And the key is to think as a fellow human of your customers. (Photo credit)

What is commoditization?

First, the definition. Wikipedia says:

Commoditization is the process by which goods that have economic value and are distinguishable in terms of attributes (uniqueness or brand) end up becoming simple commodities in the eyes of the market or consumers. It is the movement of a market from differentiated to undifferentiated price competition and from monopolistic to perfect competition.

This is a natural flow. Something unique comes to market. Everyone is excited and willing to pay premium price. They even line up and get on the waiting list. Soon, others copy it, letting people start comparison shop. Merchants whose only sales pitch is to lower price go ahead and lower their price. Others follow.

Our challenge as business owners is how to keep providing additional value so that people seek us out, happy to pay extra. This divides the market to two: One is the commoditized offers and the other is the unique special offers. This way, consumers can choose which depending on their value system.

You may be thinking, “Boy, that sounds good, but I have no idea how to do it. It sounds difficult.” Sure is. Avoiding commoditization takes the heart and the brain. This is why it gets rewarded well. So you have a choice. (You know I am big on free will and free choice.) You can take the easy route and work like crazy or you can think, change the way you do business, and be well rewarded.

Avoiding commoditization helps consumers, too

Please understand this approach is beneficial for consumers, too. “Perfect competition” sounds nice, but what results is a boring world of lookalike commodities. Further, it causes quality compromise because, after cutting a big portion of profit margin, it’s the only way to keep the low price. Do you really want to live in a world where only cheap boring low-quality stuffs are available?

If you love and care what you do, taking the time and effort to think how you can add unique value to your offer is worthwhile. Your spiritual commitment helps you.

5 approaches to counter-commoditize your business

Where in the commoditization process is your business in? Are you virtually free from competition? Are you in severe price war against your competitors? Somewhere in the middle?

Here are five approaches, or hints, to counter-commoditize your business:

1. Be the authority in your field

Learn your trade really well. Invest in your education. And establish yourself as the authority in your field by publishing books or speaking in public. Your authority status becomes the special value to your customers. For example, there are people who seek out the life coach they saw on the media rather than hiring any coach who advertise on the paper.

2. Educate your customers

While you yourself get educated further about your trade, educate your customers. For instance, if I were to sell soaps, one of the most commoditized products, I will make a presentation about the various ingredients that go into a soap, how each influences your skin, the negative effects of the additives commonly used in supermarket soaps on you and the environment, how mass production and old fashioned soap making are different, etc. Then I will sell soaps made in the old fashioned way with only good ingredients at premium price. The education and the proof of quality of the soap that satisfies such educated customers are the additional values in this case.

3. Personalize the service

Make your product or service one of a kind by adding personalization. I once saw an artist who paints rockstar portraits on the LP records. People buy their favorite artists’ portrait for their nostalgia. This is quite unique already, but what if the picture came with a line of your favorite lyrics and your name? Adding this doesn’t take much time for the painter, but means a lot for the customer. Would they pay a good amount for this extra feature? I think so.

4. Narrow down your target market

This may sound so counter-intuitive. You might say,”Narrow down the target market? You must be joking. I want more customers. ANY customers.” The fact is you might get more customers by tightly defining your target market and changing aspects of your business to deliver specific value this target market want.

As an example, I’m thinking of car mechanics. Even today, many women feel uncomfortable going to car mechanics. All the places I know are so male-oriented even though close to half the car owners are women. I would pay some extra and drive at least 10 extra miles to go to a garage where I feel more comfortable.

It doesn’t mean there has to be a female at the store although that may be helpful. It definitely doesn’t mean the servicemen have to wear pink. How about making the waiting area more female friendly and pleasant to sit? Offering additional service such as car wash might help, too, because a lot of women just don’t like going to places that has anything to do with car care. It saves their time, too.

I don’t have kids, but if I do, I’d be so pleased to find some kid-friendliness, too. I’m sure McDonald’s gets extra business for their play area (not for better taste over other burger chains).

This doesn’t mean you reject customers who don’t match the description of your target market. Using the same example, I think men would love the kid-friendly features just as much.

