Bad Energy

I am taking a side trip around social media today to talk about competition.  Competition is healthy, and sucks at the same time.  Your business needs to have competition to be viable.  Competition helps you see that you need to change and grow, laurels cannot be sat on.  Being the only game in town can be harmful.  Your business gets traffic because you are "it" - competition makes you grow and change - which you should be doing anyway but can forget because you get so caught up in the day to day - but now it's a necessity because of competition.

My business has been open for 2 years.  In the beginning, I thought I could do it all. I could manage the room, cook, serve and clean it up so we could start a new day tomorrow.  It took 2 weeks and not being able to walk on a bad knee to know I couldn't do that. I hired people, I changed the plan.  Then the wine bar down the street decided to have music every night, and people decided to say we hated each other.  Rumors spread.  My phone rang weekly saying we were going out of business.  I changed my music days so our musicians didn't have to compete in the same genres on the same dates.  I went a couple times to their place on my day off with friends.  The negativity died down. I changed the plan.

Just recently more wine bars have sprouted up.  To be honest, I got a little worried about the dilution of my traffic.  And it did happen. So, I concentrated on what we had, that the other bars didn't have and I focused my efforts, hiring and marketing on it.  It worked because I changed the plan. We got less people in, but the people we got in, spent more money. 

There are a lot of tactics you can take.  I have had competitors say we were going out of business, lie to people about sides and even start the thought of a "Wine Bar War".  I am a pitbull.  My first response to all of this is negative - I want justice and I want it now.  Then I hear my dad in my head (he is there all the time) telling me "Life isn't fair, Kari".  And it isn't.  So I focus on how to make my business better- I change the plan.   If I have vendors not sell to me because they have been told not to by my competitors, I buy other wine.  If people talk trash about my competitors, I don't feed into it - it's a non-issue.

Competition is a GOOD thing.  Buy a fantastic house in a bad neighborhood with no houses comparable and your house will be hard to sell.  You want your business worth something.  If there have never been a business like yours open before, and no one else builds one like it, then getting a loan, selling the business, and even getting customers is hard.  We have had customers actually come into our business from a competitor recommendation - that's the way to go!

A friend of mine knew someone who wanted to open up a wine bar about 30-40 miles away from me.  The woman came in, had a glass of wine and asked me a ton of "How" and "Why" questions on how to open a wine bar.  She then opened her bar a few months later.  You know what - we are friends now.  We talk about our worries, our goals and we even talk about collaborating.  I think that is what this is all about.  Good Energy.  She runs her business differently than I do.  I run mine in ways she would never want to run hers.  It's a synergistic relationship that brings us to a place where as small business owners, we get to chat and meet like when we were in offices.  It's a good thing. We learn how to change the plan from each other.

As two owners of similar businesses, we had some ideas how to make the things that we both shared easy to do and even automated (we both have a geeky software background) and thought we could share that with others. Why?  So we could concentrate on what makes us different.  So we could talk to others and learn from their successes and mistakes. It's lonely owning a business.  It's nice to know you aren't alone in your experiences.

My thoughts about the people that don't want to run their businesses positively?  It's hard to maintain, no one wants to be around a negative person all the time, and it will work itself out.  You have a business to run, you need to learn from your competitors and decide what you need to change, communicate and do with your business because of the competition, and whatever you do, even if nothing - has to be with the goal of growing your business. Looking for the positive is not my strong suit - but I try daily to do it.

Good energy - send it to the negative people around you - work positively on your business no matter what is said or done to you - use the tools and materials you have been given - it will all work out fine if you learn how to change the plan.

I am naked

Titles work. They suck your customers and viewers in. It's marketing peeps. Gotta get people's attention in your posts.  I am thinking about Facebook for this post, but would love your input on other medium for your tips on how to see what has been successful for you (twitter, linked in, myspace, blogs and others - how do you do it?).

My thoughts on how to get people's attention...

