Articles

Original published by Global Coworking Unconference Conference

The minute a group of people share a space there is going to be the challenge of getting every one to follow the community norms that are necessary to keep that space clean and make sharing it pleasant.  That’s just a politically correct way of saying, “There’s always going to be some jerk who leaves dirty dishes in the community kitchen.”  It is an ongoing theme on Cheezburger.com’s Monday Thru Friday Fails. It has been an issue ever since our ancestors first shifted from hunting and gathering to permanent settlements and it will be an issue on the first space station on Mars.

Ya can’t leave the dishes there, nothing draws a crowd like a crowd.  It seems like one dirty dish is quickly joined by 6 or 7 very good friends. And they invite 2 friends and they invite 2 friends and so on and so on…

And cleaning up after members like some martyr mother isn’t healthy for staff members’ sanity or for the community culture. So what’s a coworking community manager to do?

In our community we’ve found a way to turn the dirty dishes left in the sink issue around.  It’s not perfect.  A perfect kitchen would probably mean you had no members so we’re not shooting for perfection.  Our goal is consistent, cheerful following of community kitchen norms by most members most of the time.

Here’s a few tricks that  we’ve found effective and that can be adapted for whatever your community issue may be.

Rotate Signage – The familiar becomes invisible.  If it seems like people aren’t seeing your sign that is so obviously there, it may be that they’ve seen it so much that they don’t see it anymore.  Our brains developed to notice novel things.  This is how we found food and spotted danger.  That same old sign is known to be neither edible nor dangerous and so safely ignored.  Something new catches the attention again.  We have a variety of signs that we rotate randomly and continue to make new ones.  Keep it fresh.

Be Clear – In our space we are super lucky to have a dishwasher. Yet people still left dirty cups in the sink – even when there were acres of space in the dishwasher!  Or people would put their dirty cup half filled coffee cup in with the once clean dishes.  Arrrgghhhhhh!  Now when the dishwasher is available for dirty dishes there is a big, impossible-to-miss sign orange sign that says, “Hey! I’m available for dirty dishes!”  When it is washing it has a rotating silly pictures of dishes being washed that says, “I’m busy, please wash & put away your dish.”  Members have commented how much they appreciate the clarity.  Confused people don’t follow directions.  Make it crystal clear.

Tell ‘em what To Do  – The human brain doesn’t process the words, “No” or “Don’t”.  When given concrete directions, the brain tends to conjure up the image.  The abstract concept of “Don’t” falls away.  For example, when a child is told “Don’t hit your sister,” the image of hitting his sister forms in the mind.  Then it’s harder to identify what TO do.  In the case of “Don’t leave dishes here”, people can now only see the image of leaving their dishes there.  Instead try, “Wash your cup and put it in the drying rack.”  Wordier? Yes. And more effective with human brain wiring as well as creating a more positive community experience.  When we changed our signs from “Don’t do this, Don’t do that” to “This is what to do” several members commented that it felt more positive and friendly.

Have Fun!  You know those moments when your brain is mush and ya just need a little down time?  Try googling dirty dishes images.  There is some fun silly stuff that will make you laugh out loud and if it is making you laugh it’ll make your members laugh too as they wash their dirty dishes.  Or just make up your won silly stuff.  Like the Community Karma Points Game.  Empty the dishwasher or drying rack score infinity Community Karma Points.  Wash and put your cup in the rack  and the one some one else left +1,000,000 Community points.  Wash and put away your dishes +100 points.  Leave your dish in the sink for some one else  minus 100,0000,0000,000,000 Community Karma Points.

Put a Face On It-When dishes are left in the sink I change the sign to one of me with a spoon hanging from my nose and a silly psychotic expression that says Stop the Insanity! Keep Lydia from losing it! Please put your stuff away instead of throwing it in the sink! The comedy balances the scold and stillgets the point across, it ain’t cool do leave your mess for someone else to clean up.  It puts a face on that someone, makes them a real person.People tend to behave better when they feel like they’re being watched –even when it is just a photograph. Stores use this fact as an anti theft tactic.  They place signage of a face in high theft areas. The face may be smiling and hawking some product, but the brain’s experience is I’m being watched.  Try creating fun, silly signs that include someone looking over the scene.  We have a picture of a 1950’s mom reminding members, “I don’t work here, wash & put away your dishes.”

