www.startupnation.com

by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs

• Join - It's Free!
• Log in

My StartupNation

Opening new markets for your business - Q & A

Sue joins the show from Minneapolis to ask the Sloans: how do I best penetrate a market (in her case, the travel industry) with a new business model?

Rich Sloan:  All right.  The phone lines are open and we're gonna go first to Minneapolis.  We've got Sue on the line.  Welcome to our show, Sue. 

Sue:  Thank you.  Thank you for having me.  I appreciate it. 

Rich Sloan:  Yeah.  Right on.  How can we help today?

Sue:   Well, actually I'm in the travel industry and have a new business model that I've introduced to the market.  And so my question is really around --

Rich Sloan:  Can you tell us what that is?

Sue:  Sure, absolutely.  We provide highly personalized concierge-type service options and cost savings to our clients.  It's primarily corporate clients, but we do leisure travel as well.  And what we do is actually continue to search for lower rates.

Rich Sloan:  Okay.

Sue:   Air, car and hotel after the purchase.  And if we find a lower rate, we offer it back to the traveler and split the difference.

Rich Sloan:  Okay.  So there's where the new model is?

Sue:  That's where the new model is, exactly.

Rich Sloan:  Okay.  Great.  Okay.

Sue:  So great concept.

Rich Sloan:  Yeah.

Sue:  Everybody loves it, but people are real hesitant to try it out.  And so my question is around how to actually best penetrate the market with a new business model?

Rich Sloan:  All you have to do is get Jeff to try it out and --

Sue:   And we're good to go.  Okay.

Rich Sloan:  Everyone will follow Jeff.

Jeff Sloan:  Yeah, there you go.

Sue:   That sounds good.

Rich Sloan:  So how do you get people -- how do you rev up the demand for this is what you're asking.

Sue:  Right, yeah.  Right now, you know, I do have clients.  A lot of it is word of mouth at this time, but I'm looking to grow and specifically into the international market more so, where you see more activity there and more changes, I guess.  The industry is very volatile in terms of their rates.

Rich Sloan:  Got a quick list for you.  Number one, form relationships with businesses that you feel are complementary to you.  If you know your demographic, who your typical customer is going to be, think of the other places where they shop, where they buy things, where they have relationships in place, and make sure that you get your promotional information in front of them.  So take that tip into an online type of environment.  Make sure that you put the correct links on the optimal sites to drive people into your site.

Now when I say, "Links," this doesn't necessarily have to be the kind of thing where it's a typical affiliate type model where you pay back a portion of the proceeds to the site that puts a link driving people to your site, but it could be that also.  So there's affiliate marketing, and you can learn about that at StartupNation.com.  But you certainly want to put links on sites.  Maybe there are people out there who write about the travel industry and savvy travelers, you know, who are looking for deals, are reading the blogs or the information on those sites.  Make sure that you get mentioned there.

Sue:  Right.

Rich Sloan:  And that gets to my next point and that is -- or prescription here, and that is create a press release.  You have a new model.  You have a cool business offering.  You are addressing one of the pain points that we all deal with today, because travel is getting more expensive with the rising cost of energy --

Sue:   Right.

Rich Sloan:  -- and the rising demand, especially during this season.  How do you address a pain point here?  How do you make travel less expensive?  You have a rally cool service to write up a press release on and get it into the hands of the press.

Sue:  Well, here's what I got.  I actually do a press release, so part of my question is actually where to send that out to.  But I was actually featured in The Minneapolis Star and Trib in the Business Section a couple months ago.

Rich Sloan:  Excellent.

Sue:  Which was awesome, but they didn't really put a lot of contact information there.  So people would read it and like, "How do we get a hold of you," which is part of it.  I mean the exposure was great, but I'm trying to figure out how to capitalize on that.

Rich Sloan:  Whenever you get something in print, always do your best to put in your Web site in the interview or in the press release.  And if it is not accepted by the editorial staff at that paper, always ask for a link to be provided, at least in the online version.

Sue:    Right.

Rich Sloan:  And we have to do that a lot at StartupNation.  You know, a lot of press happens surrounding StartupNation and our fast-growing online community and such, and we're always finessing and massaging and trying to make better any of the online mentions in particular, because that's the place where people click through.

Sue:  Right.

Rich Sloan:  So those are some keys that I would recommend.  We've got a number of callers.  That's a short list, but as you develop additional questions, call back in, 866-55-START.  That's 866-557-8278.

That's a very cool model, Sue, and good luck to you.