Kona Impact was asked to be a t-shirt sponsor this year. We gladly accepted this request and made a donation that helped the PTO (with other donations) to give each child a free t-shirt.

It was great to see all the elementary school children running laps to raise money for their school.

In the language of marketing, your neighbors should be easy picking, the low hanging fruit that you don't have to make great efforts to harvest. That restaurant, in our opinion, missed a great opportunity to develop a local following.

Yesterday, we had a lady appear at our door with a handful of individually wrapped roses. Oh, no, I thought, we're going hear a pitch to donate money to some cause. (I hate it when sales people show up without an appointment!)

Much to our delight, she was here to give us the rose, her brochure and a 10% off coupon. She was probably in and out within two minutes. Wow, I was impressed, especially because her flower shop was about 2 miles from our office. When she left, my colleagues and I looked at each other and commented, "that's how it's done!"

Nohea Flowers is not one of our clients, but we certainly have this shop at the top of our list for a local florist.

It's always great to see businesses do excellent local marketing. Great job, Nohea Flowers!

The product of the region--Kona coffee--is truly a gourmet product. Much like a fine wine, Kona coffee is in a different league than most commodity-type coffee you will find at the supermarket.

The issue many of the 600 or so face is how to market a gourmet product. Here are a few ideas based on our many years of experience marketing gourmet products.

Don't Skimp on the Packaging
An awesome product in a mediocre package is a mediocre product in most people's minds. Many of the farmers in Kona source their bags from the same source, which means the bags themselves are basically the same. What is different, however, are the labels.

A label basically costs .10-$.50 (depends on quality) to print. This is regardless of the label design. In other words, a dull, uninspiring label, costs the same to print as vibrant, visually appealing label. Spend some time and resources making sure your label is the best that it can be. This, after all, is all an uninformed consumer will have to judge your product on a shelf or a website.

Price Appropriately
We met one farmer last year who priced his coffee at $18/pound. When we asked him how he came up with his pricing, he basically said that his costs was about $13/pound and he wanted to make $5 a pound.

He had two problems. First, his calculation of costs was woefully inaccurate. He did not include his land cost, several of the costs to process his coffee, storage costs and any order fulfillment costs. This meant that his profit estimate was inaccurate.

More importantly, he made the mistake of under-pricing his product. Gourmet coffee is not a commodity like Folger's coffee. The value to the coffee drinker is what should drive pricing. Much like the ingredient costs in gourmet chocolate should not determine the retail cost, the cost of producing the coffee should not be the only determinate of costs. With Americans willing to spend $5 on a cup of Starbucks coffee, which in my mind is many, many steps below good Kona coffee, farmers should price their coffee much more than the costs.

This should not shocking. My plumber charges $100 to walk in the door, because he is offering a service that have a high value to me. Even if he puts in a $.50 part, I am happy to pay $100.50 to save the wood floors in my home.

Interestingly, the farmer who priced his coffee so low actually had lower sales! I guess that people perceived his product as low-quality, if not defective. In effect, a higher price point, sets in the consumers' minds that they are buying an excellent product.

Use Multiple Channels
The most successful coffee farms we have seen--those who are able to grow, process and sell their coffee as roasted beans--all have some way to connect with consumers on multiple levels.

At the core of any marketing of gourmet coffee should be a solid web presence. This includes, the very least, a good website. This will be the place where people can order your product, ask questions and seek information about your product 24/7/365.

The other marketing channels should include places where you can make face-to-face contact with your potential customers. Taste testing is essential, as it is the only way a gourmet food product's true value can be demonstrated. Whether it is at a farmers market, an in-store demo or as a farm tour, making direct contact with consumers is an important, yet often overlooked, element of building brand and consumer loyalty.

Maintain Quality
If you are going to sell a luxury gourmet product, it is essential that you maintain quality at every level. Consumers simply stop buying products that do not meet their price-quality expectations. They are willing to put up with irregular quality for a commodity or low price product; they will not for a relatively expensive gourmet product.

If you have grade B product, create a lower-cost brand to maintain the value of your top-quality brand. Though it may be tempting to ship inferior products, it is not a sustainable practice in the long run.

Here is what the businesses that have impressed us have in common:

Research. Research. Research.
One new client literally covered all the space on our conference table with all the research they had done on their product, their local competitors and their business plan. At Kona Impact we believe we can deliver better design and marketing solutions if we understand where a business is and where it would like to be, so we ask a lot of questions. We then try to help new businesses refine and focus their marketing plan based on what we have learned with working with well over 100 local businesses over the years.

