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30 Years Into Six – The Journey Continues

It’s a long time coming.  But it’s finally here. Book number two 30 Years Into Six – “ A Marketers Journey Through The Small Business Jungle. Now available on Amazon, the 30yearsIntoSix.com website or Create Space.30 Years Into Six book by Author & Content Producer Dave Krygier - 30YearsIntoSix.com

What started this journey and changed the course of my life was a crushed hand with a broken finger on December 30, 2009. This is where God intervened and got my attention.

When I started this new journey I was searching and looking to reconnect in the online world. My experience one the years had all been in small business with occasionally dealing with large corporations. The corporate world never suited me, yet I spent 10 years as a contractor to an international company.

I created and started writing here on the Click and Mortar blog in February and slowly but surely the words started to flow onto the screen. In June of 2010 I came across Sean Mize, an Internet marketer who had specialized in articles for traffic, info products and coaching. Info products and coaching were intriguing since they enabled me to work virtually and on whenever I wanted to. Over the course of the next couple of years I learned so much from him including how to write articles, sales letters and all the components to building info products and coaching classes.

Later in 2010 I ran across Ken McCarthy of the System Seminar and attended his last big System meeting in early April 2011. This was an eye opener and game changer.

Over the years I have absorbed it all, took it all in, studied constantly, and began to test, research, and document on my blog and published articles. BTW – I still study, research and test to this day.

Combined with my experiences in the early years of the late 1980’s and 1990’s along with later years in the early to mid 2000’s, the content for the 30 Years Into Six book was flowing, even though I hadn’t decided to publish a written book yet.

My first book “Secrets of The Tiny Store,” written about 12 years of experience during the pre-Internet and early Internet years was published in 2014 as a digital e-book.

The 30years Into Six book was actually published in early 2016 as a digital ebook and then just recently we published the printed version available through Amazon and not the 30YearsIntoSix.com website.

I hope you enjoy the book and as always you can reach out to me here or on my production company website at DMK Productions.

The Best of The West Awards Gala 2016

Last week’s Best of The West Awards Gala at Northern Quest in Airway Heights was a quite the outing. The room was pretty full, the crowd was responsive, and the overall atmosphere was upbeat.

It’s not very often that an awards ceremony comes along that I’m so involved in. From our small business viewpoint, it was a great success. SBM (SmallBizMechanix) took home the “Small Business of The Year” Award and we also had the opportunity to capture video of the event and operate the switcher and cameras.

Small Biz Mechanics Captures Video and Photos at the Best of The West Awards Gala 2016

From creating and producing the Member Moments, to working on the Biz to Biz Expo, we were busy the latter part of last year. Plus I ended up with a seat on the West Plains Chamber board on January 1st.

What a whirlwind – but worth every minute.

Stay tuned and I’ll be back with another update about the behind the scenes work.

Secrets of The Tiny Store Released!

A long, long time ago in a land that has now become overgrown with concrete highways and millions of people, there was a tiny store. And this tiny store was built upon a dream to have thine own business.

Thus this little store grew in sales, moved locations, tried to get bigger, but shrunk back to a much smaller retail and office foot print.

The tiny store was in existence for 18 years until it was sold. The ways and methods never shared in writing until recently.

Now you have the chance and opportunity to learn how the tiny store crushed it on the early days of the web. Plus you’ll discover how the store retained customers, grew referrals, tested it’s advertising and much, much more.

For the small business retailer or service-based business you will find some insights, tips and strategies that could help take your business to the next level.

Secrets of the Tiny Store ® Book by author Dave KrygierOr if you are happy and content with the business that you have right now, you can find out how to streamline, and cut down on your advertising budget.

The Secrets are Finally Revealed – and you can access them here: Secrets of The Tiny Store 

Oh – by the way – if you are just getting started in small business and want to avoid the pitfalls that most business run up against in their five years, this book has some interesting information that could save you $$$$$, lost revenues and frustrations.

Plus, there’s even something for the small business manager. So if this is you, and you’ve been tasked with running a business for someone else, like your spouse or partner, then get ready to dig in. You’ll find a few info nuggets and gems in the book, let alone what’s in the member’s area online.

