4. February 2012 by Frank Goad.

A friend of mine is the manager of a local retail establishment. He’s a very smart man with a distinguished if not unusual career. He’s amazed me at times with words of wisdom that make any thought process stop dead in its tracks and listen He’s also very frustrated because the owners don’t seem very anxious to make the place a best in its class establishment. It’s sad because, if they would just step out of the way and give him the reins, they would make so much more money.

Most folks can run a retail business. It requires some attention to detail, some organizational skills and some ability to deal with the public. Notice that I used “some” a lot, and that’s because if you’re in a good location with reasonable traffic, you can keep the doors open and lights on without being a primo manager.

My wish for him is that a distant relative would die and leave him the money to buy the place. He’s got drive, intelligence and is champing at the bit to really turn a profit, make it a busy place and build a real brand. If he could buy it, there’s no doubt it would see 30% sales gains in the first six months. Yet, the owners treat it kind of like a hobby business. They’re not too particular about the little things and seem more determined to get pocket change from the place. They seem to have overlooked Frank’s Business Rule #1: When it comes to how the public views you, everything matters.

Posted in Frank Goad, Frank Communications, FrankyGee3, blogs, blogging, delight, Branding, "The Frankifesto", Frank, business plan, business, building business, Marketing | Print | No Comments »

4. February 2012 by Frank Goad.

I’ve been working with a client on an Internet advertising proposal. They sent me a note and said, “We have a new client that works on websites and seo’s (sic). I am sure you understand.” I do, but not sure they do and I wonder, do you? Let me explain it a bit so that you can make more money from your site.

First let me say: SEO is NOT advertising - not even close. SEO, or search engine optimization, is important - no doubt about that. It’s function is to make your website attractive to the “crawlers” (also called “robots” or “spiders”) that the search engines like Google send out daily to examine every website they can find. Crawlers send bits of programming code back to the search engine that details the content of the sites they find, yours included.

If you sell blue handled shelf stretchers and someone enters “shelf stretchers” in a search box and hits Enter, the search engine’s servers kick into gear. They look through their lists of data to find every website with those two words in their keywords and page’s text. If they enter “red handled shelf stretcher,” you’re now pushed down the list because you sell blue ones. The more times they see those words in your web, the higher your “relevancy” ranking. This is where SEO comes in. By entering the right keywords, you get picked more in the lists of sites the search engines display.

If keywords were the only thing Google and others use to rank websites, then SEO might be enough. The fact is it’s only one small part of the relevancy formula. One big thing that makes a difference is … money. Despite how democratic the web might seem, filthy lucre is the biggest determining factor, and that’s where advertising comes in. Higher rankings mean you get closer to the Holy Grail of being first in non-paid advertising.

Postscript:  From when I first posted this, they are now out of business. Sometimes I hate it when I’m right. In the end, a balanced approach across all types of media (if they apply) still gives the best results; also, hire a pro (and, yes, I am a pro).

Posted in Google, Social Media, Yahoo, YouTube, blogging, blogs, FrankyGee3, Frank Goad, Frank, Advertising, The Long Tail, business, Frank Communications, building business, Marketing | Print | No Comments »

4. February 2012 by Frank Goad.

The previous installment covered content, scripting, talent (who’s on camera) and length. This time, it’s about one thing … well three things in one, actually: Content – what is important in your script? Sounds easy, but it’s far from it. Please read on.I’ve been in communications for over thirty years and, to me, it boils down to three things that your audience needs to accept your message and consider you as a good source for video. They are: Confidence, Trust and Engagement.

Do you think confidence and trust are the same. Sorry, but they’re not. Confidence is about them believing you know what you’re talking about. Can they believe what you say? Does it sound like bull or the real thing? To build confidence, humbly let them know what your background is. Notice I’ve already mentioned how long I’ve been doing this, and you probably thought – even if not consciously – “Well, if he’s done it that long, he’s got to know something.” (“I do,” he said blushingly.) Notice that I didn’t say, “I’m an expert with … ,” because words like expert, guru, master, etc., are titles that others give you. I routinely go through my social media accounts and delete anyone who says they are a “guru” or “master” because they never are. Let your experience do the talking.

What can you say to prove you know what you’re talking about? Can people see other things you’ve done? Do you have a good place where they can find them, like a blog or a Flickr account or a website? Just as employers want to see your résumé, people want to see your work. Seeing what you’ve done lets them make up their mind if they want to listen to you and believe you. It’s okay to put your experience out there, just be thorough, accurate, honest and a bit humble. If you’re just getting started, well, everyone has to start somewhere and now is your time.

