I’ve been working with the creators of StartUpNation since 2001 when I was hired to shoot Rich Sloan doing yoga on the conference room table in the Birmingham Michigan office of the up and coming StartUpNation.  I was recently offered the opportunity to blog about photography if I thought I could contribute to entrepreneurs and start ups. I think I can so I’ll give it a shot.  I’ll be talking about all things photography, from how to do a shoot in the office, to what’s the best stock agency for what your needs are, to rights and usage contracts.  I’ll be answering questions about any thing relating to the business of photography and photography in your business. If I don’t know the answers I’ll look to the vast knowledge base of my peers and will share what I learn with you, so post your questions and comments about you’re photographic quandaries here, and I’ll help you along the image driven super highway of successful businesses.

I should tell you a bit about me.
I began my career as a photographer early in life.  My brother had a darkroom in a closet at our house when I was a sixth grader.  It didn’t take long for my teachers at school to see an opportunity to recruit the next news paper and yearbook photographer.  That’s when I learned that you can have fun and provide a needed service at the same time.  I could get credits for graduation if I work on the year book and news paper staff!  Life was good.  Then one day I was handed a press pass to cover the cheerleaders for a story for the news paper, that was all the motivation I ever needed to pursue my career.  When I was a senior in High School I was introduced to an advertising photographer in my home town of Detroit named Ameen Howrani.  He let me watch him work one day, he was shooting a news crew for the local ABC affiliate.  It was very glamorous, they had food there!  I was face to face with the local anchor man!  That’s when I decided that advertising was where it’s at.  Fast forward 25 years.  I have photographed some really great people, some incredibly beautiful places, and some of the most interesting stuff you’ll ever see.  I picked up a few professional sports teams along the way as well.  Namely the Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions, and currently Tampa Bay Ray’s as well as the NHL, NFL, MLB and other editorial venues related to sports. I’ve had unprecedented access to closed door behind the scenes events in the NFL, NHL, and MLB to name just a few. I was given the opportunity to shoot a book for the Detroit Red Wings called “48 Hours with the Detroit Red Wings”. Its a chronological documentation of what happens in forty eight hours in the world of the Red Wings Hockey team.  I was able to travel with the team to photograph players, coaches, and staff. We took two days to shoot the book so we could show the travel aspect of how the team lives on the road (and above the clouds).  During that shoot I was given access to coaches meetings that had never been photographed before.  One of the best experiences I had with the Red  Wings was Flying on the team jet to Washington DC to the White House to meet President George W Bush.   I was given an assignment by the Detroit Tigers Baseball team to shoot an eighteen page photo essay of Tiger Stadium during the final home stand ever to be played there.  The parting shot was Al Kaline in his nineteen sixty eight world series uniform (it still fit), pondering his days playing in that historic stadium.  The cover shot was of the stadium from the corner of Michigan and Trumble on a Friday night with fireworks lighting the sky.  I was able to get images never before captured, such as the neon Tiger Stadium sign from the roof of the press elevator.  I’m currently team photographer for the Tampa Bay Ray’s Baseball team, and have a nice client list of local and national companies and agencies as well.  I live in the St Petersburg area of Florida where I’ve lived for the past six years.  Before that I lived mostly in the suburbs of Detroit with a few years in New York city.  Please feel free to see some of the photographs I mention here at www.kovich.com

Guy Kawasaki is no stranger to entrepreneurship, having co-founded several businesses including Garage Technology Ventures, and Alltop.com, which is, as he describes, an “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the web.  He’s written ten books including The Art of the Start, The Macintosh Way, and his latest, Enchantment, The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions, releasing March 8^th, 2011, available on Amazon.com, and in bookstores everywhere.

I’ve read hundreds of business books, but never have I read a book like this.  In a nutshell, Enchantment is all about how to make people fall in love with you, and when people fall in love with you, you can accomplish anything.

