I was playing around on Facebook today, and I saw a link to this news story which was posted by one of my friends (thanks for the link Mary). Okay (for those of you that can’t / don’t want to risk clicking on the link) so basically this lady was celebrating her 35th birthday with her 8 year old daughter and so they decided to dress up as princesses and go to Disneyland in Paris. She was told by a guard at the gate that she looked too much like a princess which may confuse kids into thinking that she worked at Disney. As a result, the woman was not gained admittance to the park.

Wow, talk about ridiculous. I know that protecting your brand and controlling your message is very important, but this is a perfect example of just going too far. What would it have hurt? So what if some kid thought she looked like a real princess? If she started getting unruly they could’ve always kicked her out then, just like they would with anyone else.  Really, if they think that she resembles one of the characters, then maybe they should’ve offered her a job instead.

The lady had even called the park before they showed up to see if it would be a problem, and they said it would be fine. I guess this means that there’s no policy against dressing up; perhaps this is a case of an overzealous guard. Who knows. In any case, the lesson here is that you need to understand all of your responsibilities as a marketer, not just one thing or the other. Disney is supposed to be the happiest place on earth, and something as innocent as dressing up as a princess should not just be tolerated, it should be celebrated.

What do you guys think?

In terms of dollars, there’s a pretty simple formula to find out the lifetime value of a customer. Check it out…

Average transaction amount multiplied by the number of transactions per year multiplied by the number of years a customer stays loyal to your business.

This formula will spit out a dollar value which will help show you where to improve your business to make it more profitable. Adjusting any of the elements in the formula can have an exponential impact on your profits. It will also help you come to understand just how important it is to keep your customers happy. It puts a dollar value on your customer service (sort of), and also shows you how your relationship with your customers is a vital component to success. Remember, marketing is all about relationships.

As a marketer though, I have to say that this formula only tells one part of the story. The money part. As you know numbers are only one aspect of marketing. This is why many refer to marketing as an art. There are alot of variables in this game, and mastering these variables is what will make you successful. There are many things this formula doesn’t take in to account. How many people is this customer going to tell about your company? What are they going to say (You can be a customer and still have a negative opinion of the business; look at all the folks dissatisfied with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, but continue to give Activision more money)? What about changes in the economy, like the one we’ve been facing for the past few years? How will that affect your business? What is it that makes your customers come back? I could go on, but you get the point.

Customers are the fuel that moves business. Without them, you’re history. In my view, you can’t begin to put a dollar amount on the relationships that you build with your business. I think the lifetime value of a customer is priceless.

What do you think? Comment below or email me at edwardviator@evil-marketer.com

Entrepreneurs drive the business world. They are the ones that take the big risks. They move fast instead of waiting for things to happen. They are way more action oriented than other companies. They have the tenacity and drive to succeed. So why then do so many start up companies fail. There are some obvious reasons, such as the usual barriers to entry; it can be difficult especially if you are trying to go up against the big boys without a tenth of their budget. But I believe there’s more to it than that. I think many entrepreneurs are so excited to start their business that they do so without giving the process enough thought and planning. This is especially true of online businesses, where the start-up costs are relatively cheaper (the cost of a domain is much cheaper than renting an office). Here are some reasons why I think many new bushiness fail…

1. Belief that being good is all that is needed to be successful

I live in a neighborhood where many people know how to cook excellent food. Yet, there aren’t many successful “mom and pop” restaurants. Sure, I see new ones pop up all the time, but they don’t really last very long. Having visited some of these places (hey I’m all about helping local business thrive) I can tell you the quality of the food is far superior to most places. However, quality is just not good enough in this day in age. You can have the best product in the world, but it doesn’t matter if you aren’t taking care of your other business responsibilities. Little things like bringing in customers, pricing strategy, customer service, location, keeping proper hours, etc. Having an excellent product is a definite must, but don’t forget that it’s only one piece of the business puzzle. Remember the basics… play to your strengths and passions, be objective in regards to your business, and seek help from others when you need it.

2. Lack of goals

Let’s face it, this is a problem even for the big companies. The difference is that they can afford to make mistakes, you can’t. One of my favorite movies of all time is “Deep Cover” (yeah, I said it), and there’s one part in that movie where a father turns to his son and asks him what he wants for Christmas. The kid shrugs and says he doesn’t know. The father then says something like “how are you ever gonna get what you want if you don’t even know what you want.” Exactly, I couldn’t have said it better myself. Setting goals is essential in life and in business. Sit down and identify your personal goals. See where they sync up with your business goals (spend more time with your family, more money, etc), visualize what you want to achieve, and then develop a plan to get there. Set up milestones (divide your big goal into smaller objectives), and timelines to achieve these milestones. Prioritize your efforts around these goals and milestones and you will be much more focused on what is important to you. There are rules for setting goals, but I’m sure we’ll get to that in a later post.

3. No process

One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is that they have no systematic processes for anything. Most of them keep everything in their head, and never commit ideas to paper. Let’s face it, business is complex. If it wasn’t then we wouldn’t have to go to school for years to learn how to do it, and you probably wouldn’t be reading my posts. Put those ideas on paper. Write out your processes, especially for some of the more complex things. This will make it easier for you to identify where things can be improved. Also it makes it easier to train others whenever you get to that point. Remember, a good business needs structure, processes, and people. You need a plan, tasks, timelines, etc to reach that plan, and people to execute it.

There are probably more things that I’m leaving out, but these are the major factors. What do you think? Why do you think so many start-up companies fail? More importantly what can entrepreneurs do to make sure they succeed?

The sixth trend that Seth Godin discusses in Meatball Sundae is “Outsourcing.” It’s no secret that outsourcing has become a way of life for business people today. It’s an easy and inexpensive way to get things done, and can really boost your productivity. That being said, you should use caution when choosing to outsource; just because you can doesn’t mean that you should. The best tasks to outsource are those by-the-book things that are necessary for business, but are too expensive to do in-house. If you are a small business, outsourcing things like payroll or accounting may be the only way to get things done. Rather than spend the money to purchase a new server it may be a good idea to hire a web hosting service. Instead of paying for a silk screening machine, perhaps you should order T-shirts from a company that already has the equipment.

So when shouldn’t you outsource? When it involves your customers, when you can genuinely do a better job in-house, when you have a specific process or philosophy that cannot be duplicated, etc. One thing that always bothers me when companies choose to outsource customer service. How can you say you care about your customers when all you are doing is putting them off on someone else. Who else understands your clients better than you? Sometimes it’s best to take matters in your own hands, especially when it’s something that the customer is going to see.

It’s possible that you are currently in a job that may be outsourced. It’s a scary thought, but the sad reality is that if something can be outsourced, it will be at some point. The best way to cope with this is to do something in a way that cannot be duplicated. This means that you need to have the freedom to take on your tasks in a creative way. If successful, it can be a great way to differentiate yourself from other companies that rely on the one size fits all strategy of outsourcing.

Notable quotes from this section:

• “No industry is going to be untouched by the move to outsource anything that saves time or money.”
• “If a job can be codified, it will be outsourced, usually for less money.”