Comparison Shop
One new client a few weeks ago came in after spending a few hours looking at all the web designer's websites she could find in our area. To his credit, he spent most of his time looking at the online portfolio's. Many people will spend hours trying to save a few bucks on a vacation package or a new cell phone plan, but they won't do the same for a service provider. Look around. Ask questions. It's your business and the company you choose for your design or marketing project will have a huge impact on your future success.

Understand "Costs"
Most people look at cost as simply the money you spend to buy something. This narrow view of cost is naive. For example, the cost of changing your own oil should include the oil, oil filter, the time it takes you to buy the supplies and the time it takes you to change the oil and take the used oil to a recycling center. If you spill the oil, you'll also have a mostly indeterminable environmental cost. Now, compare the direct cost of a going to an oil change shop: time and the cost of the oil change.

While many businesses owners think they are saving money by hiring the cheapest web designer available, they need to consider the fact that this person might deliver an inferior product (or, worse, no product at all). Do-it-yourselfers almost invariably waste a huge amount of time, some money and end up with an unusable website.

A smart business owner will do what she can, but also realize that there are many times when professional help is an excellent investment.

That said, we often hear, "I like your company, your portfolio and the way you work, but we received a price quote from Company B for $XXX less." This is a good starting point for a good discussion.

How can a business understand a low bid?

Company B is Just Better
One possibility is that the company is just more efficient and better at delivering the product or service. Lower development costs should result in lower costs to the buyer. If all other things like the quality of the product, development time, communication and after-sale support are the same, this is the company you should hire.

Company B is Trying to Build its Skills
One reason why design businesses give low bids is that they really don't want to make money on the project; they just want to build their skills and portfolio. The huge risk is that the provider does not have the skills to complete the project with professionalism and in a timely manner. For example, would you want to be the first person to have your home built by a new contractor? Would you feel any unease at having an unsupervised new mechanic do a brake job on your car?

Company B Doesn't Understand the Project
We see this all the time at Kona Impact. A company places a low bid on a project because it does not truly understand the project. This is bad situation because the client and the provider have different expectations and, in the end, the provider will not have the funds or motivation to complete the project. Or, the provider will be asking the client for more money. In either case, it's a bad situation.

Company B is Planning a Bait and Switch
We have seen web development companies give a low initial bid and then, halfway through the project, demand more money for it to be completed. This, of course, is highly unethical, but if the developer is off-island or in a different country, there is little a client can do other than pay up or abandon the project.

Company B is Trying to Build a Client Base with Low Prices
For many novice business owners, a low price is their marketing strategy. The problem with this is that it is not sustainable in the long-term. Consistently racing to bottom in pricing ensures no profit. A consequence of this is that the business lasts a short time and is unable to provide any support or updates to the website. In the worst case scenario, the business shuts down the hosting of the website and disappears. The client then has nothing--no website online! Wouldn't you rather pay an established firm a fair price and have the assurance that they will be their in the future when you need support or new projects completed?

The old adage that you get what you pay for is true in the website design and online marketing field. Price, while certainly should be one factor, is often a very misleading factor on which to base a decision to hire a web developer. We strongly encourage prospective clients to make "apples to apples" comparisons.

Ask questions. Look at the portfolio. Ask for references. Ask a potential developer if they are doing any of the above. It's your money. It's your business.

When you hire a service provider online, however, you often give up the opportunity to seek recourse if things go bad. For example, if you hire an overseas provider, you will have no ability to get your deposit back if the project goes bad. Even a service provider in another state can "take your money and run". There are also intellectual property and ownership issues that can bring about a host of issues.

If you do decide to hire locally--a good decision in our book--how can you be assured that you'll get a product that meets your needs? After all, you might assume that your local area does not have people with the talent to do what you want.

The best way to ensure that your local provider is indeed qualified to do your work is to look at his or her portfolio. Has he or she done project similar to what you have in mind? Take a look at the breadth of the portfolio. If, for example, the person has made one awesome website, you might want to dig a little deeper. If all of the website have the same boxy feel, you might be looking at a template that has been modified and re-sold (not necessarily a bad thing if you're needs are basic and your budget is very limited).

