Business on Purpose

Why do you make the business decisions you do?

Because it's what you've always done?
Because it's what everybody has always done?
Because it's easiest? cheapest? fastest?

Or do you make decisions because they are the right thing for you and your customers?

Companies get into trouble (or, just as bad, become stagnant and unremarkable) when they aren't intentional about the things they do. When they make choices based on what seems normal, rather than on what is best for their particular customer base and brand promise. When they choose the easiest marketing channels, product features, package design, or shipping strategies, rather than choosing those that fit best. When they don't stop to think about why they do what they do.

It may turn out that what you've always done, or what is easiest/cheapest/fastest is not the right decision at all. It might be that there is a better solution. A solution that provides a better experience for your customers. A solution that more closely aligns with what customers need. A solution that better enables your organization to do what it was meant to do.

Or it might be that the decision to do the comfortable/easy/cheap/fast thing is exactly the right thing to do. It might be that those strategies provide the convenience, affordability, quick service, quality, standardization, customization, status, or other value that your customers want.

But come to that conclusion because you were intentional about it. Because you took time to consider what the right thing is. Not because you were on autopilot.

Freedom Stones: A Start-up with Good Marketing?

Last week, some friends of mine invited me to check out the website of their start-up non-profit organization, Freedom Stones.

I was blown away.

Oftentimes, when a non-profit organization is just beginning, its marketing and promotional efforts are rather primitive. Its web presence consists of a Facebook fan page, or perhaps a website that looks okay by 1995 standards. Its print materials are 8.5" x 11" flyers that were created and printed from the founder's home computer. Its advertising occurs at random through garage-sale-signs and word-of-mouth.

And we, the public, are okay with that. We realize that the people who found non-profit organizations are usually passionate and skilled in issues like social justice, and are rarely passionate and skilled in marketing. We are happy that they are investing their initial time and energy and precious start-up capital in the operations of helping people, even if it means that their marketing efforts lag behind for a while. All of this is par for the course with a new non-profit organization. If the cause is a worthy one, we will support the organization anyway.

So marketing efforts like those of Freedom Stones come as quite a surprise.

Freedom Stones was incorporated just last year, and the site went live just a few weeks before I first looked at it. When I visited the site, I was thoroughly impressed. The design is beautiful - great layout, great colors, great photos and texture, terrific overall aesthetics. The navigation and organization are tight and easy to follow. The site is full of thick, rich, helpful, purposeful information - about the organization, its work, its staff, the issues it fights, the people it helps, the products it sells, and the ways in which supporters can get involved. And the site has a functional shopping cart system - not just a Paypal setup - for purchasing items and making donations.

Plus, the Freedom Stones website links to social media - a Facebook cause, a Twitter account (@FreedomStones), and the Freedom Stones blog. One might expect these accounts to have been thrown together, and to contain only a handful of posts about Freedom Stones.

Instead, Freedom Stones seems to have strategically planned and implemented its use of social media. The Facebook cause already has 664 members, with regular posts over the past 10 months. The Twitter account seems to have begun in mid-January, but Freedom Stones has been faithful to tweet well and often since then. And the blog, while low on posts as of yet, seems to be off to a great start.

When I see marketing efforts that look like this, I feel more comfortable with and confident in the non-profit. It seems that the non-profit is already well-established; that the founders are serious about this cause; that they have been thoughtful and strategic, and that they understand the "business" of running a non-profit; that this non-profit is well-funded, well-supported, and well-stewarded - that the non-profit is not destined to fail in six months due to poor money management or poor operational decisions.

I certainly do not begrudge start-up non-profits whose marketing efforts have not yet reached this level of quality. However, it seems that the founders of Freedom Stones realize the importance of having supporters to bring the work and mission of Freedom Stones to fruition. They have given some thought to how they will reach, attract, and communicate with supporters, in order to provide the financial and emotional legs for their ministry to stand.

And I fully expect that stand it shall.

0% OFF and marketing tactics

One store in my town has a marquee with shall we say, an "unusual" promotional message.

The sign reads:

"0% OFF ALL HOME DECOR

WE HAVE MODA FABRIC"

Now, one might think that the "0% OFF" is a mistake. Surely it was meant to say "20% OFF" or "40% OFF" or "70% OFF", and a digit simply fell off the sign.

But when a person - like my friend Dwayne, who told me about the sign - drives by that sign every day for over a month, and the message has not changed, and the store is still in business, one begins to wonder what other reasons might lie behind the "0% OFF".

POSSIBLE REASON #1: The store is using "0% OFF" as a quirky surprise that will catch attention, pique curiosity, and attract customers. "After all," thinks the passerby, "no store in their right mind would offer '0% OFF' as a legitimate promotion. I wonder what they're doing in there. Maybe I'll stop in and see."

POSSIBLE REASON #2: The store is using "0% OFF" as a one-size-fits-all promotion. Customers realize that "0% OFF" must be a mistake, but that there must be some sort of sale going on inside the store. The store doesn't have to change the marquee to "20%" or "40%" or "70%" based on the discount of the day; the same message can remain on the board and still achieve the same effect.

POSSIBLE REASON #3: The store is using "0% OFF" to make a statement. The store is saying that their prices are so reasonable, that they don't need to offer discounts. Customers don't need a discounted price, because this store's prices are already the lowest in town. This store's regular prices are as low as their competitor's sale prices.

POSSIBLE REASON #4: A digit really did fall off the sign a month ago, and the store owner hasn't noticed, and the store manager hasn't noticed, and the employees haven't noticed, and no customers have said anything. Or someone did notice, but they ran out of extra numbers for the sign, and keep forgetting to order more. Or someone did notice, but they haven't taken the time to change the message yet - in over a month.

Whatever the reason for this particular marquee message, the goal of outdoor messaging is to draw customers to the store. Logical dissonance (i.e. "that's strange" or "I didn't expect that"), price discounts, and "everyday low prices" can all be used to raise customers' attention. Of course, all three tactics should be used strategically, and should be crafted with the customer in mind.

"What will the customer think?" and "How will the customer perceive or understand this?" should be two primary questions when crafting one's marketing messages - or any other marketing tactics, for that matter.

Your marketing message should be clear to the customer. If the customer thinks that your message was a mistake (i.e. a digit fell off your sign), he is going to keep driving right by.