Marketing is actually cheap. It’s just a lot of work.

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Derrick

We’re in the middle of a culture switch. For decades, marketers have pumped out their message to us. They relentlessly hunted us, knowing with enough exposure… they would find people who actually wanted what they were selling, and drive us to buy stuff. The thing about this shotgun approach is that eventually we were all going to run from it. This is what’s happening. People are training themselves to consume the content they want, while ignoring the advertising.

This is the part of the article where I rant about the infatuation businesses seem to have with traditional media. The lust for getting our ad in a newspaper… remember those? The exposure we would get from direct mail… in the recycle bin. The billboard people would notice… assuming people took their eye off the road for anything, other than eating and texting.

Oh, and there’s the Holy Grail… the TV commercial. The perfectly crafted message that mass amounts of people would see. You know, assuming they didn’t change the channel… get a snack… talk with their spouse… fast forward through… or even miss all together, because they download/watch their favorite TV shows online.

Side note: I do like traditional media for certain kinds of marketing… I just think it has lousy bang for buck at the time of writing this article.

The bottom line? Stop trying to rent people’s attention, and start working for it…

How the internet is actually like doing business in a small town

Doing business in a small town isn’t usually about getting your ad in the newspaper, or having a TV commercial. Small town business is all about doing business with people. People got to know, like and trust you. They believed in your expertise, and they wanted to do business with you. You knew who your customers were, and made meaningful connections with them. Word travelled fast. If you did a great job, people loved you & would tell others to do business with you… if you screwed up enough, people would talk about that too & it could put you out of business.

This is just like the internet, except for two key differences:

1)      It’s much more far reaching than a small town. At any given time, you are just a few keystrokes and mouse clicks away from being praised or ripped apart. Think of this example. Imagine you’re a locksmith in a small town. You get word that Sue locked herself out of her house, but she hasn’t called you. You hear the reason for this is because she can’t afford to pay you. Knowing Sue for years, you go over to her house and help her get in, no charge. She feels great about you, and tells a bunch of her friends and family how great you are. In the long run, this provides you with much more in business than you lost by working for free. On the internet, Sue not only tells her family & close friends… but she tells her 150 Facebook friends too. That’s powerful stuff.

2)      Making connections with people is different. The internet brings with it the power to connect you with massive amounts of people, and reaches much further than doing business in a small town would. Instead of getting to know Sue at your son’s soccer game, you got to know her because she commented on your blog. You got to know Frankie because you answered his question about home security on twitter. You got to know Jack because of his internet Q&As. This is the way relationships are now being built. The good news is that it’s much cheaper to get your business noticed this way. It does, however, require a lot of sweat equity.

Time to get to work!

What you really need to know, is that it’s time to stop selling stuff, and start building relationships. Start caring about your community and customers!

So, what work is required exactly? This can vary based on your business, so you really just need to learn how to embrace the internet as a whole. You should always keep your eyes out for tools your customers are embracing or are likely to embrace in the future.  Saying that, it’s pretty safe to say these are good starting points:

1)      Get on Social Media. Even if you start with just one site, that’s great. Try to think logically which social media site would best help you connect with your customers/community, and dive in. The most popular sites at the time of writing this article are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn & Pinterest. Once you choose a site, take the time to learn how to properly utilize it, engage with your community, and talk about things that might interest them. Remember, social media isn’t about pushing out marketing messages; it’s called SOCIAL NETWORKING for a reason.

2)      Be a content creator. Creating great content is an excellent way to build credibility, and get noticed online. Starting a blog is one of the best ways to do this. In addition to starting a blog, you might consider making YouTube videos, starting a podcast, or even writing a book. Creating great content will allow you to create a large digital footprint, that people may find when they are seeking your expertise. When someone finds and sees value in your content, and you open the door for them to communicate with you, this helps you build relationships. Not only will these people appreciate you sharing your expertise, but they very well may become your next big customer or a source of future referrals.

3)      Be a content consumer. Seek out experts in areas that interest you, and that hopefully are somewhat related to your own expertise. Not only is consuming content a great way to grow as a person, but you have an opportunity to get involved in discussions that might help you get noticed. If someone has created great content, and you engage with them and add something beneficial to the conversation… they might notice you. This may very well be the foundation for a meaningful business (and perhaps personal) relationship.

