Take Me for a Ride Big Daddy

UPDATE:  Incognito has just completed a new web design for Seyer Industries.  Go look at the new web site and tell us what you think!

St. Peters, Missouri-based Seyer Industries is a third generation, family-owned business that designs and manufactures support systems exclusively for military aerospace applications.  Seyer serves as a supplier to major prime contractors such as The Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Pratt & Whitney and Sikorsky as well as a direct government contractor to the departments of the Navy, Air Force, and Army. The two companies will team to develop professional materials that reinforce Seyer Industries’ strong reputation in this niche market.

Seyer Industries focuses on a very small group of customers and consequently does not have an internal marketing department.  However, it still requires professional materials so it started looking outside the company for help. According to Chris W. Seyer, Business Development with Seyer Industries, “About the same time we started looking for help we received a direct mail marketing piece from Incognito Marketing.  I found their web site to be very compelling and it seemed they had the same company ideals which made the decision easy to hire Incognito Marketing.”

“We practice what we preach and were very pleased to get the call from Seyer Industries as a result of our post card mailing,” commented Greg Snyder, president and CEO of Incognito Marketing.  “Seyer understands that no matter the size of their market, it is still important to put the right image out in the marketplace to reinforce your brand and reputation, which has made working together a success.”

Seyer concurs, “So far Incognito Marketing has been very easy to work with.  The options they presented to us were what we asked for.  They listen to us and provide us with work that is within the context of what we asked for rather than trying to tell us something we don’t want.”

Greg will be the featured speaker at the Colorado Rural Development Council’s Colorado Entrepreneurship MarketPlace in La Junta on October 10.  This event will stimulate small business development and rural community growth throughout rural Colorado.

Greg will discuss how you can build your own “brand” in today’s competitive world.  His presentation titled Branding a Product or Service – How do I do it? will cover:

• Creepin’ Commodities!
• Sticking to Your Story
• The Payoff
• Pigs & Spiders

The Colorado Entrepreneurship MarketPlace is Friday, October 10 from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM at Otero Junior College in La Junta, CO.  Snyder will be speaking from 10:45 to 11:30 AM in Wheeler 111.

To register to attend go to http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=638446.

We have taken two calls this week from businesses that are struggling. Both said they had no money for advertising, but both were desperate for new business.

Running a business takes a tremendous amount of focused energy. While you are getting the work done, you are probably neglecting the marketing and sales part. This results in severe up and down cycles for your cash flow and stress level.

One of the smartest things any business can do is continue advertising during both the busy and slow times. Keep a steady and consistent presence in front of the potential new customers. Focus your energy and resources with a plan.

For example: If you have a charcoal briquette BBQ, you know that scattering a few briquettes around and dousing with lighter fluid can create a big exciting fire. Leave it to go do something else, and when you come back all the fire and heat is gone. It is too spread out and dies from lack of fuel and heat.

But if you make a pile with the briquettes, they will all catch on and hold the fire and build long lasting heat. You will be cooking on nice, even heat before you know it. Focus your energies. Stack your briquettes. Keep your business going by focusing your energy.

When times are good, you should advertise. When times are bad you must advertise.

Focus on what you do best and yell it from the mountaintops!

Roosevelt Elk

Originally uploaded by alumroot

It is October in Colorado. Many seemingly normal people from your neighborhoods and communities will head to the high country to attempt to harvest an elk. Perhaps no one told them they can buy red meat at the store.

There are a couple of techniques I have observed after spending several fall seasons in the Colorado Mountains in search of elk.

Camp A: A bunch of guys with a lot of liquor. They are in it for the fun. They make a fire pit you can see from outer space, hoot and holler most of the night. Get up around 10:00 am, try to make a plan on a pounding hang over, hunt an hour or so near evening, and (big surprise) do not bring any elk home.

Camp B: The quiet elk camp. These hunters know where the elk live, drink, and probably even where they sleep. These folks rise early in the morning while it is still dark to get into position before the elk even begin to move. They have a plan and work the plan. They prepare their gear and are ready for changes in the weather and movement of the herd. If bad weather or hard times move in, they are ready.

Finding new customers is like the elk hunt. Figuring out where they hang out, what they do, where they live and work is useful research. Planning your marketing and advertising, working the plan, and sticking with it is key to being prepared to find the perfect new customers you seek.

New customers mean increased income, smother cash flow and less stress.

Good hunting to you.

Our National economy is bad right now. It may get worse. I don’t want to guess how bad it might get; everyone else is trying to do that.

The reality of what has happened is clear in my mind. We have spent ten years refinancing our houses and taking out second mortgages. The “refi boom” propped up our sagging economy and made us think we were OK. It was a big lie and that is no way to stimulate or build an economy by borrowing money at a different interest rate.

Now it is time to sober up and realize we have to make something. Manufacture American goods and sell them to someone else. It is the only path to prosperity.

Erin

Greg Snyder will be the featured speaker at the Colorado Community Revitalization Association (CCRA) Conference in Steamboat Springs on September 18.  CCRA is a nonprofit, membership association committed to building better communities by providing assistance to downtowns, commercial districts and town centers in Colorado.
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