Understanding the Power of Owning a Word in the Mind
Published June 4, 2010 | 
Arguably and without much debate, the most powerful position and concept in marketing is to own a word in the prospect’s mind, as you the Entrepreneur can become incredibly successful if you can find a way to put a word in the mind of the prospect, not a complicated word, or even a word invented for it. 
This is the law of “focus” (If you can teach your market segment to associate your product with a single idea, perhaps even a single word, you can be a market leader), as you burn your way into the mind by narrowing the focus to a single word, as it is the ultimate marketing sacrifice.
An astute market leader will go one step further to solidify its position, as Heinz owns the word ‘ketchup,’ but Heinz went on to isolate the most important ketchup attribute with the “Slowest ketchup in the West,” and this was how the company preempted the thickness attribute, by owning the word slow helps Heinz maintain 50% market share.
If you are not the leader in the market, then your word has to have a narrow focus, while even more important, however, your word has to be available in your category. Prego went against market leader Ragu in the spaghetti sauce market and captured a 27% market share with an idea borrowed from Heinz, that Prego’s word is thicker. An important point to make here, and that you need to understand, is that the most effective words are simple and benefits driven, and no matter how complicated the product, no matter how complicated the needs of the market, it is always better to focus on one word or benefit rather than two, three, or even four.
If you properly choose “your word,” there will be a halo effect, and if you strongly establish one benefit, the consumer prospect is likely to give you a lot of other benefits as well, for example, a “thicker” spaghetti sauce implies quality, superior ingredients, value, and so on, while a “safer” car implies superior design and engineering.
You must always remember that whether the result of a deliberate program or not, most successful products are the ones that “own a word” in the mind such as Crest…cavities, McDonalds…fast, Mercedes…engineering, BMW…driving, Volvo…safety, Domino’s…home delivery, Pepsi…youth, Nordstrom…service, and Fed Ex…overnight.
Atari used to own a valuable position through the word videogame, but when Atari wanted a bigger piece of the computer market, it wanted Atari to mean computers, but unfortunately for Atari, a host of other companies including Apple and IBM owned the word they were after.
Atari’s diversification was a disaster, but the real irony was another company arrived in 1986 and took the word that Atari walked away from, and that company was Nintendo, which took over a majority of the market share of the ‘videogame’ industry.
At one point in the history of the American automotive industry, G.M. put forth the slogan, “Putting the quality on the road.”, and guess what they were doing at Ford, that’s right, the same thing. “Quality is job 1.” Over at Chrysler, Lee Iacocca was proclaiming, “We don’t want to be the biggest, just the best”, and while this is all great stuff inside the corporation, outside the corporation, the message falls apart. Does any Company proclaim itself as the “un-quality” corporation? No, everyone stands for quality, and as a result, nobody does. So you cannot narrow the focus with quality or any other idea that does not have proponents for the opposite point of view.
Two companies cannot own the same word in the prospect’s mind, as when Energizer tried to take the word “long-lasting” away from Duracell who had it first, and Burger King tried to take away the word 
“fast” from McDonalds with its “Best food for fast times” campaign, but both campaigns failed to change the customer’s mind, as researchers can tell you what attributes people want and the mistaken assumption is that is what we should therefore advertise, but what researchers never tell you is that some other company already owns the word.
There are a few critical facts that you need to completely understand and remember, there is power in the position of owning a word in the mind, but you must own your niche and own it outright, as no one else can occupy your space, and if you can’t own it, especially from a marketing expenditure outlay, then decrease the size of the niche until you can, and you will retain the power of your word ownership position, and if somebody else occupies your chosen space you must try to reposition them.
Global Entrepreneurial Strategies and Niche Markets
Published July 25, 2009 | 
The global entrepreneurial strategies discussed so far have been the leadership and imitation strategies while another strategy involves the control of a small market and is called the “entrepreneurial niche strategy,” that means a practical monopoly in a small segment of the market. This strategy’s main focus is making successful Entrepreneurs immune to competition and therefore unlikely to be challenged, and the true successful Entrepreneurs will take the cash and let the notoriety go, since it is not really important whether they’re known or not in the marketplace, because they control their segment completely.
Of course, an important drawback to this strategy that should not be overlooked is that there is very little growth experienced in the market, therefore depending completely on the size of the market, so that if the number of consumers grows, then the business grows, if the size of the market decreases, then the associated business goes down, and of course this strategy can go down rapidly, as the innovative product or service can become obsolete almost overnight if someone else finds a different more efficient and effective method of satisfying the same end use.
A similar “entrepreneurial strategy involves highly specialized skills” that tend to serve a larger niche, or market size, and can put Entrepreneurs so far ahead in their field that it’s hardly worth the competition to challenge them since they become the “standard”, and typically the timing of the strategy has to be done at the very beginning of a new industry, a new custom, a new market, or a new trend.
Of course, “specialty skills niches” are rarely found by accident, and results from a highly systematic and well defined analysis of innovative 
opportunities, and in every instance the Entrepreneur looks where a special skill can be developed to give their new enterprise a “unique controlling position,” but once the controlling position is achieved his skills must constantly be improved in order to stay ahead of any competition, and maintain market control.
