Moved
After experimenting with Posterous for a few months, and enjoying it a great deal, I've decided to fold all my blogging back into my hochmann.org web site.
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Sep 22
Sep 15
Beyond "Nope"
This post is way off-center for my usual posts, which tend to be political rants, quotes, or photos of my dog. This time I'm going to talk about marketing -- but not in a really academic way, but in a practical way that is a part of my job and should be part of anybody's job when they step out of their office to do business of any sort. If you work for a small business, or for yourself, what I'm going to highlight here is doubly applicable to you.
Today while I was helping a customer, I noticed that she works for a local business which offers a service I happen to need right now -- vision care. It's time for me to look into getting a current eye exam and some new glasses. We were chatting a bit while we worked through the things she came in for, and I said something like the following: "So you work over at the XYZ Vision Clinic -- we usually see your colleague Jane in here, and I've been meaning to ask if you folks have any specials going on right now. I'm due for an eye exam and new glasses."
Her answer? "Nope." That was basically it.
Now I'm not really trying to criticize this lady, but she did miss out on an opportunity. It's always important, but in this tight economy it's doubly so, to raise awareness of your business and what it offers. Especially for a local business that doesn't have the benefit of national brand recognition being burned into everybody's retinas via TV. Whether you work on commission or not (and I don't), getting more business and getting more customers are never bad things!
Some alternatives to her one-word answer of "nope" could be...
- Well, we don't have any specials right now, but if you drop by with my business card, they'll give you a 10% discount.
- Not at the moment, but our prices are very competitive and we offer better service than the big-box names.
- We have a deal coming up next month -- 50% off your eye exam when you buy glasses. Here's my card, just give me a call when you're ready.
- Actually, I have a couple extra coupons here. Go ahead and take some to share with your coworkers, too!
(If you'll notice, 3 of those 4 options include an "action item" -- something, like a coupon, that your potential customer gets which invites them to take action and patronize your business.)
You get the idea. Of course, a big part of this also requires the business leadership to equip its employees with options to offer to people. I'm lucky that my boss has given us basically complete autonomy in what we offer to customers. Essentially, whatever we need to offer to get business in the door, even steep discounts we don't advertise publicly, is possible. As long as we don't lose money on the deal, I can go as far as I need to to make it happen.
I don't think everything should be about marketing, not at all. We might as well live inside our TVs, then. But clearly, if you are out on business (and wearing your logo tee & name tag, no less!) for your company and you encounter somebody actively inquiring about your business, you should be ready and willing to give them some extras to get them in the door.
I don't turn every single conversation into "Well, at my place we can do that for only $2.95." But when I see a legitimate need (and especially a person looking around for options I know we can provide), I'm equipped to give whatever incentives are necessary to get that person's business. Even if we just break even on the initial offer, word of mouth and a positive experience are never wasted efforts.
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Sep 13
This Time Last Year: Guan Yin
This time last year, I was visiting Lian Hua Shan for the second time. Lian Hua Shan is home to a 134 foot tall gold statue of Guan Yin, the Buddha of Compassion. There is also a temple at Lian Hua Shan, with over 1,000 Guan Yin statues inside.
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Sep 12
Sad, Sad, Sad: Charles Darwin is "Too Controversial" for America
File this in the "so freakin' sad" category. From an article at the Telegraph:
A British film about Charles Darwin has failed to find a US distributor because his theory of evolution is too controversial for American audiences, according to its producer.
Are tears of laughter/sadness streaming down your face yet? No? Well, here's some more to get the tears a-flowin':
However, US distributors have resolutely passed on a film which will prove hugely divisive in a country where, according to a Gallup poll conducted in February, only 39 per cent of Americans believe in the theory of evolution. [emphasis mine]
This is freaking ridiculous. The Telegraph continues:
Movieguide.org, an influential site which reviews films from a Christian perspective, described Darwin as the father of eugenics and denounced him as "a racist, a bigot and an 1800s naturalist whose legacy is mass murder". His "half-baked theory" directly influenced Adolf Hitler and led to "atrocities, crimes against humanity, cloning and genetic engineering", the site stated.
So, we blame scientists for the actions of other people, because those other people use the theories of said scientists to justify their horrific acts? Brilliant! So I guess we can forgive Hitler for all the stuff he did, because it's really Darwin's fault, right? I'm glad to see the idea of personal responsibility is alive and well here in America. NOT.
Sad! America is making me cry, people!
(Thanks to my buddy Majid Razvi for pointing out this story.)
