You don't get a second chance at a first impression...

I was telling a colleague about Jon Schallert, a retail business expert, and his website this week and was reminded that I had not checked it out in a while.

Though he had covered it in a seminar that I had attended, the information in "What I See When I Walk In" report needs to be refreshed not only by retail business, but also by any of us in a field in which we interact with a customer. Schallert explores the importance of the first and every impression during exposure to the customer. There are also a lot of other cool ideas on his site that will help make your business a destination.

Open for Business: Saturday Morning Ramblings

It is a cool, damp morning here this morning, so instead of trekking over to the Starbucks, I am enjoying the view, the week's news, and my home brewed coffee from the quiet of home.

One news item of the week from one of my favorite blogs, The Rural Blog, stimulated, what is often on a Saturday morning, my stimulus averse brain. In the blog post, "W.Va. governor is fighting state's 'hillbilly image'", it states:

"Chances are that the stigma of these hoary Appalachian stereotypes (from a segment on the ABC-TV show "20/20") will tar West Virginia far more than its
less mountainous neighbor."

"That's because while we know Kentucky for Louisville, bluegrass and basketball, West Virginia's perceived backwardness has been one its most durable cultural memes — an unshakable label for a state that lacks a big city, a famous musical heritage or championship team to offer as an alternative," (Newsweek writer Tony) Dokoupil opines. "That may soon change. Shedding the state's hillbilly image has become a personal crusade of Gov. Joe Manchin."

"In the next few weeks he (Gov. Manchin) will announce a "Come Home to West Virginia" spokesperson — the face of a new campaign to cast the state as a destination for families, entrepreneurs and young leaders."…. (Dokoupil) notes that the state's "Wild, Wonderful" slogan had changed to "Open for Business."

Will it work? For the sake of the residents of a rural state in worse shape than we are, I sincerely hope so. However, one of the reasons that this struck a chord with me was my following this week a discussion on one of the economic development expert groups on LinkedIn.com that is on marketing communities and branding. If it is a cup of coffee (like Starbucks) or an airline (like Southwest), it is hard enough to do right. With a community, we are dealing with the historical perceptions and emotional investment people have in their hometown combining to create the difficulty of creating a brand that is consistent with our customers' (entrepreneurs, industrial prospects, tourists, retirees, etc.) perceptions and our residents' perceptions. I'm sure that West Virginia won't confuse their slogan, "Open for Business", with their brand as some communities do, but how does it help with the branding? What does that mean? Is their competition closed for business? Let me tell you that Hickman County isn't. Zoning and building permits are processed promptly. Utilities work to speed development. Local and state government and federal officials work together. Our hospitality extends past, "y'all come back" to "welcome, neighbor." Is it perfect? No, but we are working on it - continuous improvement - come join us!

Sorry, I digressed to shameful self-promotion - back to branding. What is that optimum convergence of a community's assets, the target customer's wants and needs, and the community's wants and needs. When (and if) a community accepts this, how does it develop a strategy to communicate its brand and raise brand awareness to its target market? The rub, we gotta keep working at refining that brand.

My favorite example that comes to mind is my story (which is my recollection of THE story) of Southwest Airlines and it's "we are America's low fare airline". There was a study of introducing some sort of snack and when it came to the attention of Herb Kelleher, his question was, "how does this help us be America's low fare airline?" Reminded of the company's brand, the idea was scrapped because the small cost (pennies per passenger) actually detracted from the brand of Southwest. The moral of the story, the slogan (America's low fare airline) was not an empty phrase but a communication of Southwest's brand.

Note: An article on Newsweek.com, "Hillbilly No More" is the basis of The Rural Blog entry mentioned in this post.

Basic Economic Development Course in May

The Tennessee Basic Economic Development Course (TBEDC) is planned for May 4-8, 2009, in Nashville at the William R. Snodgrass Tennessee Tower state office building. This basic course is five days of fundamental concepts, tools, and practices used in economic development. For more information, go to www.ips.tennessee.edu/tbedc .

Lemonade from Lemons

From the Denver Post: "Survivors: For some businesses, an economic downturn can be a boon"

Energy Efficiency Investment

In today's New York Times article, "Preparing for a Flood of Energy Efficiency Spending", increasing energy efficiency and the stimulus package is featured. For some specific Tennessee energy efficiency information, check out http://business.hickmantn.org/energy.htm .

Business Workshops Continue

Business Workshop Series in Centerville, Tennessee.
The basic core of economic development is, of course, the entrepreneur who starts a business and invests in the community. Information to develop those bold business owners is a part of our and our partners work. Five more nights of the series are left in the business workshops developed by Columbia State Community College, sponsored by South Central Tennessee Workforce Alliance, and assisted by HCECDA. If you would like to join us or would like to discuss starting or growing a business, contact information is on http://www.business.hickmantn.org/.

