The Business of Doing Business

Yesterday, blogger Hesham Zebida wrote a blog post about a contest that Vendio, a leading ecommerce software provider, is holding in an effort to find someone to write for its Vendable blog.

Since the blog is about one of my favorite topics--e-commerce (aka shopping!), I figured I would give it a shot.

According to Miriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, commerce is defined as "the exchange or buying and selling of commodities on a large scale involving transportation from place to place." From the trading posts that sold fur pelts in the 1800s to the grocery store that sells milk; from the computers that Michael Dell sold out of his college dorm room to the tchochkes that can be purchased for a quarter from any garage sale in America, it's all commerce. Put an "e" in front of it and it opens up a frontier so vast, so ripe for opportunity and scams, so infinite in its scope that it's almost hard to grasp.

According to researchers, e-commerce makes up only 4% of all retail sales, but it's a big 4%, topping $155 billion in 2009. Is there anything you can not find online? Name the most outlandish thing you can think of and I'll bet you can find someone somewhere who's selling one. In past last week alone, I've ordered cosmetics, books, and DVDs online. Today, I needed tongue depressors for a craft project and discovered that I could buy a box of 500 on Amazon for $8. Who knew?

The appeal is simple. It's convenient. Nothing beats being able to shop in your pj's at 3 a.m. It's ecologically friendly. Imagine if catalogues for everything you searched for online came to your house. (A scary thought in my house.) And, most importantly, it's relatively safe.

Some would argue that e-Commerce has eliminated personal customer service from the shopping experience, but I disagree. I think e-Commerce has enhanced it.

At the Internet Retailers Conference 2011, Dealernews.com reported that "e-Commerce is a behemoth to be reckoned with", but goes on to say that it in no way means the end of the brick and mortar store.

Far from it.

A study by BIA/Kelsey found that 97% of consumers do research online before making a purchase while Forrester Research found that 75% of those consumers prefer to buy local.

“So there’s a new type of commerce that we’re seeing,” says Ed Stevens, CEO of Shopatron, which calls itself  the No. 1 retail-integrated e-Commerce solution for branded manufacturers, distributors and multi-channel retailers. “It’s not online stealing from offline, but it’s an online-offline hybrid. We’re seeing more growth in that area. It’s growing faster than just pure online commerce.”

Take Amazon, for example. When you make a purchase, you have the convenience of 1-click ordering (so, let's say you're ordering books, inflatable party sheep, and 1500 live ladybugs--all real listings, you don't have to place the orders separately.), plus you can see what else the other customers who bought what you're buying bought and you can read reviews  of those purchases. You're also protected by Amazon's buyer protection plan, so you don't have to worry about whether you're doing business with a con artist.

Vendio is one of the companies making e-Commerce a no brainer by enabling online merchants to sell on Amazon, eBay and a variety of other sales channels from one place thus reaching buyers wherever they are shopping.


The takeaway here is that the business of doing business has changed. If you don't have an online presence, you probably won't be around for very long, but the importance of personal customer service has not changed. If anything, it's just gotten bigger. Now, whether you love something, or hate it, you can let a few million others know via  social media.

What's Your Why? Six Steps to Getting R.E.A.L About What You Want

A good friend has asked me to take her on as a PR client. She worked for many years, very successfully, for a large, very well known company where her work was regularly recognized and appreciated by the top management. When she left, she thought she was moving on to "the next big thing".

Unfortunately, her next employer didn't appreciate the value she brought to the company. Not only didn't appreciate it, but came right out and told her how much they didn't
appreciate it. It wasn't long before she left because it was
starting to affect her health.

The tanking economy made jobs hard to come by, so after being unemployed for awhile, she found a job writing policies and procedures for a non profit. It's a pretty important gig since this agency has to comply with HIPPA privacy laws and Medicaid  not to mention a million other compliance issues. But, the agency's senior management is mean-spirited and the job itself is about as much fun as watching paint dry.

So, she called me, almost in desperation, to help chart a path to her true destiny. I'm a PR specialist, not a career coach, I reminded her. I'm used to working with clients who already know what they're passion is and then letting the rest of the world in on the secret. I couldn't start doing PR for her until I knew what the heck we were promoting her to do.

I had her do a couple of exercises that, I think, can benefit any creative entrepreneur.  The first is based on one I learned from PJ McClure of The Mindset Maven. 

I call it "What's Your Why?"and it embodies my Get R.E.A.LTM principles that every entrepreneur should have: Realistic, Engaging, Authentic, Longlasting.   In six steps, this exercise will help you Get R.E.A.L about what you want to do.

Here's how to do the exercise:

1. Write down your goal. It should be clearly defined in 1-2 sentences. So, if your goal is to quit your job, win the lottery, and travel the world, you need to rewrite these as three separate goals.
    