There are many ways to use this approach. Target the long tail. This may also make you the first or best known authority in this tightly defined market.

5. Get empowered by synergy

You can offer additional value by teaming up with other businesses. The key is to come up with a winning combination.

Hmm, I’m still thinking about car care. Offering additional service of car wash is a kind of synergy already, but what if the garage had a drive-up coffee shop on their premise? The customers can sip fresh brewed coffee while waiting for their cars to be serviced. It’s not just any old car place, it’s a gathering place for car owners!

And all the customers of the coffee place inevitably see the repair shop, so next time they need a service (notice they all have cars to drive up) they might just come to this one. This is synergy, helping both businesses and delivering additional value to customers.

Adding entertainment or comfort factor is an easy way of synergy. This is why restaurants host live music. It’s not just somewhere to eat, you get to hear music at that restaurant! Well, having music is getting common, how about having a magician go around the table on weekend nights? (A lot of amateur magicians would love that kind of part-time opportunity.)

This is in no way the comprehensive list of ways to avoid commoditization. What other ways can you add unique value to your business? Think from the perspective of a consumer. What do you wish to see in the market? What additional service or products make life easier and better?

Related post: Another example to counter commoditization by Seth Godin

The difference between leadership and management

Even though leadership and management are usually used synonymously, Seth Godin defines them differently.

A manager is appointed by the “king” of the organization. Their job is to keep the status quo of the organization according to the rules. No matter how they sugarcoat it, managers are fundamentally against change. In other words, their change has to be approved by the king and has to happen according to the rules.

A leader, on the other hand, is anyone who steps forward with an idea. The idea doesn’t even have to be the leader’s original. (Muhammad Yunus wasn’t the first person to do microfinancing and Al Gore didn’t discover global warming.) The important point is that a leader takes the initiative to make the idea happen. A leader is all about change.

Are you a manager or a leader? Or neither? This defines your basic driving force in life. And how you relate to others.

A manager and the people who are managed live from fear. Because they are against the natural flow of life, the change. A manager’s job is to get as much work done by the employees as possible at the lowest cost. Managers push and then exploit.

A leader and their tribe members, on the other hand, are inspired with love, the passion to make something happen that was not before. A leader leads with their message and also offers a platform for tribe members to communicate with one another. Leaders give.

The internet and social media are just tools

Seth Godin emphasizes that forming a tribe is not about getting as many people as possible to sign up for, say, their Twitter or newsletter. The internet and its various social media tools have made it possible to form tribes across the globe, offering cheap (often free) and fast ways to communicate, but they are just tools. It takes a leader to utilize them.

And it’s not a number game. A large number of people is not necessarily a tribe. A tribe is a group that are united by common vision, a group of active members who connects with the leader and other tribe members. When this criteria is met, yes, a bigger tribe means more powerful tribe, but quality comes before quantity. Seth Godin even recommends tightening the tribe as a way to stay meaningful.

My takeaway of the book

This book made me think. In fact, I’ve been thinking and I haven’t come to a neat conclusion yet. I know there is something in me that wants to come out, some messages that I really think important for many people. This is why I write on this Yes to Me blog. I write about a lot of things in life. But what is my core message? In other words, what kind of movement am I trying to form?

I have messages — like, lightworkers can be successful entrepreneurs (please check my free eBook) and we can defy aging. I have a vision of the New World. But I still think there is something more. Or maybe I want to put something in a more actionable movement. . .

I hope you start thinking about these things, too, about your own life. I mean, if you don’t want to live as a manager or their herds. If you want to stop “sheepwalking” (this is the term Seth Godin uses. I call the same mentality “slave mentality” I guess I may be a bit harsh. . .)

We have the power to create our lives and this world. The most important question is: WHAT do you want to create? What do you want to change?

Here is Seth Godin talking at TED about tribes (HT: Marelisa Fabrega):

It’s 18 minute video, but trust me, it’s worth it, and you’ll have some good laughs, too.

Are you leading a tribe? Are you a member of tribes? I’d love to hear from you — please leave a comment.

