January 2015

Write4Growth

In the five years or so of writing these monthly columns I've been asked a lot of questions and been given a lot of feedback. Therefore, I assumed my readers understood my reasons for sending the B2Seed. Then it occurred to me I could use the B2Seed as a topic of a B2Seed.

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Wow. That's Deep.

Except it's not - it's really quite simple. Naturally, I like to write - hopefully you can tell that from the energy that goes into delivering some value to you with these monthly pieces. But it's far more than just being an outlet for my dormant passion for creative writing driving this work. I send these out to you as my own way to keep my company and our work in front of you on a regular basis.

It's a form of top-of-mind awareness that has proven helpful to our company through the years.

Applied2You

Whether you are a good writer, a good speaker, or have some other talent, it's important to have a plan and work on some sort of regular new business outreach. Monthly has been comfortable for me. I know others who like to blog daily or some who speak to groups quarterly. The interval isn't nearly as important as the act of a consistent communication.

It's the same structure that has proven so successful for so many of our clients who practice regular advertising, marketing, or public relations.

People don't always need your help, that's true. When they do, you want to make it easy to find you. With potential B2C Enterprises' clients, they know they are at most about four weeks away from hearing from us again. In addition, they can quickly pull up an old issue or look us up online.

Value. A Pause. A Chance to Connect.

December 2014

Wisdom4Me

It's been nearly nine years since my mother, Mary Sue Bryan, died.

I constantly think about the many things she taught me over the years. But most recently, one lesson in particular has come to the surface.

It's especially meaningful now that I am nearly 50 years old. She would say, "You have to learn something new every day." Followed by, "You can't go to sleep until you learn something new."

Whether it was through reading or listening or perhaps even watching TV, I'd figure out a new concept then smile and say to mom, "I can go to bed now."

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Learn2Grow

It's easy to get into a routine. Patterns - good and bad ones both - form before we know it. Before too long they simply become the "way we do things around here". The fastest way to break a routine is to learn new things. As we get older that gets harder to do - not because there is less to learn, but because our approach has been grounded and formed.

New concepts. New forms of media. New ways to message and advertise.

All these options leave us with a basic choice.

Do we keep doing what we've been doing and stay comfortable with the way we've always done business, or do we embrace learning and stretch ourselves? Careful... that's a trick question. You don't really have a choice. You have to adapt and you must embrace learning and the new. Otherwise, you'll be swallowed up and your business left behind. So go ahead and try it. Learn something new.

Then you can go to sleep.

November 2014

Plan4Success

How will you use your marketing budget this coming year?

Recently, I've run into a particularly large number of businesses who are trying to do this on their own. TV? Digital? Radio? Newspapers? Magazines? Direct Mail?

Not to mention ad specialties, shopping carts, and all kinds of other options. Our team does this for a living and it can be a lot to keep up with. It's hard for me to imagine business owners tackling this on their own. Especially when deciding where to advertise is really only half the battle - and possibly not even the most important half...

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Look22015

Finding the most effective way to get your message in front of the right audience is essential. However, using the same advertising mediums you've always used is not a surefire way to grow your company anymore. Once you're confident of where you'll advertise, it's time to figure out what to say to your clients, patients, and prospects.

I spend a lot of time on the road - usually around 22,000 miles a year. When you're in your car as much as I am you notice things. To top it off, I'm in advertising so I tend to pay closer attention to ad campaigns more than most. Invariably the radio commercials, billboards, and outdoor advertising that best capture my attention use room and space to provoke my thoughts.

They interrupt me.

Lamar Advertising (the billboard company) does a particularly good job. Their self-promotion catches my attention. Then I wonder why they don't work harder to convince their advertisers to use similar simple messaging.

How about you? Where will you advertise next year? And what will you say?

October 2014

Breathe2Grow

You probably answer "busy" when asked that all too familiar question; "how is work going?"

