SoKy Local Business or "SoKybiz"

The award winning Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce hosts a monthly coffee hour each month for chamber partners to get together, hear motivational speakers and make announcements. Many of these speakers are political and the August Coffee Hour was one of those months.

After hearing a young man with autism offer his story of hope and commitment, Governor Fletcher was allowed to address the crowd. I've requested a copy of the video of the speech and will post it here if it is provided. It was a great presentation of all the progress made in the short time Governor Fletcher has been in office.

Avoiding the temptation to turn this political, I'll simply remind the readers that being involved in your local area chamber of commerce is a great way to meet fellow small business owners, learn new techniques and even make political contacts. Our chamber does a great job bringing in legislators to brief the partnership on the goings on in Washington and Frankfort.

I had a chance to meet Governor Fletcher, shake his hand and thank him for the big things he has done like tax cuts for small business as well as the little things (I mentioned the phone call to my son I wrote about on my personal blog).

David Francis, SoKy.net, llc & KY Governor Ernie Fletcher

As with most photo ops, the coffee hour was also a time to "spread the wealth in the Commonwealth" so to speak. There were a number of presentations of large checks. Large as in size and $ amounts.

Can you name the big wigs in the picture?

This was posted by SoKy : 3:09 PM  0 comments links to this post

It's been an incredibly busy past few weeks. I've posted a lot less than usual and a lot more personal. I've been here at the office almost 24/7 but with the server upgrades, the new sites and marketing plans, I've been up to my eyeballs.

There are a few plans for this blog. Basically, there will be more frequent posts and those posts will be focused. We will be upgrading the blog software with one I wrote myself. There will be many sub categories to help you find what your looking for. There will be a new feature that will make suggestions based on your arrival search inquiry. There will be a search feature and yes, there will be a contact form. YEA!

That's what I've been working on. Well that and a few dozen other things. My clients come first and I spend the time necessary to ensure their needs and websites are addressed. I have also registered a few new domain names myself and even created a blog for Jent. One of the new websites is for south central Kentucky politics and one for server hosting support. There is a lot going on in SokyVille as well, toss in an over active court system here in southcentral Kentucky and the fact I'm on jury duty this month, it's crazy.

I know this doesn't help you build your business, learn of new and exciting marketing strategies or even provide operations ideas for your small business. Perhaps it will give you some hope that things are not neglected, just being tweaked and made new. Hang in there sports fans, it's about to get really good. Oh, and you may be comforted in the fact that I am thinking about hiring an editor to correct my writing as well. Yes, I know but hey, I write like I talk and I don't talk so good.

This was posted by SoKy : 5:55 PM  0 comments links to this post

I've written at length about the importance of knowing your target market. A very simple way to do this, at least for established businesses is to look at who your existing customers are. If you don't have records that display the age demographic, then it's time to start doing some sampling. If you find that your customers are in what's referred to as "Generation Y" then there are some things to consider.

The Internet is a powerful tool to reach customers who are 18 to 30 in the United States. Here in Bowling Green, KY, small businesses enjoy a significant market in this age range due to the explosive growth and existence of Western Kentucky University.

In a recent article on the American Marketing Association website, they published an article titled "The nation's 18- to 25-year-olds are positioned to have a major economic impact." Here is an excerpt:

The nation's 18- to 25-year-olds, known as Generation Y, live at the forefront of a fast-paced world connected by technology.

They shop. They spend. They surf the Internet and pay bills through their cell phones.

Gen Yers number some 60 million people in the United States. By most estimates, that's nearly three times the size of their predecessors, Gen Xers. And it makes them the closest rival to the baby boomer generation, which numbers some 75 million people.

The article goes into detail about how the big money advertisers are reaching and servicing this large segment of the market. In the end, the Internet is the tool of choice and from banks to pubs, companies are going to great lengths to provide more online services to meet the demand of their target market.

The article goes on to say that 80% of those 60 million customers are online every day.

A focus on Internet services may be well warranted.

Of 18- to 24-year-olds in the United States, 82 percent use the Internet every day, according to a 2005 Pew Internet and American Life Project study about teen and adult online habits.

That figure jumps to 85 percent with 25- to 29-year-olds.