Basic Economic Development Course in March

For those who are interested in completing the IEDC Basic Economic Development Course, Georgia Tech will host its 42nd annual course on March 24-27 in Atlanta at the Georgia Tech Global Learning Center. I have attended economic development training conducted by Georgia Tech and they provide great facilities and programs. This course probably has the best group of nationally recognized, certified economic development professionals teaching core economic development topics as well as providing professional development credit and valuable networking opportunities to those considering becoming a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD).

For more information, check out their detailed website, http://www.innovate.gatech.edu/bedc2009/index.html .

Cost Cutting from Cloud Computing

I was reading a weekly email publication from International Economic Development Council (IEDC) this morning and was reminded of one way non-profits or small business save on information technology.

Google Apps allows document, spreadsheet, presentation, and calendar applications that are comparable and compatible with Microsoft Office. The cost savings come from not only the software cost (Google Apps is FREE to small organizations), but also from fewer compatibility issues with your work computers. Since those of us with limited budgets only purchase computers when one dies, we often work with old operating systems and slow processor speed. Since Google Apps processing largely takes place on Google servers, everyone can share the same software and files whether they are using the old donated laptop, the latest Vista-driven machine, or their computer at home.

Government, non-profits, and business in Hickman County are always looking for ways to do more at less cost and this is a great opportunity to investigate.

Dear California Business and Industry,

Tennessee has low taxes, fiscally responsible state and local government, and a great labor force.

I look forward to meeting you.

Sincerely,
Daryl Phillips, CEcD

TVA Economic Developers Forum

I am attending the TVA Valley Economic Developers Forum today. TVA provides a lot of economic development assistance to Hickman County and the rest of the Tennessee Valley and today's agenda of economic updates and ecd informational sessions is a small part of their efforts to support the retention and expansion of our existing industry and to attract new and relocating industries.

Entrepreneurship Workshops Underway in Hickman County

The entrepreneurship workshop series is ongoing in Hickman County. Last night, our second session on small business featured Scott Powers who spoke about accounting concerns of small business -- from maintaining records to tax issues. Last week, Tennessee Business Resource Office (BERO) Specialist Wisty Pender kicked off the series with presenting ideas on researching and choosing the right business to start. The session was featured in today's Tennessee Dept. of Economic & Community Development's ECD Hot Sheet. Thanks to Columbia State Community College and the South Central Tennessee Workforce Alliance for bringing the series to our community and all the expert presenters like Ron Beck of Columbia State, Wisty Pender, Scott Powers, that the other expert presenters lined up for the next six weeks.

For more information on starting a business in Tennessee, check out Tennessee BERO. For starting or growing a business in Hickman County, check out http://www.business.hickmantn.org/ .

Tourism Business Workshop

Today, I attended a regional tourism workshop called Top Trends in Travel and Tourism conducted by Judy Randall. Ms. Randall president and CEO of Randall Travel Marketing, Inc. This was the first of three business workshops with a focus on tourism. The next workshop will focus on Generational Marketing and will be held on March 12th and the final in the series is Growing Your Business with Research on April 17th. Each Workshop begins at 8:00AM and ends at 2:00PM. All workshops are free to attend and will be held at the Perry County Community Development Center, 113 Factory Street in Linden.

For more info or to RSVP contact the Buffalo/Duck River RC&D Council-PH 931/729-2686 EXT.110, FAX 931/729-5786 or Email: sharon.englett@tn.usda.gov or larry.lofton@tn.usda.gov

Rural Broadband and Supporting Entrepreneurship

While reading a post on Daily Yonder: Keeping it Rural, I am reminded of why we have worked not only to increase broadband access, but also to increase broadband utilization. Sure, access to technology improves educational opportunities (check out http://www.highereducation.hickmantn.org/), it provides entertainment, and it increases our connection to information on our government and community.

However, the most immediate reward comes from technology utilization that benefits entrepreneurs in starting and growing a business. The post, "The Rural Broadband Challenge: Use It", is sort of "if we build it, they will come" -- if we build out rural broadband, business growth will come. However, we need to help growth by training entrepreneurs and supporting them. Through things like the entrepreneur workshop series that begins tomorrow, the http://www.business.hickmantn.org/ website, and other workshops like value-added agriculture products and tourism business, HCECDA and regional partners are trying to empower our deep pool of people with marketable skills and ideas to become successful entrepreneurs.

Workshop for Businesses that Benefit from Tourism

The stage is set for tourism in Hickman, Lewis, Perry and Wayne counties beginning February 13 with the first of three regional workshops to develop small business and economic development opportunities in the four county area. Even if you think your business is not traditionally part of tourism, it is affected by tourism dollars and traffic in your community. For more information, check out "Regional Tourism Workshops to Begin February 13".

Starting a Business in 2009

I was reading the recent issue of Entrepreneur magazine this morning and noted an article, "Laid off in 2008? Start a Business in 2009", that reminded me how adversity can often be turned into opportunity. It offers advice relevant to anyone thinking about starting a business starting with, "do your homework."

One way to do your homework in Hickman County starts with going to http://www.business.hickmantn.org/ or consulting with HCECDA or one of our economic development partners.