This book is part inspiration, part motivation, and part practication (I just made up a new word).   With inspiring stories and practical steps, Kawasaki explains all the tactics you need to put together and launch your own enchantment campaign.  Kawasaki’s lessons are taken from his experience at Apple, but many of the stories are very personal stories from average, every day people.  (These stories happen to be some of my favorite parts of the book.)  Buy the book on Tuesday March 8^th, or any day and you will be able to experience “enchantment” for yourself.

In honor of the release of Kawasaki’s new book, I asked him to give us his perspective on small business marketing today.  Here’s his insightful and unedited response.  Enjoy!

What do you see are the biggest challenges for a small business owner today?

Sales, sales, and sales. My saying is, “sales fixes everything” because as long as you have cash flow, you’re still in the game. As a friend once told me, the leading cause of failure of startups is death, and you die when you run out of money.

Is that different than what it was a few years ago?

It’s been like this since the recession hit. Every day, I wish for just one more bubble because this time I’ll know what to do!  But I believe that business is cyclical, so it’s not wise to panic. A rising tide floats all boats, but a receding tide makes the big, bloated boats hit rock bottom.

How have you seen business owners overcome these challenges?  (What’s working?)

More than anything else, these times are a test of will–how much are you willing to gut it out and grind it out. If you can survive these times, you’re pretty set to take on anything. I have great admiration for the companies that continue to put out great products and services with less money while maintaining high levels of customer enchantment. It’s much easier to write the book and make the speech than actually deliver results.

As far as marketing, what strategies do you use to market your business?

Right now, I’m mostly marketing my new book. To do this, I believe that “nobodies are the new somebodies.” That is, I don’t focus on only the so-called experts and powerful people. I like to work with as many people as possible because it’s impossible to know who will really make you tip.

Is there a strategy that doesn’t work?

I’ve never been one to throw money at a problem…for two reasons, I never had the money to throw and I hate wasting money in any case.

What advice do you have for business owners who are just starting out?

Prototype, prototype, prototype. Get to market. PowerPoint and Excel are secondary or even tertiary in importance. Get to market and get cash flowing.

Other than StartupNation, Entrepreneur Magazine, Alltop.com, what other resources do you recommend for startups?  Books? Websites, etc?

These are primarily information sources. Startups also need ways to reach and serve customers. For this, God provided Twitter and Facebook. These two sites are entrepreneur’s dreams because they are fast, free, and ubiquitous. The book that I recommend to startups is If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland. This book provided the inspiration that changed my life. It’s not solely about writing–it’s about the human spirit. Every entrepreneur should read it.

Bonuses:

Online Quiz:  How GREAT Are You?

Online Photo Contest:  Submit your Most Enchanting Photo for a Chance to Win!

“Like” Enchantment on Facebook

Wendy Kenney is the best selling author of How to Build Buzz for Your Biz, Tap into the Power of Social Media, Publicity and Relationship Marketing to Grow Your Business, available on Amazon.com.  She has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Newsday. For more information go to http://23Kazoos.com.

Table of contents for How to Become a Marketing Superstar

1. How to Become a Marketing Superstar
2. Advertising Your Small Business? Here’s What You Need to Know

What is the biggest marketing challenge that you have in your business? According to a survey by Marketing Sherpa, 78% of businesses say that their biggest marketing challenge is generating high quality leads.

In my work as a contract Marketing Director with small businesses I see this challenge on a daily basis. Interestingly enough many small businesses make the same mistake in addressing this problem.

That is, assuming that there is just one marketing strategy as a surefire way to generate high quality leads. Usually that “way” is the newest marketing fad, as in the case of Facebook marketing. The mistake is in assuming that the newest marketing fad is a one size fits all answer to a universal marketing problem.

The truth is that for most businesses, there is no “one way” to market your business, but many ways. Now feel free to disagree with me here, but let’s face it. Your surefire marketing strategy today can be gone tomorrow due to circumstances beyond your control. When then happens then what?

That’s why I teach that just like we need to have multiple streams of income, we also need to have multiple streams of marketing, using many marketing tools at one time to generate the results we desire.

So how do we know which tools to use? It depends on your business- the product or service you sell and your maximum capacity to sell it without straining your current resources.

