Making Ripples: post-corporate adventures in Floyd County Virginia

YOUR VOIP PHONES CAN BE LISTED IN THE CITIZENS TELEPHONE DIRECTORY

This is a great deal for a growing number of Internet Phone users.

If you have switched from a traditional landline telephone to one of the new Internet telephones (VOIP), you can still have your telephone number listed in the Citizens 2010 Telephone Directory.

Some of you may say, "Are you crazy? Why would I want to have a listed number?"

Those of you who have friends and potential customers trying to reach you probably know the value of being listed in the Telephone Directory White Pages and Yellow pages. You also know how much money you save using a VOIP telephone.

When I discontinued my land line phones and went to VOIP last year, I talked to Steve Mack of the Citizens Directory and discovered that I could have my new VOIP home phone listed in the Citizens Telephone Directory just as if it were a regular telephone and the listing cost me only $35 a year! Since my VOIP phone with unlimited calling cost only $24.95 a month plus tax,etc. this was just what I needed.

Steve called me today to renew my listing and I asked if this was open to everyone in the Citizens area or was I getting a special break. He said that it was open to those who wanted it and the only hitch was that the 2010 telephone book signups are closing as of February 5th.

If you want to be listed in the Citizens Telephone Directory and you are not now in there, call Steve Mack at 540-556-5003 to add personal and business VOIP listings to the new 2010 telephone directory for area codes 540 and 276. Business listings cost more than personal listings but I find them both to be reasonable.

I get nothing from this referral except a great sense of satisfaction sharing a real bargain for the small business owner.

I think the same opportunity must exist in other areas. Contact the people who publish your telephone directory, not your phone company.

Life has been interfering with blogging again

In a down economy where income can drop drastically overnight, small business owners like myself have to go from production mode to full-on promotional activity.. All non-income generating activity gets put on hold. Blogging is an incredibly satisfying and rewarding experience, but it does not produce income in the short term so it gets relegated to non prime time activity or never.

Promotion is the only way that new business relationships are created and it can take many forms. There is only so much advertising that one can do with limited funds, but there is almost no limit to the amount of personal contact that can be accomplished if one is sufficiently motivated.

About two months ago I figured out that customers still wanted custom picture framing, but most of them needed to feel that they were getting an amazing deal as well as an extraordinary buying experience in order to part with their dwindling disposable income.

After all, that was what I was doing and is what my friends are doing for almost every purchase. We still want the good things in life and are willing to do with a more economical version, but it takes a really special deal from a business we like dealing with to justify spending money.

So, I have been making friends with potential customers and have been promoting ways for them to save money on picture framing for several months and this activity has finally begun to produce results.

As I've mentioned before, promoting a business follows the well known Law of Ketchup. You promote and promote and it seems like nothing is happening until finally people show up in bunches and you are suddenly racing around like a madman trying to stay ahead of the rush.

I am enjoying the flood of work, but it has temporarily put a halt to my blogging. Lots of interesting things are happening in Floyd and I will do my best to catch up on those that are most interesting.

I hope to be back blogging next week. Stay tuned.

Pricing strategies for hard times

This year has been a learning experience for me as a consumer and as a small business owner.

As a consumer:

As a consumer with less money to spend, I find that my buying habits have changed significantly. I am switching to cheaper alternatives in many areas: Internet phone service instead of regular land line telephone; less expensive cell phone plans; store brands at the supermarkets and specials instead of the brands we used to buy.

Many purchases have been put on hold: clothing purchases; household construction projects; landscaping projects; auto tune-ups;

Trips to nearby cities for supplies are carefully scheduled so they are kept to a minimum.

Small purchases for entertainment continue, but the outlay is greatly reduced. If we eat out while on a shopping expedition, it is more likely to be at Subway than Applebys and a regular coffee instead of a latte from Starbucks.

I borrow tools for short projects where I used to buy them to add to my collection.

We shop online for everything we cannot buy in our local stores.

We look for opportunities to barter whenever possible.

In short, we look for special deals in almost every transaction and do not buy until we find a seller that is willing to give us a price that makes us feel satisfied with the opportunity. Spending money has become painful and it takes a special deal to make buying something satisfying.

As a small business owner:

As a small business owner selling services and products to people who are hurting for money, I have not found much useful advice in the various online forums I follow. The usual advice is to increase my level of advertising and promotion and there is a shortage of strategies for pricing to suit hard times. Promising the same services to more people does not seem to address what consumers are experiencing need and want.