Learn marketing or go bust

This is yet another thing I did wrong when I first started as a new entrepreneur, so learn from my mistakes. I didn’t fully understand the importance of marketing. I had the typical employee mindset – I thought if I offer excellent service, somehow the clients would show up, and I’d make money. Wrong. (Image by Patrick J Lynch)

Right now, there are tons of professionals who can offer outstanding services and yet have so few clients. Many are forced to go back to regular employment out of financial needs. I was pretty close to the low point. Gee, just remembering how I was feeling with that dim outlook makes me cringe.

If you can, start learning about marketing ASAP while you still have employment. It will save you a lot of heartache.

Get Clients Now! — marketing coach in a book

For me, there were two things that helped me to get clients. One, I hired Naomi Dunford and got her personalized advice. It was well worth the money. Two, I read several books on marketing, including Get Clients Now!

This book is like a marketing coach in a book. After briefly explaining the marketing theory, it shows the various approaches from which you are to choose and make your own specific action plan for the next 30 days. It is so practical. Many books talk about marketing ideas that sound nice, but after reading those books, I found myself saying to myself, “Okay . . . so what do I do?” With Get Clients Now! you are writing down your action plan by the time you are one-third way of the book.

It even shows the relative effectiveness of each marketing approach (Let me tell you, advertisement is low in the ranking) so you get to make informed choices. Then you make a checklist, and work on the plan day in day out. The book comes with daily encouragement, the author talking to you from the page as your marketing coach.

It’s important to choose the approach that utilizes your strengths. I like writing, so I blog and network through this platform, but there are other ways. For example, a friend of mine has made a strong connection with the local alternative health center, where people who are more open to spiritual healing gather. If you are like hands-on face-to-face communication, this kind of approach is great.

Regarding the 30 day plan I made according to the Get Clients Now!, I haven’t completed it honestly. It was so effective that I got plenty of clients somewhere in week 3 and forgot about filling the checklist. Now I know clients come in waves, so there may be times in the future when I need to do more marketing – but then I know what to do. I go back to this book, make a new plan, and work on it.

Marketing is about communicating your love for the work you do

Here is the surprising part: I now love marketing. I used to hate the idea of marketing and sales, to talk people into buying my service. I felt shallow when I had to do it. It didn’t fit into my philosophy of “Live and Let Live” And I usually didn’t make the sale, so that added to my negative feeling and hesitation about marketing.

I have a different idea about marketing now. Marketing is about introducing and educating people about the thing I love so much. I love it, I firmly believe it has lots of value, so I want to talk about it. Just like I want to talk about the great movie I saw. I don’t care all that much if my “marketing” results in immediate sales. If it does, it’s great, and I know my service has more value than the money my clients pay, so I feel good. If it doesn’t, I still feel good because I know I gave them valuable info.

Ironically, it seems to me that the less I care about the immediate results of my marketing, the more sales I make. By far, the best marketing gig I’ve done so far for my Akashic Record Reading was the interview Hunter Nuttall facilitated. I worked on that interview over the long Labor Day Weekend without expecting sales at all. I did the interview because Hunter is my friend, he had my reading and had lots of great questions that I found interesting too. It’s an interview, so there is really no sales talk. But the readers picked our enthusiasm, they asked many thought-provoking questions in the comments, and a good number of them contacted me directly ^_^ (And I’m sure the posts were great traffic attractor for Hunter, too. It was a win-win-win for Hunter, readers, and me. Now send a few more interviews like this my way, and I’ll be rich ^_^)

So again, it’s critical to choose your business niche based on what you love, as we discussed in part 1 of this Inside Out Approach To Entrepreneurship series. Your love and passion will show when you talk to people, and therefore it will affect your sales. And when you love what you do, you almost owe to deliver it to the appropriate audience. How can you possibly keep that goodie to yourself? Love is better shared, we all know that.

Do you like marketing? Do you have great marketing ideas? (I’m still learning, so I’m all ears if you do!)

Further reading: Learning to Love Networking Learn three practical techniques to make your great first move in networking that is critical in any marketing. Or read on to Part 5 of this series.

When you leave comments as a way to market your own blog . . .

