Work – Blue Ridge Mtn Mama

Product Demand Creation

You have a product. The product is a great idea that fills a need for a particular consumer. You feel for those consumers, you know them, you might be them. But how exactly do you get consumers to actually want the product? Said another way, how do you create demand for your product?

I found an article. It’s an oldy, but a goody. Yes, it was written only a couple of years after the recession of 2008, but the key themes of product demand creation still resonate in 2019. The article is written for Fast Company by Adrian Slywotzky who literally wrote the book on creating product demand. This article is called The Six Secrets Of Demand Creation. Knowing that Slywotzky wrote an entire book on the subject, you can trust you are getting some great high-level cliff notes to further explore as you build demand for your product.

Here are the six (read the article or the book for more info):

Make It Magnetic- emotional connection with customers
Fix Our Hassles- study the needs of customers in multiple markets
Build on the Backstory- what was the problem, and how can you take that concept further?
Find the Trigger- what is the tipping point to get consumers off the fence? Study it; duplicate it.
Build a Steep Trajectory of Improvement- launch day is just the first step, immediately try to get better.
“De-Average” the Customer- one size does not fit all and different segments of your customer base may need slightly different problems solved or at least a different marketing narrative.

I will definitely be using some of these tips and insights as I write about my course work and help A.D. White continue to build demand for Asheville Hustle.

Voice of the Customer

In the Four Steps to the Epiphany – Successful Strategies for Products that Win book by Steve Blank, he talks a lot about the customers. I fact, he probably writes the word customer more than the word product. He knows that without finding and marketing to appropriate customer groups, even the best products are destined to fail. Blank walks through several aspects of engaging customers to include:

The customer discovery model
Discovery
Validation
And Creation
Additionally, he includes a comprehensive customer development checklist

This book is a great reference and guide for any entrepreneur who is trying to launch a business or product. Companies are doomed to fail without finding their tribe of devoted customers. And once you have those customers, it’s important not to let the brand voice dominate the voice of your best brand advocates: your customers. To drive home this point, I recommend checking out Jason Maynard’s article for Entrepreneur Magazine called, When Your Customers Are Talking, Quiet Your Brand Voice and Listen.

MacKenzie Bezos Deserves Some Credit

Last semester I interviewed Jeff Kaplan, Director for Venture Asheville. One thing he told me as advice for entrepreneurs has hung with me since that time. When asked about tactics for funding a start-up he said, “Personally, most of what I’ve done is bootstrapping, pinching pennies, and personal savings. It is really helpful to have a working spouse”. That working spouse piece has really stuck with me. For someone in a partnership to be “all-in” and really go for their entrepreneurial dream, sacrifices have to be made. His words have especially been poignant as I keep seeing the ridiculous controversy over the divorce of MacKenzie and Jeff Bezos, billionaires and founders of Amazon. Many news outlets keep making comments about “how much MacKenzie will get in the divorce” evoking rage in every spouse who has ever silently, or not so silently supported the entrepreneurial endeavors of their significant other. I could write a laundry list of reasons why these one-sided, sexist headlines are an oversimplification of the back story of any entrepreneurial couple, but I don’t have to because Louise Matsakis, a writer for WIRED has written a brilliant piece called, MacKenzie Bezos and the Myth of the Lone Genius Founder.

For those of us who are entrepreneurs, love an entrepreneur, or find ourselves in an entrepreneurial partnership (business and/or romantic), it’s important to recognize the PARTNERSHIP. The myth of the lone genius founder is indeed farfetched and rare.

FINALLY! Someone Talks About Intrapreneurship

The name of my blog is The Strengths Focused Intrapreneur, and yet, for the past four semesters, the classes in my program at WCU have focused on entrepreneurial pursuits. Don’t get me wrong, the info is helpful, especially for managing the business side of my husband’s writing career. But what I do in my “day job” is live the life of an intrapreneur. I have lots of autonomy in what I do to manage the departments and functions that report to me, and I basically have little micro-businesses within a larger corporate structure.

So, imagine my delight when in our assigned text for the semester I found a whole chapter in Rogers’ Entrepreneurial Finance on Intrapreneurship!