At the end of the day, the people who will win are the ones who really care. People who care about building relationships with other people. People who go out of their way, to make their customers feel like more than a number. People who want to make the internet better as a whole. People who aren’t so focused on their next sale, but who understand the long term value of repeat business and referrals. Just like business owners used to do in small towns, back in the day.

What do you think about the networking potential behind social media? Any additional thoughts to add? I would love to hear from you!

Posted in LOWD Media Inc., Making Money From Home, Marketing a Small Business, Social Media, Starting and Growing a Business | Leave a comment

Using online video to get noticed online, and increase your small business’ sales

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Derrick

I am a big fan of online videos. To me, online videos provide two of the most crucial elements of getting noticed online.

1) It allows you to help improve the internet as a whole. I truly believe that when you are more helpful to others, it directly affects your business’ bottom line.

2) By adding this content to the internet, it allows you to attract potential customers who are interested in what you offer. When someone is actively searching for your advice, or the services you offer, they not likely to be a tire kicker. They want what you are offering, and are happy to take out their wallet, assuming they can find you.

Of course, there are surely numerous other benefits of using online video to grow your small business, so I went straight to the source. The following is a Q&A I did with Bryan Bakker of Bizbio.tv, which is a video production company based out of London, Ontario.

Q: What are the most compelling reasons for someone to consider a YouTube Presence?

A: There are so many, but the most compelling reasons have got to be the three I mention often in my presentations: Credibility, Visibility, and Enduring value.

Respectively, credibility is critical. It encapsulates the notion of your expertise in your chosen field, but it also implies that the overarching reason to do business with you is because you are worthy of their TRUST. Trust is the biggest factor online these days. From fake emails to phishing websites, how does anyone come to trust anyone online, especially when there are so many places to go and so much to look at? Obviously, you can’t just give your credit card information to anyone, and if it is hard to determine your trust worthiness, prospects will move on.

The best approach, I argue, is to put yourself, or your money into a quality online video. Invest in a real 30 second commercial or just get some simple testimonials produced by clients you have helped in the past. This makes it easier for prospects researching you to trust you and they will be much more likely to do business with you too.

Second is visibility, another biggie. Google loves video and there are a lot of stats I could point at to show how much more likely you are to come up in a Google search if you have video as a part of your online presence.

Lastly, is enduring value. You pay for the production of a quality video once, but it will be with you for many years to come. The video can continue to work and answer questions you get asked often which saves you time. It can also deliver subtly crafted marketing messages to potential customers, while you sleep or are on vacation. There is no beating the ROI you get from a properly produced video.

Q: Are there any other notable impacts having a YouTube presence specifically can have?

A: In addition to what I’ve already said, Comscore says that customers are 95% more likely to buy if you have a video produced as a part of your marketing approach.

Q: What impact does having a YouTube presence have, when it comes to search engine optimization?

A: In addition to what I’ve already said, Comscore also says you are 96% more likely to come up in a Google search if you have a video. Prospects also will stay on your web site for an average of two minutes longer if there is a video there, waiting for them.

Q: What are some ideas for those who might be interested in utilizing YouTube, but are not really sure what the content for their videos should be?

A: There are a lot of great ideas out there. How-to videos are by far the most popular videos online. If you are good at something, or know information that can help someone else, record a video. Better yet, record a video series out of what you have to share with others. It demonstrates you’re an expert, while trying to help. Other ideas might be to do a product review, tell a touching story related to what you do, debunk myths in your field, or take viewers behind the sense of your operation. Above all, I think having testimonials produced featuring your satisfied clients trumps everything.

Q: What are the options, for someone who is interested in utilizing YouTube for business?

A: It is actually very affordable to purchase the video equipment you need to produce videos that are of a decent quality. Of course, many smart phones also have a decent camera in them. Saying that, I believe having a high quality/professionally produced video can make a big difference. There is a lot of great content out there but the question we all face when we go looking for it is how can I tell the great stuff from the not so great stuff or the wastes of time? The truth is we all have very high standards of what good production value looks like and we make that judgment in the first few seconds of any video. At Bizbio, we believe that to get people to watch long enough to get to your great content the production value has to meet a minimum threshold or people just click elsewhere. So that’s what we do for our clients. We bring a high enough production quality to your content to keep everyone engaged. We do it using story arcs (in everything we produce), on screen graphics and animations and professional audio in the way of catchy music and sound effects. Sure it costs a bit more but it really is worth it if you want to put the right sense of your company and brand out there, not to mention keep them tuned in.

