The Women Entrepreneurs Blog @ Simon

Advertising and Marketing on the Internet: Rules of the Road

2010-03-09T21:08:40-05:00

The Internet is connecting advertisers and marketers to customers to advertisers and marketers to customers again from Boston to Bali with text, interactive graphics, video, and audio. As you and your business join the masses online, it’s important to remember that many of the same rules that apply to other forms of advertising apply to electronic marketing. These rules and guidelines protect businesses and consumers and help maintain the credibility of the Internet as an advertising medium.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an agency of the federal government charged, among other things, with consumer protection. The FTC offers two fundamental principles to remember: Advertising must tell the truth and not mislead consumers and in addition, claims must be substantiated.

 General Offers and Claims Products and Services

The Federal Trade Commission Act allows the FTC to act in the interest of all consumers to prevent deceptive and unfair acts or practices. In interpreting Section 5 of the Act, the Commission has determined that a representation, omission, or practice is deceptive if it is likely to:

mislead consumers or
affect consumers' behavior of decisions about the product or service.

 In addition, an act or practice is unfair if the injury it causes, or is likely to cause, is:

substantial,
not outweighed by other benefits, and
not reasonably avoidable.

The FTC Act prohibits unfair or deceptive advertising in any medium. That is, advertising must tell the truth and not mislead consumers. A claim can be misleading if relevant information is left out or if the claim implies something that's not true. For example, a lease advertisement for an automobile that promotes "$0 Down" may be misleading if significant and undisclosed charges are due at lease signing.

  In addition, claims must be substantiated, especially when they concern health, safety, or performance. The type of evidence may depend on the product, the claims, and what experts believe necessary. If your ad specifies a certain level of support for a claim - "tests show X" - you must have at least that level of support.  

Sellers are responsible for claims they make about their products and services. Third parties - such as advertising agencies, website designers, and catalog marketers - also may be liable for making or disseminating deceptive representations if they participate in the preparation or distribution of the advertising, or know about the deceptive claims.

Other points to consider:

Disclaimers and disclosures must be clear and conspicuous. That is, consumers must be able to notice, read or hear, and understand the information. Still, a disclaimer or disclosure alone usually is not enough to remedy a false or deceptive claim.

Demonstrations must show how the product will perform under normal use. Refunds must be made to dissatisfied consumers if you promised to make them.

Advertising directed to children raises special issues. That's because children may have greater difficulty evaluating advertising claims and understanding the nature of the information you provide. Sellers should take special care not to misrepresent a product or its performance when advertising to children. Additionally, as a result of The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the FTC's implementing Rule which took effect April 21, 2000, commercial websites directed to children under 13 years old or general audience sites that have actual knowledge that they are collecting information from a child must obtain parental permission before collecting such information.

The Internet has provided us with unprecedented opportunities for reaching consumers and collecting and sharing information and it is important as we to protect the credibility of this medium. Remember, the internet may be the “New Frontier” of commerce but it cannot be treated like the “Wild West”.

Source: Advertising and Marketing on the Internet

*SBA’s participation in this blog does not constitute an endorsement of the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration or any other person or entity. SBA’s programs and services are provided to the public on a non-discriminatory basis.

Market Research Techniques to Boost Your Brand

2010-02-22T11:53:21-05:00

by Lauren Dixon

Market research eliminates the guesswork associated with marketing and communication strategies.

Customized and proven research techniques help companies to formulate, test, and focus their brand and marketing messages.

How can you best apply market research to know what your customers want?

Effective market research starts with a proven strategy. Here are a few tips on how to use market research to boost your brand.

Target specific demographic groups that represent your greatest profit opportunity and help your brand reach the right audience.

Differentiate your brand from the competition with a solid positioning strategy to become relevant in your customers’ lives.

Create emotionally compelling messaging to drive consumers to action.

Evaluate concepts ahead of time to gauge consumer interest before making a risky investment in a new idea.

Incorporate name and package testing to evoke the right emotional associations and tailor interest to increase market share.

A solid and strategic research program comprised of survey research, focus groups, customer intercepts, ethnographies, and biometrics can solve a brand’s distinct challenges. Make 2010 the year you boost your brand with market research techniques that work for you!