Joseph Alois Schumpeter, himself, asserted that entrepreneurship did not have to be confined to start-ups. He said, “Innovation within the shell of existing corporations offers much more convenient access to the entrepreneurial functions than existed in the world of owner managed firms. Many a would- be entrepreneur of today does not found a firm, not because he could not do so, but simply because he prefers the other method.” (Rogers 269).

I feel the essence of Schumpeter’s conclusion every day. I am an intrapreneur, and I make the conscious choice to hustle within the corporate structure because I grew up in a family business. I want to know that my paycheck will be on-time, that the collections department is doing their job, that billing statement need not be stuffed around the kitchen table at the beginning of every month, and that my 403b/401k has a handsome match provided by my employer. I loved our life growing up, and also, being the family-owned business is HARD. That’s not to say my life as part of a larger company is easy, but it’s certainly not an 80+ hour a week job, either.

Rogers asserts there are two types of Intrapreneur. He even offers a nifty model (Rogers 270):

Caretaker– the anti-intrapreneur; happy with the status quo. Not interested in anything outside moderate growth or development of a product.

Developer– looks at the status quo and finds growth opportunity in existing business lines; might find new markets or customers to facilitate growth.

Innovator– creates new products, services or business models outside of regular R&D.

Some days I wonder what it would be like to start my own company or leave my large company to head-up human resources for a growing entrepreneurial endeavor. And then I read articles like these that remind me why I harness the power of my entrepreneurial spirit for intrapreneurial good.

Here are a few articles that might help ground or propel the budding entrepreneur:

I hope you find these articles helpful for choosing your own path as an entrepreneur, intrapreneur, or neither. As for me, my day job will mostly fulfill me in my intrapreneurial pursuits, and I’ll continue being an entrepreneur at home in helping manage my husband’s business and in the multiple side hustles I find myself involved in.

Additional Resources:

Rogers, S. (2014). Entrepreneurial Finance: Third Edition, Finance and Business Strategies for the Serious Entrepreneur. 269-278.

The Intersection of Crowdfunding and Traditional Debt Financing

“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.” – Oscar Wilde via Wisebread.com

Last week I wrote about crowdfunding and the many different platforms available for funding. I decided to explore the site Lending Club. I’ve since learned, this type of funding is called person-to-person or P2P lending. Think of it as crowdfunding meets an angel investing pool. I spent some time researching their model and writing some brief instructions on the steps to become approved with Lending Club. Here’s my screencast evaluation of their financing option:

And some more in-depth info on the steps for applying with Lending Club:

Now, let’s follow the (hypothetic) steps to apply from the borrower’s perspective:

Determine your eligibility

Click on this link for a dashboard of steps to follow (with access to the electronic platform):

https://help.lendingclub.com/hc/en-us/categories/202523217-Small-Business

Start by exploring the “How to Apply” button
Check your rate
Choose your offer, if given
Watch as people invest in your loan
Funding is sent directly to your bank account
Set-up monthly auto-draft payments
Pay off your loan early, if wanted, with no early pay-off penalty

Success and Key Questions (6/30/18 Stats):

https://www.lendingclub.com/info/statistics.action

How much does the Crowdfunding source take as a fee? Varies depending on the terms of the loan
How long will the process take until the money arrives and can be used? About 7 days for approval and a few more days for funds to be deposited (depending on bank rules). Need to use their check-list to avoid delays.
Restrictions? Varies depending on the terms of the loan
Reporting requirements? Lending Club wants to see your IRS tax return and requires a 4506-T form to do so. Borrowers would report funds as part of their tax return.

Raising Capital Might take More Than a Lucky Cat

“A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it.” – Bob Hope via goodfinancetips.com

This week we are choosing topics to research that pertain to raising funds for entrepreneurial pursuits. We’ll be publishing an article in a few weeks about the topic we research, and I chose a pretty traditional form of funding to explore. My topic is “Loans & Lines of Credit (to include SBA guarantees)”.

