Fusion Marketing - Know Your Benefits

Before we start to explore the world of fusion, you should have a good understanding of your business, your audience and your marketing objectives.

You should have your mission statement and vision statement prepared for your business. Your mission statement is the definition and understanding of your business; it is a brief review of your company’s objectives. Your vision statement is the direction you see your business going in. Most people have a mission statement, but few take the time to write down what direction or path they vision their venture will take.

Understanding your benefits is also very important. For each section of your business there will be different benefits. Your suppliers, customers, staff, neighbours and community will all receive different benefits from your company. It is important to have an idea of the diverse advantages your business offers, and how they apply to each section.

As an example:

Customers – Benefit from you providing them with a service or product they need. Your customers may also receive other benefits such as information, interaction and experience.

Suppliers – Benefit from you selling more of their product. They also benefit from the exposure you provide through your business and your marketing initiatives.

Staff – Benefit from being employed, and also receive education, experience, interaction and growth.

Neighbours and Community – Benefit from you providing a product / service or increased foot traffic to an area of town or an entire community.

Yo Ho Ho, it's off to the Capitol Kids Series we go!

The Capitol Theatre and Bumblebee Toys Entertain the Kids of the Kootenays

Nelson BC – The Capitol Theatre joins with BumblebeeToys.com to offer a fun giveaway for young theatre goers attending shows for the Capitol Kids Series. Bumblebee Toys is generously donating two large wooden Venture Pirate Ships valued at $200 each to be given away live during the Capitol Kids Series this 2010/11 season.

Every year The Capitol Theatre brings in talented diverse groups that inspire the imagination of the Kids of the Kootenays. The Theatre has been bringing generations of families spirited live entertainment that have inspired and help culture our community. This year The Kids Series is hosting a buffet of fun and excitement for everyone. The adventure starts with The Story of Esther by Major Conrad Flapps, then to the International Magic of ¿Qué Bolá? from Cuba, Flyn’ Bob swings in with his One Man Three Ring Circus and the series ends with a wonderful interpretation of The Velveteen Rabbit by Kathryn Popham. This year the series has something of inspiration for everyone.

To add more excitement for the Kids Series, BumblebeeToys.com has donated two wooden interactive Venture Ships to be awarded live throughout the series to a lucky theatre goer. Bumblebeetoys.com has a mission to inspire the imagination and nourish the senses. That is why they teamed up with the Capitol Theatre and their quest to enrich the imagination and minds of children through live entertainment.

“We are very fortunate to have such a wonderful cultural opportunity with the diverse events featured at the Capitol Theatre Kids Series,” Quotes Neil Harrower Executive Director. “It takes a village to raise a child and we are excited to do our part by providing live entertainment opportunities to youth and young families.”

To find out more about The Capitol Kids Series and get tickets go online at http://www.capitoltheatre.bc.ca/ or call 250.352.6363 and when you go to the show keep a look out for your chance to win one of two Venture Ships from BumblebeeToys.com. See you at the Theatre.

Dreams to Reality - The Power of Positive

Two topics have come to my attention recently – Dreams to Reality and Power of Being Positive. I find these two themes to be very important to the life and the success of businesses.

I want to start with Dreams to Reality; I was recently approached to help facilitate a workshop on helping people take their innovative ideas and make them into a feasible business opportunity.

The first question that I was asked – “Is it possible to help people take an idea from just a thought to an actual achievable concept in just one weekend.” – without hesitation I responded with a YES. But you need to have a path, a plan and access to resources, networks and research.

As I create the path to help people make there Dreams and Ideas become achievable I realized that there is one topic that is not really highlighted in the “Business Success Books” – That is infinite power of being positive.

Sure there are many different books about facing fear, staying positive, but when you are starting out on your own entrepreneurial adventure this power is more important that ever.

Mistakes, research, the off handed negative comments of others – such as, “It’s been done and didn’t work or what kind of world do you live in” – obviously do not help, but it is the mind of the positive thinker that takes anything that is handed to them and turns it into a lesson.

Learning is one of the greatest gifts we have as humans, the more chance there is to learn and improve the better life becomes. The Power of Positive is looking at everything that happens as opportunities to learn.