• Say something out of the ordinary 
• Constantly posting events the same way is boring - there are different ways to show things off - updates, pictures, friends posting.
• Don't just post to post - if you post infrequently but it matters, then people will take attention at your posts.
• Be timely - posting something that happened 2 weeks ago or 5 weeks in the future doesn't work.
• Show a picture
• Pictures draw people in - they say that it says 1000 words, but those words are different to every viewer.  It's an amazing way to say EXACTLY what the viewer wanted you to say by them making it up themselves.
• Use a poll
• Tricky one here - I think polls stink.  But if you can get a controversial (yet benign - this is business right?) topic and some wild answers - try it!  Prizes help too...
• Make sure what you used to get attention is true 
•  False advertising is false advertising - people will not follow your cry for wolf more than a couple times.
• I am naked - under my pajamas (I blog in bed a lot)
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Making a club...

My last post was about being cool.  What is cooler than being in a club?  Clubs are organized cliques! Cliques by definition are cool!  So why a club? Why make a group for people to be members in? How do you do it so that your goals for your business and the club are maintained? Because clubs get things DONE!

I joined a board and a business association when I first opened my business. I really could not participate until I had my feet on the ground and had staff that could run the place so I could attend meetings and get time to help out with things - I am glad I stuck with it, because it's been a great thing for my company and to help build relationships with the bizs around me. I then was asked to be on a chamber board.  It was outside my physical business area, but the members of the board I knew were supportive, and it felt like a good fit - but then there was drama - and a LOT of it, so I left it before the ink was dry. Then, I was asked to join the Rotary.  I was sponsored, nominated and approved by the board.  It's a group that I enjoy because it has structure, goals and camaraderie. I am sure there will be others, but these are 3 great examples to start with.


Why create a club?

• Common interests attract people to each other
• Relationships within the club keep people
• Positive clubs with good membership invite the same to it

How to create a club?

• Start small 2-4 core people -you need workers and people with time and skills to help build the club
• Set goals and objectives - keep them small 1 core goal, 2-4 objectives that meet that goal
• Be selective who joins in the beginning - you are setting a tone and exclusivity will make the ones that want to join later, more willing to follow your structure and help out

How to grow and keep the club going?
Monitor your club... Your club has a goal, and objectives. You and your core group are now responsible for keeping it in line.  How to do that in your social media tools is important.

• Facebook - watch for spam, hide it, block if necessary.  Talk offline to people about the goals of the group.  Do not chastise! No one, no one wants to be told they are wrong - so don't.  Explain your rules, and then moderate. If you need to - change to a group, and make it invite only.
• Twitter - search for mentions, use tools that alert you. Search for your business or club name - stay on top of what people say - thank a lot and retweet as much as you can for things that fit your goals and objectives.
• Blog posts - check for responses.  Delete spam, and respond to all posts.  Yes, all.  Your blog needs to be active.

If I could say one thing about the club you are making it would be this - STAY POSITIVE.  Your club has to have a positive energy and goal to have growth, keep that always in mind.  If you have a Negative Nellie or a Drama Debbie, get them out.  The ripped band-aid hurts, but the club will be better for it in the end.

I have a secret...

Why do certain pages gain followers and others don't?

'Cuz the cool ones make me feel cool for being there.

Not always easy for all professions, businesses or even people.  Here are some quick tips on making your followers feel cool...

• Know them.  
• Even if you might not know them on the street, know what they love, who they love, what they want.  It's amazing when you can't remember a name, if you can remember their drink, the first time you met, what they were looking for that you found... It works.
• Let them know you.
• Weird but true, everyone wants to know the owner.  You have to put yourself out there.
• Don't belittle your competition.  
• Hard, especially when they belittle you, but higher ground prevails. After all, if your customer had a good experience there, or enjoyed themselves - you are telling them they are not cool by going there.  #fail on the goal.
• Thank them.
• In public, and in private.  They need to know you know how important they are to you. Thank with a note, a free sample, a hug, a flattering introduction... it all is appreciated.
• Be sincere.
• None of this crap works if it's an act.  You may be a great sales person, but if you are building relationships, you need to put yourself out there.  For reals.

