11.07.09

Canada, Alberta, Stampede Park - Big Four

Franchising and Small Business Opportunities Show

 

Get information on National Franchising Events.

11.21.09

United States, Dallas, Dallas Convention Center

The Franchise and Financing Expo in Dallas, Texas November 21-22.

 

More Franchise Event and Trade Show Information.

07.05.12

Canada, Mississauga, Mississauga

The key question for every franchise company, whether it is a retail, home-based ora service franchise, whether it represents “white-collar” or “blue-collar” franchises, is: ‘What are the Best Franchise Development Strategies for 2012?’ Fact #1: Traditional lead sources are NOT producing the predictable number of deals they used to. Consider what has happened to the main media sources in the last 4 years. This graph shows the percentage change in Advertising Spend Growth by Media from 2008 to 2012. It is clear that News, Print, Magazines are on the decline and have had negative growth, whereas advertising spend on the internet continues to grow. This transformation of data from the offline to the online is termed Digitization. The digital world has permeated every aspect of our daily lives, from the way we spend our time, to the way we spend our money. It has changed the way we communicate, and it has really changed the way we seek and receive information. Fact #2: Franchise sales metrics ARE changing to reflect changes in buyer behavior. Franchise companies are realizing that digital consumers are looking for products and services on Search Engines, instead of yellow page directories, newspapers, magazines and other offline media. Digital Consumers use email, blogs, social networks and various sites to share with more people then ever before. Fact #3: Even the best of the best in franchisee recruitment are struggling to reach 30% of their leads. Today more than ever Franchisors must take into consideration that different generations communicate differently. Understanding the tools and utilities that people are using in order to create a clear channel of communication with them will be part of the new approach to franchise development. Tools such as Video Chat, Instant Messaging, Text Messaging, Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook and emerging tools such as Pinterest will play an increasing role in the Franchise Development Process. Fact #4: The greatest predictor of future franchise unit openings is current franchisee satisfaction levels and profitability. The importance of franchisee training and consolidating the franchisor’s business model, plays a vital role in continued franchise development growth. Support staff and franchise development reps will need to work closely together in order to sustain and grow the number of units as well as unit economics. Fact #5: Future of franchise brokers and franchise consultants requires serious consideration. As fees for franchise consultants and franchise brokers continues to rise, franchisors are realizing that they are dealing with disappearing margins from the franchise fee, and over time this may negatively impact a cash-strapped franchisor’s ability to train and support new franchisees while they are waiting for royalties to ramp up to acceptable and profitable levels. If franchisors re-learn how to generate their own leads and crack the code for lead generation through social media and organic searches, more and more franchisors will be equipped to be self-reliant, sever broker relationships or refuse pressure to increase commissions. Fact #6: A shift is happening, going from franchisors looking past lead count and moving toward lead engagement. Franchisors are making strategic investments in creating content to keep leads engaged throughout the franchise development process. We can expect some franchisors to crack the code in how to use social media and targeted PR to drive traffic and improve search positions in order to fill their pipeline.Therefore, the leads derived from ‘Content Marketing Strategies’ will be more qualified and targeted. Fact #7: Franchise development specific websites are more important then ever. A shockingly small number of franchisors maintain a consistent franchise sales blog or post content designed to keep engaged franchise development leads coming back during the sales process even though this is the easiest way to improve the important website metrics. Fact #8: The greatest source of internet leads, that are targeted and qualified, will be through organic search results and NOT portals. Franchisors who want to have an increase in their franchise development and obtain the coveted ‘Glengarry leads’ will invest more in smart organic SEO lead generation and content marketing strategies. Furthermore, they must change their perception of social media from “it doesn’t work to recruit franchisees” to “my current strategy doesn’t work.”

08.24.12

Canada, Mississauga, Mississauga

Franchise marketing is where an online marketing or advertising firm has different marketing plans for a company such as commercial advertising, internet advertising, radio advertising, mail advertisements, and public relations. Brand recognition is of the upmost importance with franchise marketing and needs to be the number one focus. Many companies participate in franchise marketing and if you own a franchise you will definitely want to join in one of the franchise marketing systems. How to market a Franchise? When you want to learn how to market a franchise you need to ask yourself what other companies are doing. Look around and see what kind of advertisements are working and the ones that people are ignoring. Also consider what kind of franchise you have been attracted to because of the advertisements. Here are a few steps that will get you started with a franchise marketing strategy. Local - Always make sure that you do some local advertising for your franchise. If you do not do any local advertising you will not be able to get everyone in to your place of business. Place ads on the local cable network, newspaper, as well as any newsletters that may come out for your area. Internet - In marketing your franchise you will want to make sure that you use the internet to your full advantage. This includes posting ads locally as well as posting ads for your franchise everywhere that you can think of. In today’s world, social media plays a big role in everything that is to be advertised. Make sure that you join Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter as well as any other type of social media you can think of to help promote your business. Charities - Take your franchise to charities in your area that will help you to display your advertisement as long as you agree to give the charity money in the form of a sponsor. This can also be done at local schools as well. So if your school has a local football team you can sponsor the team and your franchise will be displayed. Learning how to get your franchise out there is extremely important so that you can make sure that your business succeeds. The more advertisement you have out there the more clients you will get. Make sure that you remember to include internet marketing in with your franchise marketing plans. Drawing more people into your business is what you want to do so make sure that you advertise your franchise well. About the Author A serial entrepreneur with extensive background in franchising and interests in multiple online business channels, Jamshaid (Jam) Hashmi has played an instrumental role in the franchise development and success of a renowned international franchise company. His most recent entrepreneurial interests include launching ClickTecs, a Digital Marketing company specializing in Search Engine Marketing and Social Media Marketing as well as Website and Mobile Application development. In 2007 he co-founded WSI Search Result, an online marketing company that supplies services to Internet Marketing Consultants. A sought after public speaker, Jam has been the featured keynote at many franchise conferences and international summits. He regularly trains ‘C’ Level Executives and supports both new and seasoned business owners on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Optimization, Mobile Marketing, Brand Reputation Management and Conversion & Measurement through web analytics. When he’s not scaling the heights of the Internet world, Jam ‘unwinds’ on extreme thrill-seeking adventures from the jungles of the Amazon to the highest summits. His passions include working with NGOs on humanitarian missions to areas around the world affected by disasters and poverty.