Reward the Behavior You Want to See – when we’re on a roll with the community following the kitchen norms I throw a little thank you on our community list or put up a sign that says thank you.  When I catch members going beyond I thank them.  This year at our annual awards we awarded two members with “The Kitchen Community Norm Role Model”.  What is awesome is they were both 20 something guys.

Wherever a group of people share a kitchen there will be the issue of dirty dishes in the sink, however as a coworking community manager you have a great deal of influence on how it folds into your community’s culture.  Is it a source of friction and contention or moments of amusement and maybe even a contender for the LOL of the day?  Laughter is not only the best medicine, it is the mortar for community.

Originally published in Action Outdoor and Bike Magazine

As I write this, I’m sipping coffee from my local coffee shop. I walked past two chains for this cup. Why? Thanks to the strong Think Local First campaign here in Santa Cruz, when I need to buy something, I find myself thinking, “What is the locally-owned option?” I didn’t always think this way. Often, I used to assume the big chain store was going to have the best price and selection. I wasn’t really thinking at all. I was on consumer autopilot.

Then these stickers featuring our city’s landmark lighthouse and Think Local First started appearing on the doors and windows of downtown shops and restaurants. Seeing the badge, I found myself thinking about that real person, the fellow member of my community who owns that business. Before, it had just been another store, another option.
Over the 2011 holiday season, the Think Local First organizers put together a strong campaign declaring a peak week of holiday shopping season, Local Holiday Shopping Week. It was everywhere—from newspapers to social media feeds. Downtown had a particularly festive air that week as resident retailers held special events. Community and connection were strong enough motivators for me to take their think local suggestion, but when I started learning the specifics of the economic impact these kinds of campaigns can have, I made shopping local my top spending priority all year.

SMALL BUSINESS, BIG DEAL
I sat down with Karl Heiman and Michael Olson, two organizers of Santa Cruz’s Think Local First campaign. Heiman explained that the biggest economic impact chain stores impose is the “dollar leakage,” i.e. the tendency of most of dollars spent at national chain stores to leave the community. Study after study reveals similar results. A 2011 report out of Portland, Maine found that $100 spent in locally owned stores yielded $58 to the community versus $33 from national chains.

Where big box revenue tends to drain from the neighborhood and out of the state to corporate offices and non-local suppliers, revenue from local stores is likely to keep circulating close by as they rely on local vendors and utilize local services for banking, accounting, repair, Internet and advertising. Meanwhile, the primary contribution back to the community in a national chain store is simply the wages and benefits paid to employees.

Another of the biggest economic benefits to a vibrant vicinity lined with independent stores is the strong tax base and savings in infrastructure and services to local governments. Independent businesses tend to set up shop in existing structures, such as downtowns, and make more efficient use of already existing public services. Meanwhile, big box stores often require development of outlying real estate, necessitating new service infrastructures like roads and utilities. Some local governments, including Santa Cruz and those above us in Washington, place so much value on supporting homegrown operations that they have established a 5 percent leeway for local businesses bidding on government projects. In other words, if a local business comes within 5 percent more than an outside bid, officials may choose local even though it’s not the lowest. The project generates more community jobs and the state gets the tax benefits of the related sales.

Recirculation of dollars is only one way independently owned businesses create a solid economic foundation for a community—these are the real job creators who not only generate opportunities within, but make employment possible all along their supply and service chain. They also help bring in tourist dollars. When people travel, they want to go to somewhere, not just anywhere.

They want to experience the unique character of a place, have the signature dish, ride that terrain, see that particular style of artisans work.
So much so that one box retailer is attempting to craft such a scenario in their stores. I just saw an ad for a new department called The Shops at Target, a concept that plucks products from small businesses around the country and incorporates them in the mix for a “unique hometown shop- ping experience.” Even Target recognizes the value in a little local flavor.

American Express provides small business owners tools and strategies to promote Small Business Saturday

OPPORTUNITY ABOUNDS, LOOK NO FURTHER

With the holiday shopping season coming up, now is the time to start focusing on a shop local campaign in your area. If one already exists, it is likely run by very dedicated and overworked volunteers who will be thrilled for more support. Get involved. One credit card company may be able to help.