So far, I’ve learned the Bob Hope comment about banks loaning money only to people who prove they don’t need it is entirely true. Most banks are pretty risk-averse. This explains the popularity of other non-traditional forms of funding for modern entrepreneurs; options like:

Angel Investors
Crowdfunding
& Business Incubators

For entrepreneurs who have collateral to offer and/or extremely great credit, traditional loans and lines of credit can still be a good option but are usually not the only option to pursue. As I conduct more research, I’ll post the whole article on my blog to share.

In the meantime, I’d like to share a couple of thought-provoking pieces about funding.

The first is a quick bit of advice posted on Entrepreneur.com from Amy Williams, CEO at Citizens of Humanity on choosing investors wisely: https://www.entrepreneur.com/video/310046

The second is an interesting article about the story you tell when pitching a start-up to investors. It’s an HBR piece called Startups That Seek to “Disrupt” Get More Funding Than Those That Seek to “Build” by Dana Kanze and Sheena S. Iyengar.

I hope this gives you some food for thought until my next post.

Marketing Through Case Study Videos

This summer semester I am starting a class called “Entrepreneurial Marketing,” and after reading the syllabus, I realized I have more experience than I initially thought with modern marketing tactics. So much of what I do every day is internal marketing and I partner with some great vendors to tell our stories more widely.

This past year, I was asked to be on camera with some other colleagues at Mission Health to tell the success story of how we helped transform performance and engagement through a tool called “StandOut.” The Marcus Buckingham Company powered by ADP captured our story to share with prospective clients. I want to share those videos here because they are excellent examples of compelling case study videos (of course I may be a little biased).

StandOut & Mission Case Study Video:

StandOut & Mission Strengths Video:

StandOut & Mission Leadership Video:

5 Outdoor or Stunt Ads

Outdoor ads have a long tradition in marketing. There are entire sites dedicated to unearthing vintage ads and collectors who buy up old signage. Most of us recognize billboards and outdoor signage as a part of our memories and current everyday lives. I have found some very creative outdoor ads for you, some that may cross over into a slightly different genre and be considered more of an advertising “stunt.” I hope you enjoy and learn from these great examples:

“Carbon Cloud”

Link to Ad: http://www.adsoftheworld.com/collection/climate_change_awareness#showdelta=23

Firm: Ogilvy, Beijing, China
Company: World Wildlife Federation (WWF)
Title: Black Cloud
Event Date: January 2007

Objective: Show people how much carbon is released into the air for only one day of driving. Additionally, the WWF received a lot of press/news coverage in China and gained many new volunteers because of the balloon stunt.

Target Market: Young commuters (Millennials and Gen X) who understand their environmental impact but need concrete tips and facts on how to change their behaviors.

Action: Convince drivers to refrain from driving one day per week to reduce carbon emissions.

Value Proposition: By reducing the number of days you drive, you will reduce the amount of pollution in the air. Drive less, breath better.

“Exam in Progress: Please Talk”

Link to Ad: https://www.adsoftheworld.com/media/ambient/papyrus_dont_be_silent

Firm: TBWA\Manchester, UK
Company: Papyrus
Title: Don’t be Silent
Publish/Event Date: April 2017

Objective: Papyrus, a mostly paper and stationery company, decided to use their name to help bring attention to stress and anxiety among students.

Target Market: Students who bottle up their stress and anxiety during exam/finals time each year.

Action: Papyrus urges students to talk about their stress rather than remaining silent. They posted these flyers around schools with information at the bottom of each on how to seek help.

Value Proposition: Companies who extend goodwill and help are remembered as “good” companies. For a student who isn’t stressed, it’s a sweet gesture. To a student who uses the referenced resources, Papyrus will forever be a name they trust.

“Prius Launch”

Link to Ad: https://www.effie.org/case_database/case/NA_2011_5329

Firm: Saatchi & Saatchi LA
Company: Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc.
Title: Harmony Installations
Publish/Event Date: 2011
Awards: Effie-2011 BRONZE MEDIA INNOVATION

Objective: Relaunch the Prius brand as a “mainstream” environmental alternative in a down market.

Target Market: Expand their demographic to be wider than just the “environmental crowd.” Market to all car consumers by proving a commitment to their local businesses and communities.

Action: Allow consumers to interact with the lovely displays and widen their demographic through the interactive traveling show that looked more like art and less like a car ad.

