SoKy Local Business or "SoKybiz"

Once a month the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce organizes a breakfast for chamber members partners and is sponsored by a partner as well. This month's breakfast was the first one I have attended and I have to admit, it was much more than I expected. It was sponsored by "BKD" and I had to ask the representative at the door, "Who is BKD?" The answer was, "An accounting firm." As it turned out, it was also co-sponsored by the United Way of Southern Kentucky.

As I walked into the Sloan Convention Center , the walls of the entry were lined with booths of the United Way funded agencies and programs. From the Salvation Army to Kid's on the block, there were dozens of programs represented. I put my business card in the bowl for the door prize and a staff member made a nametag for me out of another business card and I entered the ballroom.

The typical layout of a stage at the head of the room with tables to each side of the podium, large tables with white tablecloths, and two lines of people with plates on each side of the room. The food? Nothing spectacular, some fruit, donuts, eggs, bacon and juice. I didn't complain as I joined the already long line selecting the eggs and bacon for breakfast.

Finding a seat was an entirely different issue. I'm really not good at estimating participation but there 15 - 20 tables with 10 people at each one and even as the program started (at exactly 7:30 am as printed in the schedule), the staff of the convention center were setting up more tables in the back to accommodate the unexpected number of people who stood patiently with their food in their hands.

The program started with announcements from the chair and some introductions. Of course the sponsor was allowed to speak and this is where I truly learned that BKD, llp. is a fairly large accounting firm in several states. The gentleman who spoke explained the firms commitment to the community and the United Way. As he asked each staff member in attendance to stand, he explained that their firm was a 100% participant in the United Way fund raising. It was then the representative of BKD yielded to the local United Way President and CEO. I was left with the impression that BKD sponsored the breakfast and gave the United Way time and space to promote their cause. I'm not sure if this is the case but it appeared so.

The speaker on the schedule was W. James Host, Secretary/Kentucky Commerce Cabinet. His introduction by State Representative Jim DeCesare (R District 21 Warren County) took up a good bit of time because of Host's numerous accomplishments. In short, he is a Kentucky native and media man who has accomplished a great deal in his life and has a burning passion for Kentucky. This passion came through in his speech which I must admit was one of the better ones I've heard from an appointed cabinet member.

Once Secretary Host was introduced, he thanked Representative "Jim - I cannot pronounce your last name" and acknowledged the presence of Speaker of the KY State House Representative Jody Richards (D - District - 20 - Warren county). Host spoke with great enthusiasm about the greatness of Kentucky and our positioning to become a great(er) state. He was most proud of the recent branding effort and talked at length about this effort and the benefits that already being realized as a result. In short, they hired a consulting firm who surveyed several hundred people both inside and outside the state of Kentucky. (1700 if I remember correctly.) He conveyed that when people in other states were asked, "What is your impression of Kentucky." The overwhelming response was, "None." He explained that most people outside of our state had no impression of us at all. When people from Kentucky were asked the same question, the typical response was, "I'm embarrassed."

Secretary Host further explained that the good citizens of Kentucky listened to Jay Leno and Dave Letterman's jokes about Kentuckians being a bunch of toothless hillbilly's who don't wear shoes. The secretary expressed his pride in the new branding and how it is intended to inform both groups on the greatness of Kentucky. He then showed a 30 second commercial that was shown during the Kentucky Derby on national TV. Admittedly, I learned more about the "greatness of Kentucky" in those thirty seconds than I have in the ten years I have lived here. Once I was finished feeling ashamed of myself, I was proud to be a Kentuckian.

When Representative Jim DeCesare (dee-sez-er-ey) introduced this fellow radio man W. James Host, he promised that he was not the typical commerce secretary and his years in media and marketing would come through as well as his passion for the state of Kentucky. I have to admit he was absolutely correct. I was pleased to have been at the chamber breakfast just to listen to a very proud and passionate man speak of the state he loves and now serves.

I have written before about the great advantages of being a Chamber Partner in Bowling Green, and once again I would have to recommend the Bowling Green Chamber of commerce to any and all small business people in our community. There are tangible and intangible benefits, and besides the eggs and bacon which were tangible, I received an intangible benefit this morning and can say that I'm truly proud to be a Kentuckian.

• Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce www.bgchamber.com
• United Way of Southern Kentucky http://www.uwsk.org/
• Sloan Convention Center http://www.bgky.org/cia/conventioncenter.htm
• Salvation Army http://www.salvationarmysouth.org/kt/bowlinggreen/
• Kid's on the block, http://www.kykob.org/
• BKD, llp http://www.bkd.com/
• W. James Host, Secretary/Kentucky Commerce Cabinet http://commerce.ky.gov/officesecretary/aboutsecretary.htm
• Representative Jim DeCesare http://lrc.ky.gov/hsedistricts/h021/h021.htm
• Speaker of the KY State House Representative Jody Richards http://lrc.ky.gov/hsedistricts/H020/H020.htm
• recent branding effort http://www.kentuckyunbridledspirit.com/

This was posted by SoKy : 12:08 PM  0 comments links to this post

As I continue to develop the marketing strategy for both the travel agency and SoKy.net, I'm continually reminded of some basic marketing elements. A blog that I read is called "Better local Marketing." I found it at the Small Business Trends website has grown from a BlogSpot blogger to a syndicated blogger, I'm not really sure what that means but it seems really cool.

The basics that I continue to return to were touched on in this blog. I agree and hope to expand on these.

Here are some of these recurring themes:

o You need to prospect every day.
o Talk to the right people.
o Help other people get what they want.
o Be polite but be persistent.
o Listen and learn.
o Business is all about people and relationships.
o Keep in touch. Find fun ways to follow-up.
o Have a good reason to talk to people.
o Stay focused.

This was posted by SoKy : 4:10 PM  0 comments links to this post

What an exciting business community we have in Bowling Green KY. There were 30 new members of the chamber in the past 2 months and 163 renewing members. I'm so excited to be part of this community. It's no wonder we (We because I'm a member too) won a big award.

Bowling Green Area Chamber Ranks in the Top Across the Nation

Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce recently qualified for the American Chamber of Commerce Executive's annual 2004-05 Award for Excellence (AFE). The AFE is the highest achievement in the chamber membership development profession. Retention is one of the three key benchmarks among chambers. The Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce ranked in the top ten chambers with the highest retention rates among chambers in the same dues category.

Log on to the Partners only section of www.bgchamber.com to learn more.

(Source BG Chamber August Newsletter)

http://www.bgchamber.com

The list that was originally posted with this article has been removed and place on the SOKY.BIZ server to save space on this page. Please find it here >>>

This was posted by SoKy : 2:39 PM  0 comments links to this post

I freely offer my opinions and tips... I thought it might be time to offer someone elses.

Startup Basics Columnist Paige Arnof-Fenn

entrepreneur.com Home > Topics A-Z > BizStartUps > Startup Basics

The Partner Track

Should You Partner Up When It Comes to Business? 7 questions to ask yourself when considering a partnership

Why You Should Mind Your Manners These eight tips prove that courtesy does count for small businesses.

Business Advice from a Southern Entrepreneur These down-home expressions have plenty of advice to offer new business owners. See what you can learn from these nine sayings.

What to Do--and Not Do--as a Startup

Is It the Right Time to Launch Your Business? This successful entrepreneur points out five signs that will help you determine if it's now or never for your big business idea.

Selecting an Advisory Board 6 tips for finding the best advisors for your business

Should You Turn Your Hobby Into a Business? 5 questions to answer before you make the leap from hobbyist to full-time entrepreneur

This was posted by SoKy : 6:00 AM  0 comments links to this post

This is from the daily news. Since they have changed their website it is impossible to send a day old link so I cut and paste it here. (They could not have screwed up the online version anymore than they have. Sure it looks nice but it's impossible to share news via links. [end of rant]) http://www.bgdailynews.com/

Businesses eyeing Campbell Lane land

By RACHEL ADAMS, The Daily News, radams@bg daily news. com/783-3256 Friday, August 12, 2005 10:06 PM CDT

Three businesses are eyeing parcels of land along Campbell Lane that are owned by the Western Kentucky University Foundation, board members learned during their Friday meeting.

