Vision Of Success

I’ve been hearing a lot about The Long Tail by Chris Anderson the past week - so it’s on my list to get and read here in the next couple of weeks.

The Long Tail is the current process we are going through with dividing up industries into niches, and specialize as far down as we can. The question is

Is this actually hurting our businesses, causing a majority to eventually go out of business because they can’t compete and make money?

It’s an interesting concept. I’ve faced this question myself many times. If you have the opportunity to hire specialized training, why would you hire generalized? As a consumer of goods, we want to get the most bang for our buck; so we’ll always choose to go specialized. But once you specialize too far down, can you never make a successful and highly profitable business?

While much of what is written about The Long Tail refers to the publishing/music/movie/video industries, it can easily apply to every industry in existence. As it becomes easier to distribute things via the Internet, it makes more sense to divide it down to the lowest niche possible. Giving people a choice makes selling easier.

How is this going to effect us as business owners in the future?

Stay tuned - I’ll post again when I’ve finished The Long Tail.

Lori

P.S. Have you read The Long Tail? I’d love to hear your comments.

Have you ever advertised in magazines?

With today’s marketing alternatives, is advertising in a magazine good for business?

For some businesses, its all about exposure. They advertise month after month simply because they always have. For others, they do it because everybody else does.

Shouldn’t you advertise in a magazine only if its bringing in leads?

Why pay thousands of dollars to have an ad, if you can’t get any business from it? I think it makes more sense to test every marketing technique you have, and make sure its working for you. If not - try something new.

Do you agree or disagree? Comment here.

Lori

Google just announced it’s buying YouTube.com for 1.65 billion. And it’s just a two year old company. And it’s never made a profit.

Not bad for a couple of entrepreneurs.

But what could make a company like this valuable to Google, when its not bringing in any income?

It’s the traffic.

YouTube.com has done a great job capturing attention. They understood the real value is in the list. The more people they have on the list - the more valuable they became.

Guess it worked.

We could all take a lesson from growing a list.

Lori

If you’re website has been the same for awhile now, maybe its time for a change.

That was my thought’s this past month, so we’ve been working hard to change our website dedicated to helping small businesses with their search engine optimization techniques. http://www.visionbusinessconcepts.com/

One of the things we decided to do is to add a portfolio, to allow more specific niche markets the ability to have samples out online. Take a look at our portfolio http://www.visionbusinessconcepts.com/small-business-web-design.htm

Changing your site allows you to grow and change. It allows you to better connect with your customer and visitors. Maybe its time to change your website as well.

Lori

I discovered a great site today - Fontifier.

For $9 you can have your own handwriting on your computer, and send out notes in your own handwriting. What a great concept!

When I saw this, I started imagining the possiblities. Writing thank you notes to clients and prospects. Writing notes to people you meet at networking events. Writing sales letters on your website.

Before I would always have to use a scan of my signature to create certain marketing pieces. No more! Check out Fontifier. http://www.fontifier.com

Lori