Trust is something that builds after they get confidence in you. What good is it to have confidence in your ability to bring information regularly, but not trust everything you say? Trust means coming to you as a prime source of information delivered in a way that let’s them use it, and so that they can also share it with friends – people rarely share things they don’t trust. For instance, a phrase you don’t hear: “Check this pistol. It’s pretty flaky so don’t get mad because it will probably shoot your finger off.” Confidence brings them to you (well, that and curiosity or a referral) and trust keeps them there.

Your audience must trust your work to be accurate and fair in what you say. Sure, you can go with bombast and incendiary topics, but audiences who respond to that are, generally speaking, fickle and fade quickly. You want a dependable, long-lasting audience.

Next is engagement. How are you going to talk with them? What can you say to engage them in a conversation? It might be one sided, but what do you have that will hold their interest? Do you have info that they can’t do without, or that you format in a way that gives lots of direction to the best sources? How is your delivery? Are you engaging on camera? Have you studied the techniques of television personalities you like?

A caution: Be honest with yourself and find someone who looks and sounds a bit like you. If you look like Jonah Hill, Bobby Hill, Eric Cartman, the dancing creepy old guy on the Six Flags ads, Tommy Lee Jones or Jack Black, don’t emulate Matt Damon, Bruce Willis or George Clooney. Sure, take hints from their delivery, but be who you are just like all the ones in the first group. Use it to your advantage – poke a little fun at yourself and go with what you have. You are the most engaging person once you get a rhythm and learn a bit about delivering lines on-camera.

Get feedback from friends (careful asking family as their boundaries can be a bit far out) and watch yourself on the screen as objectively as you can. It’s tough to get a natural delivery and only a few have a totally believable delivery (they’re called stars – see the names mentioned above), so accept that you’re an amateur and have fun with it. If you take yourself too seriously, your audience won’t take you seriously at all. It takes time and practice so, keep at it and have fun.

Think of it this way: There are lots of grocery stores and restaurants, but we usually have a favorite. We drive past others to get there and do so gladly. Your audience will listen to you for reasons you might never know, but they’re there. The size of your audience is less important than their loyalty, and your consistently good work will keep them coming back.

As to your scripts, use small words and active phrases. Avoid the words will, should, could, might, etc., and use active words like is, does, has, goes, etc. “He might have a chance if the playoffs go well,” vs. “He has a chance with good playoff performance.” Which is more engaging and exciting – yea, the second one. Make statements, but make ones you can stand behind.

That’s it for today boys and girls. Here’s another one of mine that was well received. Cheers!

Who Defines Your Brand? From Business Lexington’s “Smiley Pete TV” channel on YouTube.

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3. February 2012 by Frank Goad.

That title sounds oh, so very scintillating, doesn’t it? It comes under the heading of, “Made you look.” What is the secret? You don’t have to be Hemmingway or Ayn Rand to be a good blogger. Surprise!! The most unlikely folks have created popular blogs that have enhanced their career and expanded their world.

The secret to blogging is to: A. Go with your strengths, and; B. Write only as much as it takes. One of the things that making a living entails for me is writing, and it comes naturally. I love to play with words, ideas, a clever turn of phrase, but, to many, that’s like walking with glass shards in their shoes.

I had a manager at Lexmark by the name of Ellen Fernandez. She was a great manager: Smart, organized, able to grasp goals and make things happen. Best of all, she is a wonderful person who believes that everyone has greatness in them and working for her was a joy. One day she said, “I’m betting I could lock you in a room with instructions to write all day, and you’d be very happy.” I agreed. She said, “That would be a day of torture for me. Ask me to spend the day analyzing spreadsheets and I’d love it. I see patterns in the numbers and trends many people miss.” Nevertheless, she was a good writer and her memos were clean, to the point and well structured.

My point is, you don’t have to create a masterpiece to share quality information. Writing is like anything else: The more you do it, the more proficient you become. You exercise the language part of the brain and it gets stronger. As the saying goes, “Begun is half done.”

If you believe you are good at what you do, and it’s something you like, then share your knowledge. Someone might live a better life after learning something you shared in a blog. Don’t worry if it’s blue ribbon prose because, if your information is accurate and understandable, people will be very forgiving. Be as brief as possible, use pictures and illustrations if you have them and, if grammar is a problem, get some help. There are plenty of services online that will critique your blog and help you eliminate any errors.

Besides sharing information, blogs also help you build a body of work that can become a reference for you and others. As time goes by, you’ll see a pattern develop and it can help you think more deeply about your career and profession. So, now the secret is out, and you have something new to share.

Please subscribe to this blog - it’s easy. Scroll down the left side of the page, at the bottom of the lists, there’s a box titled, “Meta.” Click where it says, “Entries,” and it’ll open a window to choose how you want to receive notices (email, etc.). Thanks!!!!!

