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Kyle Lacy is using Brazen Careerist to share ideas. Join now to become a member and start networking with Kyle Lacy and other professionals just like you. Learn more.
(This was sparked from a Seth Godin post called You’re Boring. It was brilliant. I had to write about it.)
You know you a boring business if..
1. You have a tri-fold brochure with little business cards that you had out to everyone you see.
2. You designed the said tri-fold in Publisher because you wanted to save a few bucks
3. You are using a type-font called Arial, Times New Roman, or Courier for your logo.
4. You decide not to blog because “I just don’t have the time.”
5. You use your initials for your company name.
6. The only marketing you do is yellow pages because you have been doing it for a decade. Why change a good thing? (I just threw up on myself)
7. You attend networking events and take as many business cards as possible but never help anyone out.
8. If your website says “Copyright 2002″ or anytime before 2006.
9. All your collateral material looks different and there is nothing to pull it together.
10. You refuse to think outside the box and go out on a limb (marketing or anything else).
11. You get up after 9am.
12. If you photo-copy a flier and hand it out. Spend the extra money and get full color. Better yet, don’t use a flier. Doesn’t everyone?
13. You have an individual answering your phone that sounds like they just woke up from a nap or smoked a bowl.
14. YOU USE AN EMAIL THAT Ends with a phone or cable company: AOL, SBCGLOBAL, or the like.
15. You refuse to act on ideas until they are safe or your competitor does it. Ready, Fire, Aim.
16. You do not attend networking events because you have “better ways to spend my time.” You will be spending your time closing your business account at the bank.
17. You never have a new idea. You just copy others.
18. Social Media is scary to you. So you do the next best thing and ignore it.
19. You hard sell EVERYONE. Nobody cares. Put away your product or service. Can I get to know you first? I don’t give a crap if you can save me 20%.
20. You have goals. Wait. Well, you HAD goals but you didn’t write them down so… kind a mute point right?
The best things about having a boring business is that you can change. You can turn into the vibrant and growing company that will be the pride and joy of your life. Well, other than your children or significant other.
I was completely on board and cheering you on until you used the word "mute" in place of the word "moot". For me, it smashed your credibility on the importance of the details of a business. You have perfectly valid points, but I'm afraid that the lack of attention to detail (or lack of knowledge...I don't know which) diminished its value for me.
Otherwise, thumbs up!
Hey.. play off words if you ask me. :-)
I appreciate your concern about my editing issues but the content is more of value for me. Moot or Mute.
Thanks for the props though.
@Kyle
Content comes through most effectively when it's properly edited and refined. That's why stream of consciousness is for rough drafts, not published products (except for of the creative variety). That's my $0.02.
Regarding your list, I think you're not touching so much on why the company is boring, but why the leader of the company is unable to fulfill his/her job. Why start a company if you aren't going to work hard to set yourself apart from the rest?
OK, the mute/moot bothered me a bit too, but not enough to stop me from enjoying your post! I especially appreciated numbers 2, 3, 9 and 12.
As the owner of a marketing company, I recognize that while traditional marketing materials (like business cards and brochures) are still important for many companies to have, it's also important to start looking toward all of the rich new options that are available to promote a business these days.
Boring and profitable beats the heck out of exciting and broke.
See "Burn Rate" by Michael Wolff
@jrandom I don't understand how you cannot be exciting and profitable? Can you explain this? I have found that the boring companies are still losing money because they haven't changed marketing tactics in 20 years.
@Jenni Amen.
@Amy The post was more of a sarcastic ode to a group of small businesses in my region.
@Kyle
I think your response was to me, but I'm not Amy, I'm Anna.
I'd like to point out that if your post was intended to come off as you say, then you failed to pull it off...unless your originating blog's readership is largely made up of people of your region.
Why would you discount a legitimate thought by pulling the "You didn't get it" that typically comes from bad writers?
@Anna
You are correct about the name. My apologies. I guess I haven't learned about the whole "editing" thing yet.
I am not saying "You Didn't Get It" and I am not saying that I am a great writer. I can honestly say I am a bad writer in the grammatical sense.
My readers enjoy the way I write. I am not meaning to be polished. I am trying to be simple with a message intact.
Should I edit my posts more carefully? Probably. Sometimes I wont catch an error and the last thing any of my employees need to be doing is editing my blog posts.
I do appreciate that feedback you are giving me. We cannot grow unless we listen to others, right?
By the way.. @jrandom Burn Rate is an excellent book.
Kyle,
There's been so much emphasis on new and exciting, that so many new enterpreneurs have forgotten basic business principles, and have ignored the profitable part. You gotta make money first, because if you don't, the excitement ends in a really short ride.
As for those companies losing money because they've not changed marketing in 20 years, at least they are still around with money to lose. The business landscape is littered with the bones and bodies of dead businesses who were exciting, but couldn't turn a profit and make money. Think New Wolff Media.
Wow, you about hit my company on a head with that post. I work for a small manufacturer in Japan that still thinks that their website and anything related to the internet is not important and can be done 'later'. They've been in business for 14 years and haven't bothered to change their selling style from start-up to mature business because what worked then should still work now...shouldn't it? Any new idea posed to them is received with a nod and a polite smile, and that's about it. The idea of something like free flow of easy to access information, what's that? Outsourcing, advertising, business plan, clear direction? The sad part about the whole thing is that the product is out of this world fantastic, but my coworkers can't understand why it isn't selling. On the bright side, because of my 'boring' company I've had so many wonderful opportunities to do research, learn new skills, and create a network of business professionals from sites like this.
GREAT POST!
So TRUE!
#21 You think communicating with the consumer consists of just talking to them and not listening.
We are in the age of conversation!
Ryan
Kyle,
Tell you what: I'd like to be as boring as Berkshire-Hathaway. I think most companies would as well.
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