As a consumer, I find myself ignoring advertising except for things I really need at a price that I can't refuse. If my disposable income is at a rock-bottom low, my attention goes to those offerings that will provide me with things I really need at prices that make me feel comfortable buying them. I am not attracted to off-brands at low prices, but to known brands that are being offered at savings that can't be resisted.

If there is a rational reason that the goods are being sold at very low prices, it sweetens the deal for me as a consumer. Overstocks, special buys, and closeouts offer a chance to get needed products of standard quality at prices far below normal.

As a small business owner, I have been experimenting with ways to extend my line of products and services so that I offer limited specials at irresistible prices while maintaining my ability to produce high end products and services for those customers who need them and can afford them.

The results have been encouraging. I started seeing more business at the low end as soon as I started offering special pricing. Customers have been spreading the word that custom framing is still affordable for those who need it.

The turn-around for me as a business owner came when I started looking at my needs as a consumer. I only buy when there is a compelling reason to purchase. I had to give my customers the same opportunity.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Local cooling trend continues - more firewood needed

We seem to be right on target for a colder winter this year. My store of firewood is way above last years level, but I am concerned that our wood may not last until the weather turns warm again in the Spring.

Fortunately, we have friends and neighbors who help with our woodpile in exchange for framing and firewood. Times are hard and the future seems to be grimmer than usual, but people are still pulling together and sharing resources wherever possible. 

Our daughter Marjorie and her boyfriend Jeff came down from Roanoke and helped us split and stack firewood this weekend. The inclement weather kept them from climbing mountains, so they worked on our log pile and reduced a lot of it to stove-sized firewood. We are very grateful for their help.

We have been keeping a fire burning in the Dutch West wood stove almost every morning to take the chill off the house and give us a pleasant start for the day. There is something very comforting  about sitting at the computer near the wood stove with a fresh cup of coffee and checking on the latest news from around the world. We can even get a little bit of local news on the Internet because  some of our bloggers also write for the local paper.

Over the past few years, we have been getting the vast majority of our news from the Internet. The only hard copy news we read is the Floyd Press which does an admirable job of presenting straight news on matters of importance in Floyd County.

We have given up on the alphabet networks for any semblance of news, as they serve opinion in the guise of information. Sorting through the hype for real information is a waste of valuable time. At least on the Internet, we can check alternate sources to see what the information looked like before the spin started.

In Floyd County alone I can find opinions and occasional facts on all sides of almost every issue. We have a lot of bright people who offer interesting solutions for county problems, political misbehavior and even global warming. I would like to see more of them writing online essays so that those ideas would get the exposure they deserve.

Right now, most people limit themselves to comments on local blogs or to letters to the Floyd Press. With all of the talent that exists locally, we should have running commentaries on the decisions of the County Supervisors and on the voting records of our local delegates and congressmen.

I think that secrecy is greatly overrated since it almost always involves covering up acts that will not stand the light of day.

That's it for now. Tomorrow is another day with new challenges.

Creating a support network to survive hard times

Going through hard times alone is a grim and desperate business. I found myself in that situation many times until I learned that being part of a supportive group is not a luxury, but a vital necessity, .

The worst times of my life occurred when I made lifestyle changes that put me into a different culture with no friends to call upon for support. These included: going off to college, starting jobs in strange cities, and being forced out of a company I had helped to found.

In each of these situations, I found myself facing new and difficult challenges with no one to offer a helping hand because I did not have the forethought to develop a network of trusted friends.

Things did not improve until I learned how to locate and join groups that shared resources and advice and were interested in promoting our mutual survival.

Today, we do not have to move to another city to find ourselves faced with hard times. Too many companies are having to lay employees off or are closing outright. Money is hard to come by and everyone in the community is affected eventually. Customers buy less, employees are working fewer hours, and bills are going unpaid in all sorts of areas.

The best way out of this painful situation is to find others like yourself and do what you can to make life easier for each other. What you need to do is find people you can trust and see what you can do to offer each other mutual support. This doesn't mean getting into a "pity party", it means sharing resources, bartering, going the extra distance to help each other get through these difficult months ahead.

There are good people in almost every environment. You build mutual trust by understanding the basis on which people judge you. These are good ones to remember:

    1. Promise only what you intend to deliver
    2. Keep your word once given
    3. Follow through and meet expectations

It may not happen overnight, but if you do these things and help those around you, you will accumulate a group of friends you can rely on. Your certainty will increase and your increased confidence will enable all of you to do more and to shake off negative emotions.

