Newsletter - 2012 03
March 2012
Business Success
Brought to You By BMA Marketing
PERSONAL PARAGRAPH
Measuring new bowler campaign ROI at $51,668
Chris Swanson, Owner
BMA Marketing
Wolcott CT 06716
(800) 603-3985
Outside Sales Promote...
- Company Outings
- New Bowler Visits
- Birthday Sales
At the end of each coupon campaign, we help our client centers track and measure benchmarks including...
- redeemed coupon count
- immediate revenue from shoes, paid game, F&B and ancillaries
- number of additional birthday parties that used the coupon's 10% party discount
- value of the included coupon Data Entry
- count of email addresses collected from the coupon back
- short term revenue from new customers' repeat visits
Here's the Quick Summary section from a recent report sent to a client center in Illinois...
$14,390.... sales from 1439 coupon users 1st visit
$600......... from 11 additional birthday parties
$432......... immediate value of the 432 (30%) new email addresses
$36,246.... revenue estimated over next 12 months from repeat visits
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$51,668... 18 month ROI from one coupon campaign
To view the complete report... click here
ENTREPRENEURS
Why Strategy Must Come First When Building a Business
A lot of small-business owners think tactically. They think about "how" they're going to do something, but they're not thinking strategically about the "what."
There's a big difference between "what" you're going to do and "how" you're going to do something.
It's important for business owners to step back and really look at the big picture of their objective. What are the costs versus benefits? What are the best practices? What's market research saying? What's your competition doing?
Once you can answer these questions, you've got a good solid frame to define your strategy. It's only when you have your strategy that you can clearly have an idea of how you're going to accomplish it, which is where tactics come in.
Think of your strategy as your business blueprint. It's your long-term plan, or "the big picture."
Once you have that in mind, you can consider the necessary steps or tactics to secure that end goal. Successful business owners know that the difference between "tactics" and "strategy" really comes down to the difference between "doing things right" and "doing the right things."
And both are equally important.
When you stack up strategy against tactics, you may think strategy is more important - it's not. It's just the first step, an important step to get right. Once you figure out the right thing to do, you can then go about a plan of action to secure mini-milestones toward a greater goal.
MARKETING
How to Make a Facebook Fan Page
Quick Quiz
Each month I’ll give you a new question. Just reply to this email for the answer.
Which is the flattest U.S. state?
Why Not Pass Me On?
If you've enjoyed this newsletter and found its information useful, please pass it to another business owner or a co-worker.
Worth Reading
Selections from the best articles seen online this month.
5 New Management Metrics You Need to Know
Most companies measure traffic, revenue or earnings without considering how to improve at an atomic level - by making meetings better or engineers more productive. James Slavet offers five measures of basic improvement. One is flow-state percentages. When flow-state (or deep concentration) is disrupted, it takes 15 minutes to get back into flow.
7 Things Highly Productive People Do
There's risk to adopting every new bright idea or management theory that comes along. So-called best practices may actually be bad habits. Take the open-door policy. It can be a source of constant interruption and an excuse for your reports to bother you when they ought to be handling things on their own. The same can be said for open-office concepts, which tempt workers to spend time talking instead of working.
BOOK REVIEW
Be Unreasonable, by Paul Lemberg
Be Unreasonable is a call to business owners to think bigger. Instead of getting trapped in the narrow constraints of what has gone before and what your competitors are doing, the book urges entrepreneurs to think "unreasonable" thoughts and act on them to produce a big leap for their businesses.
What are some of Lemberg's "unreasonable" ideas? Don't compromise, because that forces you to sacrifice what truly matters; do more than you are asked for; consider why normal is normal (is it because it is effective or because it is easy?); think whatever thoughts (don't let your mind censor you); expect the best from those around you; plan your exit strategy from day one; waste in order to create (because most things don't work first time); take Fridays off (so you don't get burned out); and don't worry about getting it right the first time.
The book continues with strategies and tactics to help you make the "unreasonable" work for you.
Wisdom
Quotes by...Pierre Omidyar
"We have technology, finally, that for the first time in human history allows people to really maintain rich connections with much larger numbers of people."
"eBay's business is based on enabling someone to do business with another person, and to do that, they first have to develop some measure of trust, either in the other person or the system."
"When I started eBay, it was a hobby, an experiment to see if people could use the Internet to be empowered through access to an efficient market. I actually wasn't thinking about it in terms of a social impact. It was really about helping people connect around a sphere of interest so they could do business."
"I was just pursuing what I enjoyed doing. I mean, I was pursuing my passion."
"I've got a passion for solving a problem that I think I can solve in a new way. And that maybe it helps that nobody has done it before as well."
Pierre Omidyar is the founder of eBay.
To create a Facebook fan page for your business, you must have a personal Facebook profile. To launch the page, go to any page that you "like" and scroll down to "Create a Page." Be thoughtful when naming your page, as it is extremely difficult to change the name later on.
Usually the page name will be the name of your business. Check to be sure you've spelled it correctly
Facebook's fan page layout gives you plenty of page real estate to brand your business.
Try to integrate all the customization options to create a focused and compelling presentation of your brand.
Customization options for your Facebook fan page include:
- A profile image
- An "About" box for information on your business
- Navigation tab icons and titles
- Likes/favorites
- A photostrip
- A wall (custom tabs)
Your profile image will appear as a thumbnail for all posts you make. If you have a logo, use it so that it becomes associated with the content you're sharing.