Some analysts say the Internet is only the first step to attracting Gen Y and that financial institutions need to find a way to hook them while they're young and hope they remain faithful as the generation grows older.

It's more than just getting online. People of generation "Y" have high expectations from their websites. They want speed, features, and ease of use. They want the option to make their reservation, buy their products, contact support and/or ask questions. For many, (I venture most) in this demographic, no significant purchase will be made without first consulting the Internet.

Sure, I'm a web developer so this article definitely underscores the need for my services, but that's not my point. Whether you use Soky.net or not, you must face the fact that if your target market is young adults in the United States, you would do well to consider making an investment in your online presence. Just like the attention you give to servicing your customer at your shop or office, you should consider it equally important online.

A friend of mine has a company whose market is squarely within the 18-30 demographic. His products and services are tailored for this group of people and his website is so bad that I suggested that he take it off line. Since he is a friend, I didn't try to pitch him or gain him as a client, but I did do my best to express the importance of his online presence without coming off as though I was trying to get in his wallet.

The fact is, if your website is out of date, has broken links or images, includes obsolete information and you are marketing to the gen Yers, you are doing much more harm than good because these people will make significant judgment on your business based solely on the lack of professionalism displayed online.

That's just the way it is. From newspapers to mechanics, small businesses would do well to consider the appearance of their company online, especially when trying to reach the younger third of our population.

That's how I see it, what do you think?

This was posted by SoKy : 7:48 AM  0 comments links to this post

What a day

Monday 14 Aug, 2006 3:25 pm
Overall, it was not a bad day but it was exceptionally busy and incredibly productive however, it did bring one really frustrating event. Remember my post about Spence Property Management with whom I never wanted to do business with again? As fate would have it I am forced to anyway. Oh I tried, I even wrote the property owner and requested to send the checks directly to them as specified in the lease. The Skillern's never responded so I took that as a decline and had made arrangements for the bank to send the rent checks by mail to Spence Property Management on schedule. No problem, I don't have to go in there and it's only for a few more months.

Then, today, I received a call from you know who. Yep, W. Bruce Spence of Spence Property Management called me to inform me that my check was returned. (WHAT? I just checked the account from which that check is drawn and there is nearly $4,000.) He said the bank reported that the check had a missing or incorrect routing number printed on it. Sure enough, it did. He then informed me that I was responsible to pay the late fee of $10 per day plus the $15 retuned check fee. Oh boy... I was in shock, but I stayed calm refusing to allow myself to be agitated by this person again.

After ensuring Spence understood that the returned check was not due to insufficient funds, (politely I might add), he agreed to "only" charge me $5 per day. I remained calm and without agreeing to the fee pressed for more answers and asked, "what if I refuse to pay the late fees and bring the original amount?" To which he replied, "then I would turn your check in as a fraudulent check and would be prosecuted as a felon." Still keeping my cool, I reiterated that it was a printing error by the supplier, he argued that I would still be prosecuted as a criminal for passing a "bad check."

As you might imagine from my previous post, I was exceptionally frustrated by this. I kept my cool and listened to his instructions to bring a cashiers check or cash in today because accepting another check for a check was against the rules (who makes the rules? Oh yeah.). I was able to keep from telling him that there was no way on earth I would be prosecuted by the state if the routing number was mistakenly misprinted on the check and I was willing to make good on the full amount immediately. I did not explain to him that he showed me clearly that it was within his ability to waive the service fees on behalf of the client if he so chose to but refused because, in his own words, "that's how I make money." I didn't explain to him that this attitude of taking all he can get at the expense of the client was the worst example of small business I have ever seen. No, I simply hung up the phone and started to think it through.

In my review of the situation, I really wanted to take him on. I wanted to make a huge issue out of but in the end, who cares? It's 70 lousy dollars (more) and a lesson learned. It's not his fault the check weren't printed properly. It's not his fault that the money isn't in his bank account. No, in the end the responsibility is mine. I should have verified the routing numbers, account numbers and all information printed on the checks before I used them. No, the burden is squarely on my shoulders when it comes to verifying the accuracy of work that I have performed. I was still tempted to fight but that would simply lower me to his level and I won't do it.