Step Up Your Business with TEN

2010-02-17T17:09:26-05:00

by Judy Seil

Entrepreneurship is a word that is used to describe a plethora of initiatives. We are fortunate to have a program in Monroe County (serving the region) that will take your business to the next level with local and national experts ready to share their thought provoking ideas with you.

The Entrepreneurs Network or TEN is an innovative program launched by Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks in 2006. TEN is designed to provide entrepreneurs in Upstate NY significant hands-on exposure to, and interaction with, national and regional business experts and funding sources. Ten provides exclusive classes consisting of boot-camps about securing equity investments and traditional financing, effective sales and marketing strategies, and leadership and business strategies to help entrepreneurs succeed in today's competitive environment.

For more information on this thought provoking and valuable program which starts March 4, go to www.ten-ny.org

Applications are available here

Listed below is the curriculum for the next class. All for an application fee of $350.00.

Overcoming Obstacles

2010-02-11T07:32:14-05:00

by Jackie Marchand
President, WomenTours, Inc.

In my job, I must constantly work to overcome one obstacle after another. I design and coordinate bicycle tours for women, and achieving success is not always an easy feat.

Our flagship event is an annual 2-month bike ride across the country, from California to Florida. I used to think that if the trip was conducted enough times, it could finally be perfected. After years of thinking that next year would be the year, I realized that with every year would come another challenge.

...Roads close for construction and we have to reroute our cyclists. Heavy rain makes the Mississippi River rise; our ferry won’t run, so we have to commandeer cars to drive our bikers two hours over the nearest bridge. The only hotel in town tells us it’s changed ownership and lost our reservation. We scramble to find a hotel in another town, hoping our cyclists will have enough energy to bike there...

Certain uncontrollable factors make it nearly impossible to create the perfect tour. However, it is possible to overcome obstacles that arise. Breaking conflicts down into manageable smaller tasks makes them easier to tackle. I call on my staff, our tour guides, our cadre of consultants (accountant, attorney, etc.) and my colleagues in the industry for help. Sometimes, they come up with the wildest ideas that turn out to be the simplest solutions. Every year gets easier as I learn what’s worked from the past.

The women who sign up to bicycle the 3000 miles across the country probably share a similar sense of frustration followed by triumph. Their tour, at first, must seem so insurmountable, but with a little training, a daily cue sheet outlining the bike route for the day, and a host of support, they find themselves at the Atlantic Ocean two months later.

What Entrepreneurs Can Learn from Sex and the City

2010-02-06T11:50:05-05:00

by Marita Greenidge

Carrie: Oh my God… cccome come back! What is this? Why is this happening? My computer just crashed right in the middle of my work!

----------------------

Apple Tech: When was the last time you backed up your work?

Carrie: Um… I don’t do that

Aidan: You don’t back up?

Carrie: No

-----------------------------------

Carrie: Hi… You remember me? I am number P438W, you have my computer.

Apple Tech: Yup… okay and this is what we could recover from your hard drive. Any of that look familiar to you?

Carrie: and there it was, my past… it was a mess..can you please tell me why this happened in the first place?

Apple Tech: Ah I dunno… sometimes these things… they just crash. Now we can replace your motherboard but you have to get yourself a backup system. Get a zip drive, start saving… next time you won’t lose everything.

----------------------

If you’re a Sex and the City fan like I am, you remember the above scenes surrounding Carrie’s computer crash. She lost all her data! On Saturday morning, January 23, I could completely relate to Carrie’s pain – my computer refused to start. Well that is a bit inaccurate. It tried to start; unfortunately, it only mustered enough energy to remain on for 2 seconds… then it shut down. Every time I hit the power button, it did the same thing – 2 seconds on and the next second shut down.

I called my computer technician, thinking it probably couldn’t be that serious and would only require a few changes here or there to make it as good as new. Unfortunately, my technician said my computer had reached the end of its useful life. Like Carrie I questioned, “Why did it crash?!” Similar to the Apple Tech, my technician told me “Sometimes, these things happen. I’ve seen it before.”

What an opportune time to crash; I had a board meeting in a few days, and the first class for the new graduate marketing course I was about to start teaching was also only a few days away.

Luckily, one and half years ago I decided to watch the much talked about Sex and the City. I read a ton of entrepreneurship blogs and articles and all of them at one point or the other tells you – “back up your data.” However, it was only that episode of Sex and City, when Carrie lost all her files, that it suddenly hit home.