There is really no other option. If you know and understand this data, you will spend very little time bemoaning your fate. You will start making inquiries and developing friends you can trust.

If you are facing hard times right now, find some people to share resources with. That will enable you to start taking control of your life again.

Make friends by being a good friend. Your future depends on it, and you'll have a great time doing it.

Hang in there

There are times when all seems lost. We've all been there. The job of a lifetime turns sour, that one true love turns out to be a mirage, or you have really screwed up and there is little hope for turning things around. You may be so crushed and scared that you can't even see where things went wrong.

You may feel very much like this lizard, who had been so careless that he was caught by Buffy, our old huntress

When you find yourself in this kind of situation, there are at least two ways you can go. You can bow to the inevitable and take your lumps, or you can defy all reason and insist on working your way through to a more satisfactory conclusion.

The first way absolutely guarantees that you will end up smaller and weaker, possibly dead.

Choosing the second path, giving no quarter, and keeping your own counsel is no guarantee of success either. However, if you survive, you will emerge stronger and smarter.

It's a hard choice and no one can make it for you.

Giving up in the face of superior force is no shame, but that choice may lead to a surprising loss of integrity. Hanging in there and toughing it out until you find a way to handle your situation with honor is the best way.

If you got into your current predicament because of an error in judgment, take that as a sign that you are missing vital data. Treat failure as a learning experience and you will emerge from each failure emotionally stronger and more ready to tackle life.

Life is continually changing. The successful actions of a few years ago may cause a business to close today. There is no rest point, only change.

Social and political situations may change so radically that your once comfortable life can vanish in a few months. Failure to anticipate threats can expose you to dangerous situations like that pictured above.

If you find yourself in the grip of adverse circumstances in spite of your best efforts, do not give up. If you are pursuing a worthwhile goal, you may find the inspiration you need to wrest yourself from your current disaster and move on to other challenges.

Buffy carried this lizard around by his foreleg for at least a half hour. Each time she tried to pin him down with a paw, the lizard desperately pulled himself out of harm's way. When she finally put the lizard down in order to get a better grip, he was gone before she could bite down.

(I took this picture many years ago and have revisited this subject several times on this blog. Each time I discover new insights. This time I decided that ending something on your own terms is a more satisfactory learning experience than ending it because you are forced to do so.)

There are times when all seems lost. We've all been there. The job of a lifetime turns sour, that one true love turns out to be a mirage, or you have really screwed up and there is little hope for turning things around. You may be so crushed and scared that you can't even see where things went wrong.

You may feel very much like this lizard, who had been so careless that he was caught by Buffy, our old huntress

When you find yourself in this kind of situation, there are at least two ways you can go. You can bow to the inevitable and take your lumps, or you can defy all reason and insist on working your way through to a more satisfactory conclusion.

The first way absolutely guarantees that you will end up smaller and weaker, possibly dead.

Choosing the second path, giving no quarter, and keeping your own counsel is no guarantee of success either. However, if you survive, you will emerge stronger and smarter.

It's a hard choice and no one can make it for you.

Giving up in the face of superior force is no shame, but that choice may lead to a surprising loss of integrity. Hanging in there and toughing it out until you find a way to handle your situation with honor is the best way.

If you got into your current predicament because of an error in judgment, take that as a sign that you are missing vital data. Treat failure as a learning experience and you will emerge from each failure emotionally stronger and more ready to tackle life.

Life is continually changing. The successful actions of a few years ago may cause a business to close today. There is no rest point, only change.

Social and political situations may change so radically that your once comfortable life can vanish in a few months. Failure to anticipate threats can expose you to dangerous situations like that pictured above.

If you find yourself in the grip of adverse circumstances in spite of your best efforts, do not give up. If you are pursuing a worthwhile goal, you may find the inspiration you need to wrest yourself from your current disaster and move on to other challenges.

Buffy carried this lizard around by his foreleg for at least a half hour. Each time she tried to pin him down with a paw, the lizard desperately pulled himself out of harm's way. When she finally put the lizard down in order to get a better grip, he was gone before she could bite down.

(I took this picture many years ago and have revisited this subject several times on this blog. Each time I discover new insights. This time I decided that ending something on your own terms is a more satisfactory learning experience than ending it because you are forced to do so.)

Done any bartering lately?