I'm sure he didn't want to make the call, and when I realized it was him, I didn't want to be talking to him either. He was much less insulting this time than the last, but still remained stubbornly immovable when faced with an exceptional situation. He was harsh and even made threats (at my invitation when I asked the question) that I'm quite certain were unfounded. My opinion of him and his business practices remain unchanged but my resolve to never do business with him must be broken due to the misprinted check.

I was fortunate that the postal worker was running late today because I was able to retrieve the outgoing mail which included printed checks. Whew.

Also, I scanned an original check and deposit slip from USBank as well as the printed ones and sent an email to my buddy at NEBS. They are reprinting the checks once again for free in their effort to provide 100% satisfaction. Carrie Manke called me twice to make sure she understood and let me know the order was placed. In the mean time, I fixed my business card layout and emailed my order for 500 business cards. She deserved it for providing exceptional service.

The lessons in and through all of this are simple. A small business person is going to be exposed to many kinds of vendors and other businesses. We must interact with some that we don't necessarily want to do business with. Allowing the unreasonable people to make us loose our cool will reflect poorly on us and our business. I say, let the jerks be jerks and move on. Share your experience with others and avoid doing business with them, but don't allow them to affect your own integrity. How easy it would have been to get all bent out of shape with Bruce Spence, it would have been fun if nothing else, but at the end of the day... what for? Another lesson is to choose your battles. I was so very tempted to make an issue out of this just to call his bluff, but why? I know I'm right and I know I don't want to deal with him anymore. Why give him an excuse to invade my life further? For 70 bucks? Eh, no.

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

You may recall from earlier posts that I am working on a disaster recovery scheme as well as cleaning off my main computer for a full recovery. With nearly 2,000,000 individual files on 3 hard drives, this has proven to be quite the task. I've made some progress but I've also made some discoveries along the way.

As a web developer, I use a tool called an "FTP Client." FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol and it is what we use to transfer files from our hard drive to a web server. (Very basic description, learn more at Wikipedia) As simply as I can describe, it simply moves files from one place to another BUT, once files are there, it simply updates files that are added, changed or removed. I wanted a tool like this for my back up scheme. The native tool in XP Pro seemed a little cumbersome and limiting. It also took forever to run. It's called file synchronization.

I asked a fellow Active Server Pages developer for his preferred method of "synchronizing" files. His suggestion, as most, was outstanding.  I asked him if he knew of a program that worked like an FTP client for local files and he suggested a product called "Allway Sync."

From their website:

What is Allway Sync?
Allway Sync is free file and folder synchronization software for Windows.

Allway Sync uses innovative synchronization algorithms to synchronize your data between desktop PCs, laptops, USB drives and more. Allway Sync combines bulletproof reliability with an extremely easy-to-use interface.

http://allwaysync.com/

I downloaded it, installed it and "played" with it and I have to tell you, this product is amazing. I'll try to explain what I was trying to do.

I wanted a copy of my user files. Everything from cookies to favorites to photos and pictures. I wanted a way to keep a full backup on a separate location just in case of hardware failure as well as a way that would allow me to delete the local files but NOT delete the back up files. A way that would update existing files and folders but leave unchanged files alone. This product does it flawlessly.

By default, the program will make mirror copies of entire folder structures. It will add, edit and delete files located in the backup location. The software gave me the option to not delete the files from the backup but would modify the changed and added files.

One note; there are a small number of files in the user folders that are not accessible due to access restrictions. I'm not concerned about these control files so I selected options that would skip these files.

The folder on standard installations of Windows XP Pro is located at C:\Documents and Settings\{user login}. It contains everything from temporary internet files, desktop icons, favorites, history, my documents and the like. While I may not need the temporary files, copying everything was an easy way to make a carbon copy of the while structure without spending too much time on the set up. Using the option to not delete files from the destination, the backup copy could grow prohibitively large so when I restore my computer, I will change the settings to allow for removal.

My goal at this point is to make as close a copy as possible before I reformat my main hard drive. Once the hard drive is formatted and Windows XP Pro reinstalled, I will be making a recovery disk that will allow me to recover more easily in the future.

