M & A Rainmaker

Yes folks, after being grilled, analysed, interrogated and questioned by the leading authorities in the world on the subject of Internet influence I can now say officially that we have the most influential network in the world.

My network has been subjected to all sorts of questions at all times of the day from interviewers that can only be described as rude and beyond sceptical.

We have the capacity to be a compelling force on or produce effects on the actions,behavior, opinions, etc., of others.

This does not mean that as defined by Klout or any of those similar websites that any of us have the highest rank - although some do; it does not mean that we have the biggest network nor does it mean that we have the highest quality network.

No! However, OUR network makes people take action; it changes behaviour and opinions.

Our network starts revolutions; takes brands from zero to hero; solves intractable problems; helps people in need; cheers people up; makes people laugh; does the impossible straight away and miracles a little bit later. There is nothing that we can’t do.

People are always trying to find out what makes us so effective; how we achieve such amazing things; why we are so loyal to one another; why we care about one another; what brought us together; why we are so different and yet so in tune. Mostly we don’t know so these questions are easily avoided.

They want to interview us but we don’t have a spokesperson: we never even discussed it. We don’t want anything - money, fame, popularity we only want to be infuential. For us that is enough.

Some of us have met but most of us have not. We have some idea of where everyone is but we don’t really try to find out exactly because we have no intention of visiting.  It’s not that we don’t want to meet it’s just that we are unlikely to put much effort into doing so.

We are content to be the most influential network in the world.

We don’t know how we got to be the way we are.

People do leave. We don’t ask why. They don’t try and change us or say why they left - they just disappear. We miss them but we don’t try and get them to come back.

We don’t have a name. We don’t know how many we are.

If you are interested in Social Media and live in Lichfield, Home of the Cathedral the Saxon Hoard  the intersection of Watling Street and Icknield Street and all sorts of other interesting things then this post may be of interest to you.

In an ideal world it is going to sit near the top of a Google search on this topic and make a point ……..

If you want to be found for the products and services that you offer then you had better understand that Social Media alone will not achieve your objective. It does not matter whether you live in Lichfield, Staffs or anywhere else.

Largely speaking social media networks are closed communities ( they might be huge closed communities !! ) in relation to Google and other searches  and they are subject to their own particular connectivity quirks. Stuff you post on e.g. Facebook stays ( largely) on Facebook.

That is you will NOT create effective networks ( effective being ones that enable you to sell more of your products and services ) on Social Media networks alone - no matter how large your social media networks  are.

Examine your own behavior when it comes to searching for information, products and services. I will bet money that you still rely considerably on word of mouth ( WoM )  recommendations and then use search engines like Google. You might, having shifted communications with your friends from mobile/text to e.g. Twitter or Facebook, ask them what they think about something via Twitter or Facebook but you are still looking for what is essentially a WoM recommendation - just at light speed.

In reality we are, whether we like it or not, a generation of Googlers. If you want information on something; want to find something or want to buy something you Google it. You rarely used any of the advanced search options ( Those are for people in the know ). If you are like my 20 something children then you Google the exact question e.g. ” How do you fit a rear quarter light to a Peugeot ?? ” ( Try it !! ) and back comes the answer ( s ) - typically in the case of car repairs etc from forums of various kinds.

You want to “ buy an oil painting in Lichfield ” ?? Google it and you will find

http://www.framework-gallery.co.uk/ a couple of results down.

Do a Facebook search ?? ( Bing gives you Framework Gallery aswell ). Try Twitter, YouTube ?? Nothing much.

( Well done Framework Gallery by the way ! )

Being found ( via search engines ) is the key. Social Media does have a role in this. How do you get found ??

Well first, critically but not necessarily obviously you have to work out what you want to be found for ???

In Search Engine Optimisation ( S.E.O. ) speak this means what are the key words ( keywords ) and phrases that you want to be found for ?

Unsurprisingly if you want to be found for ” Social Media in Lichfield Staffordshire ” then those words and phrases need to be appearing in your website and ” content ” -  basically in everything you post online.

There are basically 3 important things in a website being found:

1. That the pages reflect the things that you want to be found for.

2. That you keep posting new, fresh relevant content ( e.g. using a blog like this one ).

3. That by doing so people will create links to your website and blogsite.  ( You become an authority in this area ).

Once the website has been found then it needs to convert ” interest ” to ” action ” e.g. sign up for a free trial offer; join a mailing list; ring a number etc ( In the trade this is known as a Call to Action ).

You also need to able to analyse what’s working - so you need the capability to do so. ( Some ” analytics ” software ).