For example, if you own a restaurant, what is the maximum number of meals you can sell per day with all available resources? The business capacity for a restaurant will be different than the business capacity for a real estate agent, or a consultant, or an internet business. The simple question is: How many sales per day do I want?

Now that I know how many sales per day I want, I need to figure out how many prospects I need to get those sales. Let’s do a very simple calculation.  I know that I have a capacity to service 5 new clients per week. And I know that for each signed client I have to give 5 proposals (conversion ratio), and to get 5 proposals, I need to reach 200 prospects.

So I would need to reach 1000 prospects per week. 5 sales x 200 prospects per week= 1000 total prospects per week.

Your total number of prospects needed per week (reach) factored with the demographics and psychographics of your buyers as well as the frequency of touches needed will help determine what marketing tools will work best for you. In part two we will discuss reach and frequency in small business marketing.

What are your thoughts on the sales funnel? How many prospects do you need to reach per week? How do you reach them? What’s working and not working as far as marketing your business?

Related Posts:

• 4 Crazy Myths About Marketing
• Building Your Marketing Plan, Who’s Your Ideal Client?
• What Happens to Your Social Media Marketing When the Person Who is Running it is Gone?

Wendy Kenney is the best selling author of How to Build Buzz for Your Biz, Tap into the Power of Social Media, Publicity and Relationship Marketing to Grow Your Business, available on Amazon.com.  She has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Newsday. For more information go to http://23Kazoos.com.

Sorry, that institution got among the lowest ratings in a Pew Research Center study that was recently released. The Pew Center polled Americans to determine who they trusted least and who they trusted most.

Small business owners - you should be proud. America trusts YOU most.

More than churches, our President, labor unions, the Federal Government, small businesses reign supreme in the eyes of the American public.

Here’s a ratings chart that shows the results:

	Positive	Negative	Other/ Don’t know
Small business	71	19	10
Technology companies	68	18	14
Churches & religious orgs	63	22	15
Colleges & universities	61	26	13
Obama administration	45	45	10
Entertainment industry	33	51	16
Labor unions	32	49	18
Federal agencies and depts	31	54	16
National news media	31	57	12
Large corporations	25	64	12
Federal government	25	65	9
Congress	24	65	12
Banks & financial inst	22	69	10
Pew Research Center March 11-21. Figures may not add to 100% because of rounding

Just edging out Congress as the least trusted institution are banks and financial institutions. I figure it’s the mortgage crisis and recent bail-out ballyhoo that has so terribly tarnished the perception of banks, coupled with the lack of lending at this critical juncture for Americans.

It’s good to be SOLID when it comes to reputation and perception on the street. It’s a big help when us little guys and gals go toe to toe with the behemoth corporations and compete with our service and product offerings.

Be proud to carry the small business torch, folks - not only do you live it, but America “gets it.”

The second thing I would do is to look at other businesses similar to what I’m thinking of doing and figure out what it is that I can do differently, or do better, than what my potential competition is doing. If there is no potential competition in the area or demographic that you are looking at, then you don’t have to be quite so creative. In fact, it might be better to leave some of your more creative, which usually means more costly, ideas on the back burner in case someone decides to take your idea and open business next door or down the block. If that happens, then you will have something up your sleeve that can put the competition back in its place.

Then, research! Research! Research! The web is a valuable tool and one which you can use to find out how other similar businesses are doing. Your research should identify the demographic that you will be targeting, how close is the nearest competition to where you would like to do business, and what percentage of the market share like businesses have. Your research should also answer all of the money questions, such as what will the start up costs be, what is the profit margin, how soon you can expect to start making a profit and what will the monthly expenses be for all operating expenditures. If you have a question in your mind, it should be answered, on paper and honestly. And if the answers don’t add up to a positive, then definitely reconsider the business model you are mulling over. On the other hand, if all your numbers add up to making a profit within the first six months, then you have a fantastic, wonderful, can’t fail (maybe) business model and you should pursue it.