Wait no longer my faithful reader, get your hands and eyes on a copy of Secrets of The Tiny Store and let your new journey begin.

The future of small business marketing

The Future & Your Small Business

The future of small business marketingThe Future…

The year is 2018.

Where is your business? Underwater struggling to the surface to get some air?

Or is your business just above the surface on a sinking boat due to many cracks that haven’t been repaired and a failing engine that hasn’t been maintained?

Or maybe your business is on its last legs in the desert with no water or foodand a case of sunstroke.

Quite possibly your business may be thriving, but a sudden unforeseen catastrophe lands a blow on your doorstep, and this blow hits you where you are weakest.

In any one of the above scenarios, it’s readily apparent that your business is about to expire. Yes – the time has come and your business, your baby, your life’s work is about to breath it’s last and you just cannot believe it.

For all those years you worked so hard and did whatever it took, sacrificing day after day, week after week, month after month. To build and live your dream.

Rewind ( press the button on your DVD) and go to the present day. Your business is doing well, you’re trucking along on the freeway.

The future looks bright. You are having an increase in sales month after month, but there are signs on the road that you ignore and you almost run out of gas.

At the same time you also notice that the tires are pretty worn and there’s a squeaking sound when you press the brake pedal. Yet, you fill up your tank and keep on keeping’ on. After all, it’s only the tires and the squeak can be fixed, right?

Is this your attitude when it comes to marketing your business? Do you really know what you are doing or are you just guessing? Is it mud thrown up on the wall or a targeted focused series of campaigns?

Well, I’m sad to be the bearer of bad news today(late 2013)…

Many small business owners are like the ones I listed above; struggling for air, over exposure to the sun or just staying afloat. If this is you or someone you know, it may not be too late. There may still be time.

Where am I leading with all this Mr., Mrs. or Miss Small Business Owner?

Well – quite frankly it has to do with the web, email and mobile.

And the importance these three play in the future of your small business.

You see I lived through the first wave of the web and email and we embraced both of these channels for six years and successfully sold our small business in the fall of 2001. Today, two of the industries we were involved in are not in good shape. One has been decimated and the other is struggling on all fronts.

All because they didn’t adapt and change when they had the chance. Yes, they didn’t adapt and change, so many have gone by the wayside, many are hanging on by a thread and few are groping around in the dark.

Sooo…

Don’t be one of the thousands of small businesses that have to close their doors in the next five years. Do something now. Take action now and keep your business alive.

Make the changes and embrace the web, email and mobile, now – before it’s too late and you have to shut your doors forever. 🙁

To your continued small business success,

Dave Krygier
Publisher

PS – If anything in this article got through to you and you’re thinking – “what do I do next…”  – Contact The Small Biz Mechanic by Clicking Here Now.

 

 

Local Search Marketing & What it Means to Your Small Business

Local Search Marketing is one of those topics that I don’t often write about but felt compelled to do so since I’ve been running into so many small businesses that are searching for ways to capture leads, create awareness and connect within their local communities.

In all my years of being involved in small business I’ve never seen a better time for new and existing small biz ventures to be able to reach out to their local communities through the web and local search.

For so many years all we had were the physical yellow pages and then the web came our way in 95′, but none of the directories were even tuned in yet. A matter of fact I can remember meeting with the USWest(now Qwest) folks in Seattle and they didn’t have a clue as to what was going on. Or at least they weren’t letting on if they did know.

I can also remember the first time that I heard about local search online from a business associate. This was way back in 2000 or 2001 and we had been looking and searching for ways to market to our region versus the rest of the planet.

By this time USWest and GTE(now Superpages) were charging $19.95 a month for each online listing and we needed a lot of listings because of all the product and services categories we were in.

We had tons of organic traffic and the phones and email were hot and sizzlin’, and the search engines really helped us, but locally it was still primarily traditional media and physical directories.

Enough about the past – let’s dig into the present and how you can take advantage of local search marketing for your small business.

Local search marketing is much easier now than it’s ever been before and you can develop a presence in your region or community within days and weeks versus months and years.