The big stores have Black Friday. The online merchants have Cyber Monday. American Express felt locally owned businesses needed a day (Nov. 24, 2012, smallbusinesssaturday.com), too. Because so many of its customers are independent business owners, American Express wanted to encourage holiday shoppers to spend at least some of their dollars with locally owned retailers. In doing so, the company provides proprietors with tools, such as signage and social media strategies, to market Small Business Saturday in their area. In past years, customers who spent $25 at local independent retailers on this day received a $25 credit on their statement. Stay tuned for this year’s incentives.
If your area still needs leadership in educating consumers on the positive impact shopping local can have on their community, here’s an overview on how to get started. For the nitty-gritty, visit American Independent Business Alliance (AMBIA) and Business Alliance for Local Living Communities (BALLE).

1) Learn about all the benefits of shop local programs. I only have room for the tip of the iceberg in this article. There is enough information on the subject for BALLE to host an annual five-day conference.
2) Don’t reinvent the wheel.   Many communities across the country have done it. Google “shop local” and sites for campaigns all over the country come up. Check out programs in communities similar to yours to find out what’s working for them.
3)Find the leaders. Shop local programs tend to start with a group of 4–5 people passionate about and dedicated to the cause. Find these people. It may be they just don’t know it yet. Start sharing what you learn about the power of shop local campaigns.
4) Brand it well. Your campaign needs a great slogan, short and sweet that pops up in people’s minds when they shop the way that Santa Cruz’s “Think Local First” does for me. Create a logo that tugs at residents’ sense of place.
5) Define your membership. What does local mean to your campaign? In Santa Cruz, franchises are not included.
6) Create your campaign kit. Your welcome wagon for business joining your alliance. Their window decal, flyers for customers, etc.
7) Set a kickoff event. A rally, an economic barn raising for the community, a big event letting people know about your mission.
8) Build the community. The fun of the kickoff event is just the beginning. It takes a whole village to create an effective shop local campaign, the best of which are those that form an alliance of businesses that work together to educate and engage consumers, local media and government leadership.
Shop local campaigns are, I think, the most successful strategy for local communities to recover from the economic turmoil, inoculate against future downturns and shift from mere survival to economic thrival. As Heiman points out, “Local business owners are the glue of the community.” AOB

PDF: Action Outdoor & Bike Think Local First Article by Lydia Snider

Action Outdoor & Bike is a bi-monthly trade magazine that serves retailers in the action sports, outdoor sports and bike markets. As the first trade magazine to bring these segments together, we cover new product innovation, industry trends, news, shops, brands and the people behind them. Subscribe Online for your free subscription.

If you liked this post register to receive notification of similar posts.

Originally published in Action Outdoor & Bike Magazine

There’s a Simpsons    episode    where Homer travels back to the Jurassic era. He sneezes. One after another, like dominoes, the dinosaurs keel over and die with huge crashes that shake the ground. It is a perfect illustration of our current economic situation.

DOWN WITH DINO
Bruce Lipton and Steve Bhaerman explain in their book, Spontaneous Evolution that the Industrial Revolution combined with consumer complacency created the perfect economic environment for the development of international corporate giants.

They compare these and other massive entities to dinosaurs. Like dinosaurs, they dominate the landscape with their massive size…size that also limits their ability to adapt and respond to shifts in the climate. They can only be successful in a narrow niche.

And that niche is changing. We are not in the midst of an economic collapse, but a correction. Systems, whether they be biological, mechanical or economic only survive when a balance exists. If one part becomes too large and disrupts the equilibrium, the system as a whole is at risk for failure. Too big to fail institutions are actually too big to sustain success because they have become a potential threat to the system’s survival. The current natural self-correction to restore balance to that same system has triggered an upheaval that signals the end of the Jurassic era of economics.

So what does that mean for all of us little guys? When the dinosaurs’ reign came to an end, the “mammals seized the opportunity to become the masters of the bio- sphere.” We are entering the economic equivalent of the Mammalian age. Now is the time for small, innovative, community-oriented businesses to become masters of the econo-sphere.

PEOPLE AREN’T SPENDING LIKE THEY USED TO
That’s right they aren’t. But it’s not all bad news. The age of consumer complacency is ending as shoppers begin to realize that every dollar they spend is a vote. Wal-Mart stopped carrying hormone-laced dairy products because their shoppers demanded it, and even set new requirements reducing vendor packaging when customers objected to the plastic waste in clam shell containers.