Also, please Like my Facebook page: Frank Communications Lexington

Oh, yes, there are my other pages on LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and Quora. There are more, but that’s enough.

Also, there are videos on my YouTube channel, Franky Gee Lex, or at Business Lexington’s Channel, Smiley Pete TV, where I’ve got about 35 or so videos, many with folks I’ve interviewed.

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2. November 2011 by Frank Goad.

Dumping some customers is good for business. For instance, there’s a drafthouse movie theatre out west that routinely kicks out customers. Why? For talking or texting during the movies - strictly verboten during the shows and evidently well documented on the walls and during the pre-movie trailers. One customer got escorted out for texting for which she sent an email brimming with profanityto the management. The theatre does some of its own ads and read the email in a spot aired before the movies. They closed it by saying they’re glad she’s not coming back. It’s a rather pointed warning for those in their seats, too.

A bad customer can cause good ones to leave simply because they don’t want to be around them. Yes, yes, yes — it is very tough to tell someone to hit the road and not come back. That goes against everything we have learned as business people. The number one thing we’re taught is, “The customer is always right,” and no, they’re not … well, I don’t think so. Sometimes they’re abusive, chiseling creeps who do their best to get one over, or get you to work for free and, well, you get the idea.

Generally, though, customers are right and if one customer is causing others to leave or complain, then the only reason to keep the troublesome customer is because they are giving you tons of money. If that’s the case, think creatively about how to work with them so that they’re isolated from other customers. Maybe you set up a Skype connection so that they can order without leaving their office. Maybe you visit them on their premises, or assign one person to deal with them in an office somewhere else at your place of business.

The other thing to question is, are they driving off customers and you don’t see it? Many folks just stop showing up and don’t voice their dissatisfaction or discomfort. The solution for this is to talk one-on-one with random customers as often as possible. Most won’t say anything unless it’s a fairly direct set of questions, so create a standard list that you ask all customers. You get a better sense of what’s working or not when your questions are standardized.

Don’t be afraid to cull the herd, thin the ranks, take the trash to the curb, and whatever saying you use. Sometimes, that’s all you can do, so don’t feel badly if it happens.

Posted in Frank Goad, FrankyGee3, Customers, Frank Communications, retail, business, business relationships, building business, Public relations | Print | No Comments »

26. October 2011 by Frank Goad.

Before we start, I’m not trying to pick on you, belittle you or make you feel bad. This is about what you can do to improve your image and increase sales, and really good writing is a huge help. I cover this topic fairly often because I see examples daily of how people shoot themselves in the foot in the self-deluded idea that they are great communicators. Bad writing drives people away very, very quickly; good copy grabs and holds them.

Okay, back to the title: Yes, it’s sarcastic, but it’s a legitimate question: Do you really think you can write? Is it something you love to do? Have you been published more than two or three times? Have you attended workshops or webinars to improve your writing? Do you write something with at least 300 or 400 words every day, or at least several times a week? If the answer isn’t yes to these questions, you really need to think about your skill level. Writing is like any other activity – it takes regular practice to be good.

One of the things I do for a living is write and I do it for people who either don’t like writing, or don’t like it enough to want to spend the time, or they make a lot more money doing what they do best and would rather pay me. Be assured, these are smart, successful people, so their wisdom is probably something to absorb.

My point here is that if your writing isn’t really well-crafted, folks aren’t going to read it. If no one has ever paid you to write for them, that’s a sure sign you haven’t been exposed to the things that make ad copy and articles hold people’s attention and motivate them to do what you want. Good writing makes the cash register ring; bad copy does not.

By all means, though, you should write and try to improve your writing. Just as famous actors take acting lessons throughout their career, the best writers have editors, coaches and critics, too. The more you know about writing the better you express yourself in everyday life.

So, keep writing, and get help for your business needs. Yes, I’d love to work with you but, whether or not it’s me, get help. It’s an investment that pays great dividends and sets you apart from your competition.

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21. October 2011 by Frank Goad.

Social media and the Internet has changed customers expectations of their relationship with you - they expect to have a good idea of who you are, what you do, and so on, before they step foot in your place of business - and they changed the level of knowledge customers are armed with when they decide to give you their money. What does this mean? That you can find that your customers know more about your products or services than your employees know.

A 2010 study by IBM found that 55% of retailers say that customers are more connected to data than are their workers. Not surprisingly, 87% of retailers said that customers are using online shopping and comparison tools to find the best deals. This is a huge problem for two reasons:
- Customers enter into your store expecting higher levels of expertise from your staff than ever and,
- With their price knowledge, you have to be more competitive, which shrinks margins, which makes freeing capital for employee education even harder.