A furniture store and two banks are interested in the land, which is in the same plaza as Big Lots, Jent's and the Dollar Store, said Kenny Nealy, owner of Investors Realty & Management Co. Inc. The available parcels abut Campbell Lane.

Nealy didn't name any of the businesses, but did say the furniture store would likely buy both parcels, while the banks would ground lease one parcel each. Ground leasing is preferable, because it provides a constant flow of money, he said.

The problem with those locations is that they are both below street level, Nealy said. Anyone driving by would only be able to see the top of a one-story building, which doesn't provide businesses with the visibility they desire.

While the land hasn't sold yet, that area is becoming more desirable, Nealy added. More businesses continue to spring up, which increases traffic. The proposed widening of Nashville Road next year should help even more, he said.

This is interesting to me because I never really felt that was a great area. Talking with a friend of mine who owns a business in that area I learned that even the lease rates were pretty low when compared to other high traffic areas.

Composite image from maps.google.com

In my short time in Bowling Green I have seen that area loose stores and become run down and more recently add whole malls and business returning. With the road widening, perhaps it is a good place to consider.

This was posted by SoKy : 8:58 AM  0 comments links to this post

That emerging marketing strategy is creating a new career: corporate bloggers.

At times, individuals who run online journals known as blogs - or Web logs - have been a thorn in the side of big companies, generating bad buzz about products and airing unhappy customers' complaints to a wider audience.

But some companies are taking a different approach, hiring corporate bloggers to get their messages out to the blogosphere.

This really confirms my opinion that blogs will continue to evolve and become a more powerful tool for marketing than it is now. Even Google news (beta) added an RSS feed to their bag of tricks.

Simply put, blogs are becoming a useful marketing/communications channel. A channel that currently fits into a very focused niche and demographic but as I have written before, this channel will grow exponentially over the coming months and years. It's an effective and efficient way to publish and interact with your target audience (customer). Properly done, it can be a method for your existing and potential customers to learn about your small business products or services, ask question or simply get comfortable with you through your effective online communications.

From a corporate standpoint, Mary wrote that large companies like GM are encouraging their employees to blog and other companies are hiring experienced bloggers to write and publish positive articles, current information and responses to inquiries. It's a great idea if the resources are available to do so.

Unashamed commercial interruption

Currently, SOKY.NET is developing a blog application that will allow a business owner or organization to mass publish their blogs, (to send a posting to several free blogs all over the Internet) and also post on their own own website. There is one feature that I am particularly proud of and that's the post dated blog entry which allows the site owner to enter several posts at once and schedule their publication over a specified time.

From a small business standpoint, blogs can be useful tools and could very well be an avenue worth investigating. It doesn't take long to learn and properly set up, can be as easy as sending an email to yourself. Frankly, if I had a real staff (instead of partners or family) I too would encourage (require?) them to blog weekly for my small business. It's simply a way to keep my message on top of the competition and we all know that is the goal.

Prediction: Public relations and marketing firms will start offering this to their clients. From instruction and guidance to in house writers and technicians. I really do see it going that far. For independent/freelance writers, this may very well be an emerging opportunity for Career or revenue.

This was posted by SoKy : 11:19 AM  0 comments links to this post

Back in June (archived post), I wrote briefly about branding. It was quickly commented " I doubt the logo is the most important sign of a brand as it also could be just a name..." In context, we were discussing corporate identity however as it applies to branding, many times the logo is the first step in the identification process.

At a travel agency we once started from scratch, we hired the Carpenter Group to help create our identity and it started with the logo. Actually, I felt compelled to explain to them our plans and goals, our business targets and objectives, even a little about who we are and what kind of company we planned to build. It was my hope that this information would have an impact on the design. I'm not sure if it did, but in the end we selected the perfect match that was unique and conveyed who we thought we were.

(image removed)

I was cleaning out my links this afternoon and I found this wonderful story from Entrepreneur Magazine. The article "Creating Brand Standards for Your Business" is written by John Williams who happens to own and operate a logo company. From his perspective (and mine) the logo is a key element in the overall branding process. It can be an icon or quick visual reminder of who and what you are. For us, the flamingo, palm tree, sun and sea were important, but because we are brand new, the name itself was an equally important aspect of our logo because it conveys exactly who we are and we we do.