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Sep 10
Worry Serves No Useful Purpose « tinybuddha.com
How did it serve me to turn the unknown into a catastrophe before having proof of anything?
If you worry and nothing’s wrong, you’ve wasted precious time. If you worry and something is wrong, you’ve still wasted precious time.
via tinybuddha.com
Reminds me of a great quote, which I'm trying to re-type to the best of my ability:
"Ain't no use worryin' 'bout things beyond your control, 'cause if they're beyond your control, ain't no use worryin'. And ain't no use worryin' 'bout things under your control, 'cause if they're under your control, ain't no use worryin'."
~Ed Moses
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Sep 10
South Africa: Pigeon w/ Memory Stick Faster Than ADSL
Broadband promised to unite the world with super-fast data delivery - but in South Africa it seems the web is still no faster than a humble pigeon.
A Durban IT company pitted an 11-month-old bird armed with a 4GB memory stick against the ADSL service from the country's biggest web firm, Telkom.
Winston the pigeon took two hours to carry the data 60 miles - in the same time the ADSL had sent 4% of the data.
via news.bbc.co.uk
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Sep 8
Separation of Church and Czar State
This is a pretty scary list. Most of this stuff is really NO business of the federal government:
According to Politico there are, not counting Jones or Bloom, 30 other Obama administration officials with czar-like duties and powers, including: Afghanistan Czar Richard Holbrooke, AIDS Czar Jeffrey Crowley, Auto recovery Czar Ed Montgomery, Border Czar Alan Bersin, California Water Czar David Hayes, Central Region Czar Dennis Ross, Domestic Violence Czar Lynn Rosenthal, Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, Economic Czar Paul Volcker, Energy and Environment Czar Carol Brower, Faith-Based Czar Joshua DuBois, Great Lakes Czar Cameron Davis, Guantanamo Closure Czar Daniel Fried, Health Czar Nancy-Ann DeParle, Information Czar Vivek Kundra, International Climate Czar Todd Stern, Intelligence Czar Dennis Blair, Mideast Peace Czar George Mitchell, Pay Czar Kenneth Feinberg, Regulatory Czar Cass Sunstein, Science Czar John Holdren, Stimulus Accountability Czar Earl Devaney, Sudan Czar J. Scott Gration, TARP Czar Herb Allison, Terrorism Czar John Brennan, Technology Czar Aneesh Chopra, Urban Affairs Czar Adolfo Carrion Jr., Weapons Czar Ashton Carter, and WMD Policy Czar Gary Samore.
The proliferation of czars is a direct consequence of both the ever expanding power of the federal government and Congress’ willingness to cede ever more legislative and judicial functions to the Executive branch. Our Founding Fathers specifically created a Constitution dividing the legislative, executive, and judicial functions of government into three branches so that the separation of these powers would limit the size and scope of the federal government.
Auto recovery? "Pay"? California water? Why is the federal government nannying the state of California at such a high level? Why doesn't my state, a friggin' desert, have a "water" czar? And what the hell is a "Faith-Based" Czar?
Wait, I just Wikipedia'd it:
White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) was established by President George W. Bush through executive order[2] on January 29, 2001, representing one of the key domestic policies of Bush's campaign promise of "compassionate conservatism." The initiative sought to strengthen faith-based and community organizations and expand their capacity to provide federally-funded social services.
Ding ding! We have a winner: using faith and community organizations to expand dependence on the federal government and its funny money. How's that for separation of church and state?
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Sep 7
The Real Cost of Printing Money
Ron Paul on the Federal Reserve and what its manipulation of the dollar has done to our money:
An item that cost $100 in 1913 (when the Federal Reserve Act was passed) would cost $2014.81 in 2006. An item that cost $100 in 2006 would have cost $4.96 in 1913. As we can see, the dollar has lost nearly all its value since the Fed was established. Now if the gold standard had brought about such an outcome, we would never hear the end of all the howls of outrage. But the Fed does it and... utter silence...
And in fact the gold standard did no such thing. People's money increased in value under the gold standard. They were not looted by inflation. An item that cost $100 in 1820 would have cost only $63.02 in 1913.
(from The Revolution, pp.150-151; emphasis mine)
This is what happens when the Fed "lowers the interest rate" (something that people clamor and beg for, thinking it's a good thing). If you want to know why it's NOT a good thing, please go read Ron Paul's The Revolution.
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Sep 7
BBC: Sudanese woman jailed for wearing trousers (via @adri_o)
A Sudanese woman has been jailed for a month after refusing to pay a fine for "dressing indecently" by wearing trousers, her lawyers say.
via news.bbc.co.uk
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