Finally, if you cannot find investors for your business model, then you should seriously think about finding a different model to pursue. Most investors have either experience or instinct when it comes to what works and what doesn’t. You may be able to convince a bank to lend you the money, but if you can’t get at least one investor on board, it may be time to do a serious reality check and can one business model in favor of another. Listen to the investors you talk to. If you hear the same thing out of more than one mouth, chances are they are right…and you are wrong.

Choosing the right business model is critical to success. The perfect balance of heart and mind should help you to choose the most successful business model.

Here’s the most common scenario: 1) a business idea, usually something the entrepreneur is crazy or passionate about occurs. 2) He or she develops a business plan, though the research is flawed because there wasn’t any, but it looks really good on paper. 3) His or her crazy passion ignites the fires of everyone around, especially those of possible investors or the loan officer. 4) The business opens with a flourish and dies an agonizing death over a period of 1 to 3 years.

The reason? Simply put, the necessary market research and analysis was not done and though the idea was sound, there was no target market and the demographics were all wrong and the product was wrong for that particular market and that particular location…get the picture?

Research pays and it pays big! It’s all well and good to be passionate about an idea, but once the idea comes to life, you really need to perform a reality check. So, start putting it all down on paper, or on your notebook or on your PC, and let your passion simmer while you make sure you have all the ingredients to make this idea happen in a big way.

The first step is to identify and define your target market. Who will be most interested in this product? And, more importantly, how many potential consumers are there? If there is local competition, you also have to consider dividing your target market among the number of businesses that are competing for the same market. And in terms of competition, if there is a lot of it, then you either have to be creating a really unique experience of some kind, or consider moving to another location where the competition isn’t so stiff—like someplace where there isn’t another one of your product around for blocks or miles. Location is important, but so is building your business and it may benefit you greatly to carve your niche downtown before moving uptown.  So, ask these questions:

• • How old is my target market?
  • Where do they live?
  • Are they male or female?
  • Are they families or singles, extended families, with children?
  • What motivates them to shop?
  • What is their lifestyle like?
  • How much money do they make and how much of it is disposable income?
  • Are they blue collar or white collar?
  • HOW MANY OF THEM ARE THERE? Are there enough to support your business?

And ask and answer any other questions that may arise while doing this research. Just don’t ignore something important because you may not like the answer. You can always change something up or do something different that could change this outcome, but it is always better to know about it in advance…before you spend all that money and while you have the opportunity to affect the outcome.

Next you need to make some realistic projections. You need to be brutally honest here and come up with some realistic predictions on how much of your product or service might be purchased and how your bottom line could be affected by local policies or trends. Some of the questions you might ask are:

• • What percentage of your targeted market have purchased or used a product like or similar to yours?
  • What outside influences might affect your targeted market? For example, if the local factory closes or if the mall expands to include a business similar to yours.
  • How might your targeted market be affected by changes in taxes or the price of gas?
  • How about demographic shifts and changes? Is that likely to happen or is the area stable?
  • What percentage of your business might be repeat business? Is your product disposable or something that is bought once in five or ten years?

Make a realistic projection, in terms of gross sales or units of your product or service that might be sold. In fact, it is probably a good idea to underestimate, rather than inflating the numbers here.

Now, that you are going into this with your eyes wide open, you are ready to write the business plan. If this is not your forte then by all means spend the money necessary to have it written well. Your business plan can make or break you before you’ve even paid the rent on your location or broken ground. You should be prepared to cite all of your findings and the means by which you came to your conclusions. You should also be proactive in addressing whatever negative aspects there may be by finding solutions for them before they occur.

Following these guidelines will not necessarily guarantee your success, but if your market research and analysis holds up under close scrutiny and honest assessment, your business is much more likely to succeed.

“you don’t know what you don’t know.”

