Costco Connection - December 2011

; FRESHviews

PAUL AND SARAH EDWARDS: LIFESTYLES FOR THE MILLENNIUM

WE ARE ALWAYS encouraged to dream big— to go for our dreams. These are important messages for a successful venture, but sometimes we get carried away and don’t give our dreams time to firmly take root.

Recently, a colleague dreamed of launching an annual alternative-energy conference for the towns in his region. He had a great

Paul and Sarah Edwards ( www.elmstreeteconomy.com ) are the authors of 17 print books and a new BarChart entitled How to Start a Home-Based Business.

MARY ANN HALPIN PHOTOGRAPHY

When thinking big needs to start small

concept and access to both the funds and the personnel to carry it out. He went all out.

He planned a three-day event with speakers, workshops, an exhibit hall, food and entertainment. Vendors signed up. Community organizations lent their names. Facilities for a large crowd were committed. Ads and articles appeared in the local papers. Success seemed imminent.

But throughout the process several of his advisers had been skeptical. They weren’t sure if there was sufficient interest or awareness in the region of the need for energy alternatives. They urged him to start smaller. Try an afternoon event, they urged, to test the drawing power of his idea and to give the region a taste of what a bigger kind of conference like this could bring to the region.

Our colleague remained undeterred. He

More in archives
On Costco.com, enter
“Connection.”At Online Edition,
search “Paul and Sarah Edwards.”

saw these naysayers as negative thinkers— small-minded folks who couldn’t grasp the potential of what was possible.

The weekend of the event arrived and everything was spectacular—except the attendance. Those who came found it valuable, but the turnout was small. Vendors were disappointed. His workers were demoralized. The affiliating organizations were embarrassed.

Had he started small, none of this would have had to happen. Compacted into one afternoon, the small crowd would have seemed large and the event could easily have led to a daylong one the next year with plenty of time for word of mouth and the promise of more to come to build on. Funds from a successful small event could have been used to finance a larger one, and if it was a success too then an even larger one could have been planned the year after that. But failing so big damaged his efforts to do this again.

So let’s dream big. Let’s go for our dreams. But let’s allow them time to grow into the full-blown success we envision. C

Mobile marketing for small businesses

AS TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES, mobile phones are taking on a greater role in consumers’ lives. Because smartphones can now tell users where they are and what businesses are nearby, opportunities for small-business owners to take advantage of mobile marketing are growing tremendously, according to Costco member Shelly Allen ( www.ShellyAllenOnline. com), a small-business consultant. “In a recent survey by Ji Wire, more than half of mobile users want to receive location-specific advertising, and nearly 40 percent want location-based coupons,” says Allen.

Allen explains that this trend is creating a stir with many small-business owners, who wonder how they can tap into this new opportunity. However, just as many lack the time, budget, or tech savvy to develop and implement a mobile marketing strategy.

Fortunately, she says, there are a number of mobile marketing tools available that can help you attract customers on the go. Foursquare, Facebook Places and Yelp are three of the most popular, particularly for brick-and-mortar businesses that cater to local customers. These sites encourage users to “check in” with details being published on the business’s Facebook page, and offer a variety of promotional tools and features that leverage word-of-mouth marketing.

STEVEN LAIT

“Beyond using social media sites that are geared to mobile users, developing a mobile-enabled website is a must for any business, both those with storefronts and those without,” says Allen. “When you consider that there are now more mobile devices (smartphones, iPads and tablets) than PCs being sold, the need for your site to be optimized for these devices is no longer just helpful—it’s essential!”

What are the components of a website optimized for mobile devices?

● Faster page-load times
● Simplified navigation
● Improved readability
● Click-to-call button
● Map and directions
In most cases, Allen
points out, mobile users
don’t want to peruse an
entire website on their
phone. Rather, they want
basic information, direc-
tions to your location,
and the ability to call
with questions. Thus,
a landing page with
this information is
typically all that’s
required to launch a success-
ful mobile marketing presence.

“For a small investment in a mobile-enabled landing page,” says Allen, “ small-business owners can achieve a significant return on investment from mobile users who convert into paying customers.” C

IMAGEZOO

DECEMBER 2011 ;e Costco Connection 9

WITH SO MANY people unemployed, a new breed of entrepreneur has emerged—the “accidental entrepreneur.” This is someone who stopped trying to find a job and decided to start his or her own business. According to the Kauffman Foundation (www.kauffman. org), 565,000 new businesses were created in 2010. Unfortunately, many new entrepreneurs do not have the training and experience necessary for success.

Research shows that people learn new concepts better in an educational forum that is combined with social interaction.

Tapping into this, American Express ( www.openforum.com) and New York startup Veri ( www.veri.com), a social learning platform, are providing Crash Courses ( www.openforum.com/crash-courses).

Crash Courses’ goal is to educate entrepreneurs on how to implement important business functions within their organizations—everything from “The Art of Hiring” to “Website Conversion.” Courses give them the option to learn more on these topics while they collect IQ points to see where they stack up against others.