Thursday, March 25, 2010

The Three Best Ways to Find New Business

I had the benefit of hearing Tom Pryor, author, growth coach and Executive Director of the Small Business Development Center’s Enterprise Excellence, at a recent event (more later on how you too can get invited to hear great business minds share their knowledge). According to Pryor, many of us are asking ourselves the wrong questions these days – specifically when it comes to the economy. Instead of contemplating, “when will this crisis end,” we should consider the following: How will it change the way we think, do business and our priorities?

Once we’ve divined satisfactory answers, Pryor encourages us to mine for new small facts that can make a big difference and provide competitive edge. He shared The Idea Mining Journal, a tool created the Eureka Institute. The journal suggests we mine for ideas in three areas:
  • uniqueness
  • your customers
  • technology
Pryor suggests we choose one task out of the business building trifecta and work on it for 30 minutes each day for an entire week. For example, you might look for ways to green your business and standout from your competitors. You could also poll your customers and ask them what they value about your business, and what could be improved. Finally, see how you can leverage technology to improve your business, making you more competitive. 

Once you’ve gathered your data, Pryor suggests moving forward at a rapid pace. “People tend to make the wrong decision when they over think,” he stated.
"If you’re going to fail – fail fast, make it cheap and get smart."
Pryor spoke at the Business Bites luncheon, a free event sponsored by The Alternative Board. They are held monthly in downtown Fort Worth and lunch is provided.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

5 Ways to Save Money on a Viral Video Project

Most public relations practitioners think of corporate video has high-dollar productions. However, the rules in today’s world of social media are such that creating a video for your organization doesn't have to be expensive, and it can be just as valuable as a big budget corporate blockbuster. Click here and check out this rapping flight attendant from Southwest Airlines. Southwest put it on their blog and not long after they were fielding phone calls from CNN and The Jay Leno Show! You can't buy that kind of press.

My opportunity to create a viral video came while working at JPS. We wanted to launch a new customer service initiative and roll it out to all 4,500 employees who were geographically separated. We decided creating a series of videos that used humor and was attention grabbing would be far more effective than sending out an e-mail telling everyone to be nice and smile more often. Check out how we created elevator heroes and reminded everyone to provide better communication to patients by clicking here. You too can create heroes or promote your company’s fun atmosphere without breaking the bank by using the following guidelines:

  • Write it yourself
  • Use your own people as talent
  • Keep it short 1:30 – 2 min
  • Shoot multiple videos at one time
  • Use limited:
    •  audio
    • graphics
    • lighting
Use these tactics and you should be able to produce a series of viral videos for $6,000-$10,000.