There’s a lot of hype, misinformation and general confusion around the term Web 2.0.  There’s also an entire generation entering the workforce (“Generation Net”) that’s never known a world without being connected and interacting over the web.

So what is Web 2.0?  As a small business owner should you care? and how does it apply now or in the near future?

First off I’ll take a shot at a definition/explanation:

Here’s a mindmap that was developed by Tim O’Reilly in an article he wrote in September of 2005 (What is Web 2.0?) (Click the graphic to see a larger version)

From the Wikipedia entry on Web 2.0 wiki Web_2, here are some of the primary Web 2.0 characteristics :

• “Network as platform”  delivering (and allowing users to use) applications entirely through a browser.
• Users owning the data on a site and exercising control over that data.
• An architecture of participation that encourages users to add value to the application as they use it.  This stands in sharp contrast to hierarchical access control in applications, in which systems categorize users into roles with varying degrees of functionality.
• A rich, interactive, user-friendly interface based on Ajax or similar frameworks.
• Some social-networking aspects.

I’m not an expert on this, but if I had to simplify and summarize my understanding, Web 2.0 is the evolution of the internet, primarily the critical addition of interactivity and simple sharing of information in all sorts of formats based on the user’s needs and wants (and not the providers).

Greg Balanko-Dickson (who is an expert on this…) did a great series of articles on Relationships 2.0 (i.e. using Web 2.0 to build relationships with customers).  You can see the first article here.

The reason I was sparked on this topic was a couple of articles that I read today along with an interesting conversation I had last night.

First up was a column in the Kansas City Star from Diane Stafford – Web 2.0 the next frontier, the article was a write-up of a seminar on Web 2.0 Marketing that she attended.  Her conclusion is that a Web 2.0 approach is the future of marketing, but there’s a long way to go before people really understand and embrace it.

Next up was an article/blog entry from FastCompany – Web 2.0 and Personal Branding.  The interesting quote out of the article that caught my eye was:

“Suddenly, thanks to web sites and interactive tools like blogs, podcasts and video, you have the opportunity for seemingly gazillions of people (over a billion folks today are online) to know about you and your brand. Frankly, if you’re not taking advantage of this, you’re not truly marketing.”

So all of this would tend to lead you to believe that it’s all about technology and, if you believe the hype, the spoils will go to whoever can use the most widgets, gadgets and online sophistication.

Which leads me to the conversation I had with Bill Patterson of Nation Ranch, a Marketing Communications firm here in Kansas City. (link to the Nation Ranch Blog).  The logo for Nation Ranch is a steaming coffee cup, symbolizing that business, even in today’s high tech world, is done over a cup of coffee – by people. 

Bill’s point (borrowed from his website) is the following:

Technology is an important means of communicating with your customers, but technology should only facilitate human interaction and not replace human interactions with your customers.

The conclusion that I reached from all of this (I’m sure you were hoping I had a point here somewhere…) is that Web 2.0 technology is important now but it’s most important that you connect with your customers as a person.

To quote Jeffrey Gitomer (among others) “People buy from People” and even more importantly, “People buy from people they know, like and trust”.

So what are some things you should be considering?

1. Start off small – get a website!  According to the 2007 survey done by the NSBA (NSBA survey) only 60% of businesses have a website.  Even if you only put up a page or two describing who you are, what you do and why someone should work with you, it would put you in the game.  Money much better spent than a phone book ad for most businesses (in my opinion).
2. Start learning about all of this new technology.  You don’t need to be an expert, but you should get comfortable with the basic terminology and products and tools that are available.
3. Consider starting a blog.  It can even take the place of a website.  I’ve seen several businesses that use their blog as their business website.  With the blogging platforms that are available now, anyone can easily learn and be up and running in no time.  I use WordPress, but Blogger, Typepad and others are all viable options.
4. Consider talking to an expert in the space.  I already mentioned Nation Ranch, but you could also talk to Matt Simpson at Infusion Creative or Tobin Truog at Brain Bucket all of them are great guys that have some fantastic ideas on how small businesses can embrace the internet.

I’m sure I missed a ton of ideas – are you using anything unique or interesting to take advantage of new technology that is actively bringing you customers?  Share it here.