I go places that have great products and there needs to be more.  The chef coming out to thank me, the waiter remembering I can't have nuts, that all makes me feel wanted, or cool.  You really do want your customers... making them feel it is the goal.

Dangers of being positive...

"The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Twitter is in low-level acquisition talks with Facebook and Google for a deal that would put the network at a $8 to $10 billion valuation. Stone tells Fresh Air’s Terry Gross, “We’re not valued at $10 billion dollars. That’s just what people are writing in the newspapers, which unfortunately has the negative impact of my friends thinking I must have $10 billion dollars.” "(footnote)

Yeah... marketing.  If I am happy all the time, and my business is always communicating positively - does it always have a positive effect?

Nope.

I own a small business in a great little town with amazing customers, a fantastic city that supports me, great landlords, awesome associates... it's not always rosy, but for cripes sake people, I don't talk about it in my social media (and if I do, I delete immediately -  #fail). Downside to only being positive online, looking like I live a life of leisure eating cheese and drinking wine next to winemakers, movie stars, and other peeps people aspire to be near for some reason - is that people think I am rich and that my business is ALWAYS booming. I have heard this from other small business owners - people say to them all the time - "You are so lucky - you have such flexibility!" or "It must be nice to not have to report to anyone" or "You get paid for your effort - that must be so cool".

HAHAHAHAHAHA - here is what I have learned in the 2 years I have owned a business:

• If flexibility means working 24 hours a day -  then yes, I have that.
• I report to my customers - and my customers drink :-)
• Customers are your lifeblood - try as hard as you can to make them happy - and if you can't - know you did your best.
• Good staff is even more important.  We all get tired, always let them know when they are doing something well.
• Unless you invented Starbucks, you are not getting rich or paid for every hour you work - so figure out how to save your pennies to have some time to yourself.  I saved 10-20 bucks a night in tips for 100 days to pay for my vacation - it can be done.  (BTW - this makes you look rich too)
• Ride it - perceived success can beget real success.  Perceived success usually has a strong foundation in truth unless you have an amazing Ad team that can spread it thick and well... if you are a small biz, it's probably truth.

So should you cut it out, and let it all out - so people know that you scrub toilets, pay taxes, have staffing issues or that your car won't start?  No. Stay positive.  It's hard for this black clothing toting, east coast reared girl to say it - but channel that bad energy into something good.  The more successful you are, there will be a percentage of people who want to see you fail and they are loud and nasty.  There is also a HUGE group of people who want to see you succeed, and an amazing core group who always knew you would and could and were always there!


Biz Stone from Twitter has this problem, his friends think he owns a 10bill dollar business.  Even at 3.7bill, none of that is in his pocket.  But, the news reporting 10bill all over the place lends credibility, stability and doesn't hurt his business at all.  Look at what is going on for your biz from that perspective. Marketing is marketing, even if it looks like news.

Watch your f'n "mouth"

This is not a blog on swearing online today.  Come on - I grew up in NJ.  I use the "F" word as an adjective when tired or angry.  This is about opening your big fat trap when writing online.

Your biz uses social media online.  You tweet, you FaceBook, you tell everyone where you are on Foursquare, you even yelp!

Then you have a bad experience. Instantaneously, you can post the person's name, ask for their head, and demand that the business goes under...  You don't (or shouldn't) though.  Why?  Because every account is linked to you or your business for GOD'S SAKE! And negative energy from you will come back to your business! But that twerp who thought there should be more fries on their plate, or that you should have given them something for free while paying customers couldn't find a seat, waits two weeks and posts anonymously that you are horrid, and your staff is crap - and you have no retort. What do you do?

