July JaxBSG Mtg.

For those who attended the JaxBSG meeting, thank you. For those who could not make it, we understand our businesses come first. Below are topics discussed and issues decided by those attended.

1. As you all already know, the 5th company pulled out, and we've been looking for a 4th since the last meeting. To get the ball rolling, Redline and All Covered have agreed to split the cost of the 5th company. To make it fair we have put all 4 companies on the back of the postcard and Redline and All Covered have split the front. A projected postcard was emailed to those involved in the co-op. Please let me know your thoughts and or concerns. Remember, we are just putting this together, art work should already be completed, and we can do some minor adjustment.

2. Web advertising that can be done for free and social networking was discussed. You can also view the links online at http://www.delicious.com. Just sign up for an account (it’s free) link up to us (jaxbsg). It’s a good way to have a centralized place to put all our links. Others can add to it.

Have a great weekend and hope to see everyone at next months meeting. Speaking of… any suggestions for topics of the next meeting? We are always up for ideas of topic of discussion or additions to what we’ve discussed, email them and I’ll pass it on…

Don't forget: If you're on facebook, join our fanpage - JaxBSG.

Jax BSG (Jacksonville Business Strategy Group) on Facebook

Redline Testimonial

As a small business owner I have found that over the years knowledge is one of the most valueable tools I have. It can take years to aquire what strategies work and which don’t. Marketing and advertising are some of the hardest things for small business to learn. We aren’t big enough to need a big marketing firm and we aren’t small enough to not need to market our businesses. So, it was like a great big light bulb going off over my head when I started talking with other business owners and sharing ways I market my business and they started letting me in on their little marketing gems. For instance even though my business is in the computer field I did not even consider Craig’s list as a marketing tool, it’s free to use and never occurred to me that it could bring in business. Well, it does when used properly. The kicker is would I have EVER realized this on my own? The new customers it brings in each month to me would be going to my competition. That’s a scary thought, are there other avenues out there where I can reach my potential customers of that I am not aware? The answer is obvious: YES! So, I need to leverage my fellow small business owners and their minds. If I can share ways I make my business successful and they respond in kind we both will benefit.

The second area this group has helped my business is with co-op marketing. The big fish in the market can demand pricing and service from advertisers. I can not, at least not yet. So, being able to join with a few other businesses and reach more customers will allow me to take my business to a new level. How can I afford not to reach 4 to 5 TIMES as many customers for the same price!? In this economy most of us know that we have to tighten our belts but if we stop marketing we will slowly die. This is the time when we MUST reach more potential customers. In times of economic stress you can not keep doing things the same old way. We must work harder and smarter to keep our hard earned businesses strong. I spoke with a few companies about co-op billboards. What an idea! A billboard is huge, we can fit 2-3 companies on one and save enormous dollars while reaching tens of thousands of potential customers each month. The potential for this is just mind blowing, how many customers can I reach that have NEVER heard of my service? I believe my business is one of the best at what it does. Do you believe that? If so then you are like me, we just need to reach those customers who need us but don’t know us. This is something the JaxBSG can help you with.

Remember there is no cost to join this group. This is NOT a networking group. It is a strategy group. I hope you will take the right step and get your spot in the group before you competition does. Once a month meetings for one hour and not cost. Can you afford not to check into this? I heard a quote the other day I want to share, “In this economy we can make excuses or make money. You can do one or the other. Which will you choose?”

1st Co-Op Mailing to go out...

We just got a 5 group commitment on co-op mailouts! Redline, All Cover Home Repair and Painting, Dream Clean Carpet Care, Big Guy Moving, and Ivy League Lawns.

If others are still interested, let us know and we'll try to get another group of 4 or 5 going.

Jax BSG 1st Meeting A Success!

94% of CMOs believe that a "tough economic period is precisely the time when marketing plays a key role."

A big thanks to those who participated in the first JaxBSG meeting. It was such a success that we'll have to continue our topic of communication at the next meeting. Some topics discussed at last night's meeting included:

I. Making your business stand out from the competition. This niche could include having the lowest pricing to having a unique service. Have your company focus on that niche to draw in potential customers instead of trying to bombard them with the multitudes of services or products that your company may provide.