We’ve all seen the ads where someone talks to a store employee (usually wearing a blue shirt with yellow lettering - guess who) and they bumble and fumble when trying to answer a product question. That’s a nightmare for anyone in business, especially retail, if that happens in your store.

All this means that you have to work even harder to draw the customer in, make them feel at home and believe that shopping with you is preferred even if your prices aren’t the best they can find. A 2009 study by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania reported five core aspects customers consider key to a great shopping experience:

1. Customer engagement: This means being polite, caring and genuinely interested in customers, and being available to help and listen at all times.

2. A Positive Brand Experience: Customers want to see an attractive store that is well laid out and filled with quality merchandise. This helps customers feel more special and feel greater value in shopping with you.

3. Execution: Patience, good advice, clear explanations, product availability, ample product knowledge - these are what customers expect every time.

4. Problem Recovery: Customers expect satisfaction when problems arise, to be treated fairly and compensated for their trouble, and to get satisfaction in the end.

5. Expeditious Transactions: Quick checkouts, easy shopping and other considerations of their time show that they matter … a lot. For some, this can be their sole measure considering how time compressed we are these days.

The big job that many businesses face is instilling these five aspects in employees, and then helping them reflect them in their interactions with customers. Properly applied, they will give customers’ a strong perception of the value you offer.

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12. September 2011 by Frank Goad.

Even though I’m starting a social media and marketing school (www.facebooklexington.com), social media isn’t the be-all and end-all. You’ll notice it’s a social media AND marketing school, because too many people are giving seminars on social media, but they’re not really telling you how to use it to its best effect. Some are treating it like it’s all you need, and that’s the real fallacy – social media is only one part of your marketing and should be part of an overall strategy. Some question whether it should be in the mix at all.

There is some discussion among the marketing mavens in the uppermost floors of skyscrapers in the world’s major cities, and the discussion centers on whether social media is worth it. Some major companies are not seeing the returns they expected on huge expenditures in social media. For instance, despite going viral, there is reason to believe that the Old Spice Man videos didn’t help sales; coupons and in-store promotions did. It could be argued that it bought mind share, but how do you know?

I believe it has to do with the fact that social media misses the mark for many folks. Why? Two big reasons:

A. Not enough people are doing social media right. What’s most important is not the number of friends, how often you post, how many people see your post, and so on. It’s how many people give you their money.
B.  People are throwing time and resources at it (which equals money - it’s not free like people tell you) without a real strategy. That is a recipe for waste and disappointment. When you post, are you leading up to something? Are you finding ways to tie your posts to your products or services?

The foremost question is, are you promoting your brand?

I love this quote from Johnathan Salem Baskin: “Brands don’t exist, at least not like rocks or tax returns. Brands are ideas that have no external existence or legitimacy apart from the creative agency of human experience. Brands aren’t things but rather conclusions, and therefore have no voice, reputation, attributes, or actions that aren’t the result of somebody doing something (or something happening to them).”

My main definition of brand is this: A brand is the promise of continued delightful experiences based on a history of delightful experiences. If you’ve read this blog, you know that I rave over the service and food at Bella Notte (go there and you’ll understand). The number one reason I do is, I’m delighted every time I’m there without fail. Do your customers have that unwavering loyalty? Do they post to FourSquare, Facebook, Twitter, Scoville, Yelp, etc., etc., etc.? Eating at Bella Notte here in Lexington compels me to tell the world … on social media. In one sense, it’s not what you post, it’s what everyone else posts for you.

Is social media a fad? No, it’s a constantly morphing electronic entity that has roots running back to the 80s. First it was dial up service and bulletin boards; now it’s social media on a variety of devices (even refrigerators) and who knows what tomorrow. Be ready to change.

In the end, social media is a way to measure sentiment and gauge your performance. You have to “prime the well” (a saying lost on many who use social media because they’re too young) and create conversations, then find ways to listen closely. You need to make it part of all your marketing. It needs a plan, goals, measurements and ways to judge the ROI. Don’t think it’s free because that will really cost you.

If you want help making it the most it can be with the least “wasted motion,” give us a call. It does work, if you know how.

Frank Communications Lexington, 859-335-8742, our Website (click here), our Facebook page

Posted in Frank Communications, Frank Goad, FrankyGee3, Social Media, 2011, building business, Advertising, advertisers, The Long Tail, business relationships, Marketing | Print | No Comments »

24. August 2011 by Frank Goad.

I find there are three kinds of questions that my clients ask: A. Those of piercing insight; B. Those of curiosity or the need for more info, and; C. Those that tax any form of belief.