One of my favourite philosophies is to congratulate yourself whenever you run into an obstacle – you run into obstacles when you are moving – so when you are faced with something to overcome, there is a lesson to be learned and a reason to be positive – you are growing. Growth is what makes us stronger, wiser and happier.

So when you are thinking of an idea, an innovative concept or a dream that you want to make real, it truly is the power of staying positive that will ensure success. Sometimes the process of staying positive will be taxing on you, the reward of learning and overcoming will make the success much sweeter.

Use the Power of Being Positive to help make your Dreams become Reality and Enjoy the process.

Thoughts from the desk of the Juggernaut

KAST Calls for Big Ideas

Business Boot Camp Helps Get Your Buck in Gear

Kootenays BC – On September 24 to the 26th the Kootenay Association for Science and Technology will be educating and inspiring young innovative entrepreneurs to Get their Buck in Gear with a 2.5 day business blitz.

All great businesses and employers started at one time with one idea, one person and one drive to do things differently, better or perhaps do something entirely new all together. In addition to attracting new businesses to the area a sure fire way to grow the economy is to foster, incubate, grow and promote the next big ideas in our youth. Anyone who’s ever been to this region knows that creativity abounds. Building on KAST’s commitment to growing the region’s economy and foster entrepreneurship we’re launching a new event to harness that energy in our youth and help guide that creativity into the next big thing.

There is no better time or opportunity to launch new enterprises than in an economic downturn. With jobs getting that much harder to find, this is the time to run with that great idea to do things better. While great ideas abound, the process of taking idea to money maker can be daunting. To ease that process KAST is launching the first annual Business Boot Camp for Young Entrepreneurs to help teach youth to consider the possibility of creating their own opportunities and jobs.

This two and half day entrepreneurship program is structured to offer practical and hands on learning from generating new ideas, developing them into effective business plans and ultimately launching a new venture. Attendees will participate in sessions that focus on six core components of business and entrepreneurship education: idea generation, vision planning, sales/marketing, networking, technology, and giving back (social entrepreneurship). Budding business moguls will learn first- hand from young local entrepreneur who just like them had the ambition to take their future into their own hands and launched successful businesses.

“This event will not only be informative but inspiring as there will be opportunities for people to find out how they can make their innovative dream become a reality” Quotes Chris Holland Business Facilitator for the Event. “Not only will you be given a path to follow, you will also have the opportunity to network with successful entrepreneurs and gain valuable advice.”

Open to young adults aged 18 to 34 KAST’s Business Boot Camp for young entrepreneurs will provide the information, confidence and push they need to start a business of their own and continue to grow our local economy while retaining the talent of our youth. To find out more and register go online at http://www.kast.com/ or call 250.483.5052.

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What do you mean - Distinction over Competition?

When developing strategic alliances and fusion partnerships a good methodology is Distinction Over Competition.

Distinction is what differentiates you from everyone else. Every business has its own unique mission, vision and benefits. These include the type of products you carry, the brand of products or that distinct way you deliver your services.

Competition is not a bad word, but it is often used in a bad way. Having friendly competition in business can be a motivator, but too many times the word competition is used negatively. There is a mindset that without competition you become the monopoly, which will then guarantee you success in your venture. Some believe the idea in marketing is to crush the competition until they go out of businesses, thus giving you more market share.


Distinction over competition is working together with like-minded business to highlight all of the unique differences that you bring to the same target audience. Even businesses that are in the same industry will have subtle differences. Two stores that sell fashion will have different brands, styles of clothing and shopping environments. Although these two stores could be targeting the same audience, they both provide unique experiences.

Attitude is very important as it contains a hidden message. If you are excited about the variety and different experiences available within your industry, and you educate your customers about it, they will appreciate the enthusiasm and most likely will return. If you are negative about your competition and would like to see them go out of businesses, you could potentially be offending customers (especially in small towns).

Today’s consumers like variety and experience most of all. Being able to have a selection to choose from and creating an enjoyable purchasing process will create a happy customer. Happy customers go on to tell others about their wonderful experience, while dissatisfied customers will tell even more people about their negative experience.

The Fusion Marketing model is based on Distinction over Competition, working together to create a greater impact and reach is achieved through collaboration. When implemented correctly, Fusion Marketing focuses the efforts of a number of businesses to achieve similar goals. By working in a collaborative way you increase your reach and decrease your costs.

