive information on this healthy life subject. Some suggested an “x diet” with a promise to loose 5-10 pounds a month. Others offered a non-surgical, no pills, an even a non-medical (or logical) approach to loose more in shorter period. Luckily I escaped from the confusion and managed to result in a new body and a healthy life style. I finally found a simple tricks to conquer my obesity and called it “My slimming Plan” . Actually It was not a “Slimming” Plan but a “Balancing” Plan because I did not plan to be skinny. I wanted to shape my waist while adding some muscles. Trust me, It was so hard at the beginning. Only after a few months that I could adjust my “life style” in order to have a new body shape. Simply put, the tricks taught me how to maintain a perfect balance between intake calories and activities. At one side of the balance I had to watch over my calorie consumptions. At the other hand I run good exercise routines. I did not have any problem with the tight exercise schedule. Matter of factly it was fun and I did not want to miss a day without it. The problem rised at the calories consumption. I could not eat without calculating the calorie values.

Then I become more “picky” and “cautious” on food issue. Sometimes this made me crazy. One magazine suggested that in order to make sure that we consumed controlled calories, we should cook for ourselves. (And that is unbelievable!) As a single and 9-to-5 worker, how could I do that? I couldn’t afford it. Ready made meals? I already tried that as well. Along with diet milk, cookies and noodles. (They were available at major supermarkets). I consumed them once in a while but telling the truth I could not call them “real food”. Mostly they were tasteless and certainly expensive. While most take away foods or ready made meals (non-dietary ones) have high calorie values, dietary products do not help humanize healthy life style. In my opinion, healthy concerned people deserve better attentions. In some country where obesity become a major problem, government and society at large paid attention on this matter. I see that some companies have been aiming at this niche market. Although still hard to find you may see a healthy life style restaurant in big cities that may offer organic products or cater for special diet (for people with certain illness such as diabetes, cancer, heart etc). Beside the scarcity, you hardly ever find an affordable price. Dietary products usually priced higher than the regular. I wonder why people should pay more for less ? (Less fat, less sugar, less calorie?)

My dream is one day we will find lots of food outlets in the neighborhood offering “really healthy foods” with affordable prices. Or perhaps you want to serve this niche market?