Shawn Kinkade  www.aspirekc.com

A lot of people around Kansas City have heard of Chris Cakes, they’ve been doing catering, special events and fund raisers for a long, long time and they are very popular.  They specialize in pancake breakfasts – usually tossing them to the customers with a lot of fun banter.

In what I thought was an interesting move, they decided to open up a Chris Cakes restaurant in far south Leawood, about 4 blocks from my house.  I found it interesting because they picked a location that’s a nice new building, but doesn’t currently have a lot of traffic and because it would usually be considered a big step to go from catering to full service restaurant.

The grand opening was earlier this week (KC Star Story) and we decided to try it out today for breakfast.

We stopped by around 9:00 and knew we were in trouble.  Not only was there a 25 person line out the door, there was also no room to park anywhere nearby – we didn’t ask, but it had to have been at least 1/2 hour wait.  We chose not to get in line.

Feeling crazy, we decided we try again for lunch around 1:00.  It’s a breakfast place, but they’re open until 2:00.

It was still fairly busy, but there was parking available and no line.  In fact, the very pleasant cashier/greeter at the front told us that things had finally slowed down about 10 minutes before we got there and at this point they were no longer charging anyone that came in since a lot of the buffet items had run out. 

The menu is very simple;  there is a buffet of standard breakfast foods (scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, french toast, oatmeal, sausage, bacon, cinnamon rolls…fairly comprehensive, but nothing fancy).  The centerpiece is the hot off the grill pancakes (Chris Cakes) that the cook will flip at you when they’re done.

So how was it?  Even with the limited buffet choices, everything that was available was good.  The pancakes are very good and there were plenty of options on how to eat them; maple syrup, pecan syrup, fruit syrups, fruit toppings, whipped cream, peanut butter, if you could think of it on a pancake, they probably had it.

The restaurant itself was open and airy with lots of natural lighting and clever, whimsical decorative touches (one of the tables had 2 toilets as the seats).

The staff was extremely friendly and efficient and engaged people in a very positive way.

If I had to pick out some negatives, they have limited options for people that are looking for a really healthy meal (although you probably knew that when you walked in).  They may also have some challenges with weekday traffic – they appear to mostly cater to families, not the business crowd.

All in all, as a restaurant experience it was top notch.  Quality food served in a fun and pleasant atmosphere that really appeals to kids but doesn’t put off those without kids.

——–

As a business, the whole thing is even more impressive!

Here are just a few of the business aspects that I noticed that makes this a really excellent concept that is going to do very well.

1. Simplicity – there is no need for menus, there is no need for waiters to take your order, there is the buffet and you can take as much or as little as you’d like.  Even better, the pricing is simple (and fair), adults pay $9.95, teenagers pay $7.95 and kids pay $5.95 (there may have been one other price range for toddlers, but I didn’t notice it).
2. Leveraging existing expertise – with some minor exceptions, I imagine that all of the food they serve in the restaurant is exactly the same food that the family has been serving in they’re catering operations for years.  They know where to find the best suppliers, they know the best way to prepare things for large groups and now they can do that in the relative comfort of a specially designed kitchen rather than out on location for a fundraiser.
3. Location – although the shopping center they’re in isn’t generally busy, there isn’t a restaurant known for breakfast in at least 5 miles in any direction, and probably more like 10.  And this is in one of the more affluent suburban areas in the country that’s fairly well built out.
4. Focus on a unique experience – it’s pretty clear that they spent a lot of time figuring out how to make it a memorable and fun experience rather than just picking up some food.  Although breakfast is usually a commodity at most places (eggs are eggs…) by making it an occasion that people enjoy, they instantly separate themselves into a different category than 99% of the other restaurants around.

So how could you apply these ideas to your business?

Could you simplify your product offering – not only because it might reduce cost, but also because it becomes much clearer to your customers.  Generally a confused customer isn’t a happy customer. 

Is there something you or your business does better than everyone else?  Can you leverage that expertise into a complementary category?

Location is a bit less relevant for a lot of businesses, but ultimately it comes down to filling a need in the marketplace.  There wasn’t a decent breakfast place in the area – now there’s a good one.  What unfilled need could you fill?

Can you make your interactions with customers an experience that’s memorable and fun?  Depending on the business, that could be very difficult, but if you can do it you’ve likely greatly reduced your competition (or even eliminated it).