A. I love, love, love getting the A-types. They make my job so much easier and the clients see much better results. Sometimes they occur when a concept I’m explaining lights up inside their head and they see the big(ger) picture; other times, they happen when they take what they’re given and come up with something entirely new. These questions (or observations) are a bit rare and usually come when I’ve been working with someone for awhile.

B. These make up the majority of questions that I get and occur during the discovery and strategy portions of our relationship. Given that Frank Communication’s modus operandi is pretty comprehensive (we look at the whole company/picture, not just a small aspect), and that we ask a LOT of questions, clients don’t always see the connections we’re working toward. As we spend time together, they see what’s going on and get excited, and then the questions come: “Hey, what if …?”, “That sounds like something I saw last week – did you see … ?”, or “Ohh, I get it … does this mean we’ve been … ?” These are exciting because these questions lead to an A question if they’re going to happen.

C. The incredible ones in this category aren’t what you might think: They usually don’t come from ignorance but, instead, come from misinformation. They can start with “Well, I’ve got a friend who said X, so don’t you think we should … ?”, or,  ”Yeah, well, I heard about X and heard about someone who tried it and X happened – shouldn’t we try that?”, or a variation of those.

C-type questions are understandable, though, because so much has changed about advertising and marketing in the last six years, and some changes are a bit drastic. Folks are often taking advice from people who are shooting in the dark (often at their foot), or they’re reading books written by someone who’s really persuasive but ill-suited to be giving advice, or who is simply giving bad advice. Sometimes it’s because folks are desperately confused and grabbing at straws or, even more bewildering and touchy, a good friend tried something that worked for them, but which doesn’t work so well for my client for one or more reasons (timing, content, budget, etc.).

When I get C-type questions, I’m glad because that means we’re making progress. It often happens that when folks have a bad experience, although they might be wary, they now have a base of information that helps them make sense of what will help.

The most important thing is to keep asking questions. Sure, sometimes the questions sound dumb, but that’s okay because that’s how we learn, and the more we learn the better off we are. A, B or C, it doesn’t matter because you’ll probably only have to ask any of them once.

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18. August 2011 by Frank Goad.

My wife, Deborah, and I went back to Bella Notte tonight mostly because, as I’ve said before, you always get a great meal there plus great service, and also to see what sort of reaction there was to my posts after the last visit. This was by no means a test, but it would tell me several things. What did I find out … I mean besides the fact that the food and service were excellent as always?

I saw that they get the whole service thing in ways many business owners haven’t begun to fathom. Not only did let the entire staff know what was said the next day after they hit the Internet, they also thanked me tonight for the posts - servers and manager alike. This is important for several reasons, including:

A. It shows they communicate with their staff … a lot
B. They are watching the Web for comments being made about them and using them as a tool
C. They have a very good grasp of the power of Web 2.0 (or 2.5 or whatever someone decides we’re up to)
D. They are integrating this smart marketing into their daily customer relations

There are many other reasons why this is important, but none more so than letting a customer know that you really care about their thoughts, feelings and satisfaction time and time again. Who checks on this? Mr. Toyoda himself.

Kuni Toyoda, the founder of Bella Notte, Fazoli’s and Smashing Tomato, is a smart marketer and, by all accounts, a good man. He and his wife eat at their restaurants almost every night. This is more than “eating one’s own cooking” (to quoin a phrase), it’s leadership. This shows his staff that he cares and pays attention to what they’re doing and what the customer reactions to his product and service are.

So, again, if you want a great meal and a really good lesson in customer service, tool on over to Bella Notte. Tell’em I sent you, but don’t expect anything for that - special treatment is standard whether my name is mentioned or not.

Posted in Frank Goad, FrankyGee3, review, Frank Communications, writing, business relationships, building business, Frank | Print | No Comments »

10. August 2011 by Frank Goad.

I’m a pretty positive guy and you’ll find me making opportunities out of problems, lemonade from lemons, and so on. There is one thing that has me troubled, though: Computer security. We are under attack from more threats than ever, both from inside and outside of our country. There have been many discussions and articles about a Cyber Pearl Harbor. As fast as “white hat” computer programmers stop a threat, “black hats” come up with myriad variations. As they say, the good guys have to be right every time, but the bad guys need be right only once.

If you’ve been watching the news, perhaps you saw the reports about the “Shady RAT” virus that infected many machines. There is strong evidence that it came from China, and some evidence that points to the Chinese government itself. They deny it, as you would expect, but there is no doubt that it came from there. This isn’t about scams and phishing against we average citizens, but against our national systems that handle military and government operations, our phones, utilities, banks and other concerns that, if successful, would cause a widespread calamity that could affect millions.