Social Media enables you to create contacts and awareness of what you do. It is VERY time consuming but it will help to encourage visitors to your website and begin the process of them becoming customers. In some cases this can happen very quickly, in others it can take some time.

For more on this subject search on ” Marketing Newsletters ” on this blogsite.

I have friends and family in the car sales and parts industry and I guess if you had asked me to invest in this sector a few years ago I would probably have thought twice ( or more ! ) about doing so but I would have been  wrong

In 2009 and 2010 both the U.S. and the U.K. had ” Car Scrappage ” schemes ( ” Cash for Clunkers” in the U.S. !! ) in an effort to boost new car sales in the face of the recession.

These appear to have boosted the existing trends and R.L. Polk & Co. of the U.S. says:

“As vehicles age and consumers continue to

hold onto them longer, there are significant opportunities for repair services and parts demand for the aftermarket as vehicles are falling out of warranty as they age,” said Mark Seng, vice president, sales and client services, aftermarket and commercial vehicle, at Polk. “The increased complexity of vehicle repairs also presents a business opportunity for service professionals as traditional do-it-yourself consumers are less likely to attempt complicated technical work on their vehicles.”

Dealers will have an opportunity to develop programs geared toward service loyalty marketing as they seek to hold onto a growing base of customers, according to Polk. “The trends we’re seeing suggest great motivation for dealers seeking to maintain a longer-term relationship with their customers,” said Lonnie Miller, vice president, marketing and industry analysis, at Polk. “Service-oriented loyalty programs can significantly contribute to improving business and overall loyalty among customers,” he continued.

Polk expects conditions facing the U.S. automotive industry today to remain through 2010 and expects trends for scrappage and vehicle ownership to continue for at least another year. This assessment is largely based on current industry dynamics, coupled with Polk’s annual forecast of a moderate increase in light vehicle sales to 11.5 million units this year. It also assumes a general upward trend for vehicle scrappage rates as high volumes of older vehicles continue to retire from the U.S. fleet. “

( I am assuming that the U.K. is following similar trends to the U.S. ).

People are holding on to their cars and vans ( light vehicles ) longer ( 2004 - 8.6 years, 2010 - 10.2 years ) but also the scrappage percentage is rising ( from approx 5 to 6 % between 2005 and 2010 ) .

” These trends are supported by a number of factors, including the economy, limited financing and leasing options available in the market, extended warranties offered by OEMs, and improved vehicle durability and quality of vehicles. They also provide opportunity for various business segments of the industry” says Polk.

Whilst the variations are considerable car parts come from one of two places and get fitted in one of two ways:

They are either ( originally ) from a manufacturer ( either the ” original ” or ” Genuine ” one or an ” Aftermarket” or what is called in the ICT industry a ” compatible ” one ) or they have been ” recycled ” i.e. they are from a crashed or scrapped vehicle.

The parts are fitted either by a garage/service provider or by an unqualified individual, likely to be the vehicle owner.

Certainly the comment made by Polk about vehicle complexity is valid. Some faults cannot be identified and resolved without hi-tech ( expensive ) equipment and skilled operators.

The ” route ” that the parts take between manufacture and fitting is varied. Broadly speaking, these days, there is an ” Internet route ” and a ” Physical route ” but there will often be a mixture of the two.

For example the vehicle owner might go to a garage, who buys from a “distributer ” , who buys ( mainly ) from the manufacturer.

or

The vehicle owner might do the work himself and obtain the part from an online website like eBay, a car parts provider/car breaker or a forum member.

These might be viewed to be the ” extremes ” but there are very many permutations for the garage/service provider route and for the self repairer route.

An individual could go to:

- The Internet ( eBay, online parts company, breaker or forum )

- A car breaker ( physically )

- A general car parts provider ( a physical outlet )

- A manufacturer’s dealer ( physical outlet )

A garage/service provider could go to:

- A car parts provider ( distributor )

- A manufacturer dealer

- The Internet ( as for an individual )

As a generalisation ” older ” people might tend towards the ” physical routes ” whilst younger people might be more inclined toward the ” Internet ” routes.

As younger, more Internet literate, people join dealers/service providers ( SP’s ) they will be more aware of the potential Internet based routes although they may be constrained by existing procedures from using these routes.

Certainly younger people, doing their own repair work, are very likely to use the Internet route.

Dealers/SP’s using the physical routes are likely to be marketed and sold to in a ” physical manner ” e.g. snailmail shots, telephone sales.

However, it is clear that the Internet channel is getting more and more popular, utilised and sophisticated.