Those past experiences are fresh on my mind as I find myself preaching about my golden rule on nearly a daily basis. As I consult with fellow entrepreneurs teaching them how to replicate my successes with branding, social media integration, and celebrity placements, I am heartsick. I hear countless stories of companies who have learned this costly lesson too late in the game. The “killer product launch” at a tradeshow that cost $30k that no one showed up for because the owner didn’t know how to contact the media or set appointments with key buyers. The “grand opening” in small town America that didn’t even make the neighborhood newsletter. Or the Mom that licensed her invention only to find that the company shelved the product and she had unwittingly relinquished her intellectual and distribution rights. I could go on. Knowing all of this, I can’t stress my golden rule enough. Please don’t make these same mistakes.

I know it might seem like an extra check to write when your bank account is already maxed out, but it will end up saving you money and heartache in the end. The money is there, you just need to re-allocate it. Instead of focusing your efforts on making a “big splash”, maybe focus on ensuring a return on investment? A solid marketing plan to leverage your event/news/product launch?  Or making sure all the legal and accounting issues are resolved so you actually get to keep your money?  Seek the help of professionals who have been there, done that.  After all, “you don’t know what you don’t know.”

Need help with your business? Contact me here: http://su.pr/2GXnYX

So how do you monetize social media without creating a product line specifically for it?  Dell figured it out.  They are a great example of a company who actually engaged on Twitter and sold millions of dollars worth of computers as a direct result of those efforts.  (Dell article from Entrepreneur here)  I think their success was two-fold and actually quite basic.  First, they correctly targeted their customer and simply provided them with useful information.  Next, they implemented systems to monitor, measure, and manage customer service interactions.
(Great tips for handling customer service here.) These are great starting points and should serve as the foundation for any small business looking to incorporate social media in their marketing efforts.

While those are great steps for getting started in social media, it’s important that companies don’t stop there.  The real key to your success lies in your ability to actively engage that target demographic.  I urge you to roll up your sleeves a little and try some new strategies this year to finally get some ROI from social media.  To get you started, I’ve brainstormed a couple ideas below.

• Include a playful and creative flyer in outgoing packages encouraging participation and possibly offering a reward… “Be a sweetie! (attach some candy to the card) Post a pic of you wearing this t-shirt on our Fan Page and we’ll send you a $5 gift card.”
• Create a survey on Facebook or poll on Twitter (twtpoll) asking “friends” to vote on which new products to sell/create…the winning product will be offered to survey participants first, and at a discount. (See how Modcloth does this here)
• Track down recent customers on Facebook and “friend” them with your companies Facebook page (who doesn’t want more “friends”?)
• Spend money to make money…hire a Community Manager that will actually have the time to effectively target and engage new customers and strengthen your online branding. (Not sure what a Community Manager does? Read this by Chris Brogan.)

I truly believe social media is the future for small business marketing and I hope you can find at least one of these ideas helpful in your efforts to engage online.  Always be on the lookout for innovative new ideas to reach your customers and don’t be shy.  A sincere, heartfelt, and playful “hello” to your customers will be appreciated more times than not.  Just make sure you have the infrastructure in place to monitor, measure, and manage all those new customer interactions.

Need help with your social media campaign? Contact me directly here!

Here are the two logos at issue:

Apparently, Jimmy has a great sense of humor and set up his company to sell some t-shirts and hopefully raise money to cover his college tuition (he did end up raising something like $100,000, according to Hurst). I love this disclaimer on his website:

We are not in any fashion related to nor do we want to be confused with The North Face Apparel Corp. or its products sold under “The North Face” brand. If you are unable to discern the difference between a face and a butt, we encourage you to buy North Face products.

(Sound of author trying to compose herself after period of robust laughter)

Anyhoo….long story short, management at The North Face failed to see the humor in this situation (or apparently the difference between a face and a…. bottom) and actually slapped Winkelmann with an expensive trademark infringement lawsuit.

Hurst’s post does a great job of analyzing what the North Face would have to establish to prevail on their claim (something Hurst doesn’t think they will succeed in doing – and I agree with him).

But this does bring up a couple of really important points for those of us launching and running businesses.

(1)  Don’t Use A Name That Is Already In Use!