GROUNDED GIVES A HUGE SUCCESS - AGAIN

Grounded Gives to the Kids surpassed this years target and raised $3,300 for the Kootenay Kids Society Family and Nutrition Program. Along with donating their daily proceeds Grounded sold $20 cups of coffee that were accompanied by gifts from local businesses. “It is important as business owners to support organizations and programs that we feel benefit our town,” says Sasha Kitch, “If we truly want to be a sustainable community then it is up to us to ensure that everyone gets an opportunity to succeed especially children in need.”

In two years Sasha has raised over $5,500 for the Kootenay Kids Society. Her motivation comes from need that we have to help others in our own community. As we discuss transition and sustainable community it is individuals and business that create fundraising promotions such as these that are part of a solution of action. Have fun with your business celebrate your mission and vision.

Fusion Promotion - Helping the Community

Last year I helped Grounded Organic Coffee House raise money for a local childrens chariety, this year they wanted to do it again, but this time they wanted to do it bigger and better. Here is their first press release for the event. I encourage everyone to use their promotional ability to help others. It makes you feel good.

Photo: Grounded Gives Final Touches – (L to R) Brianna 5years old, helps Sasha of Grounded, Jill of McLaughlin’s and Stephanie of the Kootenay Kids Society put together the gift voucher booklet for the $20 Cup of Coffee to help raise funds and awareness about the Nutrition for Families Program.

Press Release

Contact: Sasha Kitch

Phone: 250. 352.1712

Grounded Gives to the Kids 2010
This year the goal is higher and the benefits are bigger

Nelson BC – On Tuesday May 18th, Sasha Kitch of Grounded Organic Coffee House is once again hosting the hugely successful Grounded Gives to the Kids. Last year Grounded gave all their daily proceeds to the Kootenay Kids Society and raised over $2,000 for the Life After Birth program, this year the team have a bigger goal, to help bring nutrition to children of unfortunate circumstances, the catch is, we have this need right here in Nelson.

The Kootenay Kids Society helps families, especially the young, get the proper nutrition and guidance when it is needed most, at the beginning of life. Kootenay Kids Society’s mission is to help individuals, families and child care providers achieve their full potential through the provision of support, education and childcare programs.

The Kootenay Kids Society provides services and workshops about nutrition, cooking and food preservation which helps families and children get the food they need in the short term and teach them skills to provide for a healthy future. These programs work closely with local resources and businesses making it truly a community effort.

When Grounded was deciding on what they could do this year a big idea and a major project started to form. Sasha discovered that $20 will, not only help a family eat a nutritious meal, but they will also gain knowledge about how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. In short nutritious food and education inspire families to be healthier which directly benefits the community it also reduces savings to healthcare and social services which are major benefits to society.

This is an important issue as the challenges in life don’t exist in isolation, what happens to kids and families is absolutely critical for the well being of a sustainable community.

To help raise awareness and funds for this program Grounded Organic Coffee House and a dozen other businesses have got together to help create a win-win fundraising event. Along with donating her entire day’s proceeds away, Sasha at Grounded and other local businesses have created the $20 Cup of Coffee. Along with your delicious cup of Kootenay Coffee you will get a bundle of gifts generously donated by local businesses. When the call came out to help the Kootenay Kids Society, businesses didn’t even hesitate, the gift bundle is a booklet with vouchers for Candy from Pixie, Toy from Mountain Baby, Fudge from Cottonwood Kitchens, Flower from Touch of Dutch, Emergen-C from Natures Health, Admission to Touchstones, Climb/Try with Gravity Climbing Centre, Drop in pass from Kootenay Fitness and a deal at Tribute Board Shop.

“I feel it is very important that we don’t loose focus on the needs that exist in our own community. It is surprising to hear who in this town has fallen onto tough times and have needed help to get back on their feet. Some of these people have gone on to create major benefits for our town. I do this fundraising event to make sure that everyone gets a chance.” Says Sasha Kitch Owner of Grounded, “Once we decided on what we wanted to do and explained it to our business friends everyone jumped on board, we live in wonderful community.”