As the economy worsens, individuals and small businesses are turning to barter in steadily increasing numbers. The image above is from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/norfolk/7560246.stm

Bartering has usually been done on a one to one basis or through barter exchanges that charged a fee. Now there are free online barter exchanges which are generating a lot of interest. Smarterbarter.com and favorpals.com are just two of these free online barter exchanges.

This 2008 article on Thomasnet still applies today.

Before there was money, credit cards and loans, people relied on bartering. Today, as tight credit conditions squeeze cash-strapped businesses, many businesses are rediscovering the benefits of small-biz bartering.

Bartering has come a long way since farmers and merchants gathered at bazaars to trade their harvest and wares. Nowadays, many modern businesses trade through barter exchanges online, though one-to-one bartering transactions still occur.

Small Biz Owners Revisiting Age-old Tradition: Bartering By Jorina Fontelera  

Bob Bagga, the President and Chief Executive Officer of BizXchange, has an interesting viewpoint on efficiency:

At its base, barter is an efficiency tool, which is why so many companies are now discovering it—everyone’s working to become more efficient to weather the storm.  People are discovering they can use barter to pay for a wide variety of products and services for which they are accustomed to writing checks, including advertising, capital expenditures, commodities and assets.  They’re also realizing that using barter helps bring in new cash-paying customers.

Unemployment and tight credit are spurring an increasing interest in barter. If you have skills or products that others might need, consider bartering them for goods and services you need.

As disposable income shrinks to the vanishing point, I found that barter is a welcome way to service customers who have been hit by the faltering economy.  I am bartering custom framing services every week for goods and services.

I am also bartering labor for firewood. I have more hardwood logs than I can burn this year. If someone wants to cut the logs into stove lengths, they can take half of what they cut. I have been doing this for a year now and it has worked out for all concerned. Since I have a log splitter and a chainsaw, one person can cut and split two truckloads of wood in a day. I keep one and they drive away with the other.

Barter has shortcomings like lack of portability and transparency, but these are being addressed through use of online barter exchanges. Some communities are also facilitating barter through "local currencies".

I plan to write other posts on the subject of barter. If you have any suggestions, please send them along.

Million Dollar Ideas...

In tough times, the best and brightest often come up with an idea that transforms their lives. I have a suggestion for picking ideas that will pay off in the immediate future. For every million dollar idea there are hundreds of under $20,000 ideas which can support an individual or a family micro-business.

Million dollar ideas are a dime a dozen. For immediate results, focus on ideas that can be developed on a shoestring or a credit card. Ideas you can finance yourself and test on a small scale are more likely to bring you income and job satisfaction

There actually are an abundance of million dollar ideas to choose from, but there is only one catch. It takes many millions of dollars to develop these ideas to a point where they can be marketed and sold. Then it takes a larger amount of money to set up a system for selling and distributing the resulting product or service.

In a past life, I was in charge of product development for a company which created new technologies to solve long-standing problems of merchandise protection. It became very clear to me that there is no shortage of million dollar ideas. In fact, we had more great ideas within the company than we could implement with the resources available to us.

The million dollar idea will make money only after these actions are done correctly:

1. The idea is sold successfully to management to get funding
2. A working prototype can be made which demonstrates feasibilty
3. Tooling is developed to produce the product at a cost where it can be sold profitably
4. Packaging, pricing and sales strategies are developed for identified markets.
5. Distribution channels are created
6. All of the production bugs are worked out to produce acceptable yields
7. The product hits the market while a window of opportunity still exists
8. The product sells in enough volume to recoup the investments in steps 1-7

What conclusion might you draw from this? You probably stand a far better chance of making money with a $10,000 idea than a million dollar idea.

As an example, there was a woman in our old neighborhood who developed a line of specialty nut brittles. She installed a commercial kitchen in her home and was barely able to keep up with demand. She created a brand, Red Rocker Candies, which was practically flying off the shelves at local stores. The crucial difference, as I see it, is that she picked an idea she could implement herself.

Hang this up in your cubicle or workspace:

What product or service can I develop
with the resources available to me?

The answer to that could give you a new life and new challenges. There is always a window of opportunity. Develop something that people need now and start generating income.

In a past life, I was in charge of product development for a company which created new technologies to solve long-standing problems of merchandise protection. It became very clear to me that there is no shortage of million dollar ideas. In fact, we had more great ideas within the company than we could implement with the resources available to us.