A big part of local search marketing is the local search directory. There are more than 30 places online to find and get access to local area businesses, so you need to know which directories are the best for local search. Do your research and you’ll quickly see who the players are including web-based directories like Yahoo! Local, Local.com, Superpages/ SuperMedia (originally operated by GTE), Yellowpages, Dex, Infospace and the list goes on and on. Also at the top of the pile is Google Maps so make sure to claim your listing there as well.

Getting Started with Local Search

To get started with local search you will want to get listed in the Universal Business Listing (UBL). This is the big daddy and they feed their listings to just about everyone else online. The annual cost is minimal and you will also receive listings with most of the other online directories.

Step Two is to go back and register with the top five online directories that are not included in the UBL. Most of the online directories are free for the basic listing so make sure to fill out all the information and provide complete descriptions whenever asked. And make sure to have a list of keywords and phrases that are targeted and directly relate to what you offer.

Step Three is to take the time and check your listings. This way you can monitor and see where you are coming up in the search engines and directories.

Lastly – if you have the capability, you might consider creating landing pages and/or dedicated URL’s for certain directories. This is a more advanced strategy and you need to make sure that you know what your doing before implementing it.

In closing – if your business revolves around and relies on the local community and region, then it is imperative that you get on the local search bandwagon now, and do what it takes to get listed in as many directories as possible along with optimizing your site for the search engines.

If you need more information about how to implement local search in your business, contact The Small Biz Mechanic.

Start Your Own Business – Part I

Have you been thinking lately that maybe it’s time you start your own business and run your own show? With all the options to choose from in today’s marketplace how does one make a decision as to which business is the right one?

One thing is for sure, starting a business can be a lot of work and takes time, effort and money. If anyone tells you different, turn and run the other direction.

Now making the new business a success and becoming profitable is entirely another story and this pertains to both online and offline ventures. So which way should you go, online or offline; home based, office location or ???

For the remainder of this post I’ll focus on starting your own business online and some of the current options available to you.

Online Business Options:

Although some online businesses might be less money to start up than offline ventures, there’s still a learning curve and money that you will need to get your business started.

One of the things I see is that people think with online businesses you can start them for free or next to nothing. Well I’ve got news for you, no matter which online business you choose, there are expenses involved like hosting, domain registration and site development, let alone traffic generation.

A few of the options that you might consider and look into are:

1. Affiliate Marketing is where you market other people’s products and services and when a sale is completed you receive a commission on the sale. Commissions can range from 3% to 70% and in some cases even 90% or greater. The range of affiliate products available to the online marketer are many. Affiliate marketing also works well with my next option and that is email marketing.

2. Email marketing is where you develop a list of subscribers and convert them into buyers through the process of selling products and/or services, either your own or someone else’s. This process is also called list building and can be referred to as building an email list. To start a business with email marketing is a great way to go, especially if you already have existing expertise on a specific subject or you have a passion about a product or service that you would like to market.

Email marketing can also be used if you decide to establish an e-commerce site of your own where you market your own products or affiliate products.

3. E-commerce is the original online method of moving goods and services. Back when I first started out on the web in 1995, this was how transactions were primarily done. E-commerce is still a sound method, especially for those business owners looking to develop and grow their own business online while having the freedom to mix their own products with other brands.

Look for part two of this series about starting your own business and I’ll go further into more online options plus how you can transition an offline business some things to watch out for. In the meantime – here’s another resource that might help you in starting your small business: Start a Small Business

Should you find that your start up is missing a part or needs something to get going – go see the Small Biz Mechanic and he’ll get you fixed up.

Dave Krygier
Publisher

Tales of Click – In the Beginning

In the summer of 1995 my wife and I attended a street fair held in a little known city located east of Seattle. It was an annual event and one I normally didn’t even bother to put in the calendar.

But this year would be life changing, because of a man and his computer on the side- walk.

As we strolled through the booths and exhibits we came across this gentleman who was demonstrating how businesses could show their products and services on what he called the World Wide Web.

This was very intriguing to us as we were marketing to Alaska and maybe, just maybe, we could use what he was talking about to develop more business in this region.

Little did I know how much this man and his demonstration would change our world and the course of our businesses forever.