The "Permissions" section gives you various editing options. The default tab allows you to direct first-time visitors to a specific page area. The "Suggest to Friends" option enables you to share the page with your personal Facebook friends.
Be sure to maintain consistent branding across all social media and promote your Facebook fan page in other marketing materials, including your website; email signature; online marketing pushes; and offline materials such as business cards, ads and brochures.
MARKETING STRATEGY
Team Up With Others to Win More Clients
Have you thought about teaming up with another business to do a joint marketing promotion or share marketing resources? Joint venture (JV) marketing is a great way to stretch your marketing budget and raise your business profile. Marketing joint ventures can range from co-sponsoring ads or events to jointly promoting product launches or bartering products and services.
Trade shows are a good example of a type of marketing JV in which businesses pool their resources to gain wider exposure.
For online businesses, marketing collaborations typically involve exchanging email lists and offering freebies or discounts to the subscribers and customers of each venture.
You can develop marketing JVs with business associates, industry peers or even with competitors, if you target different niches or if your products and services are related but do not compete directly.
The benefits of marketing JVs extend far beyond the scope of the actual ad, promotion or trade.
JVs are a cost-effective way to get new leads, prospects and customers.
They allow you to build your own reputation and brand awareness while building alliances with other businesses.
Marketing JVs enable you to add greater value to your existing customers and new collaboration with other businesses, you can target new customers and new markets and obtain new distribution channels for your offerings.
Establishing JV relationships with reputable, well-respected businesspeople will bring credibility to your business through implied or actual endorsements and testimonials and enhance your reputation through association with quality products, services and brands.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Secrets for Hiring Exceptional Employees
Hiring well is more important than ever. A poor hire not only underperforms in his or her job, but can poison the entire organization.
In today's sluggish economy, job seekers in many industries are competing for scarce positions, yet entrepreneurs report that finding top talent is still a big challenge.
Who are the right people to hire - and how and where do you find them? The best employees are the ones who really want to work for your company and are enthusiastic and excited to be on the team. They are the ones who actively seek out problems and come up with creative solutions.
To find these people, you have to know where to look. Staffing firms are a good place to start, but there are other ways to find qualified leads, such as using your company website and social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, Google and LinkedIn.
People within your industry usually know the up-and-comers who are searching for advancement or greater opportunity. Look around and tap into your network as well as the networks of your employees, colleagues and associates. The vast majority of managerial jobs are filled through this type of networking.
Don't settle for an applicant who merely meets tactical job responsibilities and skills.
It's important to define job requirements carefully and prescreen for the specific skills, capabilities, attributes and personal characteristics you need.
Pay close attention to characteristics such as work ethic, communication ability and people skills, and then review only those candidates who have passed the initial screening.
Small businesses are often reluctant to post jobs on job search sites or participate in job fairs, because they're afraid of being inundated with applicants.
But if you know what you're looking for, you can narrow your scope and home in on the most qualified candidates.
The right hire will fulfill the job requirements and also be a good cultural fit for your organization.
Don't settle for an applicant who merely meets tactical job responsibilities and skills. Look for repeated patterns of success.
Go for the applicant who has made a mark and repeatedly exceeded expectations.
Once you get down to a short list of candidates, it's a good idea to bring other people into the process and get their input. Oftentimes, others will see things that you didn't see or maybe hear the same words in a different way or from a different perspective.
Trust, but verify. This goes for everything that is written on a candidate's resume and job application and all that is said in a job interview.
Contact references, and while you're talking to them, ask if there is anybody else who is familiar with the candidate whom you could talk to. Ask to be transferred to them or get a phone number and follow up with them. Truly premium talent is rare, whether the economy is good or bad. The exceptional hires are out there, but you probably need to take some time and do some sleuthing to find the right candidate and make the right hire. It's worth the time and effort, though, to find the right people who can help your company succeed.
INDUSTRY UPDATE
New Merchant Coupon Client Centers
We are grateful for the new opportunities to fill lanes at...
More results reported by our client centers... Click here
RESOURCES
BMA's Industry Partners and Resources
Contact our Industry Partners for immediate solutions. Also, when you select BMA to assist with filling lanes, you'll receive an exclusive email from us containing gifts and special offers from our partners...
BowlingIndustry.com - an online magazine + social networking community for bowling center owners, operators and professionals in the business of bowling.
BowlingMarketing.com - a complete bowling center marketing system that contains a ready to run Marketing Plan loaded with proven programs, timelines and task dates, customized material and weekly conference calls to drive and manage the process.
BPAAWebServices.com - features rich web sites designed for bowling centers at a very reasonable cost. BMA is not affiliated with the BPAA, but our client centers tell us they are happy with their BPAA web site, so we are glad to pass along solutions that work. We like the killer features... email list manager, online party reservation system, easy to update on your own or have BPAA web masters update for a small fee...and more.
Max Cook / Stardust Marketing - Over 45 years experience in recreation and entertainment facility operations. Multi-unit responsibility for the past 20 years. Experience in employee relations, contract negotiation, grievance handling, and conflict resolution. Development and execution of business plan and budget responsibilities. Strong marketing background with a proven track record of execution.
Partywirks.com - convert your website visitors into buyers by offering online scheduling and buying capability.