The million dollar idea will make money only after these actions are done correctly:

1. The idea is sold successfully to management to get funding
2. A working prototype can be made which demonstrates feasibilty
3. Tooling is developed to produce the product at a cost where it can be sold profitably
4. Packaging, pricing and sales strategies are developed for identified markets.
5. Distribution channels are created
6. All of the production bugs are worked out to produce acceptable yields
7. The product hits the market while a window of opportunity still exists
8. The product sells in enough volume to recoup the investments in steps 1-7

What conclusion might you draw from this? You probably stand a far better chance of making money with a $10,000 idea than a million dollar idea.

As an example, there was a woman in our old neighborhood who developed a line of specialty nut brittles. She installed a commercial kitchen in her home and was barely able to keep up with demand. She created a brand, Red Rocker Candies, which was practically flying off the shelves at local stores. The crucial difference, as I see it, is that she picked an idea she could implement herself.

Hang this up in your cubicle or workspace:

What product or service can I develop
with the resources available to me?

The answer to that could give you a new life and new challenges. There is always a window of opportunity. Develop something that people need now and start generating income.

Life after downsizing

When I started blogging in 2003, I had the opportunity to capture our family transition from corporate life to the self-employed afterlife. It was an interesting experience.
A few years ago, while trying to effect changes at Sun Microsystems, I thought to myslf that there had to be more to life than endless meetings and glacial progress on programs of doubtful longevity.

It would have been helpful if a voice from the heavens had called out, "Take your family and flee this place, for it is cursed!" But, nothing so fortunate occurred.

I had to go through this same scenario many more times before the decision to leave high tech showbiz finally percolated into my consciousness.

I began a search for other opportunities, but failed to find any that matched my expectations. I began writing a novel, but kept on with my day job which provided all the satisfaction that goes with herding cats and training water to run uphill.

The novel seemed to be going well and I could almost envision a life as a writer if I could solve the problems of finding an editor, an agent and a publisher, etc.

The increasing agony of the day job was mercifully cut short when some executives finally looked at the bottom line and decided that the way to profitability was to reduce the workforce.

Since Silicon Valley employment was following the example of the Titanic, we decided to live where skies were blue and where we couldn't hear the freeway system. After searching the internet, we decided on Charlottesville, Virginia, where we could enjoy country life and the advantages of a university town.

Lake Monticello, near Thomas Jefferson's mansion of the same name, offered wooded privacy and high speed internet access. We felt this was the best of both worlds and immediately bought a house. We moved here more than a year ago and have never regretted it. Living here required major changes in my career choices, but these changes have brought new opportunities and interesting challenges for the future.

When I grill steaks for supper and watch a herd of deer feeding down by the stream, I can barely remember my past existence at Sun or before. My attention is entirely in the present and future. Life is good. I will do whatever it takes to keep it that way. ^{Click on image to enlarge}

This was written in late 2003 and we have since moved to Floyd, Virginia, which provides an even better environment for the lifestyle we have adopted since leaving corporate life.

Why does your customer do business with you?

If you could adopt your customer's viewpoint of your business, would you be able to understand why that customer does business with you?

If you learned the truth behind your success or lack of it, could you use that information to change your future? Here are some ideas to consider. Your mileage and reality may differ.

Suppose you have a small business. Do you feel that your customers patronize you because of your low prices? A more likely scenario is that your prices are somewhat competitive but your location is far more convenient and you provide a level of personal customer service that a larger business does not.

If that is the case, dropping prices might bring in a few more customers, but it would certainly cut your margins and your profitability.

Increasing your level of customer service, on the other hand, might generate more business from the same customers and also increase referrals.

Let me use an example that all can possibly relate to. There are restaurants, snack shops and markets where one is greeted warmly by the owner or manager and made to feel extremely welcome. These are usually places that are owned and operated by a family.

Some of these places have employees who have not grasped the importance of personal customer contact and they do their jobs while chatting with other employees or with friends. When the owner is absent, the customer is treated as a minor inconvenience or as an anonymous business transaction.

When I go into one of these establishments, I try to deal with those who recognize me and make me feel welcome. If they are not available, I often take my business elsewhere for that day. If I am in a hurry, and there is no easy alternative, I will spend money there, but it is not a pleasure.

The bottom line is that few people need to do business with you, they are usually patronizing your business because the experience makes them feel good! There are so many stresses in life today that most of us treasure the times when we are enjoying ourselves.

Can your business make your customers feel good about their experiences dealing with you? If you can answer that, you may find that your business activity is more rewarding both personally and financially.