This introduction to the land of clicks, modems, and html was the beginning of our journey on the Internet.

What began as a simple way to market to Alaskans turned into a feverish race to stay on top of the search engines at that time. Search Engines like Web Crawler, Lycos, Excite, Infoseek, and Yahoo!

I imagine it could be compared to the early days of computer technology coming on the scene during the 1950’s.

Anyway you look at it, we had a hold of a tiger and boy was it a wild ride that kept me on my toes, on the phone and typing emails like a man with his hair on fire.

Those were the days and the beginnings of click for the little known company located just north of the Big M and Big B.

There’s more to come as we continue with the Tales of Click. Much, much more…

Do you want to learn how this tiny store flourished and grew leaps and bounds?               Go to:  www.secretsofthetinystore.com

Communication Breakdowns – Part I

Over 40 years ago a famous rock group released a song about communication break down and it seems that no matter how far advanced technology has brought us, we still have to deal with this challenge.

From the home front to the offices of our businesses to the school room, it makes no difference; we have to communicate; yet many people I come across have not learned the basics? Is it the simple fact that society has made such a fast change or is it as simple as people not knowing how to use and adapt to new communication methods?

Going back to 1995 when I first started using email, most of the people communicating with me were business oriented. In my case, our prospects and some clients used email to search and inquire about our products and services. This was new to me and I needed to adapt fairly quickly. So I learned, tested, failed, grew and finally figured it out, but still have to work on it to this day.

In one case I remember a scientist working in Antarctica called me on a satellite phone instead of emailing because he had specific questions and didn’t want to mess around with email. Plus I think he liked the contact with the outside world and it turned out to be fascinating for me, as I had never spoken to anyone like this before.

One lady I know of prefers texting to all other forms of communication and she’s pretty good at it, but she’ll still pick up the phone when necessary.

On the other hand, I now see more and more people using email and text with their smart phones assuming that the recipient will get back to them immediately with an answer. Instead of picking up the phone and making the call to communicate, they stress out for hours until the person answers or they send another text or email.

Today, I still see people fire off emails without thinking twice and yet they wonder why the responses they receive are so short and razor sharp, if you know what I mean. I believe part of it has to do with laziness and the other half is just plain ignorance and not caring at all what the outcome might be.

With so many ways to communicate today, are you stuck in your shell and locked into one or two methods, or are you embracing and testing new forms of communication?

Have you let the ‘ole’ tele go by the wayside and opted for typing to avoid human interaction, conflict or even accountability? I’ve personally seen this time and time again and wonder if these individuals understand what they are doing?

Maybe it’s time we really evaluate what communication methods work for us and which ones don’t. Remember to test, test and test some more and then you can make quality decisions that will hopefully help your business and personal life.

Communication breakdowns will always be around, no matter how far advanced we human’s get. Let’s do our part as professionals to eliminate as many communication breakdowns as possible and make it easier on those we work and associate with everyday.

 

 

 

Tales of Mortar Part I

Years ago before the dotcom boom there was a small niche business located in the backyard of ‘The Big M’ in Redmond, Washington. What started out as a brick mortar model with one full time employee, one phone line and one product, bloomed into a thriving diverse enterprise. This small business had its ups and downs just like all businesses that get started on a shoestring. Eventually things started to gel and opportunities opened up that the local competition didn’t see or care to see. When most startups are starting to falter and fade, this one started to pickup steam and capture new customers.

Over the years this little brick and mortar business grew and grew along with the surrounding community until the arrival of the web in August of 1995. Thus they entered the world of click and mortar and started on a new journey that would increase sales and over all revenues. The Internet brought on a totally new dimension that enabled the little enterprise to expand its horizons and reach out to the far corners of the globe. With clients from all over the world, calls and emails would make their way from far away places like Australia, The Netherlands, and even a research outpost in Antarctica.

And so business continued on until the fall of 2001 when it finally changed hands. Some will say that the timing was impeccable and I’d have to agree. But what really made this small business a success were the people that worked there and their dedication and hard work.

Tales like these are abundant in the land of small business and we’ll be sharing more as time goes on.

Dave Krygier
Publisher