On Tuesday May 18th 2010 Grounded Organic Coffee House, 616 Vernon St., will be donating all of their proceeds for day to the Kootenay Kids Society Nutrition for Families; there will also be an opportunity for you to purchase a limited edition $20 cup of Coffee filled with gifts from local businesses. For further information or to reserve your $20 cup of coffee, call Grounded Organic Coffee House at 250.352.1712 and learn more at http://www.kootenaykids.ca/ .

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Fusion Marketing is based on the Fusion Model

The Fusion Model

The fusion model is the practice of having many voices saying the same thing, as opposed to just one. As an example, if you were to go to an event in a stadium or arena there would be the chatter and voices of many people saying many things. With everyone speaking about different things all at once it makes individual messages inaudible. Granted a very boisterous individual may get attention, but it will soon be overcome by the mass noise. At some point at these events a group of people will start to cheer the same message. They will repeat it together and their message will be heard throughout the stadium.

The Fusion Model is getting a group of people to start saying the same message so that it is heard clearly. When many businesses are all trying to get attention, messages get lost, while those who work together with a more unified message are heard clearer. By working together with a number of different businesses your message will have more power and influence, and you may reduce expenses, too.

The benefits to fusion are not just the ability to be heard but also the opportunities to increase your appeal, get more time with customers, lower your marketing costs, become an industry leader, educate more people about your vision and create a “WOW” factor.

Appeal
To have someone to want to come to your establishment is the goal of increasing your appeal. By fusing your efforts with other business, you have a bigger voice explaining to people why they should utilize your services. When one business refers customers to another, it acts as a testimonial.

Time
When like-minded businesses work together they can create more experiences for their target audience to enjoy. A group of business that send out a message that there are plenty of shops of the same industry in a specific community say that there is an opportunity to experience variety. There is a ratio of the distance a consumer will travel vs. the amount of time they will spend at their destination. Giving your target audience more to do will get them to come from greater distances and stay longer.

Costs
When you work as a group you have the opportunity to share costs. You also have the opportunity to utilize the benefits of your businesses to reduce expenditures. Contributing prizing, sharing displays and working for trade are examples of cost effective marketing ideas.

Leader
The best way to understand your audience is to do research. Businesses who communicate well with each other will share industry knowledge. When a customer realizes that you are a resource of information in your industry they will be more likely to refer your services or repeat business. A leader of their industry will know what is best for the customer even if it involves referring them to a competitor. When a customer is satisfied they will tell friends, if they are unhappy they will tell everyone.

Educate
From letting people know about your new product line, to helping causes get a stronger voice, you have an opportunity to increase the reach of your message by working with a group. Your service may be a benefit and complement another business; working together to educate your audience will result in smarter consumer.

WOW!
It is that goal we strive for when we are trying to impress. To get a “WOW” response from your target audience gets attention, and people have fun in the process. The formula to going from a good marketing campaign to a WOW campaign is passion and teamwork. When there are many people working on individual aspects of a marketing program they focus their enthusiasm.

Last year Sasha Kitch of Grounded Organic Coffee House gave all of her proceeds for one day to the Kootenay Kids Society Life after Birth Program. Sasha created a Fusion Promotion to raise money and awareness for a group that she is very close to. She worked with the business community, suppliers and the society to raise over $2,000 for the local family resource. This year she is adding more fusion partners and looking to raise even more money this year.

Stay tuned for updates on Grounded Gives to the Kids 2010.

Cold Call Myth

Throughout the years Nasty ways of motivating and negative experiences with making a business call have created “Cold Call” myths.

These myths present the “Cold Call” as a difficult process, which should only be attempted by those that are trained, experienced, have tough skin, enormous super sales powers and ability to deflect negative comments without wincing. There are many Myths about Cold Calling from “I don’t want to be like a telemarketer” to “What if they tell me to stop hassling them and leave them alone?”

What is important to remember is that a myth has purpose. A myth, according to the wikipedia.org
“A myth is often thought to be a lesson in story form which has deep explanatory or symbolic resonance for preliterate cultures, who preserve and cherish the wisdom of their elders through oral traditions by the use of skilled story tellers.”
http://www.google.ca/url?sa=X&start=1&oi=define&q=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth

Anyone who has had a negative experience with making a business call will most likely pass on this information to others, specifically to people who will be making the same type of call. By passing on this negative experience there is reinforcement into the fearful aspects of making a business call.