2. Look at your goal and ask yourself "why is this important to me?"  Write down your answer.
   
3. Look at your answer and ask yourself "why is that important to me?" Write down your answer.
   
4. Look at that answer and ask yourself "why is that important to me?" Write down your answer.
   
5. Look at that answer and ask yourself "why is that important to me?" Write down your answer.
   
6. Look at that answer and ask yourself "why is that important to me?" Write down your answer.
   

The final answer is like a tiny kernel, but it's also the most important. Even though, it may seem to be world's apart from your goal, don't dismiss it. This is what your heart wants and your head is afraid to admit.

I'd love to hear what you discovered when you got R.E.A.L. Please feel free to post in the comments section and share this post if you found it useful. 

Thank you for being in this space.

Robin

P.S. If you're ready to Get R.E.A.L and want to help support a great cause, click here to learn more.

We Have a Facebook Page...and Fourteen Fans!!

Image via CrunchBaseWoo hoo! Alert the media. Studio 4 PR has launched its Facebook fan page. We are ready to engage, share, and exchange information and ideas with creative types, kitchen table entrepreneurs, and anyone else interested in unleashing their passion with PRsonality.

Now, we just need fans. Well, actually we have fourteen (thirteen, if you don't count me). When we get to 25, we can get a custom URL. (and lose the forgettable one with a string of numbers that looks like a prisoner ID badge.)

My goal is that in 25 days, we'll have 25 fans. Will you help me?

It's easy. Go to our Facebook page and "like" us. I promise that once you get to know us, you'll love us. As a thank you, I'll send you a copy of my "Top 11 PR Mistakes that Businesses Make." 

Then, come to the page--often--and tell us what you think. What are your biggest PR challenges as a creative entrepreneur? If you could wave a magic wand, what is one thing that PR for your business could fix?

Let's create a community of creative types and "kitchen table" entrepreneurs that ROCKS this world.

I look forward to sharing this space with you!

Best,

Robin

3 Key Things to Remember About Social Media

Image via CrunchBase

Ah, it's a "problem" we all should be so lucky to have -- having too many friends. Or, as in this case, too many "friends", which are classified as people who found you through some form of social media and because of your expertise, reputation, products or services, have decided to follow you. Think of it as the high tech version of the Pied Piper.

Social media is a great thing. You can keep in touch with Aunt Millie in Minnesota, reconnect with your college roommate, and forge new frontiers in business by leveraging new markets, creating partnerships, developing relationships with vendors, and finding customers. And, you can do it a lot faster than you did when you were passing out business cards at a trade show or networking event.

That said, like everything in business, and in life, you have to frequently reevaluate and reassess whether your "friends" are continuing to provide you and your business with the value that makes it worth keeping them  in your rolodex.

Apparently, this is an issue that internet marketing guru Joel Comm has been pondering as well. According to the bio on his web site, Comm is an "entrepreneur, bestselling author, public speaker, social media evangelist, and mobile marketing innovator."  I don't even remember how I ended up following him, but I liked the fact that he wasn't afraid to address the sticky issues, even those that involved his colleauges, like this post he wrote on ethics (or lack of) in internet marketing. I've never ordered his products or read his books, but I've continued to subscribe to his blog and followed him on Twitter because I liked what he stood for.

Until I read his post this morning. Titled Unfriending for Fun and Sanity, he let his Facebook followers who he'd "friended" on his personal page know (along with the rest of the free world) that he was "unfriending" everyone he didn't have a personal connection with and suggested that they instead follow him on his fan page.

Although I have no problem with what he said, there are a number of things about the way he said it that I think were unnecessary (and I said as much in my comment.)  They are things that I think can be a lesson to all of us:

1. Pack Your Message in Your Headline

This is the first rule that every journalism student learns. Your headline should convey the essence of your story because that will determine whether anyone even bothers to read it. "Unfriending for Fun and Sanity" sounds just plain mean.

2. Keep Your Business and Personal Pages Separate

If you are using social media to market your business, create a strategy that does just that. Joel calls himself a "social media evangelist and mobile marketing innovator", so I'm not sure why he'd invite total strangers to "friend" him on his personal page. That's kind of  like inviting a whole city to sleep over at your house, and then realizing you have to always be on your best behavior, you can never leave the towels on the bathroom floor and you always have to watch what you say in mixed company.

3. They're People, People!

I'm not sure what happened, but for some reason, the advent of social media has caused us to forget our manners. Now, things we never would have dreamed of doing pre-Facebook, we can do anonymously (like cyber bullying, or destroying a person's or business' reputation,) and then not give a second thought to the lives we wrecked or the feelings we hurt.

If you find yourself overloaded with a few too many "friends" who are taking up prime real estate with their silly Farmville games or nonsensical chatter, or as in Joel's case, if you had a "what-was-I-thinking-by-inviting everyone-and-their-brother-to-friend-me-on-my-personal-page?" epiphany, invite them to follow you on your fan page. Then, instead of making them feel like gum on the bottom of your shoe, you can have your blog post be about how you're streamlining your marketing efforts and that you look forward to providing them with more dynamic and meaningful content.

Lest I sound like a 95 pound weakling who's used to getting sand kicked in her face, the concept of kindness in business is big business. A quick search on Amazon for books about "kindness" and "business" yielded nearly 50 titles, and I'm sure there are many more.