In my last post Know, Like, Trust: Three Steps To Winning The Business, I emphasized the importance of working on the process of being known. It’s such a basic step, yet it’s quite obvious that many businesses fail on this first step of marketing. How many businesses go out of business before they ever get attention of substantial number of potential customers? Forget about the quality of your products and services for just a moment, if nobody knows about it, it doesn’t matter to them.

In the online world, this translates into getting attention of new readers. And one of the tried-and-true approach is to comment and / or guest blog on other blogs.

James the “handsome debonair king of the blogosphere” wrote in this post that it’s better to comment on smaller blogs. He insists that the ROI (return of investment) is higher with smaller blogs. Kind of like investing in small cap stocks. It’s an interesting strategy.

Not all small blogs are created equal, though . . .

I sort of agree with him. There is a point in investing in growing small businesses rather than in large cap blue chips. The “sort of” is inserted there, however, because I don’t think all small businesses or blogs are created equal. There are small blogs that are going to stay small and silently disappear and small blogs that are ready to grow big. Two different animals even if the current subscribers number are the same.

Can we spot promising small blogs that are going to grow big? Like stock investment, there is no guarantee, but I think there are signs that indicate that a blog owner knows what he or she is doing. Look for these signs and find great small blogs to comment.

1. There is About page with contact info.
As I discussed in Are You Afraid Of Expressing Yourself In Business?, people like people. Further, if the blogger is hiding out, do you think they are responsible for their writing? I don’t like dealing with nameless someone, and I bet many people feel the same.

2. The blogger responds to comments.
Maybe things are different for A-list blogger who gets 100 comments for every post. For everyone else, it serves to treat the visitors right. Not ignoring the people who spent their precious time to write their comment is really just the first step. I usually don’t return to blogs that ignored me before, and again, I’m betting many people feel the same.

3. There are outgoing links.
We don’t live in the vacuum. Bloggers who send out link loves know they will be reciprocated. (Well, most of the time.) Further, it shows the blogger goes out and do some learning or marketing by reading other blogs, which is important for growth.

4. Unique contents that deliver value.
We are tired of rehashed content. (Except this extraordinary one) Unique content is fun to read, and it attracts incoming links. But I’m putting this at #4 because there are certain limitations to uniqueness (whereas the aforementioned three are actionable for anyone willing to put their effort in). I mean, I’m pretty well read and it’s very seldom that I come across with something that is so new to me. What I’d like to see is a fresh angle, a personal flavor. Of course, if you can offer something that I never heard of, that will be wonderful — it reminds me there are more to explore in life.

Needless to say, please present the great contents in a neat way that doesn’t take more than 15 seconds to figure out what this blog is all about . . .

5. Big Bonus Point: You’ve seen the blogger at other parties – I mean, at other blogs. This means the blogger is working on the marketing.

Do you know of other signs to spot a growing blog? Some secrets to success? Whisper me. . .

Further reading: King James is currently writing a series of posts on the art of guest posting. The first post of the series is here.

More reading: The best way to comment is to find the blog you really enjoy and comment for the joy of having conversation with the blog author. Cath Lawson just published a terrific post on this — I could not explain better.

The long, and sometimes winding, road from nobody to somebody

Okay, I’m back. I appreciate your loving support for my inner child. (I sometimes call her Wie Wie.) But we are back to discussing business, and today I want to talk about the very basic thing in marketing that you just can’t afford not to know. It’s so basic that, when I started my business, I didn’t give it much thoughts – I took it for granted. It’s about the three steps to successful sales: Know, Like and Trust.

In order for a potential customer to do business with you, he or she first need to KNOW you exist. You and your business. Then they need to LIKE you. They may not consciously admit they are doing business because they like you, and there are certain businesses that this factor hardly matters (such as businesses that address emergency – when you are locked out of the house, you probably call the locksmith in your town even if he is not the most pleasant person. . .), but in most cases, this is critical. Finally, they need to TRUST you enough to put their money and emotional investment in your business.

It sounds simple. Common sense. But actually getting this process working is . . . well, it’s a lot of work. Let me explain by an example.

Who is this guy? James “hire me” Chartrand?