Kona Impact has just updated it's Kona web design portfolio. You'll see over 30 sites that we have made. We also have many more sites that are not in our portfolio for various reasons. Take a look and if you're in Hawaii and looking for a talented custom website design team, give us a call at 808-329-6077.

For example, we have just finished a project for Kona Cold Lobsters. This is the kind of business that everyone--resident or visitor--in Kona should know. Kona Cold Lobsters is THE place to go for live and fresh seafood in Kona. Yes, they are the only place in Kona to buy live lobsters and crabs, and they have a great selection of fresh fish available. In fact, we used, "you can't find a livelier or fresher product" in the header space on the website to impress upon the site visitors that this is truly the best place for seafood in Kona.

We certainly enjoyed working with the Kona Cold Lobsters people on their website. The hardest part of the site was probably the pictures. Fish and lobsters are just not the most photogenic subject. That said, it was important for us to have a gallery of their product line and show the diversity of products they offer.

If you live in Kona or are going to visit here, make sure you put Kona Cold Lobsters on your To Do list. They are located in the NELHA complex just South of the airport. You'll find them near Keahole Point on the left (near the end of the road). They sell retail and commercially.

One organization to which we are deeply committed is Hawaii Island Growing Our Own Teachers. This non-profit is focused on helping prospective local teachers complete their education and become certified teachers. As most know, Hawaii Island is a mostly rural part of Hawaii and we have a hard time recruiting and maintaining talented teachers. HI-GOOT, as it is called will give direct financial assistance to future teachers to help them through the final semester of their education--a time when they cannot work and have to pay tuition, as they complete their teaching practicum.

Our initial fundraiser is a brick project. The County of Hawaii has graciously donated a space at the soon-to-be-completed West Hawaii Civic Center for the project. The community is able to purchase laser-inscribed bricks that will be placed in a prominent place at the Civic Center. These bricks will be lasting reminder to the Hawaii community of business and individual support for education of our children for generations to come.

Have a look at the website and if you, too, would like to support education in Hawaii, you can download and submit an order for your brick. Click the image below to visit the website.

By proprietary, we mean closed systems that are owned by one company and are (usually) rented instead of owned.

For example, many of the template website providers are actually just renting a template for the user and do not transfer any ownership rights should the user stop renting the product. Another example is the use of shopping carts owned by any particular company. The user owns the data, but is not able to make changes design or function of the cart.

One prospective client came to us after having usability and support problems with her website template provider. Without naming the company, it is one of the companies you might hear about on TV offering cheap websites. The individual asked us to move her website to our server. Unfortunately, there was little we could do with the design, as she did not own it. I explained that she owns the content and nothing more.

After a little more talk about her goals and needs, we proposed an open-source solution that would give her more control of the site and complete ownership of the design. We also believe it will give her a better experience updating the website and, in the long run, less cost.
Open source software is not owned by anyone in particular and can be used and modified without cost.

The second prospective clients has a much more serious issue. He purchased a website from a mainland provider several years ago. Again, this is a company that advertises nationally on TV. This week the website owner was unable to log into his shopping cart to check orders. When he called the website provider--a very big company--they said that there was nothing he could do because he choose not to pay for the upgrade--several hundred dollars.

This, from Kona Impact's perspective is nothing less than extortion and highly unethical. That said, there is nothing we can do, other than building a new website, for this person. Simply put, their proprietary shopping cart provider has unilaterally changed the rules.
At Kona Impact, we are wholeheartedly in favor of offering solutions to our clients that will allow them the ability to become independent of us. We don't believe in creating products that only we can access and modify. We like to tell our clients that if a tsunami washed us all away, their websites would still exist and be modifiable by anyone with the proper tools.

One awesome woodworker in Kona is Andy at Boardworks Woodworking. His use of clean lines and exceptional materials make his custom cabinetry, custom made furniture and doors true works of art. When we were working on his new website, we often found ourselves sayings among ourselves that we would all love to have Andy's furniture in our homes. Even if you're not in the market for new cabinets or furniture, take a look at Andy's portfolio of work on his website.

When making Boardworks Woodworking's new site, we wanted to make sure that the focus of the website is Andy's work. In other words, his awesome portfolio of completed projects are his selling point, and the website should showcase what he has accomplished and what he can offer those seeking custom woodworking in the Hawaiian Islands. Fortunately, he has been taking high resolution pictures of his work for many years.

We look forward to seeing Boardworks Woodworking beautify more homes in Hawaii.