I divide my time between California and South Florida, and depending on where in the country your shop resides, you are seeing different degrees of evolution. Close to my west-coast home, a major bookstore chain went out of business while two independent, local book shops of equal size continue to thrive. During my last stay in Florida, I noticed that while many of the massive chains are alive and well, more shoppers were making the choice to go out of their way and even spend a little more to support local businesses.

SHOP DOC, PROSCRIBING WELLNESS
Also at the front line of the shift in consumer spending is the billions of dollars Americans spend on healthcare. Almost everyone knows someone or has themselves had a nightmare story about being discard- ed or failed by the healthcare system. It is estimated that approximately 60 percent of all bankruptcies filed are due to excessive medical bills. Fed up consumers are turning to alternative sources.
I’ve seen it among my own friends and clients—suddenly, acupuncturists, nutritionists and chiropractors who were struggling to get by are now struggling to keep up with the influx of new patients. Preventative healthcare is alive and well. People are hungry for ways to improve their well- being, and as a purveyor of action-oriented goods, you can help them.

Every diabetes diagnosis is a potential customer. My friend Dave barely moved from the couch until diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Thanks to a great doctor, instead of medication, he bought a bike, joined Team in Training and became a big fan of vegetables. All that money he would have put into medical treatment is freed up for spending at his local bike shop.

Now is the time to get creative and collaborate with others in your community to educate and empower the people who most need to get moving. What if you partnered with a doctor’s office on a beginner bike clinic for people managing diabetes? What else commonly ails people in your area? Who else is serving that population? What are their biggest challenges in that service? How can you help with those challenges? More than just the tools for better health sitting on your shelves, you may carry the answer to a better quality of life.

JOIN ME AT THE AOB EXPO TO CONTINUE THIS DISCUSSION
Healthcare is just one of the ways consumers are spending differently than they used to. It’s the first area of change because the personal impact is immediate, and as a system, healthcare has most blatantly let down its customers.
More and more patrons choose to buy local products from local business owners and keep dollars in their community. Whether you are in a region at the forefront of emerging buying trends or they’re on their way to you, now is the time to establish your business as a frontrunner in the areas driving these purchasing decisions.

Join me at the Action Outdoor & Bike Expo in Atlantic City, August 22–23, where we will discuss how to become a business leader in the Mammalian economic era. Thrival may not be in the dictionary yet, but it will be. Mere survival just isn’t enough.

PDF: AOB article Thrival In the New Economy  by Lydia Snider

Action Outdoor & Bike is a bi-monthly trade magazine that serves retailers in the action sports, outdoor sports and bike markets. As the first trade magazine to bring these segments together, we cover new product innovation, industry trends, news, shops, brands and the people behind them. Subscribe Online for your free subscription.

If you enjoyed this post please register to receive similar posts.

(Graphics by Paul H. Kearney)

Originally published in Action Outdoor & Bike Magazine

A recent report by J.P. Morgan senior analyst Imran Kahn predicts that global e-commerce revenue will grow to $963 billion by 2013. The report also reveals that, “higher income consumers shop online the most often, with 34 percent of those making $100,000 or more shopping online at least three times per month.” What could it mean for your business if there were a way for all those high-income online shoppers to spend some of that $963 billion with your store?
And yet, with these numbers, U.S. retailers are moving online at a much slower pace. Some independent store owners may feel it’s not worth their time to be online because there is no way to compete with giants like Amazon. It’s true, your website will never stack up, so don’t even try. You would never attempt to compete with Wal-Mart on a brick-and-mortar level. Your customers come to your shop for something they could never get at Wal-Mart, and your e-commerce setup is simply an extension of this online.
There is another trend emerging. People are getting fed up with giant institutions that seem to be concerned only with extract- ing every dollar out of customers. Consumers are learning that each cent spent is a vote—on or offline. While people shop online more, they also tend to think local first.

E-COMM COMPATIBILITY
When pondering whether to put your store out there, take a look inward toward your existing resources, and be sure to:

Ask Your Customers. This is probably one of the most powerful, yet overlooked business-development resources. If you had an e- commerce option, would they use it? Which products would they most want available online? Would they refer friends and family out of the area? What do they love most about shopping online? What don’t they like about it? What other suggestions do they have for your e-commerce site?