“My gosh! If I lost all my files I have no idea what I’d do!”

I immediately went to Mozy.com and started an unlimited back up subscription. Now whenever my computer is idle, my files are backed up. This works well for me because I am not the kind of person who would remember to intermittently back up my files on a storage device. Plus, between back up schedules I could have potentially lost a lot of files. With Mozy, my last back up was a few hours before the crash so I was very much assured that all my work was saved.

Were this not the case, I’d be in some serious trouble. I would have had to redo all the analyses and presentations prepared for my Board meeting, and I would have had to redo all my lecture slides!

Everyone needs their own stimulus to actually do what needs to be done. Mine was a Sex and the City episode, perhaps yours will be this blog post. Whatever it takes, I seriously recommend backing up your data; you can save yourself a lot of time and frustration should something happen to your computer. Here's a link to five of the best online backup tools.

Taking the Plunge—Timing the Risk to Optimize Success

2010-01-31T16:42:18-05:00

by Elisabeth Hager, MD

You have a great idea for a company, but you also have a great job, or a family that depends on you, or other realities that must be considered before you take the plunge into entrepreneurship. So how do you know when it’s time to take the risk?

The answer depends on a few factors. To define your risk, it helps to consider your current and potential income, your preference for independence, your current and expected work effort, your tolerance for risk, and other working conditions.

For new entrepreneurial ventures, many of these variables are unknown and have to be estimated. It is the combination of these factors that influences your decision to start your own company. Comparing the present (your current work environment) with the future (your anticipated work environment) can help you determine your probable risk. Think of these variables as an equation:

U = f(Y, I, W, R, O) where U is the utility function, Y is income, I is independence, W is work effort, R is risk and O is other working conditions.

Of course, the actual utility is accomplished over time so, while ignoring variable O, an Entrepreneurial Attractiveness Index (EA) can be calculated as:

EA = ∫ⁿ₀(w1Y + w2I - w3W - w4R)dt where w = weighting factors and w1 + w2 + w3 + w4 = 1.

Both w3 and w4 have negative signs because Work and Risk are dis-utility factors, or they work against the likelihood of taking the plunge. Because everyone is different, it is important to know how each individual would assign the weights to these variables. If you are risk adverse, for instance, you would assign a w4 = 0.8.

While you may or may not want to crank through an equation to determine if the timing is right to found your company, keeping in mind these very real variables and assessing the strengths of each can help you realistically determine if the timing is right to leave your day job for your dream job.

Source: Douglas, et al, Journal of Business Venturing, 1999 in Dorf, et al, Technology Ventures, 2008

What did I get myself into?!

2010-01-25T10:55:19-05:00

by Claire Siegrist

I’ve had a frustrating couple of weeks in the YEA program. We’re now in week 14 and time is going fast. Entrepreneurship is not for sissies!

My original idea was to establish an indoor off-leash dog-park. I loved the concept of a climate-controlled, big, safe space where owners and their dogs could stay active all year long. A dog-sitting option would be available as well, where customers could leave their dog for pick up later.

I believe that there is a market opportunity where busy people can drop off their dogs and quickly get to Wegmans, the library, etc. While they are doing their errands, their dogs will be thoroughly exercised by park staff.

But then reality hit me. My DBA, Fetch, Run and Play! was listed in the newspaper 1/11/10.

As I researched the costs and responsibilities of running a facility like this, I became overwhelmed. How is a shy, 13 year old going to make this happen? So, I scaled it down to a lower-cost, more flexible model with much quicker start-up potential and scalability. (More in future posts!)

Most of the other YEA students develop a thing; I made a place. I love stuff as much as anybody. But, when we decided on business ideas last October, I couldn’t dream up a thing that the world needed but I hadn’t seen before.

My life would be a lot simpler if I was working on a widget.

Who is My Competition?

2010-01-19T13:47:35-05:00

by Victoria Reynolds

Business takes place in a highly competitive, volatile environment, so it is important to understand the competition. As always, you must continually assess who your nearest direct competitors are. You should also know your indirect competitors - is their business growing, steady, or declining? What can you learn from their operations or advertising? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How does their product or service differ from yours?

