Marketing the Possible – And Doing It

There are so many “tips” available from online marketing experts these days that it’s easy to get overwhelmed. When that happens, when there are simply too many choices, most people simply give up and choose to do nothing. For us, the real key to successfully marketing a business online is – knowing what’s possible, doing that, and doing only that.

In other words, as an entrepreneur, you need to know what you're capable of and limit yourself to those things alone. Granted, it’s tempting to try to be all things to all people but, that rarely works. It also leads to stress, exhaustion, and sleepless nights!

The Art of the Possible

This brings to mind the classic quotation that is normally attributed to Abraham Lincoln about whether you can “please all of the people all of the time.” In fact, the Lincoln quote was quite different (and quite a bit more cynical):

“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” – Abraham Lincoln (emphasis added)

For cynical marketers (and far too many politicians), this is a truism that often has them crying themselves to sleep at night. For the rest of us, the gentler interpretation of poet John Lydgate has more appeal:

“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.” – John Lydgate (emphasis added)

Perhaps we can simplify that even further with this famous (or infamous) movie line:

“A man’s got to know his limitations.” – Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry

Knowing Your Limitations Has Value

What’s the point of all this quoting and deep thinking? Simply this… When you consider an online marketing strategy, you have to start from this basic premise… YOU know what's possible – and your prospects don't.

This is especially true today, when people’s values, needs, and priorities may have changed dramatically.

Consider for a moment these shifting attitudes from the business and personal worlds, in response to the recent health crisis which has had an impact on all of us.

According to Fortune.com, the top concerns of business leaders will be:

• 48% say their top concerns over returning to business as usual are health and safety

• 38% cited financial management and cash flow

• 27% cited concerns about new laws and regulations

• 25% of business leaders say the biggest challenge to working remotely is productivity and motivation

• 24% said connectivity with coworkers

• 19% home-office setup needs

• 48% of business leaders think technology spending at their company will increase [in our new reality]

Whether your business is focused on products or services, or a combination of the two, these changing behaviors and priorities could have a direct effect on your target audience. This will have a profound effect on you and your design or furnishings business.

Where Can You Be Supportive?

For many, it’s a new world out there. For some, the changes are practical while, for others, they are driven by fear. Understanding which of these you are dealing with will go a long way to determining how you can offer the support and services prospective clients may need. And, since they do not know what may be possible, it’s your responsibility to educate and illuminate the possibilities for them.

That is what online marketing has always been, and always will be, about, the art of knowing and marketing the possible!

If you're still unsure of how to share your expert knowledge of the possible through online marketing, Ted offers business consulting to the trade that can help you figure it out. Simply… Contact TD Fall today.

Without Purpose, Your Mission and Vision Will Go Unrealized

Not to get all deep here but, a business without purpose is like a rudderless ship, pushed in directions beyond the Captain’s control. So, even if Ole Cap understands his mission is to get the ship from Point A to Point B, and he has the vision to make it happen if at all possible – if he lacks purpose he’ll likely fail.

Vision and mission come from purpose; that is, the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists. (Lexico.com)

While purpose is the natural foundation of the two most commonly accepted business branding steps, your Vision and your Mission will have little value if not based on a purpose.

As in life, purpose in business offers direction; it motivates; it is the very reason your business exists. It also helps when making decisions, both minor and major.

Define Your Business Purpose

Your purpose for starting a business does not have to be based on some grand universal design for saving the world, or even humanity. (Most of those are self-indulgent and impossible anyway.)

However, it should be about something that does reflect your values; those things that matter most in your life. It can even be something as simple as, “My purpose is to create wealth for future generations of my family”.

Since we don’t have the space to examine every possible purpose each of you might outline for your business, we’ll simply offer this little exercise in purpose building to help you articulate it for yourself.

As an exercise to help define your business purpose: Write about how you feel – and think – of and about your business. Try journaling with a pen and paper, or grab your laptop, open a doc, and just start writing. Write about how you truly feel and what you want out of life. Then, imagine how you might be able to Captain the ship of your business in the direction that will get you there.

Remember that no one is going to read this but you, so don’t be afraid to express your thoughts and feelings. Then, reduce it to a single sentence or two and create a Purpose Statement for your business that reflects your conviction to make it happen.

And there is the secret to this exercise, and to discovering your business purpose. Unlike a Mission Statement or Vision Statement which should be published on your website, your Purpose Statement belongs to you alone.

It’s a way to clarify both your mission and your vision, with a solid foundation for future growth.

Doing this will also help to provide clarity about exactly what you and your business are capable of providing, within the framework of what you have to offer.

Finally, your Mission and Vision Statements must reflect your business purpose, but without a published “Statement”. That is a private guide for you as a business owner and/or your team.

If you're searching for help articulating your business purpose, Ted remains available with real-world experience as a business consultant to the trade. To find out more… Contact TD Fall today.