While I was trying to learn about blogging by checking famous big blogs, I noticed I saw some names repeatedly in their comments. Like James “hire me” Chartrand.(Note: He doesn’t sign this way any more, I think. This was awhile ago. But still, this is a great twist – if you have a common name, learn from his example how to stand out.) I’m not sure how many times I saw his name before I actually started recognizing it. Read: many many times. This is the KNOW step.

Then one day, I was writing my own comment at a big blog. Now you know how things are at those A-list blogs. Most comments are like “Great post!” “I totally agree.” kind. I actually had a point that I thought was valuable, and had to think a bit how to say it. And while I was staring the screen, I noticed this guy James also wrote a comment asserting his point. I thought, “Hey, here is someone who can actually think, and not afraid of saying it!” This is the LIKE step. Or maybe the beginning of it.

So I finally clicked on his name and went over to their blog. “Men With Pens” Hmm. . . do they have anything interesting for me? I subscribed to their feed and honestly, pretty much forgot about it. (I have way too many subscriptions that I just can’t keep up with all the posts . . . my apology here.) Eventually, I noticed they respond to every comment on their blog. Now I try to do the same on my blog, and I know how hard it is. They have far more comments and they still do it. So this is quite remarkable.

Then I asked if they could do an interview for me. They were graceful both in the interview and in responding to comments. My LIKE thermometer went up. Now I’m their fan. I read their posts very often, and I check their blog evaluation every Sunday. They seem to know what they are talking about, and their actions live up to their words, so I TRUST them. I like writing myself so I’m not going to hire him as my copywriter, but when I need sophisticated web work (I am an entrepreneur and have lots of ideas. . .), I know who to contact. Read: If you are in business and want to have a website but have no clue how to do it right, or if you have started blogging and realize you actually suck at it, check them out.

See how much work James has put in to this Know – Like – Trust process?

Note: James didn’t bribe me to say nice things about him. And I didn’t write this to earn brownie points for this blog’s evaluation that is scheduled on August 24th. James is fair, and even if I call him the “handsome debonair king of the blogosphere”, I know he will be brutally honest about what he has to say about this Yes to Me blog on that judgment day.

How I am working on the Know – Like – Trust process.

It took me a while to realize that just having an online presence doesn’t get me known. That was the first mistake I made. I also made the wrong assumption that, once people notice me, they’d surely like and trust me – because I’m a lovely trustworthy person Well, online persona doesn’t quite reflect all my good qualities in real life, and most internet surfers have extremely short attention span to notice anything that is not explicitly clear.

I realized I needed a strategy and actual work – lots of it – on this Know – Like – Trust process.

Being noticed is very challenging. I’d like to be known as professional Akashic Reader, and I want to be known not just among the “spiritual” kind of people but also people who don’t yet realize their spiritual nature. This is why I have two websites, this and Akashic Record Reading.

Yes to Me offers a place of learning and sharing for aspiring entrepreneurs and personal development enthusiasts. I do as much commenting and guest blogging I can to get attention and traffic to here. My hope is that my readers become to like me and this blog because of the many features like Interview With Successful Entrepreneurs and Gratitude Friday. When you like this blog, you are more likely to spend time here, and you might check other pages like this. In other words, I’m gradually awakening your spiritual awareness. (Of course this doesn’t mean I expect all readers to check Akashic Record Reading website – Yes to Me by itself is a great learning place, open and free to all.)

Trust is also a critical part. It’s a shame some people just spread some tarot cards and call themselves psychics. I also heard about nasty stories that they would “light up special candles” for extra $XX. I don’t do this kind of thing (nor my friends). My prices are clearly written on my website and I even offer 100% satisfaction program. But for people who don’t know me well, or someone who is suspicious about “spiritual” service in general, how can I win their trust?

Yes to Me serves to make this point also. I mean, do you think someone who writes all these quality articles as volunteer work would cheat or offer bogus service? My sincerity is right in front of you. You can also see I’m quite practical. (Just to let you know, I don’t use any drugs. Zero. No nicotine, either. And I hardly ever drink. I do drink a cup of coffee a day.)

But I know there are plenty of room for improvement. How can I improve my Know, Like, Trust factors?

And which step of Know, Like, Trust do you find most challenging?

Related post: Learning To Love Networking