I hope this article helps you see the potential behind using online video to grow a business, and become known as an industry expert. I definitely plan to do some more videos down the road. If you haven’t seen my first one, you can see my Utilizing Facebook For Business video by clicking here. Of course, if you have any thoughts about online video or have any specific questions for Bryan, please leave a comment and I’ll do a follow up with him in the future.

Posted in LOWD Media Inc., Marketing a Small Business, Search Engine Optimization, Starting and Growing a Business | Leave a comment

A personal reflection & Introducing the Make Passive Income Blog

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Derrick

In my view, I have fairly average intelligence. I am able to understand and comprehend a lot of things, but have always found it impossible to dive into a textbook. I think I might have had a homework allergy as well. I concluded in my early 20s that achieving my financial and life goals could not be done through the traditional route of getting a university degree, and getting a good paying job.

Now what?

When you don’t have a diploma or degree, you quickly notice your options are very limited. Your options essentially become trading your time (working) for a low to moderate wage, or becoming an entrepreneur. Build your own business. Entrepreneur… It’s a little risky, but I like the sound of that.

The Failure

I had a great idea. I purchased a marketing textbook in college for $120. When the semester was over, I went to the school buyback program where they offered a measly $20 to buy back my book. I then noticed they were selling this book used at the school bookstore for $80. There had to be a better way! My solution? An online marketplace where students could buy and sell their own textbooks online. Not only could they set their own prices, they could open their market up to schools all across Canada. Even when factoring in shipping costs, you could still double or triple what you would have otherwise received at the buyback program. I talked about the idea with some peers, and it received a lot of great feedback and encouragement.

With the limited knowledge a 1st year college student would have, I got together with a 1st year programming student and managed to launch a functional version of the web site. While Google sent us a lot of traffic, and the web site achieved minor levels of success… it never amounted to the potential it could have been.

Lesson Learned: Reach out to, and become an industry expert

Looking back, I now realize I didn’t reach out to any experts. I didn’t reach out to a teacher, an experienced web developer, a small business expert, and I didn’t network with anyone, outside of my immediate peer group.  If I had, they might have advised me on how to make this venture the best it could possibly be. Instead of just barely figuring out how to get this product together and to market the quickest and cheapest way possible…  I might have been advised to focus my attention on becoming an expert, and making the best possible service, before bringing it to market. I might have received the wealth of knowledge I needed to launch this business, if I asked for it. I might have become the single biggest authority in Canada on used textbooks, if I hadn’t become distracted from the mission due to the initial poor results of my venture.

If you are about to start a business of any kind, I believe it is of the upmost importance to become an expert in your field. You might need the real life experience of actually starting and running a business to become a TRUE expert, but do as much as you can prior to that by educating yourself and reaching out to others who can help you. If you are not an expert, reach out to experts in your field and learn from them.

The Failure

While developing the Textbook Exchange, I wrote an article on how to save money on textbooks. Using the programming skills I learned in an HTML basics class, I created a really ugly web site that displayed this article online. It was a simple 4 page site, with one long article. I put this online and didn’t think much about it, when I started noticing larger volumes of traffic checking out the site. Eventually, I was asked by someone if I would place a text link ad on my site to theirs. They offered to pay me $20/month for this link. Eventually, I installed Google Adsense ads and managed to get some more web sites who wanted to buy links on my site. I was making about $200/month off this simple HTML site, and was doing it with almost no effort. That was obviously a great feeling, but what if I could duplicate it?

While I was improving my own website design skills, I discovered you could hire freelance writers and web designers online for a fairly affordable price. For around $200 (at the time), I could create another one of these niche content sites. By purchasing a text link ad on a high quality web site for around $20/month, I could build this site up to what I built the last one into. This means for an investment of $200 + $180 for a 6 month text link campaign, I could have another content site generating $200/month income.  While I did build some web sites that achieved similar results, eventually Google changed the rules on how they rank small niche content sites, and most of my traffic and income was lost.

Lesson Learned: By putting focus on a limited number of web sites, and creating the best possible content or service… you can create a passive residual income.

