Hope you are not offended by the word ‘crap’?  It’s one of those iffy words…  plus what it stands for is kinda stinky.  It has many synonyms… my thesaurus lists: excrement: feces, excreta, stools, droppings; waste matter, ordure, dung; informal poop, poo, dirt, turds, caca (and the one you can’t say that begins with ‘S’).  But when approached from a business perspective… ‘Crap’ can be quite lucrative!

I was giving a speech yesterday to a networking group of financial professionals on ‘How to use LinkedIn for Business and Job Hunting’ (almost half were unemployed).  To my surprise, my friend and cohort Ellen Huxtable from Advantage Business Concepts was there to hear the speech and did not know I was the speaker!  In the down time before hand, I was telling Ellen about a project I just completed.  After she watched the podcast on You Tube she said, “Doesn’t it amaze you how some people make money?”

Crappy Success Story #1

My friend and fellow ‘Hacker’ Rob owns and runs two companies. One of which is PortALogic,  which is a software and hardware solution for septage receiving stations.  As my wife Kim said “You never really think about what happens with all those port a-potties after the county fair is over”.

Rob is a brilliant engineer, but like many entrepreneurs, he was having a hard time getting his arms around marketing his product.  So he called me to do my “Extreme Marketing Makeover”.  We discussed his marketing and philosophies, and I evaluated his current tools which included White Papers and PowerPoints.  As gently as I could, I pointed out that… people tend to market in the language that they know.  You may speak fluent engineer but your customers may not.

So I suggested that I interview various customers and find out in their own words what they liked about PortALogic and how and why they choose it. What I found was that he actually had 4-5 different customers to talk to (all with different needs and languages). Next I wrote a video script, hired Scott Thomas (Professional voice over Dewd) and produced a podcast that is a PowerPoint on Steroids! Here’s the almost final results:

I will never be able to see a Honey Dipper or Black Gold truck again without thinking of how Rob’s software can make their loads turn to cash!

Bonus Segue Video…

Thanks to Ellen Huxtable for this perfect segue video between success stories!!!

Crappy Success Story #2

When I call my client and vendor Kandra from The Pooper Scoopers and ask her “How’s Business” I get a emphatic reply every time…  ”Crappy!”.  Kanda has been cleaning my yard for years.  For $11 a week, she sends a truck and a worker to our house (and others in the neighborhood).

Last week after a freezing rain created a layer of ice on top of the snow, Kim saw the poor Pooper Scooper guy almost end on his keister trying to dislodge Harley’s artwork from the backyard skating rink.  Harley stood by the window as if to say…  ”Welcome to My World People!”.

You wouldn’t think but there is much competition in the poop business?  Kandra is an very good and active marketer.  She has her website updated on a regular basis, she does trade shows, networking, hands out magnets, leaves treats and promo for Harley on certain holidays, and just created a Facebook Fan Page!

Kandra has been to the classes that I teach at Waubonsee Community College on “Marketing in the 21st Century” and after the last one, asked me to help her set up a Google AdWords Account.  That’s those sponsored links on the top or right of a Google page when you search for something!

You would not believe how ‘Dog Eat Dog’ the competition is in the poop business! Companies constantly try to outbid each other to make it to number one in the ‘Number Two” Business!  It’s one thing to create the account, but you have to monitor it often to see which words are giving you the biggest bang for your bucks.  Then you add some money and lose the one’s that are underperforming!  I advise her on making the most of her AdWord account by using Google Analytics to monitor traffic to her sites.

By replacing some of the money spent on Yellow Page Ads, and using it for Google AdWords…  Kandra’s business is picking up!  I know Kandra appreciates my marketing consulting advice.  Oh yeah…  She is also glad I talked her OUT of adding a large lighted sample of her work… on top of her fleet of Poop-Mobiles!

Bonus Video of the Week!

Kim and I were in need of a feel good movie… So we rented “Up” on our Apple TV.  If you have not seen it…  It will make you laugh and cry.  Of course Harley enjoyed a special treat with us.  His favorite character was “Dug the Dog”.  Now he’s constantly begging for one of those collars (his is just too plain)…  Anyone know where we could get him one?