For instance, this headline (and link) says a lot:  (Reuters) - A congresswoman on Wednesday requested more information on security company McAfee’s report detailing a five-year hacking campaign that breached 72 organizations globally. These folks have first-rate help, yet the hackers penetrated their systems and left malware that quietly collected data for years.

It would be nice to say that we could point to one source, but that’s a fool’s dream. For instance, in the former Soviet Union, hacking a company within the country is a horrible crime, but hacking a US concern of any type gets a shoulder shrug from the government. There is a town in Romania that has the reputation of having the most hackers anywhere in the world: Dirty deeds done cheap. To top it off, there are but two detectives assigned to the task of arresting known cybercriminals. Wired magazine’s article about it is informative if not a bit chilling: How a Remote Town in Romania Has Become Cybercrime Central

The known threats are one thing, but there are unknown ones that are more dire. For instance, the military has millions of dollars of contracts out for computer systems. These contracts go to companies in a variety of countries. For your average flat screen TV, no big deal. When the components are being made for a top-level military system, big deal - a very, very big deal because the computer chips that go in might be part of the control system for missle launches, or a secured orbiting communication system. 

Malicious computer code can but put into the chips used in the systems which makes the threat practically invisible until it’s called on, and then it does its dirty deed. There literally is no good way to check every chip in these systems for every possible threat. The military is wringing its hands over this.

Just as it can happen to the military, it can happen in the utilities, to your car, just about anywhere. Siemens makes the majority of systems that control nuclear power plants. The Stuxnet virus that made headlines last year was targeted at those systems and is credited with bringing down Iranian centrifuges used to make weapons grade nuclear materials - a very targeted attack. The US was blamed, and we quickly denied, as one would expect. Also suspected are “green guerrilas” whose mission it is to rid the world of any nuclear threat anywhere. Just as it was done to them, it could also be done to us.

The point of this article is to remind you to do all the right things when it comes to computer security: Back up your data; run virus scans weekly (or more often); keep your operating system patched (a major defense which many ignore); don’t click on anything you’re not 100% sure about. For all the high-level mayhem out there, the run-of-the-mill hacker who wants your email address rides the coat tails of the truly brilliant and malevolent computer hackers. When the geniuses learn something, they toss a scrap of old yet still sophisticated tech to the common rabble, who in turn now have a new way to steal your identity, torch your credit or simply fill your in-box with Viagra or get-rich-quick spam. The cost to restore your data is infinitely more expensive than the routine safeguards you can easily take. So, is your anti-virus up to date? Fire wall working? …

Posted in computer security, virus, malware, threats, computer, cyber security, Frank Communications, Frank Goad, FrankyGee3, damage | Print | No Comments »

3. August 2011 by Frank Goad.

My family and I went to Bella Notte here in Lexington for dinner tonight. It’s long been one of our favorites for two reasons: A. The food is excellent, well-presented and served in a unique yet warm and friendly atmosphere; B. We’ve never, ever had bad service, and almost always have excellent service. Tonight was yet another delightful experience. (Thank you, John-Michael.)

If you’ve read much of my writing, you’ll know that one of my favorite definitions of a brand is, “The promise of continuing delightful experiences based on a history of delightful experiences.” While others might have stories of a less-than-positive experience at Bella Notte (I’ve never heard one, mind you), you’ll not hear any from us … and that’s why going there is always a treat.

The prices are, IMHO, very reasonable based on the service, quality and ambiance. Can I eat there often? Not as often as I’d like, and that’s probably a good thing: When you indulge in a “treat” too often, it becomes pedestrian and loses those things that make it special. (Bella’s might be an exception to that.)

Earlier today, I ate lunch with a friend at a competitor’s a stone’s throw from Bella’s. The manager was walking briskly down the aisle by our table, stopped abruptly and, with her body still pointed down the aisle, looked over her shoulder and, while we were talking, blurted out, “Everything all right?” “Yes.” “Good.” Zoom, off she goes. My thought was that saying four words to us allowed her to check off another to-do in her mind. Genuine concern? Maybe so but, when someone is talking to you and sincerely wants to know what you think, they generally turn their body to you, pause and ask a question. Stopping so fast your shoes almost squeak, interrupting a customer and keeping your body perpendicular to the table says to me that my business might be appreciated … or not.

Tonight, the Bella Notte manager came by our table and, rather than making a cursory stop on his way to someplace else, he politely walked up to the table, waited until there was a pause in our  conversation, and asked how our meal was. He then asked my wife how her drink was, my daughter how her meal was and if I was happy with my penne pasta. Then he actually had a conversation with us and it was obvious he was sensitive to overstaying his welcome. He was genuinely concerned and pleasant.