Looking back, I can see where I went wrong. Instead of being driven by the desire to create the best possible content site in a niche, I was driven by the greed of earning as much money as possible, in the shortest amount of time. Sometimes this kind of thing is difficult to know while you are going through it, but if I had focused on creating great information on a more limited amount of web sites, Google’s changes wouldn’t have had nearly the effect on me they did.

Building a business that pays you a passive, residual income is entirely possible. It is a great income earning strategy because you can put in the effort now, and create a financial piece of mind for yourself in the event you can’t, or simply don’t feel like working down the road.

Summary

Building a business that pays you a passive, residual income for when you can’t, or simply don’t feel like working is the ultimate income earning strategy. One of the most effective ways to do this is by creating a web presence, and becoming an expert in your chosen field. Share great content and if applicable, offer an online resource or service that solves a problem. Providing the best solution to a problem or the best and most relevant content in a niche will build the passive residual income you desire. It’s the best way to make an ongoing income, without having to trade your time for it.

As a result of this personal reflection and lessons learned, I am introducing a new blog. The Make Passive Income blog will talk about my ongoing journey of creating a passive residual income. I hope to inspire and teach people what I know, and I hope others will contribute and will help teach me a thing or two. I believe this shared knowledge will collectively help us meet our financial goals, no matter what our background, education & experience is.

This blog will still be kept for the general topic of growing a small business in Canada. I don’t feel like the two subjects will have the same group of people interested in reading it, which is why I’m choosing to do a separate blog.

Do you have any business lessons learned to share? Business failures can be mortifying, but the key is to realize the failure happened to help you grow. It will help direct you to where you want to go, if you allow it to do so.

Posted in Lesson Learned, Making Money From Home | Leave a comment

3 ways your web designer should be optimizing your site for search engines

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Derrick

Having a web site is a great start for getting yourself or your business noticed online. Saying that, having a web site that is difficult or impossible to find in search engines is like having a retail location without a sign. It isn’t doing you a lot of good, if it’s difficult to find you. Any reputable web developer should include a certain amount of search engine optimization with their services, and they should also be advising you on some of the basics. The following are basic steps your web developer should have taken, or advised you to take, in order to optimize your web site for search engines.

1)      Title Tag – Load your web browser. Go to a web site, and look at the very top left of the window. Here you will see what is called the Title Meta Tag. It should at least display the name of your business, and when possible it should also include the name of the page or relevant key phrases. If you go to http://www.lowd.ca/ you will see it says “LOWD Media – Graphic & Web Design in London, Ontario”. This definitively tells Google exactly what this web site is about. Google reads this, and immediately understands that LOWD Media is a graphic and web design company based out of London, Ontario. If you view your page and there is nothing up there… or it says something very basic like “Home” or “Index”, it makes it more difficult for Google to understand what your web site is about, and therefore makes it less likely you will rank well. Do not stuff excess key phrases in the title, thinking it will help. It is a page title, keep it natural!  

2)      On Site keywords – When creating the content for your web site, you should create it while thinking what people might search for to find you in search engines. Again if you check out my site, and scroll below the main scrolling banner and 4 boxes, you will see some text that starts with “London Ontario Web Design”. Within this paragraph, notice some of the words and phrases: advertising, web design, London Ontario, branding, design, small business, affordable web design, etc. This is telling both people and search engines exactly what my business is about. Just take care not to stuff keywords in the text, in an unnatural way… Google knows when you do this, and will often penalize you for it.

3)      Inbound Link – The main way a search engine can find you in the first place, is when a web site they have already indexed links to you. Your web designer should be providing at least one inbound link to your site for this reason. In addition to allowing search engines to find you, inbound links are important when it comes to increasing your rankings. Search engines view an inbound link to your web site like a vote, or a recommendation from the person who is linking to you. Saying that, not all links are created equal. The more natural the link, and the higher reputation of the site linking to you… the more important the link is. Again, I advise you not to explore the idea of purchasing large quantities of inbound links… Google will know when it is unnatural, and they will not count those links… in some cases, they may penalize you.

If you already have a web site and are not certain if your web designer utilized any of the above points, it is important you ask them about this. Your only other option will be to hire another web developer or SEO expert to properly optimize your site.

If you have any questions or feedback, I hope you will leave a quick comment! I will always try my best to help, and I love hearing your feedback.