NOTHING. (Well sort of)

• Do not reply to the person - no matter how much you want to.  They are insane, pissed, uneducated, vindictive or - ALL OF THESE.  You can not talk this person down and you will only stir the crazy pot - don't do it!
• Ask a couple customers that you respect to review - don't ask a ton - most places think of this as spam, you just want a couple, and if they can talk to the issues, the better.  Sometimes this happens naturally, but it takes time.  Asking a couple people, means that you can see updates at the top faster.
• Own the bad review - mention it on a different medium as an attack.  Show your vulnerability - it's the only thing you have - you are human, your business is all you have in some cases - this person struck your child.
• Ask everyone you know to flag the review (we are talking off the wall reviews here, don't do this for all negative reviews - some are actually good for ya).  The more accounts flag - the more chances that the thing will get pulled.
• For yelp! - pay for an ad through their staff, and tell  them you won't sign up until the crazy review is removed.  I have a feeling this might work.  I haven't tried.
• Sit down with your staff and go over the review. Learn from it.

Bad reviews get easier over time - mostly if they are few and far between.  They are a good touch with reality.  You can't please everyone all of the time, but it's our job to try.

Check out my bad review on yelp! :) -> http://www.yelp.com/biz/gather-wine-bar-arroyo-grande

Who is a friend?

Have you read The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell? He talks of people called "Connectors"  from Wikipedia's extraction from his book "Connectors" are:


Connectors are the people who "link us up with the world ... people with a special gift for bringing the world together."^[6] They are "a handful of people with a truly extraordinary knack [... for] making friends and acquaintances". ^[7] He characterizes these individuals as having social networks of over one hundred people.

Facebook and other social networking tools do this like crazy.  I have over 1500 "friends".  But, we know these are really not ALL my friends by the true definition of the word:


"A person you know well and regard with affection and trust"

Most of these 1500+ are acquaintances - some I have met, some who know people I know.  We may be interested in the same things.  We may just want to be watching what each other are doing (competitors). Some of these relationships roll off into real friendships - after all, we do have things in common, we do things in the same circles and know the same people.

"Friend" is used too loosely


I am finding though that even in real life now, we use the term "friend" too loosely. Someone we met and spent 3 days with is now one of our "best friends".  Someone we had dinner with is now named a friend in general conversation, someone we don't get along with anymore is called a friend just because it's easier than saying anything else.

I was asked last night if I was requiring someone who I barely know to make a decision between me and someone else because I didn't care for them.  I thought - "heck no, I just don't want to hang with either one of you" mostly because I learned something about this acquaintance that made them not fall into the "friend" category.  There was no drama for me, it was simple - they were not anything more than someone I was getting to know - and now I knew enough.

What is with social networking that we need to know everything about everyone - from when they are getting a cup of coffee to when they are having cramps to when they go to bed and why does this knowledge about each other make us feel that we are friends? This media has made us more and more A.D.D.  It has made us more and more in need of instant gratification. Someone who texts you at 2am just has no boundaries, they are not necessarily close and someone you can trust.

I think we just know more about each other.  Which is cool in a way - we are accountable again in an arena where we could be anonymous, and let our morals and guard down.  Maybe now, we need to mind our p's an q's and be a little more private in a very public setting.

Further Wikipedia says that Gladwell uses the following examples to describe a "Connector":

"The midnight ride of Paul Revere, Milgram's experiments in the small world problem, the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" trivia game, Dallas businessman Roger Horchow, and Chicagoan Lois Weisberg, a person who understands the concept of the weak tie. Gladwell attributes the social success of Connectors to "their ability to span many different worlds [... as] a function of something intrinsic to their personality, some combination of curiosity, self-confidence, sociability, and energy."

This is not someone that just accumulates friends. This is someone that brings people together. Someone that people want to know and want to be known to know...   I think we are all becoming Connectors without the skill sets behind it - it's definitely a skill... what do you think? What skills are needed? Do you know connectors or people wielding the sword improperly?

I really wish that we could find a different word to use than "friend" in these social networking tools - it's misused or overused and is making it hard to communicate :-)

I have great  clients, customers, vendors, and acquaintance as well as fun strangers following my every move... but only a few friends - and I adore them!