From the standpoint of a small business, the amount of time and resources spent on branding can help accelerate the acceptance of your product and/or service. A professionally and thoughtfully designed logo can in fact aid the legitimization process of your infant company because it is a good first impression. It is an important part of who you are and what you will become and once chosen, will be something you will have to live with for a very long time... well hopefully. (grin)

As pointed out by the person who replied to my June post, a logo can simply be a name or initials. If you look at others who have chosen this path, you will see that a standard of colors, fonts, design is maintained every single time it is placed on a sign, envelop, business card or commercial. Some visual form of reference that can be used over and over again that will, over time, remind your market that you exist and ready to conduct business.

Another topic touched in the article was "Brand Equity" and it is one I have written on before. Briefly, brand equity is the payoff for your investment of time and resources into the uniqueness of your business. Having a solid brand, one that is well respected and easily identified takes time and hard work but once established can make your business more valuable when compared to other business who have not made the same investment.

Just some more to think about.

Edited Thursday 01 Feb, 2007 3:14 pm

This was posted by SoKy : 4:34 PM  0 comments links to this post

I've discussed the issue of branding before. By no means have I exhausted the topic and I hope to dig deeper in later discussions. That said; I read an article today by a guy who I enjoy reading at eCommerceTimes. Naseem Javed wrote on July 27th an article titled, "A Final Word on Branding." I usually agree with him and I did a number of times in his article (commentary) but for the small business entrepreneur there will never be a final word on branding.

Branding is so very important for the small business. We strive constantly to create and nurture an identity for our business, and we do so with limited knowledge, and limited resources. Naseem usually writes with big business and big budgets in mind and unfortunately, that rarely applies to small business. He offers some great thoughts and ideas that I have read and thought would be of value to you. Take a look, let me know what you think.

Let's face it, these branding rules are very hard to learn and very difficult to apply because they require solid training and thorough skills. Simple, raw promotional skills backed by big budget fireworks are only "accidental branding" at play, where everyone becomes happy as long as there is some noise. In the recent past, this is how "high volume" or "intense" branding got the center stage. Today, in this budgetless environment, it is only a dream for most agencies to get such mega breaks.

U.S. businesses are still very much overdosed with over-branding. Massive turnover in the advertising and branding industry, compounded by the Internet , e-commerce and outsourcing , has created a large glut of branding consultants with too many faceless, nameless consulting services and Web sites.

The market is simply glutted. Western branding agencies are losing their grip by not producing world-class standards and are becoming a laughing stock by adopting, in a panic, monkey-see-monkey-do campaigns.

In reality, you definitely need proper branding today; the type is not the issue. However, first you must have something very good to offer. You also need highly specific and proven branding with highly tactical positioning skills, under proper corporate and brand name identity and image laws, rather than raw graphic and promotional tools.

Full article: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/44938.html

Sounds complicated doesn't it? It is, but branding your small business can be so over complicated that the importance is often overlooked or worse, the process procrastinated into oblivion. Oh sure, you can pay one of those big fancy branding firms to create a brand for your beloved business but wait, who knows your business as well as you? Who knows your products, your customers, your strategy or your personality as well as you do? These are all topics that would be covered by the branding firm, so why not take the time to give this some thought for yourself? Farming out the graphics and/or the color scheme is a long way from the thousands of dollars it would cost for a real branding company to do the job.

Branding is important to your business. It has value in and of itself if done properly. Many small businesses are purchased not so much for their inventory, location or market, but for their good name and you guessed it... their brand recognition. When innovating/renovating your small business look close at your brand, it's worth every moment of your attention.

Hey, here's an idea! Some companies sponsor huge retreats at fancy schmancy resorts to brainstorm company branding. This will work for you too! I happen to know a good travel agency who can put you on a beach for seven days so you can give your all important brand the time it deserves. (Chuckle... well I have to try... Carried Away Vacations is MY brand.) www.CarriedAwayVacations.com

Edited Thursday 01 Feb, 2007 3:14 pm

This was posted by SoKy : 6:12 PM  0 comments links to this post