Disclaimer: By following the above points, it will always increase the likelihood of your site ranking well in search engines. In some cases, your key phrases may be too competitive and it will require additional SEO effort to increase your rankings. This is above what your web designer should have been expected to do. If they have the expertise, they may be available to help you at an additional cost, or provide you with a reference to an SEO company. If not, you can always do an online search for a local SEO company… chances are if they rank well when you are searching for them, they know what they are doing.

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Godaddy Down – A not so anonymous plea to hacking groups

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Derrick

Today, a member of the hacking group Anonymous took down Godaddy.com, along with over 5,000,000 web sites that they host, and email services for these web sites as well.

The reasons for the attack have currently not been revealed. Part of the reason appears to be the fact Godaddy was pressured into supporting SOPA, which is US legislation aimed at attacking online freedoms. It basically gives law enforcement and major content providers the ability to shut down entire web sites without notice, even when just a single page or blog post appears to be infringing on somebody’s copyright.  

While there are a lot of potential issues with SOPA and the various names of this legislation the US has failed to pass in the past, an attack on a company like Godaddy is an attack on its customers, primarily personal and small business web sites.

 It is an attack on:

  • Mom and pop shops trying to offer great customer service
  • Parent’s trying to check practice and game times for their children
  • Schools, Churches, Not for profits, Fund raisers
  • People trying to share their expertise through blogs and content websites

While I consider fighting a battle for online freedoms a noble one, care must be taken to minimize the casualties of this fight. To say that bringing down the client base of Godaddy, causing collective frustration and financial loss to millions of everyday people is for the greater good of online freedom just doesn’t make sense to me.

My plea to hacking groups:

There must be more creative ways to show people the impact of legislation such as SOPA, without affecting so many people who would have likely never been affected by it in the first place.

I would also like to note to those who have any doubts, I would suggest to you that the vast majority of Godaddy’s competition could have been taken down just as easily by this particular hacker. For those with the right skills, any web site can be taken down… in fact, many web sites can be taken down by those who are far less skilled than this particular hacker. I don’t say this to make people fearful… I say this because while I am disappointed in Godaddy for having this security gap… security gaps are not unusual… it’s just a matter of who has the ability to exploit them, and what the motive is to do so.

Those who have taken this opportunity to selfishly promote their own web hosting company or other web hosting companies they are affiliates of should be ashamed of themselves. You are trying to get financial gain from potential customers who are mad, confused, and uneducated. I’m shocked at the lack of business ethics exposed by those trying to profit off of this action against Godaddy.

Let me know what you think about this attack and its effect on small business. How effective do you think it will be at revealing the security holes the internet has and the consequences of legislation, such as SOPA?

Disclaimer:

I have done my best to make sure everything said is as unbiased as possible, but obviously I am a Godaddy customer and have been since 2004, without issue until now. I am also a Godaddy reseller so I just want to be perfectly clear about that.

 Any numbers referenced are all just estimate at this point in time, official numbers have not yet been released.

Posted in Lesson Learned, London Ontario Web Design, LOWD Media Inc. | Leave a comment

Hiring a web designer off of Kijiji

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Derrick

I have been advertising in Kijijis computer services section for years. You can hire real high quality contractors, freelancers, and entrepreneurs off of Kijiji. The problem is that when you can advertise for free on Kijiji, this opens the market to anyone and everyone. I would like to provide you with some tips on hiring a web site designer off of Kijiji.

1)      Does the web designer list a web site? I have seen people offer web design services on Kijiji when they don’t even advertise a web site of their own. If a web designer won’t take the time to create (or remember to advertise) their own web site, how great of a job do you think they will do with yours?

2)      Buy Local. While creating a web site by speaking over the phone is entirely possible, my recommendation is to deal with someone you can meet in person. Meeting in person allows you to build a better connection with your web developer. Not only should this give the web designer a better opportunity to understand you and your brand, it allows you to build a better level of trust, which is essential when doing business with someone.

3)      Check for correct English. Related to the previous point, some overseas developers will actually post on Kijiji representing they are from the area. It is fairly simple for someone to pick up a local phone number, even when they are in fact overseas. Even if they are not overseas, if a person isn’t willing to put the effort into making sure their English is correct, how much effort will they put into your work?