Consider Your Inventory. Do you have enough to support an e-commerce branch of business? Are the shipping costs worth it to you and your customer? Is drop shipping a viable option for your products?

Consider Your Budget. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for, and online shopping carts are no exception. Chris Miller of Santa Cruz Application Development warns: “don’t be lured in by
free shopping carts. You may end up paying a developer much more for customization than if you purchase a shopping cart that already includes comprehensive features.” If you can’t afford $1000 for a software license, e-commerce might not make sense at the moment. Miller recommends ShopSite, a commercially-supported shop- ping cart program around for more than 10 years. ShopSite includes several licensing levels from which to select, and its design can be customized to look similar to your main website.

SHOPPING CART CONTENTS
Once answers to these questions point toward inevitable e-commerce, some keys to an effective cart include:

Safety First. Make sure your shopping cart software and Web hosting provider can pass PCI Compliance scanning, Miller cautions. Your credit card processing company will require you to perform regular scans of your website for vulnerabilities to reduce the chance of fraud. Ensure that your shopping cart software does not store credit card information without encryption.

Make it Easy to Buy. Just like with brick-and- mortar shops, it is all about location, location location. Eye-tracking studies reveal that when looking at websites, people tend to go to the upper right hand corner first. Put your contact information and shopping cart link here.

To guarantee customers have just as positive an experience online as they do in your physical store, Chris Miller also suggests conducting a real-world demo of your e-commerce site via extended evaluation of each software you are considering. “This time investment will help you determine the best fit for your company and potentially prevent delays and loss,” mentions Miller. “In the end, it may be best to work with a company that can help identify your needs and architect a solution for your e-commerce endeavor.” Regardless of what software you choose, he goes on, “take the time to compose a checklist of your requirements.”

Make them Have to Have It! Some sites attempt to describe products, but people are much less likely to buy what they can’t see. Plus, pictures help convey the quality of your available gear. Use only pictures with great lighting against a plain background. You can buy affordable kits to take such product shots. Include a short description with related specs, such as dimensions or weight. Provide the option to select size, color and quantity; most shopping carts have this built in.

ANTI-AMAZONIAN
In all your online interactions with customers—be it through email, Facebook or Twitter—always apply the 4:1 rule; make four contributions to your customers for every one request or sales offer. Richard Mundel of Udutu-USA Online Learning Solutions has developed an innovative way to both provide entertainment and move customers from shopper to buyer status. Instead of just posting a whole bunch of wordy product information that only the most obsessive customer will read, offer engaging e-learning modules where customers learn about the product and earn cou- pons or other incentives as they move through activities.

For example, if you are presenting a new line of BMX bike, set up a short and sweet module on its features, how they solve a given problem or take rides to the next level. After a couple informational screens, they’ll arrive at: “Congratulations on be- ing one of the first to learn about the benefits of X! Confirm your understanding of this new, great product with the following fun questions. Answer them correctly and receive a 10 percent discount (free shipping, added accessory, etc.) off X from any of our retail locations or online stores!”

As Mundel explains, “The end result is an informed, armed with an incentive to buy specifically from you! The marketing comes off as more altruistic than sales oriented since it’s presented as teaching, and the content itself provides greater benefits in SEO efforts as well.” While an e-commerce site is an extension of your brick-and-mortar shop, it is also a separate entity, and as with all areas of your business, the key to success is clar- ity (visit www.lydiasnider.com/products/asm for a complimentary copy of the E-Commerce Clarity Questionnaire). Go capture your share of those billions… or at least give your shop a shot at it with an online presence worthy of attaching to your store.

Downloadable PDF: Brick and Mortar to Browser and Mouse by Lydia Snider

Seasonal tourism, annual events and special one-time happenings have potential to drive hoards of new customers to your website and business.

TURN VISITORS INTO CUSTOMERS
By now, your Google Analytics is lighting up with people visiting your site. Unless they buy something or sign up for your email list, however, this is the equivalent of driving by your brick-and-mortar shop… it does nothing for your bottom line. While some visitors will love your stuff so much that they’ll whip out their card and go to town in your online store, they are the exception to the rule that most people buy after 6–10 touches.

If you enjoyed this post register to receive similar posts.