A brief analysis via Google reveals the following:

A Google search on ” Car Parts U.K. ” gives 1st page results as follows:

Paid search ( Pay per Click / Google Adwords )

1. Euro Car Parts ( ECP, Genuine and Aftermarket parts online or physical sies )

2. 1st Choice spares ( New - Genuine and Aftermarket - and Recycled, online only ? )

3. CPR ( New and recycled, online ? )

4. Comline ( New, online )

5. Find a part ( New, online )

6. Express Car Parts ( New, online )

Organic ( Free ) Search

1. ECP

2. 247 ( New, online )

3. carparts-uk ( New, online )

4. carpartsdirect ( New,online )

5. 1st Choice

6. Breakeryard ( New,Recycled, online )

A Google search on ” LandRover Clutch parts ” gives 1st page results:

Paid Search

1. ECP

2. EH Douglas ( Servicing/Repairs )

3. jgs4×4 ( New - Genuine and Aftermarket )

4. Rimmer Bros.

Organic/Free Search

1. Brookwell.co.uk ( New - Gen. and Amarket )

2. Rimmer

3. FamousFour ( New and Used )

4. landroverspares.co.uk ( Buckley bros. ) ( New Gen. & Aftermarket )

5. eBay

N.B. ECP has presence across both searches, ( the only one ), paid and organic - very strong Internet presence. 1st Choice also appears in paid and organic search for car parts uk search.

Quite clearly some ” physical ” based companies have some work to do in terms of Internet presence.

The trends for people keeping their cars longer will undoubtedly lead to continuing demand for spare parts - new and recycled. It appears that supply for both new ( original and aftermarket  ) and recycled will also continue. New and recycled prices may trend down with competition and manufacturing efficiencies ( more research required ).

Dear M.D./C.E.O./Owner/Proprietor/Boss,

In letters 1 and 2 we have discussed why you need to put in place a Digital Marketing Strategy.

Let’s just say that all the ” old ways ” of marketing ( so called traditional marketing ) are not quite dead yet. Depending on your business many of them may still be relevant now and for some time but, for sure, the world is changing fast.

In the more recent world the company website was a sort of ” electronic brochure ” or ” presentation ” of your company. It was probably created by ” creatives ” ( graphic designers, marketing people ) or ” programmers ” ( software developers ). You referred people to your website by putting the web address ( url ) on your business cards ( along with your email address, phone and fax numbers ), brochures, mailshots, vans, lorries etc etc.

If the website was found by a Google search on ” your company name” then everything looked good. Or did it ??

The problem is that unless you are a really famous/well known company then people will not search on your company name. They are more likely to search for a product or service which they hope will then lead them to some information and then the best company to supply that product or service.

If say you needed help with your swimming pool in Staffordshire you might Google

” Swimming pool repairs Staffordshire “.

When I did this I got a load of Google maps results ( N.B. !! ), a load of yell.com results ( N.B. ), a company that said it was Staffordshire based but was obviously in Essex !  and one

http://www.leisurelinespas.co.uk/index.asp

that had good information and was in Shropshire - ok,  close enough

This brings us to the first point in the Digital Marketing strategy:

That you must know what you want to be found and known for - your products, your services, your advice and your philosophy - and your website ( and associated blogsite ) must be found by Google for those search terms.

To borrow from my friends at HubSpot the overall mantra is to:

1. Be found ( for relevant search terms )

2. Convert ( visitors into leads )

3. Analyse ( where you got your visitors from and how )

Find-Convert-Analyse.

The second point is that there is very little point in investing time and effort in a Digital Marketing Strategy unless you know where you started ( how many visitors/leads/sales you are getting at the moment - your baseline ) and how you are are progressing in your efforts.

Over time we will suggest that you do many things to drive traffic ( visitors ) to your website e.g. write blogposts, do Internet PR, start and run Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin pages on top of ensuring that you are found for relevant terms but what you must do is to understand what is working and what is not.

Typically your website will have a level of visitors who are finding you directly ( they know your url ) or indirectly ( they know your name and type it into google or they have typed in a search term that has resulted in them finding your website or blogsite ). You will add to this base traffic with referrals from e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin or another website or wherever.

You want to know what works ??

Did you get more visitors ( leads and sales ) from blogging, posting on Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin ??

Which blogs/posts/Tweets worked and which ones didn’t ???