Experience has shown the “specialty skill niche” is a highly advantageous position, especially in the rapidly expanding new technology industry, or new market where it is by far the most advantageous strategy. In a new technology, a new industry, or a new market, the strategy offers an optimal ratio between opportunity and risk of failure, or in other words the greatest chance for success and the combination of 
today’s Internet market and “social media technology” represents extremely interesting areas to investigate, research and closely analyze for such success.
Experience has also exposed limitations, and surprisingly the greatest threat to the specialty market position is success itself that turns the niche market into a mass market that is flooded with competition, and presenting the Entrepreneur with the challenges of knowing exactly when to either re-adapt the business model, or sell the business for the most profit and continue searching for new specialty niche markets to explore and conquer.
Mastering the Markets: Entrepreneurial Strategies for Success
Published July 20, 2009 | 
Global Entrepreneurs who have owned and operated their business for very long have learned to appreciate the impact the global economy can have on their businesses, even at a local level that seems to be in relatively good shape in comparison to other niche markets.
The track economies take always goes up in good times and then comes down in more challenging market conditions, and then back up, riding the optimism of good times followed by the pessimism of shrinking markets, and back up again, leaving the entrepreneur with greater challenges to successfully adjust operations during economic downturns.
The first thing global entrepreneurs need to do to master their markets is grow emotional skin thick enough to not only keep from feeling sorry when the economy slows, but also not to get too excited when the economies are performing at a high level. 
A realization and understanding has to be developed and reached the ebb and flow of economic conditions of the markets, as they are going to do what the markets are going to normally do, and of course there is very little that anyone can do to change the natural occurrence of economic cycles, although governments try, but too many times they only succeed in exacerbating the negative portion of the cycles.
Once Entrepreneurs gain control of their emotions it becomes easier to focus on the process of operating the business in the most efficient way in relation to economic conditions. Also, when focus and clear thinking is developed, the easier it is to maintain focus and the more creative one becomes and the more success Entrepreneurs experience in making the right strategic decisions, especially when there is some level of discomfort.
The focused mind set of the Entrepreneur always looks for ways they can use poorly performing economies to their advantage, making “lemonade out of the lemons” they have been handed, and they succeed through innovation which is what the true Entrepreneur is best known for. 
Not only are customers, products and services thought of differently, but promotional strategies are viewed with an emphasis on regular adaptation and modification based on challenging market conditions, or “lemons” the world has thrown at the Entrepreneur.
It is critically important to keep in mind that when the global economy improves, the fruits of innovative mindset thinking remain in the form of new ideas and concepts within the business, and the Entrepreneur has developed and put together a bigger bag of new market strategies, systems and processes that ultimately pay great dividends during both growing economies and recessions.
Global Entrepreneurs collectively with the other millions of small business owners throughout the world are the global economy’s backbone and ultimate solution to moving it towards any economic turnaround, whether locally, nationally or globally. Together, the collective entrepreneurial mind set of small business moves from pessimism to optimism, and as people become more optimistic they in turn spend money, and jobs are created.
The best advice to remember is to “think globally and act locally”, take the “lemons and make lemonade”, and always be part of the solution as the markets grow and recede, and economic struggles are fought, won and lost, and people go back and forth between optimism and pessimism.
Unexpected events and tragedies will always have an effect on the economy, but how the Entrepreneur looks at their business, reacts to challenges and develops innovations will determine ultimate survival and the level of success achieved, which is why any of us make the choice to become Entrepreneurs in the first place.
Global Entrepreneurial Strategies Part 3
Published June 22, 2009 | 
“The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.“–Peter Drucker
It is extremely important to realize that highly successful Global Entrepreneurs go to great lengths to develop and maintain their level of understanding of the entrepreneurial strategies they identify and employ, and the specific impact the strategies have on each phase of their business operations.
The U.S. and Global entrepreneurial strategies discussed so far have been the “leadership” and “imitation” strategies. Another strategy involves the control of a small market and is called the “entrepreneurial niche” strategy that means a “practical monopoly” in a “small segment of the market,” and this strategy aims at making successful entrepreneurs immune to competition and therefore unlikely to be challenged, as the successful entrepreneurs will take the cash and let the notoriety go, since it is not important whether they’re known in the marketplace because they control, their segment completely.
Of course, a drawback to this strategy is there is “very little growth” experienced in the market, depending completely on the size of the market, so that if the number of consumers grows, then the business grows, if the size of the market decreases, then the associated business goes down, and keep in mind this strategy can go down fast, as it can become obsolete almost overnight if someone finds a different way of satisfying the same end use.
A similar entrepreneurial strategy involves “highly specialized skills” that tend to serve a larger niche, or market size, and can put entrepreneurs so far ahead in their field that it’s hardly worth the competition to challenge them since they become the “standard”, and typically the timing of the strategy has to be done at the very beginning of a new industry, a new custom, a new market, or a new trend.