Here is a press release for one of our clients--Big Island Alpacas.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Tess Wilkinson
Big Island Alpaca Farm
808-640-4927
bigislandalpacas@gmail.com

“BIG ISLAND ALPACA FARM” PARTICIPATES IN NATIONAL ALPACA FARM DAYS

On Saturday, September 25 and Sunday, September 26, alpaca breeders from across the United States and Canada will invite the public to come to their farm or ranch to meet their alpacas and learn more about these inquisitive, unique animals. On Saturday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, and Sunday from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, BIG ISLAND ALPACA FARM will welcome guests!

BIG ISLAND ALPACA FARM is located at 94-2088 South Point Road, between Mamalahoa Highway and Kamaoa Road.

To find out more about National Alpaca Farm Days visit www.NationalAlpacaFarmDays.com.

To learn more about BIG ISLAND ALPACA FARM, visit bigislandalpacas.com or call (808) 640-4927.

Hawaiian Solar is a great local company that offers home and building owners the chance to (at least partially) break free from our high electricity costs. They have hot water, pool and photovoltaic systems and are the most experienced solar equipment dealers and installers on the island.

Like with most of our clients, we got to work closely with Ken, the owner, over a period of weeks to learn about his business and how we could convey what he does online. We certainly enjoyed learning about solar systems and why Hawaiian Solar is the local leader. We even got to design a face plate for Ken's new Segway--our first design for a Segway.

This week's business spotlight is Precision Auto. Their website is PrecisionAutoKona.com They are located at the end of Alapa Street in Kona's Old Industrial area.

I took our two vehicles to Precision Auto last week. Raymond, the mechanic, not only changed the oil, but also noticed some loose bolts in the drive train and fixed them on my truck. I would never expect that of one of the franchise oil change shops in town.

The big surprise came, however, when my wife thanked me for vacuuming the mats of her car after the oil change. I didn't. I'm not sure if it's part of their normal service, but it sure puts the "WOW" in my perception of them.

It's great to know that there are some reliable and professional mechanic shops in town. I'm sure there are a lot of them, but from now on, my vehicles will be serviced by Precision Auto.

In a nutshell, here is our advice for anyone starting an online business:

1. Do something that is congruent with your current business skills, interests and lifestyle. For example, don't try to start selling aloha shirts if you have no retail experience. Start with your existing business or business skills and see how you can expand what you are doing.

2. Find a niche. There is no use in trying to sell the same electronics online that all the big online retailers sell. You'll get no online visibility and, in the end, you'll fail. That said, if you have a gadget that is a better mouse trap, so to speak, consider online sales. Some of the most successful businesses we work with have niche products that are generally not available from other retailers.

3. Do a lot of research. This is, of course, related to #2 (above). Ask friends, business associates, family members what they honestly think of your idea. Also do a lot of online research. If you Google a term for your product, "titanium rings", for example, and find a hundred websites fighting for page 1 visibility on Google, consider a Plan B. If you ten possible competitors, you might have some opportunity. Make sure the playing field is not already crowded with established businesses.

4. Don't skimp on your website. Even though it is possible to "make a website tonight" or "website this weekend" avoid the temptation to do it yourself. If you're serious about your online business, hire professionals who will help you avoid the big mistakes and give you the best opportunity for success.

5. Avoid a huge inventory before you start. We've seen several businesses that have ordered thousands of units of products before launch, only to find that some items did not sell online. If at all possible, work with your supplier to get smaller orders of your products, even if the cost is higher.

Establishing and growing a business online is not easy. Perseverance, patience, creativity and attention to detail are all qualities that are essential to online business success. To that we would add an understanding that no person, no matter how smart or motivated, is capable to executing a successful online business without the help of talented, professional service providers.

When you have a few ideas, give us a call at 329-6077. We're here to help! Kona Impact.

EVERYBODY LOVES A BILLFISH PARADE!
HIBT PARADE SET FOR SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2010

KONA–Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament organizers are pleased to announce the popular HIBT parade will held on Sunday, August 1, 2010, starting at 2:30 p.m. in historic Kailua Village.

The parade will begin at the King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel and wind its way through Kailua Village ending at Hualalai Road. The HIBT parade will feature international teams including crowd favorites from Australia, South Africa, Tahiti, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, Papua New Guinea and of course, teams from US, including California, Hawaii, Florida. Also included in the parade lineup will be Miss Billfish 2010, Kona Shriners and Hawaii County Band. In all, more than 26 parade entries will excite parade goers!