Value Proposition: To the consumer, this approach said, “Prius isn’t just a car brand, it’s a commitment to a lifestyle and Prius is committed to that lifestyle beyond just the car.”

“This is not a billboard.”

Link to Ad: https://www.effie.org/case_database/case/ME_2017_E-1617-529

Firm: MullenLowe Mediahub U.S. *Lead Agency
Company: Royal Caribbean International
Title: #ComeSeekLive
Publish/Event Date: 2017
Awards: Effie- 2017 Silver

Objective: Combine digital outdoor advertising boards with a new technology, Periscope, that allows specific preselected passengers of the Royal Caribbean to show live adventures aboard the cruise ship.

Target Market: Adults in New York City who were considering a vacation and who had never considered a cruise as an option. Reportedly, due to these ads, Royal Caribbean saw a 19% increase in bookings from New York from passengers who had never previously cruised.

Action: Passers-by of these live billboards had a hard time looking away. The real-time feed showed beautiful blue water, fun in the sun, and it was easy to relate to the selected “influencers” who were broadcasting from the cruise.

Value Proposition: The value to the consumer was a real-life glimpse into what a Royal Caribbean cruise was like. Many people view cruises in a certain stereotypical light, but the live feed to the New York billboards showed a younger, more fun and adventurous side of cruising.

“Cardinals have flown away.”

Link to Ad: https://www.effie.org/case_database/case/NA_2007_33

Firm: Schupp Company, Inc. *Lead Agency
Company: KTRS
Title: Missing Birds
Publish/Event Date: 2007
Awards: Effie- 2007 SILVER MEDIA IDEA

Objective: Creatively get the point across that the broadcast of the Cardinals baseball games would be moving to a different station after 52 years at a different station.

Target Market: Adult men (and some women) in St. Louis who typically listen to baseball games while driving in their cars.

Action: The Cardinals on the billboards physically “flew” to a different sign to signify that they had moved to a 550 KTRS radio station. This creatively informed the consumer to tune into a new station.

Value Proposition: The value to the consumer is they were informed of the change in the station in a clever and fun way.

**Cover Photo Credit: http://www.vintageadoftheweek.com/1971-mercury-cougar-xr-7-billboard/ follow them for a vintage ad of the week**

5 Magazine Ad Campaigns

This week I’m analyzing Magazine Ads, and wow, there were so many good ones to choose from! I decided to go international for you. Most of the ads I’m exposed to are from my home country of the US, so I really enjoyed spending some time on the adsofthewold.com site. Here is a selection of ads that really get their point across:

“Yes we can.”

Link to Ad: http://www.adsoftheworld.com/collection/obama_in_advertising#showdelta=16

Firm: Ogilvy, South Africa
Company: Volkswagen
Title: Obama
Published: November 2010

Objective: The very simple ad states, “yes we can- 2008” at the top and “Small can be powerful. 118kW 1.4l TSI. Das Auto. Volkswagen” at the bottom. They are comparing the small but powerful Obama campaign slogan to the small but powerful VW car.

Target Market: South Africans who had followed the US presidential election of Barak Obama.

Action: Inspire trust. Invoke a sense of power and simplicity through comparing the short campaign slogan to the design of the VW.

Value Proposition: If a short but powerful slogan can win an election, just imagine the power of this small car.

“Come back another day.”

Link to Ad: https://aef.com/ad-campaigns/polar-bear-3/

Firm: Scholz Friends Berlin GmbH, Berlin
Company: Zoo Berlin Zoo Card
Title: Polar Bear
Publish Date: 2007
Awards: Clio award 2007

Objective: Expand sales of season passes to the zoo by showing reasons a consumer might want a season’s pass zoo card.

Target Market: Adults, children, adults who have to comfort little children who have been disappointed in not seeing their favorite animal at the zoo.

Action: Buy a zoo card. It’s worth the cost when you can’t see everything in one day. Upgrade to a season pass and come any time you would like.

Value Proposition: If the polar bear or whatever favorite animal you came to see won’t come out on the day you go to the zoo, there is a good reason to get a zoo card. The consumer can always come back another day.