This is all part of my overall disaster recovery efforts. Since my main computer has been a little overused and too many programs have been installed and uninstalled, I am having a few issues with key components like web servers and database servers. I'm not suggesting that this is the only way to start fresh, but it is the way I have chosen to do it.

As part of my small business plan, I have included an operational section called Information Technology with sub sections on software, hardware, back up and data recovery, information security and so forth. I believe that it is very important for small businesses to give this as much attention as any other part of their operations. As I've written in the past, protecting the data on our small business computers is not only good for our private information, it's also good for our clients protect and that my friends is just good business with integrity.

I will write about my selections for anti-spyware and anti-virus software when I install them. I've gone away from Norton and the other big boys in favor or AVG and Spybot. I'm trying to find easy and affordable methods of managing my computers in a manner that is effective as well as methods that take the least amount of my precious time and effort.

If you are looking for an easy and affordable way to synchronize your files and folders, I can recommend Allway Sync without reservation.

Now, to install the operating system on that new server I just received from Dell. Wish me luck.

This was posted by SoKy : 8:50 AM  0 comments links to this post

I received a comment on an old post that I thought I would bring to the top. Thank you Sarah! I'm always happy to be brought up to speed. I appreciate your comment and thank you for reading.

Original post Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Ribbon cutting for Scrapbook Country

I frequently attend local ribbon cuttings here in Bowling Green since we opened our travel agency. I do it to meet people in the business community and also support other small business in my community. When we had our ribbon cutting we were happy that so many people showed up! If felt good to have several people come to our new store and give us a nod of support. We did reward them by giving away two great vacation packages too. ... http://www.soky.biz/2005/06/ribbon-cutting-for-scrapbook-country.html

Don't people on vacations take photos? Don't they need someplace safe to put those photos when they get home? Perhaps the best travel agent around could add to his level of service by directing travellers to the local scrapbook store for a class in making travel scrapbooks?

FYI Scrapbooking is a booming multi-million dollar industry, complete with television shows, conventions, magazines, and stores. Who doesn't have pictures?

There's actually at least two other independent scrapbook stores in your area--Scrapbook Village in Glasgow and Someplace to Remember in Bowling Green.

I'm enjoying your man-on-the-street-marketing style. Just wanted to bring you up to speed on the scrapbooking news.

--
Posted by Sarah to SoKy Local Business or "SoKybiz" at 8/13/2006 12:39:26 AM

This was posted by SoKy : 5:56 AM  0 comments links to this post

Up until about an hour ago I had a huge question in my mind about the timing of this corrosion discovery by BP in Alaska. My thoughts immediately migrated to the loss of 200,000 barrels a day, the financial laws of supply and demand and the recent filings on EDGAR that clearly document a significant increase in profits by major oil producers. I quickly assumed this was some kind of thinly veiled strategy to keep profits up by limiting supply.

As usual, I had my television tuned to Fox News and during the program called "Your World w/ Neil Cavuto" there was a brief yet very telling interview with a senior executive of BP USA. I'm assuming it was Bob Malone but I cannot confirm on either Foxnews.com nor BP.com.

As usual, Neil Cavuto was quick to get to the point and asked some very pointed questions. The BP representative was very good, well versed and answered Neil's questions as thoroughly as possible on the high paced program.

I'm no financial analyst, nor am I an oilman, but the gentleman from BP made sense. He explained clearly what kind of corrosion it was, what they do to prevent this kind of corrosion (which interestingly enough is caused by the excrement of oil eating "bugs"), and why their preventive measures (additives to the oil to kill the bugs) were ineffective on the lower sections of their pipeline. He explained in simple terms how the electronic inspections found and reported the pitting on the inside of the pipes resulting in an immediate shutdown of the pipeline.

Insert a long story here about how the Governor of Alaska has ordered a hiring freeze due to the loss of taxes and royalties as well as a suggestion that BP compensate the state for the loss.

Cavuto continued to push for answers asking some hard questions about the state of disrepair of the pipeline, how the pitting went un-noticed or that the corrosion was not predicted. Neil even asked whose fault it was for allowing it to get this bad in the first place. Neil went so far as to ask directly, "are you going to expect any resignations over this?" Malone was clear that he had gotten to know his troops in Alaska and had every confidence in their ability. He explained how this happened and why it was such a surprised. Even when Cavuto pressed about the Governors suggest repayment of decreased revenue, Malone was smooth in his response that it was the first he had heard of it.