“We invite the entire community, young and old, to come and bring their families to this fun-filled parade. Teams are excited to be here in beautiful Kona, fishing 5 great days and look forward to the smiles that await them at the parade,” said HIBT Founder Peter Fithian. “The tournament also recognizes the long standing tradition of the Billfish Parade and really sees this parade as the official start of the 51st Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament.”

The Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament is underwritten by the generosity of the County of Hawaii and sponsored in part by Oceanic Time Warner Cable, KWXX Radio and numerous corporate and community donors.

For more information on the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament, including team listings, IGFA world-record rules and a daily recap of tournament standings, log onto www.hibtfishing.com.

Those days are long gone and remnants of the last century! Not that they are still not important—they are—but the options for business far exceed what anyone could have imagined ten, even five years ago.

“Social Media” is Not Defined Well!

The new rage is “social media”. For some this means Facebook and Twitter and for others it means a broad range of ways to reach out to potential customers. The problem when everyone talks of social media is that no one can define what it is in a way that doesn’t include everything under the sun. These broad definitions give the term little meaning.

West Hawaii Social Media Survey

One study done in West Hawaii defined social media as Facebook, online video, Twitter, Email marketing, Blogs, LinkedIn, Forums/Chat rooms and bookmarking sites. So, basically social media is everything online other than a website (unless, of course, blogging is considered part of a website)?

Interestingly, when everything is thrown into the mix, business owners (or those who respond for the business—a big potential difference) find value. Value, however, is a relative term.

For example, when answering “Which of the following benefits, if any, do you attribute to your social media efforts?” only 40% cited “generated exposure for my business” and that was the item businesses cited most. Only approximately 8% said social media “helped me close business”.

Big Investment, Big Results?

One thing the survey did very well was to measure the time investment businesses put into social media to realize benefits. For example, if a company spent 1-5 a week on social media, only about 18% cited greater exposure as a benefit. Only about five percent who used social media 1-5 hours a week said it helped generate significant leads. I would add, however, that "greater exposure" is a fairly ill-defined concept.

Overall, the benefit to using social media (which is defined very broadly) comes from spending 20-40 hours a week on it. In other words, a half-time or full-time employee’s wages and benefits!

What Kona Impact Offers

At Kona Impact, we offer a better approach to so-called social media. First of all, we don’t believe it is a panacea for a company’s online marketing efforts. Our experience of doing this for years (and having mountains of data to back up our assertions) is that investing in a solid and effective website will be far more effective in generating exposure and sales for a business than to focus efforts on social media.

Second, we help businesses identify the most promising types of social media for the organization. All social media is not created equal, and instead of focusing resources on what is popular or trendy, we like to focus businesses on what fits their organization, marketing goals and resources. For certain, we would seldom recommend a business devoting half or a full employee’s salary to social media.

Lastly, as a company that works with these issues day in and day out, we can almost certainly offer a business better results and significant cost savings by handling some, if not most, of their online marketing needs. We have numerous clients that outsource their online marketing needs to us, and have realized excellent return on investment from our work. Because we have the tools to prove our effectiveness, we show businesses exactly what they getting in terms of online exposure, website traffic and search engine visibility.

If your business is hearing the words “social media” a lot and trying to figure out how to become more effective and visible online, give Kona Impact a call. We have a perspective that comes from over ten years of online marketing and web design experience. Kona Impact | 329-6077.

A few months ago Steve Jobs, head guru at Apple, released a stunning and comprehensive statement about the use of Flash in Apple mobile devices. I believe there were six or eight reasons why he said that Flash would not be in ipads of iphones. This is big news, as there are over 30 million iphones and (predicted to be) 10 million ipads used by consumers within a year. That's, conservatively estimated, approximately 35 million people in the U.S. that will not be able to see Flash websites, animations, navigation buttons and video.

So, the question becomes whether it makes sense to use any Flash on a website.

At Kona Impact, we have moved pretty quickly to the "No Flash" side of the issue. We just cannot in good conscience create websites that are not fully functional for such a large, mobile and affluent group of web users. For certain, full Flash websites are dead. Should web designers add animated Flash headers or other animations? At Kona Impact, we say "no" because these elements are mostly just eye candy AND 35 million or so web surfers can see them.

As we move to a more mobile society (at least in terms of computing) it is important for web designers to ensure that the websites they work on will be accessible to mobile users.