Online Marketing is the Art of Knowing What’s Possible And Doing It

There are so many “tips” available from online marketing experts these days that it’s easy to get overwhelmed. When that happens, when there are simply too many choices, most people simply give up and choose to do nothing. For us, the real key to successfully marketing a business online is – knowing what’s possible, doing that, and doing only that.

In other words, as an entrepreneur, you need to know what you're capable of and limit yourself to those things alone. Granted, it’s tempting to try to be all things to all people but that rarely works. It also leads to stress, exhaustion, and sleepless nights!

The Art of the Possible

This brings to mind the classic quotation that is normally attributed to Abraham Lincoln about whether you can “please all of the people all of the time.” In fact, the Lincoln quote was quite different (and quite a bit more cynical):

“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” – Abraham Lincoln (emphasis added)

For cynical marketers (and far too many politicians), this is a truism that often has them crying themselves to sleep at night. For the rest of us, the gentler interpretation of poet John Lydgate has more appeal:

“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.” – John Lydgate (emphasis added)

Perhaps we can simplify that even further with this famous (or infamous) movie line:

“A man’s got to know his limitations.” – Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry

Knowing Your Limitations Has Value

What’s the point of all this quoting and deep thinking? Simply this… That when you consider an online marketing strategy, you have to start from this basic premise… YOU know what's possible – your prospects don't.

This is especially true today, when people’s values, needs, and priorities may have changed dramatically.

Consider for a moment these shifting attitudes from the business and personal worlds, in response to the health crisis which all of us desperately hope has peaked.

According to Fortune.com, the top concerns of business leaders will be:

• 48% say their top concerns over returning to business as usual are health and safety

• 38% cited financial management and cash flow

• 27% cited concerns about new laws and regulations

• 25% of business leaders say the biggest challenge to working remotely is productivity and motivation

• 24% said connectivity with coworkers

• 19% home-office setup needs

• 48% of business leaders think technology spending at their company will increase [in our new reality]

Whether your business is focused on professionals or consumers, these changing behaviors and priorities could have a direct effect on your target audience, which will affect you and your design or furnishings business.

Where Can You Be Supportive?

For many, it’s a new world out there. For some, the changes are practical while, for others, they are driven by fear. Understanding which of these you are dealing with will go a long way to determining how you can offer the support and services prospective clients may need. And, since they often do not know what they do not know, it’s your responsibility to educate and illuminate what’s possible for them.

That is what online marketing has always been, and always will be about, the art of knowing and sharing what’s possible!

If you're still unsure of how to share your expert knowledge of the possible through online marketing, Ted offers business consulting to the trade that can help you figure it out. Simply… Contact TD Fall today.

Kravet Quick Ship Program

The phrase “Quick Ship” has become nearly ubiquitous among luxury furnishing manufacturers, despite ongoing supply chain issues that make it virtually impossible to claim quick deliveries. No, at the moment, the best we can hope for is relatively quick shipping; that is, relative to other manufacturers. Thankfully, the Kravet Quick Ship Program offers one of the relatively quick shipping options.

What do we mean by that? Well, while others are taking months to deliver, Kravet's program is quick by today's standards, shipping over 100 frames in more than 150 performance covers in 10-12 weeks.

For example, their Jazz Furniture Collection is available within that time frame in thousands of in-stock fabrics as well as COM, as are literally thousands of fabrics, area rugs and broadloom, and many other sofas, sectionals, chairs, accent pieces, and other furnishings.

“As a fifth-generation family-owned business, the Kravet family of brands is dedicated to being the ultimate resource for, and partnering with, the interior design community. As the industry leader, we market through iconic brands of fabrics, furniture, wall coverings, floor coverings, and complimentary home furnishing products. We are guided by principles of excellence in our customers’ experiences, product quality, design style, and social responsibility.”

Kravet Fine Furnishings QuickShip Program

Below are just a few examples of the fine furnishings available within 10-12 weeks from Kravet:

Kravet Emory Chair

Kravet Emory Two Seat Sofa

Kravet Emory Sectional

Here at TD Fall, we are more than pleased to be representing the leader in the luxury furnishings industry. Our experiences with Kravet through the years have been rewarding and professional in every respect – and that is exactly what we feel about the Kravet Quick Ship Program – respect for the company’s dedication to serving your needs in a timely fashion.

To learn more about the Kravet family of brands and their Quick Ship Program… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

Business Building – Tips to Increase Profit Margins

It’s a shame so many consumers get confused by the difference between markups and profit margins – as do not a few business owners. The difference between a 100% markup versus a 50% margin is vast. Yet, it is often impossible to explain it in ways that the average person understands that your profit margin is not really two times what you paid but merely half the selling price. Further, that bit of profit above the cost of merchandise must then be used to cover the overhead incurred by running your business: salaries and benefits, rent, utilities, insurance, training, investing in new products, the list at times seems endless!

Too often, if a potential client learns of such a markup they will scream, “That’s a 100% profit” and run as fast as they can from you, leaving you in their dust like the Road Runner does to Wile E Coyote!

On the other hand, finding ways to protect and increase profit margins whenever possible is critical to the success of your business, whether you're an interior designer or luxury furnishings dealer.