Sometimes you just have to go with your gut and my gut tells me that I was wrong and this is not some sort of economic ploy to keep gas prices high as well as profitability. This is one of those bad things that happened at a really bad time.

Then I got to thinking, what if. What if the technician who received the readout from the electronic inspection didn't notice? Or worse what if their equipment didn't pick up the acidic bug poop pitting? What if, the bosses in Alaska tried to cover the problem up so as to not cause a shut down. At nearly $100 per barrel times 200,000 barrels a day, that's a lot of money that stopped flowing over the weekend. What if they tried to 'fix' it either through modifying the results or by patchwork? What if the higher ups refused to cut off that flow of cash and just take their chances? What if the pipes broke before anyone ever fessed up to or knew of the problem? Yes, there would be an ecological disaster unlike any other.

The pipes would have broke and that flow of oil would have continued until the safety features interrupted the supply of oil. All this after how many gallons of oil spilled onto the Alaskan soil? The questions asked by Cavuto, other press, as well as likely congressional hearings would have been similar, but the end result would have been worse than the loss of a few dollars to BP, Alaska or the few pennies more it cost the consumers for a gallon of gas. The result would have been millions and millions of dollars spent cleaning up the mess and likely the loss of allot more than 16 miles of pipeline, due to the public outcry that would have resulted in all kinds of inspections and who knows what else.

In the end, I have to think this was one of the hardest decisions the managers at BP had to make. To have the bad press of a weak pipeline and the embarrassment of the shut down as well as the lost revenue during repairs. Or to have the pipes break destroying the land which provides that golden flow of cash. No, I'm impressed with their decision to take the high road and take the heat now before something much worse happened.

BP has set up a website just for news and information about this situation. You can find it at http://usresponse.bp.com/

This was posted by SoKy : 5:07 PM  0 comments links to this post

July was Soky.biz IT security month. No, I didn't plan it to be, it just turned out that way. It is something I take seriously and my focus was a result of two things. 1) I had been infected by a nasty Trojan Virus and, 2) I am in the process of restoring all of my computers to their original factory installations and have been considering my options as far as protection from spyware and virus's go. Then I ran across this outstanding article which articulates many of the issues I've written about much better.

Seven Steps to Protect Your Business' Most Important Asset: Information
07/ 31/ 2006
by Marcia Passos Duffy
National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)

When you look at your company's resources, you will find information ranked right up there as a top asset. Chances are most of your company's sensitive information, including files on products, customers, suppliers and employees, are now kept digitally. So just like your other business assets, you need to take steps to protect information from unauthorized access and even theft.

The goal of information technology security is to create measures that eliminate or reduce threats of theft or unauthorized access to a minimal level. Nothing is 100 percent foolproof, but here are seven steps that can help protect your critical information technology system and avert possible breaches that can spell disaster to your business' integrity and competitive edge.

Step 1: Become aware.
Step 2: Know what kind of information must be protected and from whom.
Step 3: Make sure all your computers are up-to-date.
Step 4: Educate users about policies and procedures.
Step 5: Verify.
Step 6: Know there is an inconvenience factor of a secure system.
Step 7: Have a disaster recovery plan of action.

Read the full explanation in this great report on the NFIB website.
http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_29459.htm

This was posted by SoKy : 4:46 PM  0 comments links to this post

As a small business person conducts business through each day, he or she is exposed to examples of business that they either want to emulate or they want to avoid all together. I've experienced both today. As I go through the course of business, I am admittedly critical to how people conduct their business, manage employees or treat their customers. I am critical only because I'm always on the lookout for examples. Today was no exception.

I had jury duty today and I made the best of it. I made friends and had a little fun with my fellow jurors, took the opportunity during one of the breaks to go meet with Warren County Judge Executive Mike Buchanon, and even paid my rent (though a couple of days late). I even returned an order of printed checks that were slightly in error. No matter what life deals, it's up to us to decide how we play the cards dealt. The same is in business... go with the flow and overcome the obsticles.