Wikipedia defines Advertising as a form of communication that typically attempts to persuade potential customers to purchase or to consume more of a particular brand of product or service.

II. How are we currently communicating? During this discussion tons of ideas were passed around as to what is working. Of course not every idea will work for every business, but it was definitely interesting to hear what each company had to offer. Items discussed at this session included free advertising such as Craigslist, Google Local and other various online classifieds, to very reasonable advertising such as NorthJax, which is roughly $30/month, to church bulletins which can be found as low as $6/week, to more expensive avenues of advertising such as mail outs and billboards. Which lead to the discussion of co-opting with other businesses.

The case studied last night was with All Covered Painting and Home Repair, Inc. All Covered started mailing out 3x5 postcards. His cost included: printing, mailing list, labels, and postage. This originally cost him roughly $1500 to reach 5000 customers. As a small business owner, that is quite a lot to spend on advertising! And as we know, advertising is not about a 1 time shot in the dark; it's a repetitious cycle. As customers repeatedly see your name in different mediums, you become more creditable. About the same time Redline was also looking into mail outs and the cost for doing so. All Covered shared his information with Redline as far as the most cost effective printer, labels and even taking a class at the post office found to be very beneficial. Through co-opting with another company, getting a special stamp indesia at the Post Office, All Covered was able to move up to a 8.5x5 postcard and reach 5000 customers for half of his original cost. Not bad. Now here's the kicker. The maximum size postcard is 6x11. We've seen them in the mail. They're huge. There is enough room for 4 - 5 companies to co-op. Of course, the price of printing would go up, but the cost for labels and postage would stay the same. Base on quotes we've received here is a rough breakdown of cost:
5000 6x11 postcards: $560.00
5000 mailing list of home owners: $137.50
5000 labels: $75.00
Postage for 5000 postcards: $1065.00
Total: $1837.50

Divide that out by 4 co-ops and you have $459.38/ea and if you break it down again into mailing out 2500 one month and 2500 the second month, that's $230/mo on advertising to reach 5000 potential customers. Not bad! If you break it down to 5 co-ops you'd bring the price down to roughly $190/mo.

This conversation of course lead to the point of leveraging our power. One small company can not afford to advertise like the big conglomerates, but multiple small companies can! We can also apply the mail out concept to billboards. Which will be one of our topics for the next meeting.

III. Agenda for next meeting:
1. We already have 3 companies committed to doing mail outs. They are Redline (IT), All Covered Paint & Home Repair, and Dream Clean Carpet Care. If we receive a 4th or may be even a 5th before the next meeting, we will go ahead with the mail outs. For more info contact info@jaxbsg.com or call 904.281.0009
2. Co-op billboard space. We will having pricing to discuss
3. Web advertising pay and free services
4. How to build your customer base and keep them coming back

Please remember, this is not a networking group. This is a Strategy Group. We do not try to sell to each other. All business - business may be done afterwards. There is no fee. We want your ideas and input. There is no obligation for any company to participate in co-ops or any other form of advertising. We do meet once a month and ask that you rsvp and show up on time. Meetings start at 7 and end at 8. Click here to be on email list of topics discussed.

Jacksonville Business Strategy Group is launched!

Welcome to JaxBSG. This blog has been set up for members and guest. All input is welcome.

This group was started by two companies that got together and shared how they were promoting their businesses. After sitting down and talking we realized that there were ways each of us did not know were out there to gain new customers. There were even numerous ways to reach new customers that had no cost to the business. We came to the conclusion that if we could get a group of businesses together to discuss these strategies that all involved would benefit. In the hard business climate we find ourselves in now, who can not afford to find more effective and lower cost ways to gain more business? We expect this group to meet once a month for an hour to and hour and a half. If you find even one way to gain a new customer or two a month this will pay off long term for your business.

Come join us on every third Tuesday of the month. The next meeting will be on June 16th 2009 at 7pm.

We will be meeting at 4929 Atlantic Blvd. 32207.

Attendees must call 904.281.0009 to RSVP as this is first come first serve once a company in a field signs up there will not be any other company from that field allowed. One company per field.