These thoughts came to us thanks to a recent article at the Business of Home website titled, “Stocking dealers get better pricing on product. Here’s how you become one.”

Becoming a Stocking Dealer will Increase Profit Margins

“The discounted pricing trade brands offer designers allows them a better margin on the products they place in their projects. But many companies also offer an even deeper discount – one that comes with more strings, but that can radically transform [your] firm’s bottom line.”

Or, more simply, the more you buy the better your price. This means, by stocking the furnishings you most often place in your client’s homes in your showroom, making them available for immediate delivery, will get you deeper discounts.

While this is a fairly standard practice for furniture dealers, interior designers may find it difficult to alter their order-as-you-go business model. However, there are many perks to becoming a stocking dealer beyond potentially realizing an exponential return on investment.

Benefits of Becoming a Factory Direct Product Dealer

The benefits of building these more direct relationships with your vendors will often include much more than deeper discounts on their products. These may include improved access to “ [fabric] swatches, samples, and detailed product questions, [and] access to a vendor’s internal online product catalog so [you] can instantly check price lists, see if items are in stock, and monitor shipments.” And, as the article explains … Wait, there’s more!

• Setting up Your Space – Before pursuing any sort of partnership with a brand, most designers must overcome one major hurdle: the retail space. Stocking dealer relationships are typically contingent upon a designer owning a physical shop or showroom where products can be displayed and sold. It makes sense: Brands are investing in their retail partners by offering better margins in exchange for sales floor exposure and a resulting increase in orders.

• Getting A Foot in the Door – After you’ve pinned down your brick-and-mortar strategy, the next step to landing that coveted stocking dealer partnership is meeting with the vendor’s regional sales representative, who acts as a gatekeeper. Home furnishings trade shows like High Point Market are a good place to begin putting a face to the names behind promising brands.

• Making a Deal – While setting yourself up for success and courting the right brand are key to the process of netting a brand partnership, there’s another crucial step to take before inking a deal: Doing your due diligence to make sure that the brand is a fit for you. Then, it’s time to hammer out the terms of the financial arrangement, including a minimum opening order and requirements for annual spending.

• The Payoff for Dealers – Though each brand’s approach to signing a stocking dealer varies widely, there’s a benefit to that as well – designers have space to negotiate a partnership that best fits their business. With a basic knowledge of how the process works and a willingness to go out and hustle, you’re already on your way.

Needless to say, there are other ways for designers to increase profit margins on product sales. If you are curious about what some of these might be, Ted is available for business consulting to help. Simply Get in touch with TD Fall today.

How to Use Bad Ideas to Build Your Online Reputation

As participation in internet marketing continues to grow, and as more people declare themselves “experts” to their audience, bad ideas, misconceptions, and just plain stinkin’ thinkin’ proliferate. While such ill-conceived thinking can be problematic for consumers, these poorly conceived and misunderstood areas can be a great opportunity for you to build your online reputation – as long as the bad ideas are not yours!

In other words, by debunking popular misconceptions, errors in judgment, and poorly explained answers to common questions, you will build your reputation as an expert in your field. And, as your reputation grows, so will your audience, your subscriber list, your list of leads, and your conversions!

In many ways, your online reputation is your greatest asset. In fact, it literally represents the unified cerebral construct everyone who “meets” you online shares about you; a mental image of who you are and what you have to offer.

Of course, the clearer that image is, the stronger their perception of you and the more valuable you become to them.

This makes building and protecting your online reputation of paramount importance for both the short- and long-term success of your business.

Build and Protect Your Reputation Online

According to an article at Entrepreneur.com, there are three areas of focus for creating a positive online presence – and keeping it intact:

• Create great content – The paradoxical nature of content creation as it relates to online marketing is that, while you’re creating content with the hope that it will eventually help convert, the best content is rarely created with that in mind. Consumers today are pretty savvy and expect a certain level of effort to be put into any content they consume, especially if it’s designed to turn them into paying customers.

• Social media presence – It’s hard, if not impossible, for your audience to care about your social media accounts if you’re not using them. So, if you want to turn your business into an online authority, you’ll need to be ahead of your competition when it comes to social. That means having a consistent posting schedule, using a variety of different social media platforms, and, most importantly, actually engaging with your audience (i.e., responding to their comments and questions).

• Testimonials, reviews, and perceptions – Known as “social proof”, what others think of you will make a huge impression on your audience and potential clients. Digital word of mouth is one of the most persuasive forms of marketing to the modern consumer, and it tends to be a massive aspect of the decision-making process for the average person because people trust other people. If an unbiased third party tells someone your business is not to be trusted, then you’d better believe people are going to have some reservations. Then again, a few positive reviews can lead to increased engagement (at worst) and inspire more conversions (at best).

Ultimately, the key is understanding how to be successful in leveraging the tools and techniques of reputation management to effectively build your online reputation, enabling you to meet your goals.

If you're ready to work with a professional consultant who can help you build your online reputation, feel free to… Get in touch with TD Fall today.