Our server spent time talking with us asking what we like and made suggestions based on that information. He didn’t just run down the specials - he wanted to know what we like before making suggestions and didn’t mention the special until the end. He observed the table from a distance before offering water, asking questions, etc. Again, our dining pleasure was more important than the number of customers he was serving.

So, it doesn’t matter what business you are in, this is yet another little bit of proof that what I tell all my clients is true: Everything matters - everything. The demeanor of the manager and our server is part of the restaurant’s brand to me and always has been. I posted a picture of our dessert on Facebook (it was scrumptious and beautiful), posted on FourSquare with kudos to our server, and now I’m blogging about it because a first-hand experience is the most valuable teaching tool of all (unless it leads to injury or death).

So, are your customers doing any of this for you? If not, maybe a meal at Bella Notte would be a good refresher. Ask for John-Michael, but don’t ask him to sing.

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1. August 2011 by Frank Goad.

I’ve asked this question many times in articles, blog posts and a variety of other places. Let’s be honest here: Do you REALLY know what your customers think of you? I don’t care if you’re a one-person business or one with a thousand employees, if you’re not regularly asking the folks who hand you checks, purchase orders or credit cards what they think of your company, employees, services, products, logos, signs, bathrooms - really, everything - then you’re probably losing money, opportunities and, worst of all, customers.

You might say, “Well, we’re as busy as we can stand to be. Obviously things are going well.” I can’t argue with that logic, but I don’t know a single business owner that wouldn’t like to either have to have more employees to handle an overflow of business, or be able to charge a bit more on the business they have.

I tell my clients, “Everything matters - everything!” They ask, “Even bathrooms?” You betcha! Think back to when you went to a store and wound up having to ask for directions to the “facilities.” You got there, walked in and thought, “If this weren’t really urgent, I’d turn around and walk out.” Whether you know it or not, that registers and, should there be anything else that comes up that you don’t like, your subconscious will add that to the decision process whether you’re aware of it or not. That subconscious score keeping can be why you switch vendors yourself, or don’t feel a particular loyalty to them - the little things have added up and subtracted your interest in them.

Given that keeping a customer generally costs one-fifth of what it costs to get a new one, why would you take the chance. By the same token, why take the chance of missing an opportunity when you get them close? So, what do you do? Talk to them, ask questions, give them coupons and discounts in return for survey completions. Hold focus groups and get an 800-number where they can call anonymously.

Look around at your place of business and listen to your employees as though you were the customer. What are you seeing and hearing? If it doesn’t make you smile, it’s time to get busy. Better yet, get a trusted friend or advisor who will tell you the truth and ask them to be totally candid with you about things.

If this seems like too much work, then maybe your customers might not see doing business with you as worth the effort either.

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26. July 2011 by Frank Goad.

I kept seeing ads for the auction sites like BeeZid, QuiBids and so on, and curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to see what the penny auction sites are really about. And the answer is: Money, that’s what, and lots of it. Forget casinos, these things are like crack and can drain money faster than anything I’ve ever seen, short of a thug with a gun. Here’s how they work.

First you sign up with a credit card or PayPal. Most want $60 - $100 to get started. “But, wait Frank, I thought it was an auction. Don’t you pay when you win?” Aaah, yes, Grasshopper, you do … and you pay to get access to the auction, too. You have to buy bids at generally around $0.60 each. Yes, each bid costs you $0.60, but each one only raises the auction price of the item by one cent (hence the name penny bids even if each bid is sixty-one cents). If you win, you pay that purchase price plus a handling charge. In effect, you’ve already paid with your bids, so they don’t have to get much for the final purchase price because they’re making money every time you click the red “Bid” button on your screen.

Here’s a scenario: At auction is a 55″ LCD TV with a retail price of $1,999. It’s a nice one that anyone would like to have. It “sold” for $75.55 at the auction’s end. Sounds cheap, doesn’t it? Again, each bid is only a penny toward the final purchase price, meaning that there were 7,555 bids. Now, take .6 (the price of each bid) times 7,555 and you get $4,533. That’s right, they made a handsome profit of $2,500, and that’s if you only consider retail because they probably got a volume discount on the TV. They have at least fourty auctions going at any one time, and sometimes as many as 100.

There’s a timer, too, that counts the seconds. The auctions on most sites are twenty, fifteen or ten seconds for each round of bidding. If you click (meaning you bid), then the clock starts over. they often start at twenty seconds and, as the price goes higher, the time gets shorter which raises the intensity. If it’s something you really want, watching that timer go to one second and trying to bid at the very last half-second can raise the stakes without your knowing it.