“Wild Night”

Link to Ad: https://www.adsoftheworld.com/collection/highlighted_valentines_day_ads#showdelta=31

Firm: Cheetham
Bell, Manchester, UKCompany: Dreams
Title: Bed
Publish Date: February 2015

Objective: Highlight one of the many reasons that someone might need to buy a new bed. Use humor and the thought of a recent Valentine tryst to convince the viewer that they too, might need a new bed.

Target Market: This ad particularly targeted couples, the day after Valentine’s day in 2015 to persuade them with humor that they need a new bed.

Action: Come buy a bed at Dream. They understand your predicament.

Value Proposition: It’s ok if your Valentine’s Day gets a little wild because Dream is having a sale the very next day!

“Just Fly There”

Link to Ad: https://www.adsoftheworld.com/media/print/eurowings_just_fly_there_1

Firm: Lukas Lindemann Rosinski, Hamburg, Germany
Company: Eurowings
Title: Just Fly There
Air Date: October 2017

Objective: This is one of a series of four ads depicting someone on the beautiful blue water enjoying the scenery. The objective is to entice the viewer to want to “just fly there.”

Target Market: Young, working adults, with some vacation time and some disposable income.

Action: Use some of your time off and just go somewhere cool, wonderful, relaxing.

Value Proposition: Travel can be as easy as a little money and a plane ticket. The value is in the reminder to take time away and go to places the viewer has always dreamt of.

“Smart Kitchen & Bathroom”

Link to Ad: https://www.adsoftheworld.com/media/print/eon_eon_climasmart_kitchen

Firm: M&C Saatchi, Milan, Italy
Company: E.ON
Title: E.ON ClimaSmart – Kitchen & E.ON ClimaSmart – Bathroom
Publish Date: October 2017

Objective: These two ads show the problem of wasting energy in homes. ClimaSmart technology is their solution. They use: #wehatewaste

Target Market: Adult homeowners with some climate control problems within their homes.

Action: Look further than your car or recycling for your environmental impact. Energy in homes is a great place to start. Their tagline is, “A better climate starts from your home.”

Value Proposition: E.ON can help you reduce waste, better control the temp in your home, and help you have a better environmental impact.

**Cover Photo Credit: https://www.picxclicx.com/free-stock-photos-stack-of-magazines-12/ **

3 Reasons to Market at Trade Shows and Professional Association Conferences

I am behind my computer today trying to catch up after two weeks of attending conferences. The first of which was the Bersin Impact conference in Hollywood, FL and the second was the Society for Healthcare Volunteer Leaders (SHVL) conference in Lexington, KY. I attended these very different conferences to stay up to date on the latest trends for departments that I lead: Human Resources (HR) and Volunteers.

While both of these conferences were very different, they had one very significant thing in common that relates to strategic marketing for entrepreneurs. A formal vendor presence. Here are some reasons why you might consider marketing your product or service at a trade or professional show:

Captive Target Audience– If you are selling a cutting-edge HR software, who better to talk to than HR professionals attending a conference on the most up-to-date social capital trends? Once they find out the trends, they’ll want a way to implement it in their own organizations. Sell them the tools while they are there.
Sales Leads– People like games and free stuff. You can cold call people all day and not get a lead, or you can purchase some fun swag and create a contest at your trade show booth. You wouldn’t believe what contact information people are willing to share for a free hoodie. Once you wrap up from the conference, you have an entire list of people to follow-up with. All of whom you have already established a positive, reward, relationship with.
Scope Out the Competition– We don’t always know our top competitors until they set-up booth 10 feet from us. In this day and age companies are created quickly to fill needs in the business world. Sometimes companies make their debut or release upgrades at conferences. As a fellow vendor, you have full access to the vendor show floor. You can collect brochures and make contacts with other players in your area of expertise.

There are professional associations for just about everything these days. Don’t count yourself out of attendance just because no one else you know is going. A quick internet search can yield many results for your niche market. And don’t worry if the association you are interested in doesn’t allow for vendor booths at conferences. Join anyway. By joining associations, you can often sponsor speaking sessions or at minimum have access to basic contact info for fellow members.