brisecarpenter.com

It was my distinct pleasure to spend a week recently with my friends and clients at Stein Eriksen Lodge.  If you are planning a trip to the Park City area in the near future, it doesn’t get better than Stein, trust me.  I’ve skied a variety of snow from Colorado to Oregon and everything in-between, nothing quite like Deer Valley.  Stein Lodge is situated beautifully at mid-mountain Deer Valley and I look forward to many future trips to the Lodge.

By the way, service and hospitality at Stein are legendary, scenes from “Be our Guest” (Beauty and the Beast) come to mind, all you fellow parents will know what I mean and everyone else can just layoff, it’s a Disney phase.  I hope everyone is having a great winter and I hope to see you all on the slopes soon.

I had the pleasure of visiting a client in La Jolla last week, The Grande Colonial Hotel.  For those of you who have ever wondered what going the extra mile looks like I think I found it, at least from a hospitality point of view.  Each employee I spoke with at The GC asked how my stay was or if they could help in anyway.  A friendly staff matched with comfortably decorated space and rooms  makes them an all around “extra mile” recipient.  Thanks to Kim and all my friends at the GC, I hope to be back soon.

…Is coffee at One Street Down.  If you’re a Central Oregon local and have not made your way down to 124 SW 7th Street Redmond, also known as One Street Down Cafe, you gotta go.  Coffee from 11R roasters and homemade breakfast and pastries make this the BEST cafe in Redmond.

Bring your computer or IPad and enjoy the free wi-fi for a relaxed and fun environment.  Tell ‘em Brise sent you and let me know what you think.  Happy Friday.

OK, simple concept here but I have to get it out there.  Here’s the story, I spoke with a friend recently who owns a new restaurant he’s working to get established in his local area.  He was explaining to me all these different ways he was marketing his business through ads, mail and even on-line.  Pretty smart right?  Well, smart if it’s working and he won’t know if it is for a few weeks.  I was glad that he was taking the initiative, since most business owners do little to no marketing to attract new business.

But… Here’s where I got concerned.  I asked him what his strategies were to encourage current clients to come back?  He didn’t have any.  So, here’s the simple concept: it costs you less to convince a previous client to buy from you again as compared to getting a new client.

My concern is that as a small business owner, he needs to use the most cost effective ways to get business, whether new or repeat.  What I recommended he do can be done by any business.

• Know who your clients are and gather as much of their contact information as possible.  This is the list you should be actively marketing promotions, new products and special offers to.

So often business owners get distracted by marketing to new prospects because it’s fun and sexy.  If you have clients who use your business, or have used your business in the past, it is a good idea to focus some marketing on them.  A brand new client has to be convinced to trust you and do business with you, your current clients are easier, with less convincing necessary.

So next time you consider marketing to a bunch of people who have never heard of you, make sure you’re also talking to those who already trust you.  Have a great weekend and remember only good things in…

Quick recap on yesterdays post.  If you’re a business owner, you must be unique or die.  Why?  If your product or service is not unique you are in danger of being a commodity trader, where your products value is derived from price alone.  In order to charge a respectable premium for your product or service and build longevity for your brand, simply add two heaping cups of value. Here is my shortlist of ways your business can be unique and add value:

• Create a unique experience.  Breedlove Guitar’s here in Bend, OR has an excellent example of this, check it out here.
• Create a unique name or package for your service or product, e.g. if you are a landscape company, you may create the following unique package to stabilize cash flow throughout the year: “The Central Oregon Lawn Care Package” which includes Summer, Spring, Fall and Winter lawn maintenance, customized for the changing conditions in Central Oregon.
• Get a unique endorsement from an organization or individual who has clout with your audience.
• Have a unique price.  Whether it’s cheaper or more expensive, your price can say a lot about your offering.  A higher price in particular implies higher quality and higher value for your offering.
• Offer several price levels or packages instead of one price fits all.  This can help you engage different segments of your audience.  There are, however, some strategies to consider around pricing, a topic for future discussion though.
• Do something your competition can’t or is not willing to do, e.g. partner with another local business to create a more powerful service or product offering.
• Serve your client’s employees or help them look good to their clients.  This idea stems from that fact that we all like to look good, therefore, if there is some way that you can make your clients look good to their employees or their clients, you should, e.g. send donuts to your client’s team once a quarter or provide your clients with a monthly newsletter template that they can modify and provide to their clients.
• Create “Golden Handcuffs”, the above example of a monthly newsletter is actually an example of this.  If your clients use the newsletter you provide, it is more difficult for them to leave you and creates a greater pain of disconnect.