When you are choosing a name and logo for your company, make sure to research whether that name is in use already (particularly in the industry that your company will be in) and make sure you do not create a logo that looks like one from another company (as best as you can determine). You need to search your state records for names (usually the Secretary of State’s office will have the ability to search LLCs and Corporations in your state;  also search any other state in which you plan to do business now or in the future).  Also search national records, such as the TESS at the US Patent and Trademark office. I also recommend doing a Google search for the name to see if the domain is taken (or any variation of it) and to see if anyone is already using that word or combination of words for their business already.

Right or wrong, big companies generally are not shy about enforcing their trademarks (as you can see in the North Face case) and you don’t want to end up getting a cease and desist letter from an in-house legal department just after you spent your last red-cent having your logo and branding designed.

If your name or logo could cause confusion between your company and one with an already established trademark, you could be found to be infringing on their trademark. If you are, you could be forced to change your name, logo, packaging and anything else that uses the infringing mark. If you have any market traction already, you would then have to rebuild your brand and lose the work already put into marketing the infringing name/brand/logo. Add to that potential money damages and attorneys fees, and not doing your homework about your trademarks becomes an expensive (and potentially fatal) detour for your business.

(2)  Protect Your Own Trademarks!!

Once you are sure you aren’t at risk of infringing on someone else’s trademarks, make sure that you have properly trademarked your own logo, tag lines and even product names and packaging so that you have the ability to protect your intellectual property and branding if someone does attempt to infringe on your trademark in the future.

Generally, “use” of the trademark itself does give you some protection (use the ™ symbol as soon as you start using anything you want trademarked). That means, always include the symbol on your website, on all of your advertising, correspondence/emails with customers, and written materials at a minimum.

But the best way to protect yourself if to file with the US Patent and Trademark Office in order to have a “registered” trademark (at which point you use the symbol ®).

Of course, I recommend hiring a good lawyer for this, as the paperwork can be tricky and you want to make sure it is done right. However, there are services out there that can help you file your own paperwork, such as Legal Zoom, so you have that less expensive option.

Just don’t decide to NOT trademark your branding. That could be an expensive mistake if someone else decides to use your name, logo or a variation of your logo (deliberately or without knowledge of yours). If you don’t have a registered trademark, you might not be able to stop them from using it, you will have less protection under the law to go after them, and might even lose your right to use your own name or logo in the future.

I’ve glossed over this because it is really fairly complicated subject, so make sure you find someone knowledgeable in trademarks to help you navigate this process.  (And now for the required disclaimer:  this post is NOT intended to give legal advice, so seek your own independent counsel for that!)

And if you have any experience with trademarks for your business (positive or negative), or questions, we want to hear from you so make sure to post a comment below!

You can read all of Hurst’s post at the link below.

http://intellectual-property.kmklaw.com/Trademark-Parody

Matt Cutts of Google posted this video to help explain the importance of their new Google Social Search…

So what does this mean for small business?

If you haven’t jumped in on the social media bandwagon yet, now is the time.  Customers and clients are using their blogs, tweets, facebook status updates, and more to talk about your brand.  (Don’t believe me? Watch this.) With the birth of social search, these conversations will now be mainstream for all of Google to see.  In other words, your customers will directly effect your Google search rankings.

Will Twitter be more business friendly in 2010?

Absolutely. Their real-time search collaboration is a big step in the right direction and Twitter isn’t stopping there. It has also launched a “Contributors” function (invitation only for now) which allows companies to have several authors send tweets under the same company profile. It is rumored that this may be one of the many new features in a “business class” Twitter account. These accounts would be part of an anticipated paid model launch in 2010. Also highly anticipated is the new emphasis on GeoAPI which will allow tweets to be seen with geo-location information. (Click here to read more.)

So what should you do?

Take advantage of this new opportunity to leverage social media in your favor by developing a listening strategy (read my post here for a how to), ensuring that your current web collateral can easily be shared socially (use AddThis or ShareThis buttons), and abandon spamming your marketing messages via your social networks in favor of developing mutually beneficial online relationships with key influencers in your industry.

Share your thoughts below in the comments! Are you using Twitter for Business?

Need help with your social media campaign? Contact me directly here!