It is important to know of course, that specialty skill niches are rarely found by accident, and results from a “systematic analysis of innovative opportunities,” and in every instance the entrepreneur looks where a special skill can be developed to give their new enterprise a unique controlling position, but once the controlling position is achieved the entrepreneur’s skills must constantly be improved in order to stay ahead of any competition, and maintain market control.
Experience has shown the specialty skill niche is a “highly advantageous position,” especially in the rapidly expanding “new technology industry, or market” where it is the most advantageous strategy. In a new technology, a new industry, or a new market, the strategy offers an optimal ratio between opportunity and risk of failure, or in other words the greatest chance for success and the combination of today’s Internet market and social media represents extremely interesting areas for such success.
Experience has also exposed limitations and it is important to note the greatest threat to the specialty market position, is success itself that turns the niche market into a mass market that is flooded with competition, and presenting the entrepreneur with the challenge of knowing exactly when to “re-adapt the business model” or “sell the business” for the most profit and continue searching for new specialty niche markets to explore and conquer, but the return on investment of time and skills can be extremely high.
What is Market Research?
Published April 27, 2009 | 
Market research is the systematic process entrepreneurs use to gain insight into market problems and opportunities and the term market includes not only customers, ballplayers who are responsible for bringing certain products and services to market including suppliers, competitors, producers, wholesale distributors, retailers, logistics, and so on.
In corporate environments, marketers design market research experiments based upon framework including defining the problem or opportunity, selecting the research techniques, identification of data types and sources, designing the research instruments and surveys, collecting the data, organizing and analyzing the data, and preparing the findings and research report.
In the real world, entrepreneurs rarely follow such a detailed and formal research process, and this is true for several reasons including such a process can be quite time-consuming and extremely expensive, and everyone knows those are two resources entrepreneurs are usually lacking, such a process works better for established markets and product categories but is less effective for new markets for products, niche markets cannot support much investment or overhead making formal marketing research and impossibility, and standard checklist or one size fits all approaches don’t work in most entrepreneurial situations.
To conserve time and money, successful entrepreneurs minimize the resources they devote to researching their ideas and unlike the corporate world, the entrepreneur only does as much research and analysis to justify the next action or investment, and the frugal analyst should avoid research that he or she can’t act on, for example, understanding broad market trends and strategies of the industry leaders is unlikely to affect what a startup any hustle business like advertising does and therefore isn’t worth bothering with.
In setting their analytical priorities, entrepreneurs must recognize that some critical uncertainties cannot be resolved through more research, for example, focus groups and surveys often have little value in predicting demand for products that are truly novel, and entrepreneurs should concentrate instead on issues that they can reasonably expect to resolve through analysis and determine whether and how they will proceed.
In ventures based on hustle rather than proprietary advantages, a detailed analysis of competitors and industry structure is rarely of much value and the ability to seize short-lived opportunities and execute them brilliantly is of far more importance than a long-term competitive strategy, and in any hustle based business, analysis of specific clients and relationships should dominate over general market surveys.
Entrepreneurs often blur the line between research and selling and entrepreneurs who start with a clean slate don’t have to know all the answers before they act, as in the attractiveness of a new restaurant, for instance, may depend on the terms of the lease since low rents can change the venture from a mediocre proposition into a money machine.
Early action can generate more robust and better informed strategies as well, as extensive surveys and focus group research can be misleading, since potential customers may not be representative of the market, their enthusiasm may wane when they see the actual product, or they may lack the authority to sign purchase orders, and more robust strategies may be developed by first building a working prototype and asking customers to use it before conducting extensive market research.
It’s important to note that there are two kinds of data sources available to you that include primary data, and secondary data, and while secondary data is readily available and can be more cost-effective than primary data, it may not be able to address the kind of problem you are researching.
Primary data can be obtained by communication or by observation and communication involves questioning respondents either verbally or in writing. This method is versatile, since one need only to ask for the information, however, the response may not be accurate, and communication usually is quicker and cheaper than observation, since observation and involves the recording of actions and is performed by either a person or some mechanical or electronic device and observation typically is more accurate than communication.
Before going through the time and expense of collecting primary data, one should check for secondary data that previously may have been collected for other purposes they can be used in the immediate study, and secondary data may be internal to the firm, such as sales invoices and warranty cards, or may be external to the firm such as the published data were commercially available data, and the government census is a valuable source of secondary data. Secondary data has the advantage of saving time and reducing data gathering cost and the disadvantages are that the data may not fit the problem perfectly and that the accuracy may be more difficult to verify for secondary data than for primary data.
Think about the marketing problem or opportunity you want to research, for example, launching a new business venture or introducing a new product into the marketplace, and concentrate on those issues that you can reasonably expect to resolve through analysis and determine whether and how you will proceed, and forget about the market uncertainties that cannot be resolved through more research, whether primary and/or secondary sources, and ask yourself how you can blur the line between research and selling including building a prototype, on several small advertisements in magazines, newspapers, trades, etc.