Bottom line is this: being nice pays.

Related articles

• Blog: Social Media engagement doesn't always have to be strategic (musingsfromsussex.com)
• Should You Unfriend A Dead Friend On Facebook? (allfacebook.com)
• 9 Surprising New Facts About Social Media in America (e1evation.com)
• Low productivity: Social networks or irresponsible employees? (zdnet.com)
• Can I just make them go away? (debsanswers.wordpress.com
• Unfriending for Fun and Sanity (joelcomm.com)

Sometimes My Life Feels Like a "Saturday Night Live" Skit

                                  Image via Wikipedia

Picture the scene. You're in the bathroom and your four year old opens the door (without knocking, of course). He's wearing nothing but camoflauge bikini briefs (his), white socks, and very high heels (yours).

Then, in a style reminiscent of Mondo Mango from "Saturday Night Live", he sashays in and picks up the plunger.

He says with the eerie calm of an evil dictator, "the next time you and Daddy are bad (holds plunger high), I'm going to use this (demonstrates best plunging move)."

"That's the RUE-ELLS! (rules)." Then, he turns and walks out.   

I Can't Keep Quiet Anymore

Full Disclosure: I am not a political pundit or trying to make a political statement.

I grew up in the 60s and 70s during a hippy dippy time of love, war, peace, sex, drugs, and rock and roll. My parents raised me and my little sister the same way millions of others raised their kids. With the belief that having and expressing your opinion was important, that if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything, and that anything worth having (from the cute boy in class and great shoes to the dream house in the suburbs and amazing job prospects) was worth fighting for.

They (being the collective "millions of others") also taught us the importance of respecting and appreciating that not everyone has the same opinions or values, and that our God-given freedom to have them, is what made America the greatest country in the world.

They taught us that engaging in a lively debate with someone who had a different point of view was enlightening. And that, along the way, we might learn something that would expand our perception, perhaps improve our way of thinking, making us more tolerant, appreciative, and kind toward others. We were taught that these things would make us stronger as individuals, communities, and ultimately, a nation.

We were also taught a harsh reality of life: that not everyone believes these things. Not everyone teaches their kids to play nice. Not everyone with a differing point of view respects those who don't think like they do. We were told that they may even do or say some horrible things as a way to be heard, but we were reminded that, like us, they were entitled to their opinion (after all, that's what free speech is all about) and that, thankfully, they were in the minority.

I, along with millions of others, got to live in this fantasy world until 2008 when a man who felt that he had what it takes to really make a difference in so many lives stepped forward to become the President of the United States of America.

Those who didn't agree with his views were not happy. And, they exercised their God-given right to say so. But, then something happened. Suddenly, they chose to make it personal. They chose to make it about skin color and sexual orientation and religious beliefs. They chose to rant without offering constructive solutions and point fingers without holding themselves accountable. They chose to believe rhetoric and people, who when given a microphone and camera, wielded a lot of power (and the capability to inflict a lot of damage) without really saying anything of value. They chose to be unbending and inflexible in their support of the opposing leaders who were helping (and encouraging) their followers to fan the flames.

What breaks my heart about all this is not so much that the fantasy world I happily lived in for 47 years has come to a screeching halt, it's that many of the "they", the collective millions who grew up with the same values I did, are participating in, and contributing to (excuse my french, Mom) this bullshit.

When my fantasy world was still my reality, I could see (or try to) all sides of just about any issue that affected mainstream society. I peacefully co-existed with family, friends, co-workers, etc. who had a difference of opinion. "I like red because..." one would say. "Well, we're going to hell in a handbasket without blue because..." another would say. And, then we'd admit that we could see both sides of the issue, laugh, kiss, and make plans for lunch.

Today, the new reality is much less peaceful. It's downright ugly. News about a church protesting a funeral of a little girl has so many things wrong with it, not the least of which are the words "church", "protesting" and "funeral" in the same sentence.

No, the ugly part, the really, really vile part of this is not that such disrespect or hate exists. It's not even that the members of a  "church", who supposedly worship the same God I do (and whom I believe is the only God) could be doing something in the name of expressing their opinions that so flies in the face of what I've been taught God would want for His followers. It's a difference of opinion that, despite what I was taught, I cannot, and will not, under any circumstances, ever, ever respect.

No. The worst part about my fantasy world coming to an end is far more awful and stomach-turning than I could have ever imagined. It's the reality that enough people are buying into the rhetoric and willing to be led by these crazies waving a bright, shiny object that "they" are no longer the minority. "They" are mainstream.

Which means that chances are good that of all the people I've known, respected, loved, liked, worked with, lived with, grew up with and had lunch with during the past 50 years, some of them may actually believe this crap.

Thankfully, I have not engaged in too many political discussions with too many people, so I don't really know who might fall into this category.

And, I'd like to keep it that way.

My personal plea to anyone I know is that you never tell me which side you're on. Having a difference of opinion no longer has the appeal it did when I was growing up.