Think, too, what you had to do to get the item. Let’s say you clicked the bid button fifty times for that deluxe TV. That means if you won, you got it for $75.55 plus the $30 you spent in bids (50 x $0.60 = $30). So, you did get a very cool TV for $105.55 plus $20 for handling (or so). You might just as easily have lost, too, because only one person wins the prize.

It’s insidious, really. You get your sights set on something and you think, “Man, I can get this for $25,” and you start bidding. Soon, someone starts a bidding war and, before you know it, you’ve sunk $20, just in bids. You can get so involved in the bidding, that you wind up “buying” it sixty cents at a time. You can click many times before you realize how quickly it goes.

The thing is, nobody really feels any pain. You don’t have to hand over any cash when you click, so there’s no feeling of parting with money, which is a very painful thing for people. Okay, your losing bids totaled thirty bucks, so you’re disappointed and a little upset, maybe even feel a bit foolish, but it’s no big deal. On one item, though, there might be thirty, fifty or one hundred people and more who bid on that item, too. Like any auction, it can be exciting and you can walk away with some sweet deals. The truth is, though, most people don’t. Just like a casino, someone across the room lets out a big “Whooop!” when they hit the slot machine or the roulette table. That’s one person in a room that might see 500 or 1,000 people in a day, or more, and all are parting with cash looking for the “big score.”

Those are the rare cases because, if you talk to a professional gambler, they’ll tell you that you can’t get emotional or attached to any one idea. Grudge matches on the table never end well, and so it goes with the auction sites. Luckily, my losses were minimal, but it still smarts to get outbid or take your eyes off for one second and see that you just lost after watching it for a long time.

What it really take is LOTS of patience and the ability to watch one auction continuously, sometimes for hours. I watched one auction for three hours and it still wasn’t over. You try to time your entry into the auction when it’s getting near the end and you don’t have to bid as much. Get in too early and you’ll bid and bid and bid and … .

There is a bit of skill to it, but more of it is luck. You’ll see a card for fifty bids end for $1.25. You think, “Hey, that’s good. I’ll try that,” and then watch the price go to $10 in your auction. So, are you feeling lucky? At least now you have some idea of what you’re in for should you try one. Good luck. You’ll need it.

Posted in FrankyGee3, Auctions, Frank Goad, Frank Communications, retail, Gambling, Marketing | Print | No Comments »

13. June 2011 by Frank Goad.

 Time and again, clients ask me, “What should I do?” While many think I’m being a smarta**, my response is, “What do you think you should do?” 

This isn’t a flippant answer but, instead, a serious question. Most people know more about what to do than they think and, like many things, need some training. Moreover, they need to learn how to think about what they communicate to their customers. Part of my job is helping people hone in on what their customers hear from them that keeps them coming back. Businesses often have a very hard time answering that question because they’ve been doing what comes naturally and not analyzing what those things are.

You talk to customers all the time and have a good idea what they want, like, need and, conversely, don’t want, like or need. Time has taught you to largely think like them and tailor your business in order to cater to them. You work hard to “walk in their shoes” and anticipate their next desire. You develop a relationship with them and use what you learned from them with the next new customers. 

On the other hand, learning how to create a motivating advertising or marketing campaign, write ad or brochure copy in a way that speaks directly to them, or even see through their eyes takes time; often a long time. The truth is, some folks never learn, and that doesn’t make them any less of a business person, it simply means that it’s not their strength. As we all know, dealing with someone one-on-one is totally different than trying to persuade people you can’t talk with personally through ads, brochures and so on.

It’s like my mechanic - he doesn’t want to do ads anymore than I want to do his job all the time. He’s an excellent mechanic and has spent decades learning the tricks of the trade. His experience lets him solve mechanical problems in a heartbeat, whereas I’d spend a lot of time researching the problem. On the other hand, he named me “Old Golden Tongue” and calls me when he has to write an important letter or put an ad somewhere. “I understand cars,” he says, “but people are a bit harder for me.” 

My point is, you know your business and I know mine (which is communications, advertising and marketing). As a another good friend of mine says - who, by the way, is an awesome accountant but a really lousy writer - “We’re all smart, just in different ways, and the trick is to find someone who’s smart in ways that make you look better.” Give me a call and let’s see if I can help you.

Frank Goad, Pres.
Frank Communications Lexington
For information, email: fcl.info@frankcomlex.com
www.frankcomlex.com
859-335-8742  

Posted in creativity, Frank Communications, Frank Goad, FrankyGee3, writing, building business, Advertising, Frank, The Long Tail, relationships, Marketing | Print | No Comments »