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2011/07/05/letter-from-marketing-no-4/

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2011/06/28/letter-from-marketing-no-2/

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2011/06/22/letter-from-marketing-no-1/

I recently came across this post on another blog site:

” I do the SEO for a healthcare company, and I have these exact problems. ( a lack of respect due to … 1. Poor communication, 2. Department mentality, 3. Being seen to be opiniated )  The good news is that they are trying to improve their marketing. I have lots of knowledge, good ideas and excitement and I really want to help them reach their goals. The bad news- lack of understanding of my role, lack of coordination between the various types of marketing, because I am not being told about all the company goals, even if I ask.
In addition, nepotism and the boys’ bonding club is another thing I have to deal with. To make things worse, I am expected to train the web designer about what I do instead of doing my work, and I have to convince him that what I do is worthwhile (since he is design-oriented), so that we can design from a marketing and SEO perspective, all alone and without back-up from my boss (they are really chummy). This means projects are taking longer than they should, deadlines are unrealistic (the graphic/web designer calls the shots of when he is done and he is taking his time), and I can’t really show what I can do, nor can I do anything about it- since I have to keep my mouth shut (I have already been assigned the labels you mentioned in the article).
So, instead of marketing like crazy and getting the results- which is extremely fun for me and good for the company- I have to deal with things such as the ones mentioned, plus I have to do other things that I should not be doing and I get no support. So, yes, I get no respect. I did try to do the team work thing, but it seems to me that educating people about everything is a really a time-consuming task, and it needs to be a two-way street.
I think that companies need to educate themselves better on the roles of marketers and give them more support, instead of just expecting them to be “friendly” with everyone and being submissive and quiet, so that they would fit in. All these cookie-cutter ideas of how people should be all be the same are old and outdated. Part of being a marketer means being bold, free, more independent,creative, outspoken, taking chances, thinking outside of the box, being daring, competitive, a little rebellious and result-oriented. This is what I want my boss to support, because that is what gets him the results. “

and it really touched a raw nerve with me - perhaps because another marketer that I know was experiencing some similarish issues.

I told her:

1. To plot her exit

2. To screw ( use ) them whilst she did it

3. To be happy ( doing it )

Well - like I say it touched a raw nerve !!!!

SEO and more recently Inbound Marketing people are THE FUTURE but they will inevitably be held back by ” the old guard ” - traditional marketers, web designers and other ” established ” marketing and non-marketing functions.

Now this young lady may think she is frustrated but I can tell her that it is even more frustrating being an investor in a company that still has these attitudes and policies.

Remember, as an investor, you may sit on the Board ( or not ) but you will probably not have control ( which resides with the management team ) so you can actually only influence.

As an investor in this company I can imagine myself sitting in a Board meeting while they whinge about the fact that they are not going to hit their numbers.

Trying to ignore this fact slightly you ask why and they make some excuse about market conditions; failing salespeople etc etc

” How is your Internet Marketing going ? ” you ask, innocently. What are you getting from that ??

Oh we don’t get any actual business, they say.

Do you get visitors you ask ??

Well we do but don’t know how many.

Is the website being found ???

We think so.

What is it being found for ????

We don’t know.

Well, you’ve got an SEO specialist right ??

Yes.

So what have you told her to SEO the website for then ???

( Blank looks all around )

o.k. So listen - if the SEO specialist does not know what you need to be found for she will be guessing. So you need to think about it and discuss it with her and then allow her to make changes to the website to ensure that it gets found. Your design guy isn’t going to be able to help you in this.

You also need to think about giving the SEO specialist the tools to measure if her work is having an effect on visitor numbers and leads generated.

Of course by now you have ruffled LOADS of feathers - but hey - they are playing with your money !!!!!

I could make this a much longer blog !!

The Glan is the shortened version of The Glan yr Afon Inn in Holywell, Flintshire and if you google The Glan yr Afon Inn you will find the website, blogsite, videos etc etc

View from the front.

Bedrooms, bar, sports bar etc

Benjamin Bryan - former landlord of The Glan around 1950 ??

The Cisco FutureLine Hosted Voice system is based on Digium Asterisk at the core and uses Cisco Systems networking and endpoint ( voip phones, video over ip equipment etc etc ) hardware.

Whilst some people might view Cisco and Digium as unlikely partners I believe that they represent one of the most powerful combinations in the telephony world.

I regard Digium and Asterisk respectively as a company and a solution whose time has come. I am not alone in this view. If you doubt my opinion then perhaps you may consider the involvement of David Skok of Matrix Partners

http://www.matrixpartners.com/site/team_detail/david_skok/

in Digium. He is one of the investors.

David is specifically focused on the areas of cloud computing, Open Source, Software as a Service (SaaS), marketing automation, virtualization, storage, and data center automation.