A “Cold Call”, simply put, is a sales call. You need to generate revenue for your business so you must sell. This opens up another Myth about the “Cold Call”, that when making a call you are coming off as a stereotypical salesperson. Ask your friends what words they associate when you say “Sales”, they will usually come up with a list of “Salespeople” that they profile and present in a negative manner. “Car Sales, Telemarketers, Door to Door, In Your Face”.

There is one thing that we all can agree upon; profiling is not a good way to describe anyone. We are all individuals and we all have our own perspectives and ways of doing things.

In business we have to generate revenue to succeed. We generate revenue by conducting sales; you determine how sales will be done. The wonderful thing about myths is they are lessons.

Each myth or story you hear about making any type of business call will have a lesson buried inside.

When conducting a sale you are establishing a relationship of equal benefit to all parties involved. This seems to be an easy process but when first establishing the relationship there can be hesitation and apprehension due to unknown fears.

Passion a Secret Ingredient to Sales

I have three secret ingredients to Sales. The first and most important is Passion.

Passion is one of the most talked and written about subjects. It has been proven that passion is a key for success and happiness. This topic is too big to cover in a quick blog entry so I will be addressing Passion at least once a month while I re-introduce an old friend… “Roy”.

When I first arrived in Nelson I was blown away by the amount of talent and skill that existed in such a small community, one of my first encounters was with a much understated yet highly gifted illustrator Kevin Macintyre.

I love comic illustrations, they posses the ability to say many things in a very short period of time and the best have hidden elements and messages that are exposed to you as you grow with the characters.

When I met Kevin he was discovering his new world as he produced a comic strip titled “Roy”. The thing that got me excited was to meet someone with such quiet passion. When I first met Kevin I came off I little bit too energetic – but you will learn more about this later. His talent and passion are not visible to the naked eye; and I feel that this type of energy exists in all of us. When you look deep within yourself, no matter who you are, you will find your own superhero no matter how far you have to go.

I sometimes hear people comment about how they wish they had the energy that passion seems to need. Truth is, passion comes in many shapes forms and styles. Find your passion and explore it, you may be very surprised at what you discover.

I will talk further about passion in future blogs, but for now let me introduce you to Roy…

Fusion Partners with Green Words

A true Fusion Mind explores all areas of oneself and will find like minded / compatible people to work with. I need help with grammar, spelling and getting my great ideas into a professional format. For this, I use Anne Champagne at Green Words. She is very busy, due to her excellent work, so if you need editing, writing or research, call her soon!

Here is a write up about her business with links to her webpage.

Green Words Writing and Editing

Take one nature lover, add a genetic predisposition for good spelling and you (eventually) get Green Words Writing and Editing: help for the linguistically challenged, the wordophobe, and those too busy to tangle with dangling participles.

A 30-year veteran in the environmental field, Green Words' owner Anne Champagne specializes in researching, writing and copy editing words devoted to protecting all things green and beautiful. That hasn't stopped her from red penning everything from art to travel writing, psychology, scientific reports, fiction and poetry. She's copy edited books, magazines, a newspaper, websites, reports, brochures and ads and would like to do so for you. Crazed souls from book editors to magazine mavens have thought her prose worthy of print, going so far as to include it in a coffee-table book, Islands of Hope: Ontario's Park and Wilderness.

"It's all about credibility," says Anne. "What you have to say is considered more trustworthy and legitimate if it's clearly written and free of typos and grammatical errors."

Anne draws on her university training in environmental studies and communication, and college training in copy editing (a BA in Environment-Resources Studies and English and a master's degree in Environmental Studies with a focus on communication). She works with another seasoned researcher/writer and a graphic designer to turn out finished documents, ready to make their mark on the world.

Whether you're a non-profit group, academic, publisher, writer, consultant or green business, Green Words will do the research you don’t have time to do, write copy suited to your target audience, and clear your documents of spelling and grammatical glitches. At a discount if you're a non-profit.

According to one Green Words client, "Anne’s amazing attention to detail and ability to quote reliable sources for her suggestions and proposed changes are second to none. I don’t think you will find anyone more dedicated or reliable in the industry."