What to Address in Your Competitor Analysis

Names of competitors: List all of your current competitors and research any that might enter the market during the next year.
Summary of each competitor's products: This should include location, quality, advertising, staff, distribution methods, promotional strategies, customer service, etc.
Competitors' strengths and weaknesses: List their strengths and weaknesses from the customer's viewpoint. State how you will capitalize on their weaknesses and meet the challenges represented by their strengths.
Competitors' strategies and objectives: This information might be easily obtained by getting a copy of their annual report. It might take the analysis of many information sources to understand competitors' strategies and objectives.
Strength of the market: Is the market for your product growing sufficiently so there are enough customers for all players?

Tips for Gathering Competitive Information

Internet: The Internet is a powerful tool for finding information on a variety of topics.
Personal visits: If possible, visit your competitors' locations. Observe how employees interact with customers. What do their premises look like? How are their products displayed and priced?
Talk to customers: Your sales staff is in regular contact with customers and prospects, as is your competition. Learn what your customers and prospects are saying about your competitors.
Competitors' ads: Analyze competitors' ads to learn about their target audience, market position, product features, benefits, prices, etc.
Speeches or presentations: Attend speeches or presentations made by representatives of your competitors.
Trade show displays: View your competitor's display from a potential customer's point of view. What does their display say about the company? Observing which specific trade shows or industry events competitors attend provides information on their marketing strategy and target market.
Written sources: Use general business publications, marketing and advertising publications, local newspapers and business journals, industry and trade association publications, industry research and surveys, and computer databases (available at many public libraries).

Even if you’re convinced that your product or service is unique, it’s highly likely that your potential customers can already find it in one form or another. Your job is to assess thoroughly and objectively who your competition is, what they offer and what factors make your product/service superior to theirs (i.e., your competitive advantage). And finally, once you now the “who”, “what”, “why” and “how” of your competition, the key to success is convincing potential customers that they should come to you instead.

Discovering Untapped Markets

2010-01-14T19:45:28-05:00

by Lauren Dixon

While 2010 is the "The Year of the Tiger," it might also be the year for businesses to discover untapped markets!

The fragmentation of media and technology presents an exciting mix of challenges and opportunities, allowing companies to target specific customers in unique ways. Technology makes it easier than ever for entrepreneurs to self-market using social networks and websites, but how can they best earn customer loyalty and trust while maintaining a focus on their core businesses?

Since advertising is primarily focused on the individual with a personalized approach, there is so much information available to consumers that it is a challenge for businesses to stand out. Where can companies leverage their media dollars and invest their time to get a ROI?

Businesses must not only grab the attention of potential customers through traditional forms of communication and media, but they also have to monitor blogs, social networking sites, and Twitter activity. Collaborating with web experts and media professionals can help companies make sense of the "clutter" while staying focused on their core business. With the breadth and depth of media choices to reach customers, there is unlimited potential for finding untapped markets.

Discovering effective ways to reach busy consumers and attract new customers is a critical part of success in 2010 and beyond!

A Kindergarten Business Education

2010-01-09T14:53:34-05:00

by Judy Seil

As we start the new year, let's remember that what we learned in kindergarten still applies in the business world (with some added advice):

Share everything. Your knowledge and experience can be helpful to an intern or newbie at the company. The more you give and share, the more you get in return.

Play fair. Honesty, integrity and kindness are attributes will make you a better business person and well respected by others.

Don’t hit people. (Especially when they are down.) If you receive a call from a friend, or friend of a friend, who is looking for a job and trying to network, meet with him or her. You never know when you might be in a similar situation.

Put things back where you found them. Never leave the "filing" to someone else. It is good exercise for you to get out of your chair and put it away.

Clean up your own mess. Don't finger point at others when a mistake has been made. If you are the boss, you need to stick up for others and help them take care of the problem.

Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Don't take credit for others ideas. Encourage free thinking and reward those who come up with good ideas.

Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody. Don't be stubborn. You know when you have been unreasonable and may have said something cross.

Wash your hands before you eat. Prevent the spread of H1 N1.

Flush. (Of course.)

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Treat your employees on a regular basis to goodies or lunch. A little investment goes a long way to help keep your staff happy and productive.

Live a balanced life. Learn and think, draw and paint, sing and dance, and play and work a bit each day. Remember, that at the end of your life, you don't want your tombstone to say, "He/she never missed a day of work." Your employees need to see you enjoy life also.

Take a nap every afternoon. (But wait until your lunch break!) Power naps can refresh and energize you for the rest of the day.