The court case was, in my opinion, the biggest waste of time that could have been imposed upon me. It was 16+ hours of a complete waste of time because of the entire situation. (I may post generalities on my personal blog.) I could have allowed this to affect me personally and bring my attitude down. Instead, I chose to make the best of it by being friendly to my fellow jurors and doing my best to lift their spirits. Besides, their time was being wasted too. I've always thought that if I allow bad situations to bring me down then I'm the one who looses. If I want to be a winner, I cannot allow those so called bad situations to bring me down.

I even took the opportunity during one of the many breaks at court to walk to the 'other' courthouse and drop in on Mike Buchanon. He is the Judge Executive for my county here in KY. I wanted to ask his opinion on a couple of things as well as offer my support for his news conference this morning involving the Kentucky TriModal Transpark. Although I didn't have an appointment, Judge Buchanon greeted me enthusiastically and warmly and created time for me. Now that's the way to conduct business! As always, he listened to me and answered my questions regarding the news conference, those campaigning for Warren County Sheriff as well as a number of other issues important to me. In exchange, I listened to him and offered my advice and opinion when requested. Now that's how to conduct business.

Since we the jury deliberated for a total of 11 minutes,  I had to pay my rent this afternoon, and though it was a few days late, I figured I better get in there and do it ASAP. In this case, the business owner at Spence Property Management treated me so poorly and with such little respect that I wrote the property owner and requested to send my payments directly to them instead of Spence Property Management. Mr. Spence was so difficult, rude and disrespectful that I want nothing to do with him. He made no effort to seek to understand my needs, only to maintain his perceived superior standing. The basics of customer service were forgotten and at the end of the exchange, I made it quite clear that I would never do business with him again. He forgot the importance of service in his effort to be the victor in our exchange. It's my opinion that his business will not last unless he learns some manners and basic customer service skills. But to my point, he offered an example of how NOT to conduct business. He was the perfect example of the person I never want to be no matter how much money I could make. He offered an example of the things to avoid when conducting business.

Then there's a telemarketer who called yesterday. She is from "NEBS" who are in the business of printing checks and many other small business related products. She called to introduce herself and offer some new products. Telemarketing has to be one of the most difficult jobs on the planet yet this person was cordial, understanding and listened inventively. She would make her "pitch," listen and then make another pitch. She was persistent but not pushy. It was a respectable exchange.

When I printed the check for the rent this afternoon, I noticed an error on the checks and decided to write her an email asking what could be done. Within an hour she was on the phone to discuss my situation. My issue was as simple as the way my company name was printed on the checks. She again listened, understood and corrected the situation offering to reprint the checks at no charge to me. (NEBS has a 100% guarantee.) She even called back to check with me on the capitalization of the company name and explain some of the details. It was an example of how I do want to do business.

This telemarketer is Carrie Manke and she is an enthusiastic well mannered representative of NEBS. She and I talked at great length and she continued to impress me throughout our conversations. One thing she did well was respect me and at one point made a compliment that struck a chord. She could have been jerking my chain but that's of little consequence, by the end of the conversation I asked her for a quote on business cards because I just wanted to give her some business. Now if that's not an example of how to conduct business, I don't know what is. Though she's only 22 and on her first job, this old man saw the perfect example of how to conduct yourself on the phone and create a rapport with the customer.

Side note: she works on commission so if you have printing needs and want the perfect company representative, Carrie Manke is your girl. I predict she will be very successful in anything she does because of nothing more than her attitude. She is honest  to the point of sacrifice, but at the end of the day she can look at herself in the mirror and know she did her best with integrity. Write her before you buy anything printed. Carrie.Manke@deluxe.com (She is on commission so write her directly.)

So from a local politician, to a local business person to a faceless telemarketer, and all points in between, I've noticed ways people conduct business and learn from them. Some I would rather not emulate, others I would set policy on. As small business owners, we should remain observant and mindful of our daily business dealings and learn from other business people.

Oh... I offered Carrie a job but she refused to move from Minnesota to Bowling Green KY. Don't hold it against her... just buy her stuff.

This was posted by SoKy : 5:48 PM  0 comments links to this post