Green Words Writing and Editing
http://www.green-words.ca/
250 358-2666
annec@green-words.ca

The Marketing Crossroads – Time to Evaluate and Plan

There is a time of year when it is critical to make key decisions about your marketing plan. Now is the time! Every January offers us a critical time to evaluate the past year’s marketing effectiveness. Even if your business year-end doesn’t coincide with the “New Year” it still offers many opportunities for you to improve your marketing efforts.

The “New Year” offers a psychological reboot to the mind of the consumer. There are predictable trends that happen throughout the year, but a collective thought in January is to get into shape. This also applies to businesses: retail is clearing out inventory, tourism is preparing for the next season and manufacturing is constantly preparing for the next seasonal industry purchase.

No matter what state your business is in, start-up or existing, it is important to reflect on the marketing decisions of the past year, compare them to the actual earnings achieved and evaluate the effectiveness of each strategy. This will also help you to be better prepared for the up and coming year and you can improve your Marketing Plan so it will better serve your business.

Too many times when businesses are looking for ways to improve their bottom line, they panic and fret and react to marketing decisions based on pressured or hurried tactics. Many of these businesses do not have a controlled Marketing Plan. By not having control over your marketing or a system to keep it organized a business will end up wasting a lot of time and money.

People are constantly faced with different tools and methods to market their business and at this crossroads there are more choices than ever.

In the past five years there has been a steady increase and change in the opportunities available online. There are now specialists that preach the domination of this media as the new coming messiah of marketing. It is true that there are many new benefits and opportunities with the development of technology but these new systems are only effective when balanced with traditional marketing.

A wise man once said “The more means there are to communicate the more communication needs to have meaning.” –Anonymous

Online technology is growing faster than any other marketing tool and people are finding it hard to keep up. Business owners and marketing managers are constantly being introduced to and “sold” on the latest trend. This is causing a backlog of confusion and fear. People are feeling slightly overwhelmed by the opportunities now available to them and some find that proceeding down a new path can be intimidating and difficult.

The new marketing opportunities available to us and the beginning of the year make this marketing crossroads more important than ever.

To get started, do it yourself, and have an area, department, individual or time allotted each day to review and plan for your marketing future. Some people are naturals at this but they miss out on organizational details such as keeping good notes, having a logical plan that follows a natural flow and focusing on your purpose and goals for each activity.

Some businesses find that they do not have enough time to plan strategically and usually make reactionary marketing decisions that are not cost effective. If you are having time troubles this is a good opportunity to sit down with a professional to get expert advice on the best uses of your marketing time and budget. The key is to find a Marketing Consultant who has a firm grasp of traditional marketing but is also versed in the benefits of new opportunities/technology. In the marketing toolbox there are so many opportunities that it is important to focus and find the best methods for your business, taking into account the distinct characteristics of each industry.

Over the past year Juggernaut Marketing Communications has been developing and testing a new Organizational Methodology that helps businesses create an easy to implement Marketing Plan. This system takes into account the individuality of each industry and the logical flow of a successful marketing campaign. The 7 Slices of Marketing Success is a revolutionary new system for ensuring the success of a business's marketing efforts. It does this by creating a more fluid and easy to follow system. The principle of the 7 Slices of Marketing Success is that every Marketing Plan needs to have a clear objective, purpose and goals. The 7 slices are prioritized steps that when implemented correctly create a logical flow to your marketing efforts. The 7 Slices are 1. Sales, 2. Direct Contact, 3. Online, 4. Publicity, 5. Promotions/Events, 6. Advertising and 7. Fusion. These slices work together in a prioritized sequence to make sure that any marketing campaign is utilizing all of the opportunities available.

This January is a crucial crossroads for marketing and no matter what marketing you do, you should have a plan. Take the time this month to get organized and gain control of your marketing efforts. The most successful businesses have a very clear plan that balances what they will implement and what type of returns they will receive from their investment.

Juggernaut Marketing Communications has embedded the 7 Slices methodology into an annual marketing review and recommendation package that will help businesses gain control and ensure their annual Marketing Plan is efficient and effective. To find out more contact Chris Holland of Juggernaut Marketing Communications at 250.505.5016 or email info@JuggernautMC.com. You can also find research on http://www.juggernautmc.com/, http://juggernautmc.blogspot.com/ and http://juggernautpr.blogspot.com/