4)      Pay More Than $375. I made this point in my previous article “Why is Web Design so Expensive!?!?” and it warrants repeating. If you want something that makes your business look credible and professional, pay more than $375 for your web site. If you are paying less than $375, your web site is probably a cookie cutter template, a configured free site, a slight variation of a design they have already created, a designer who only knows the basics, or worst of all… someone who is scamming you.

5)      Check their images. Kijiji allows you to upload 4 images for free. If I am offering a creative and visual service such as graphic design or web design, shouldn’t I want to show off some of my work? If I am not showing off my work, I probably don’t have too much work that I am proud of. That, or I am too lazy to upload them to my free advertisement. Also watch for images that are of questionable quality. If I am posting imagery for you to review, I would want to post some great examples I think you will like… if you are underwhelmed by the quality of the samples, don’t take a chance… even if the price is difficult to beat.

It isn’t like I don’t support working with someone who is newer to the game. I completely realize people have to start somewhere. The reason for writing these tips is I can’t even count how many of my clients told me that they had worked with web designers before who left them feeling ripped off or short changed. While the above tips won’t completely eliminate the possibility of this happening to you, I think it should certainly help the case.

Posted in LOWD Media Inc., Marketing a Small Business, Starting and Growing a Business | Leave a comment

Adding Video to LinkedIn Profile

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Derrick

I was speaking to my friend who is a videographer that is exploring ways to utilize social media for business. I thought why not help people create simple & professional videos that they can add to their linked in profile.  Even if people don’t want to pay a videographer to produce a video intended for a LinkedIn profile, there are many who have the basic skills and equipment to accomplish this… but how do you add a video to a linked profile?

Short Answer: Unless you want to pay for a SlideShare Pro Account, you can’t add video to your LinkedIn profile.

Details:                   

It seems that in the past, this was possible. One of the best ways to add video to LinkedIn for free was to use the Google Presentations application. All you had to do was embed a YouTube video within the first slide of a slide show, and inserting that slide show into your profile would allow you to display a video in your LinkedIn profile page. You could also accomplish this same thing by using a different application called SlideShare.

In December 2011, it appears people started seeing problems with the videos they added to their profile using the Google Presentations application. The video in their profile disappearing was probably the most common complaint.

In January 2012, it appears representatives from Google were confirming they would no longer be supporting the Google Presentations LinkedIn Application, and that they would be disabling the option to insert presentations into a LinkedIn profile.

In May 2012, LinkedIn announced the acquisition of SlideShare for $119 Million. SlideShare is another LinkedIn application that allows you to embed videos into a slideshow presentation, and then add that slideshow to your LinkedIn profile page.

The problem is, uploading videos to embed in a LinkedIn profile is not free. It is only a service available with the SlideShare pro subscription.

Conclusion:

At this point, it appears that the only way to add a video to your LinkedIn profile page is by paying for a SlideShare subscription.

If you feel like this information is incorrect, I would love to know about it. Please reply if you have found a way to embed a YouTube video into a Linkedin profile.

Posted in LOWD Media Inc., Social Media, Starting and Growing a Business | 1 Comment

BusinessTalks 2012 @ The Hilton Grand Ballroom – June 12th, 2012

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Derrick

Overall Ratiing: 4.0

The second annual BusinessTalks conference, the apparent brain child of a young entrepreneur and social media guru Matt Ross, seemed to go off without a hitch. The networking event packed the house at the Hilton Grand Ballroom. Along with some exhibitor space ($120 this year) the main feature was a panel of guest speakers, the highlight of which was Wind Mobile CEO Anthony Lacavera.

Spanning around 4.5 hours, it was a longer event. I have to say, I think they put the speakers in the right order because they started off with Diana Charabin of 108 Venture Partners & Tiny Devotions. She provided an instant burst of energy to the event. I don’t know how one maintains that level of energy to accomplish and experience what she has, at such a young age… It could be the Mala Beads, but I think I recognize caffiene at work when I see it…. I mean, I wouldn’t know anything about that.

As always, I got to see some familiar faces. Shout out time:

Andrew from LegalShield, Ken from MedIT, Gary and the team from DrawSplash, Jerry from ReDesign Group, and Broderick from KoWork.

The highlight for me would be the conversation with Wind Mobile CEO Tony Lacavera. A very impressive story, seemingly humble personality, and just very relatable.  I really enjoyed and appreciated what he added by doing a Q&A style interview at the event.