It wouldn’t surprise me if they don’t end up setting Chris Cakes as a franchise.  If so, I imagine it will sell…well…like hot cakes! 

Shawn Kinkade   www.aspirekc.com

You started your business with some kind of dream, some sort of plan. Maybe you imagined what it would look like in 3 years, 5 years or even 10 years out. (as an unrelated side note, 10 years is a really long time – think about all of the things that have changed in the last 10 years. In Kansas City 10 years ago, the Royals were really bad…okay maybe some things don’t change, but a lot of things do. The point is, anything is possible in 10 years).

So you had a vision for your business. How’s that working out for you? If you’re like a lot of people (myself included) you may have written some things down but odds are you’ve haven’t looked at it in quite a while, assuming you could even find it. That’s too bad – maybe it’s time to change that.

My advice would be to make the effort to dig it out and spend some time and energy to update it. It’s a difficult exercise, but there are a lot of good reasons why it’s well worth your time. Here are a few reasons why reviewing, updating and publishing/sharing your vision is important:

1. Does your Vision still make sense? Odds are it probably does, but if you think about how significantly the world, you and your customers have changed in the last 2 or 3 years, it’s worth considering.
2. Are you on the right path? A vision is your roadmap that lays out how your business is going to meet your needs. You could be making all kinds of movement, but is it really getting you to where you want to go?
3. Is everyone else on the same page? Initially the vision is really for your benefit. The act of getting it down on paper, refining and thinking it through it are excellent ways to crystallize and cement your thoughts. However once you’ve done the hard strategic deep thinking, one of the main reasons to have (and use) your vision is to make sure your employees, partners, vendors and customers know what you’re all about and that you’re all rowing in the same direction.
4. Are you congruent? Your vision is your foundation, your cornerstone (pick your own favorite building metaphor here…). It should be the basis for your brand, your communications, how you treat your employees, your customers. If it all ties together and everyone understands it, suddenly a lot of things become a lot easier. You have a company culture that people can instinctively pick up and predict how things should work.

Maybe it’s time to get excited about your business again. Dusting off that old vision might be just the ticket for remembering why you started down this path in the first place and help you re-energize and get focused.

So what about you – do you have an updated Vision? Have you shared it with the right people? Is it driving your marketing message?

Let me know, I’d be interested to hear from you.

Shawn Kinkade – Aspire Business Development

Unfortunately most small businesses find it very difficult to differentiate themselves in a way that’s obvious from the consumer’s point of view and they’re left to compete (primarily) on Price.

I thought about this because I saw an interesting article on Costco (nytimes.com/2005/07/17/business/yourmoney/17costco) that I found on the 37 Signals Blog (http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/505-5-business-lessons-from-costco).

Although I’m not a customer at Costco, I did shop at their primary competition, Sam’s Club, this weekend and the first thing I think of when I think of the category is…low price.  Well that and really large jars of mayonnaise and cereal boxes that won’t fit in our car.

Both are large warehouse shopping clubs that give their customers great deals on merchandise, but as the article covers pretty clearly, Costco isn’t really differentiating themselves on price, they’re differentiating themselves on delivering what their customers want.  It’s a subtle difference, since one of the things their customers want are great prices, but it’s much larger than that.

By investing in happy employees (to the tune of a 42% payroll premium over Sam’s Club), Costco is making a serious investment that people make a difference and if you treat customers and employees right, they’ll treat you right.  The market apparently agrees since Costco is up 10% in the last 12 months compared to a 5% decline at Wal-Mart.

So how does this apply to the typical small business?  Well for starters, if you’re competing solely on price and you don’t have the scale of Wal-mart, you’re in trouble.  Actually, even if you do have the scale of Wal-mart, you might be in trouble.

Find something about you or your business that stands out, that makes you different.  Build on that difference (assuming it’s valuable to your customers).  Become the luggage maker that gives free insurance on every purchase (free_insurance_with_every_suitcase).   Or the Dentist that offers Spa treatments to patients as they wait (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,79719,00.html )

It’s not easy and it will take some creativity, but it’s certainly better than the alternative – a long slide down eroding margins…!

Maybe I should join Costco, they seem to have some pretty cool stuff.

So what about you – what could you do to differentiate?  Share your ideas about being different and if you’ve heard of some novel approaches.