Tag Archives: franchise marketing

Grey Area: Personal and Business

Now that Social Media is providing businesses with personal flexibility in connecting to consumers in their personal spaces, where does the line get crossed between personal and business? And does anyone even care that the line is getting crossed? And who is to blame?
While many aren’t concerned with pointing fingers, if we had to, we could blame Apple. Apple started coming into our homes with their iTunes and iPod and iMinyourpersonalspace. They created the iPhone, which has prompted many businesses to create plugins and widgets designed for capturing their audience on their phones in their personal spaces.

But it’s really not Apple’s fault. It’s the fault of Friendster and MySpace and Facebook and the list goes on. They created these free (with the exception of time) outlets for people to connect. Did they think businesses weren’t going to jump into these worlds and interact too? Of course they knew businesses would follow – that’s the ultimate source of revenue.

But can we really blame Social Media mediums as the fault provider? Nope. Not in the graying of the space.

We can only blame ourselves. We, us as people, have welcomed technology into our homes – and have welcomed business into our every breath. We don’t turn our heads when businesses ask to friend, follow, or tag us. We love it. We desire these interactions.

A long time ago work was left at work. Now cell phones provide us instant access to our email, and more importantly our Facebook. We can even text our message to a huge audience through Twitter.

The area has been grayed, and unfortunately, there is no turning back.

This is good for franchisors, though. When budgets are being slashed, there are still methods of marketing to a large crowd in cost efficient ways. Social Media may have destroyed life as we KNEW it, but it is providing a smarter universe and a smarter connection with our consumers.

What Makes a Community?

It’s a good question, right? Most entrepreneurs need to understand some form of an answer to this question to be successful in their industry, their market, their goals. What makes a community? Is it the people? Is it the perception? Is it you? Or is it all of the above?

I have watched franchisees struggle, and I mean struggle, to drive sales in their local markets. Nearly 9 out of 10 times, the reason for their struggles is their lack of community. Not the lack of available community, but the lack of their community. They are not out there fighting to make a name for themselves and for their brand. If you are not willing to fight, then why are you an entrepreneur?

The answer to that question, especially coming from those who are struggling is probably going to be, “because I don’t want to work in a corporate environment and I know what I am doing.” Right. Your franchisor will require you to spend a portion of your funds on marketing, but are you spending more on top of that?

The economy sucks. Duh. But you have to keep spending. You have to keep innovating. Are you watching what other businesses in your community are doing? Did they sponsor the lighting of the Christmas tree? Wonder why? Maximum community exposure.

Work on it. Tag teaming with other local businesses is an easy way to do it. I once worked with a franchisee who did a simple bbq, had the fire department park the fire truck outside for children to play on, and teamed with the businesses in his complex to promote it and to split ad costs. The ROI? More exposure, more sales, community relationships and support.

Yes, it takes time to plan something, but as a franchisee looking to really tap into their community, this is something you cannot afford not to do. Establish yourself as a leader, innovator, and community supporter. It will make these times a lot more bearable.