It's the most common response to the question regularly asked by friends, family, and associates. So much so, your reply just spills out before you even know it.

Less of us are in the work force, yet more work is being required - or that's at least how it seems. Add in the ever present smart phones and the needs our co-workers, bosses, and clients have for immediate information and you have a recipe for some extremely busy days.

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An experienced palate will note the hint of looming deadlines.

Here's the thing --- busyness doesn't equal business.

Examine4Change

You can scurry from task to task - even cross off the plentiful items on your "To Do" list - but that doesn't mean you are successfully navigating your day or the priorities that come with genuine business. Perhaps you've heard me discuss the tyranny of the urgent. Maybe you've paid big bucks for time management classes or systems. Sometimes you could be in servitude to your email inbox.

Those are the very things that keep us busy. They aren't necessarily the things of business.

It's time to focus our efforts on the real facets that make others want to do business with us, the genuine connection that builds lasting relationships.

Last month I had some unusual feelings about how things were going with a few of my key clients. Instead of firing off a series of emails or clicking through my ever-present "To Do" list, I decided to specifically reach out to each of them, meet them where they were, and ask how they thought things were going. Getting honest feedback isn't always fun, but it is a great way to see how you are doing and determine how you can get better.

So get busy with the important part of business.

September 2014

Brand4Business

Tell people who you are and explain what you do.

It seems pretty easy on the surface but many companies struggle to define themselves and do so in a way that others understand. Over the past several months, B2C Enterprises has had the fortune of helping several companies do just that. By creating a name as well as defining their brand, B2C helps companies expand and grow their product or service lines. We use our proprietary Brand2Capture process to walk our clients through the elements that help define them, the look that aligns with who they are, and language that captures what they do.

While the process may be the same, the results never are. They can't be - because no two situations or businesses are exactly alike. What seems to get most people stuck is defining exactly what they do.

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Sometimes it is easier than others.

What2Do

A while back I saw the familiar look of a Chicago Police cruiser. It was the same as I'd seen in movies like the Blues Brothers or Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It remained just like it was on ER and all the other shows throughout the years. I'd seen it hundreds of times - or maybe more. This time, however, something different caught my attention.

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On every cruiser is the phrase, "we serve and protect". A very strategic move from a police department rooted in a not-so-appealing past. To overcome this perception, the Chicago Police Department emphasizes and defines their roll to first "serve" the community and then "protect" it. A daily reminder about what those men and women are called to do.

Simple and direct.

How about you? What does your business, medical practice or organization intend to do?

August 2014

Time4Reflection

When did advertising become a naughty word?

Most of us skip ads on TV, complain about them in the newspaper, fuss about them on billboards while driving down the highway, change channels when they come on the radio, and get irritated when they pop up on a favorite web site. That isn't even to mention the ones that are displayed in magazines, pulled behind airplanes at football games (starting this weekend), shown on the stalls at the neighborhood restaurant bathrooms, and we're just getting started.

People hate ads.

That's why it's so fun to be in advertising. It's a competition. A game.

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GAME ON!

How2Play the Game

Can we get your attention and interrupt you? Or will you stay on track and avoid our message?

People actually appreciate the good advertisements. Really. A well placed billboard for a restaurant at an exit when you are hungry is just right. An ad for that perfect pair of shoes on the web site you visited a few weeks back may be just the ticket. A radio spot that uses the "theatre of the mind" or the early February TV commercials that keep getting interrupted by that silly football game are both examples of the appreciation the American public has for advertising.

I've been told I'm weird before so you won't hurt my feelings, but I love advertising. There I said it. I love when a message is clear, clean, and makes me think. I love when someone tells a story or catches me off guard. I am thankful when I am on the highway running too low on gas and the sign up ahead tells me how much it costs.

Admit it - when it's good, you like advertising too. When it's good that is.

So embrace advertising - don't call everything marketing or communications. Advertise. It's good for business - when it is done right, well, and smartly.