Posted in Networking and Events | Leave a comment

Networking Wednesday @ The Barking Frog Patio – June 6th 2012

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Derrick

Overall Rating: 4.5

 4.5 LOWD Speakers out of 5.

The thunderstorms stayed at bay, and the weather wasn’t too hot, which made for great patio weather for the last Networking Wednesday event before summer break. Over 100 people were in attendance on the patio at The Barking Frog.

The patio had an appropriate amount of space for the crowd. I didn’t try any food, but the drinks were affordable which was nice. The atmosphere was fairly casual (as a patio should be) and I was glad to see that because I took the opportunity to dress down, which doesn’t happen often at business networking events.

Saw many familiar faces, and some were able to introduce me to some new people which is the biggest perk of being a regular networker.

Shout outs:

Jillian from Upstaging Homes, Ken from MedIT, Jennifer from Social Dragon Marketing, Missy from Olive Me, and Debbie from Lamont Painting & Décor.

The highlight of the night for me was probably the general fact that people stayed quite a bit later than normal networking events. I think the nice patio weather combined with a great networking crowd and affordable beverages made for something people were comfortable sticking around for.

Posted in LOWD Media Inc., Networking and Events | Leave a comment

Law of attraction for business

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Derrick

Recently, a friend brought up the law of attraction, and said it was something he believed in. I was aware of it because at a previous job, management would always try and use it to justify my declining sales numbers. I thought what my manager was saying was fairly unhelpful (at the time) and so I just ignored it.   

If you don’t know what the law of attraction is, it basically says if you truly believe and think about positive things you want from life, the world has a way of making it happen. If you are always worried or are thinking about negative things, this is what you attract into your life.

So is it true?

It sounded a little hokey at first. I mean I get the idea that if you are a generally positive person, you will attract more people and typically better opportunities into your life. But to go as far to say the success of your business could very well depend on your ability to really picture the level of success you are hoping to reach? Your willingness to daydream, and then really believe this dream will come true? Is it really that simple?

I don’t know, yet. Certainly the whole concept did get my imagination going.

Reflecting on the past several months

2011 started out great. I was approved for a $15,000 business loan which was going to provide me with the time to make my business a full time venture. Though business started off slow, sales were increasing every month. By September, I was seriously contemplating getting an office and hiring my first employee. Wanting to keep the momentum going, I invested a lot of my working capital into some advertising efforts that I thought would really help me take things to the next level. Unfortunately, I was incorrect. Not only did the advertising I purchased offer no return, sales dropped lower than I had ever seen, even when I was only operating the business part time. Things went from great to bad in a hurry.

Did I attract this negative turn of events?

From that time on I had always just said to myself that it was poor management on my behalf and a bad economy that caused things to turn so quickly. Not much I can do about the economy, and as far as management goes I had learned a lesson to be a bit more careful with my cash.

But what if it was something else? When things were at their peak, I had more work than I could handle. Yet, I wanted to grow my business, so I purchased some advertising. Between you and me, I was secretly panicking about what new business might come in. Could I handle it? What if I started getting a bunch of phone calls & meeting requests? When could I fit in my actual work load? If I had to open an office, when could I find the time to deal with that? I was actually associating negative feelings with the potential growth of my business. I had severe doubt I could even handle growth, and was just hoping there could be more time to handle everything.

Did the law of attraction take charge, and clear my schedule? Rather than a poor investment of advertising dollars & a bad economy, is it possible I just truly believed I couldn’t handle a successful business, and what I really needed was free time… and this is what was given to me?

I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try.

Regardless of the potential future outcome, I see a lot of benefit into incorporating some of the steps to making the law of attraction work for my business and personal life. I can bring positive feelings into my life by being grateful for what I have. I can enjoy the bliss of visualizing what I want in life, my goals & my dreams. I can practice believing in myself to the point I am convinced I will get my business where I want to get it.

I do have specific goals that involve achieving a certain amount of monthly revenue. I feel like it is a realistic amount, enough to pay my bills and live comfortably in my current situation. I also need to replace my 1999 Chev. Lumina. I want to achieve both of these goals by my birthday, in September.

Let’s give this a shot.

What do you think about the law of attraction? Can it be used as a tool to grow a small business? Do you have any personal examples or experience? Drop me a line.

Posted in LOWD Media Inc., Starting and Growing a Business | 3 Comments