Consider also the references in the book ” Asterisk: the future of telephony ” :

” In the book ” Paradigm Shift ” Tim O’Reilly talks about a paradigm shift that is occurring in the way technology ( both hardware and software ) is delivered. O’Reilly identifies three trends:

- the commoditisation of software

- network enabled collaboration

- software customisability ( software as a service - SaaS )

These three concepts provide evidence to suggest that open source technology is an idea whose time has come. ”

In this blog here

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2011/02/19/digium-asterisk-based-futureline-at-uc-expo-2011/

I have highlighted a number of general benefits of  a Digium Asterisk based Hosted Voice platform. ( These benefits also apply to premises based or managed solutions ).

In the same way that a Digium Asterisk based pbx like the Switchvox can be compared favourably to other premises based alternatives e.g. Avaya/Nortel or Panasonic a Digium Asterisk based Hosted Voice solution can be compared favourably to other proprietary Hosted Voice solutions e.g. Broadsoft or Mitel.

Without going through all the general benefits highlighted in my earlier blog it is reasonable to assume that the advantages are scaled up in line with the scaling of the system from one that serves a single customer to one that serves multiple customers.

If you are a reseller, distributer or small telco or cloud services company looking to provide Hosted Voice services to your customers ( and perhaps the customers of your customers ) then you are going to be looking at an investment in the order of £100’s of thousands ( albeit financed over a period of time ) in order to acquire a proprietary Hosted solution from e.g. Broadsoft or Mitel.

I highlight proprietary solution because it seems to me that the very last thing you want to do is to spend £100’s of thousands on a solution that is not “open”, standards based, easily upgradeable, customisable and flexible.

For an in depth appreciation of the problem being faced we can turn to David Skok again and a series of posts such as

http://www.forentrepreneurs.com/saas-economics-1/

David starts:

” This post provides SaaS entrepreneurs with an Excel spreadsheet model and graphs that show the cash flow trough that happens to SaaS, or other subscription/recurring revenue businesses that use a sales organization. These kinds of SaaS businesses face a cash flow problem in the early days, because they have to invest up front in sales and marketing expenses to acquire customers, and only get payments from those customers over a delayed period of time. I refer to this phenomenon as the the SaaS Cash Flow Trough. ”

The cash flow problem in the early days is only going to be worse if you have to spend £100’s of thousands on your Hosted Voice platform !!

So, for many reasons, even though there have been successful models around the world based on proprietary Hosted Voice systems - I think there are a lot of failures in the Hosted Voice world based on such platforms - I believe that an investment in a Digium Asterisk based platform is going to help a Hosted Voice business model massively ( because it is going to be far less up front cost, more scalable, upgradeable etc etc ).

Evidently, if you are going to be supplying a total voice solution to a customer, you are going to need things like networking hardware ( routers, firewalls etc ), end points ( phones, video cameras etc ), possibly storage solutions, virtualisation hardware and software, broadband, SIP trunks etc etc

Who better to partner with than Cisco ??

As I have mentioned before there are millions of Cisco endpoints and routers attached to Digium Asterisk systems - particularly systems that have been supplied to small and medium sized businesses.

A quick review of  established and experienced Digium Asterisk value added resellers proves that they typically have Cisco and Microsoft skills and accreditations aswell as Digium Asterisk. They have to have really - don’t they !

Clearly Cisco have products and services that compete with Digium Asterisk products and services.

However Cisco also partner with e.g. Broadsoft and it could easily be argued that Broadsoft based solutions are preventing sales of e.g. Cisco UC 500 systems.

In the S.M.B. space particularly ( and here I mean S.M.B. end user customers and S.M.B. resellers, distributers and telco’s ) I believe the combination of Cisco and Asterisk is unbeatable and this is the combination that FutureLine provides.

There are more and more options for acquiring a hosted Cisco voice and unified communications ( UC )  solution but Cisco FutureLine is one of the most viable for SMB’s to start with. The SMB is able to start with a very low cost, but flexible and upgradeable Cisco Futureline Hosted Voice/VoiP solution and then add to this as and when required.

The whole point of the Cisco FutureLine solution is that the SMB does not have to do all the thinking ( about the future and the requirements ) up front. A system can be acquired that meets most of the obvious telephony requirements and can then be upgraded in a seamless and inexpensive way as more features and facilities come to mind or are experienced during the course of business.

FutureLine maintains a regular dialogue with it’s partners and clients to ascertain if additional features or facilities are required.

Some clients may require full unified communications at the outset but this is typically not the case.

Contact Cisco FutureLine here

http://www.futureline.net.uk/

then please give me a call because I know some great accountants in the Midlands area who provide services like BC Stockford do.

If you are looking for advice on things like Taxation, VAT Returns, Payroll Services, Business Services and Inheritance Tax I have considerable experience in this area and many contacts in the Midlands.

Call me direct on 07881 500002

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytWIZHxolI0&feature=player_embedded