Hopefully those ideas help you get a start.  I’d love to hear your feedback or opinions.  Until next time, only good things in…

Let me start by saying, sleeping in a bed is where it’s at.  I can say this with confidence because for a couple nights I have slept in a recliner with my sick little buddy snugged on my chest.  Super comfortable for him, a little less than comfortable for me.  Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate these simple times in my life but there is really something to be said for sleeping in the prone position.

Speaking of prone position, a thought occurred to me during the sleepless hours last night.  Your competition’s on their back.

Let me explain.  If you’re a business owner, restaurant, real-estate, contractor or whatever, I bet your competition is doing little to differentiate themselves from you, or the rest of the marketplace for that matter.  Why is this important to recognize?  Because it’s a HUGE opportunity for you to dominate your local market.  Think about it.  If your competition is laying on their back, all you have to do to be a more viable choice is raise your arm.  Enter marketing question #1 that you must answer, “Why should I (the consumer) do business with you?”  Want to know a great way to put this into practice?  Well, here’s a good start…

Identify 3 unique reasons for a client to do business with you instead of the other guys.  If you can successfuly implement 3 unique reasons to do business with you, you can move ahead of the pack.  Most small to medium size business owners put themselves in a dangerous position by not differentiating.  I say DANGEROUS because if you don’t differentiate, you are in danger of becoming a commodity.  That is to say, your product or service is based on price alone, this is bad because it is more difficult to charge a premium for your product or service if its only value is based on price.  Make sense?  I hope so.

Jump on my blog tomorrow and I’ll share my brainstorm list of “unique reasons” that can be applied to your business.  My hope is that this will help you get the juices flowing.  Here’s to your good nights sleep and as always; only good things in…

Boy, sure is great to feel the sun again here in Central Oregon.  As I write this post, enjoying some late-afternoon sun, I reflect on the mentors in my life who have made a difference; I think you know who you are.

Anyway, 5 quick reasons I would recommend everyone has one, or several, mentors:

1. “You’re too close to the project of your life”, get some perspective from another angle and maybe change your own view.
2. “Do what they say, not what they did”, a great mentor will provide you with valuable experiential knowledge.
3. “The social network”, it’s all about who you know so don’t underestimate the importance of being connected with opportunities.
4. “You need a good listener”, the best mentors don’t just talk, they are great listeners.  It’s nice to be heard.
5. “Man is not an island”, I know this one is cliche.   Just knowing that your not afloat alone can be very empowering and motivating.

So, thanks to various mentors.  (Geek Alert) You are the Yoda’s to my Luke Skywalker.

Only good things in…

What is the real deal?

No I’m not referring to business deal or even the “Real McCoy”.  Rather, I’m referring to my wife.  She’s the real deal.

So here’s my simple thank you to Colleen.  I hope the one or two of you who read my blog take a minute and appreciate the people in your life that are the “real deal”.  They are the support system to keep things moving forward.

Yes, by the way after a lengthy hiatus I am back on the blog.  I’ve learned a few things along the way and am committed to helping anyone who subscribes to the crazy stuff I think, and subsequently write here.

Only good things in…

It’s been a while.  But I guess that’s what a newborn will do.  I would be more concerned except that I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who reads these, maybe my Mom too.  Anyhow, we just celebrated Aiden’s 2nd birthday and Gracin just turned 3 months so, it’s getting fun.  Latest endeavor involved Aiden practicing his WWF Pile Driver on his Little Brother.  Ahhhh, more fun to come…