Zane Safrit

Now it's tight credit markets hurting US car sales

Add tight credit to the lists of reasons why American car makers are failing.  So, let's sum up the reasons why American car makers are failing:

* employee health care costs

* employee pension costs

* tight credit markets

Now, the first two weren't issues when cars were being sold. So, by default, they can't be issues when cars stop being sold.

Tight credit markets aren't hampering foreign car makers. Foreign car sales in February either fell half as much as American car sales or rose to record heights. For those that fell, Toyota, it's on the heels of 3 straight record setting years of growth, unlike American car makers whose records of sales the last 3 years have, ahem, been in the other direction.

Nor do car buyers today ask about pension and health care costs of the car makers' employees. No. They ask about...mileage and quality. It can't be tax credits. Hybrids, all made by foreign car manufacturers until this year, no longer receive that pitiful tax credit of 2%. However, SUVs, if used for a business, can receive immediate tax credits of up to 80% of the purchase price.

And they still don't sell.

Maybe, just maybe, the real reason American car makers sell fewer and fewer cars is they make more and more cars that fewer and fewer Americans want to buy.

Update: Sales of the smallest cars are up 33%; sales of SUVs are down 29% (even with the huge tax credits, possible). USAToday.

GM's 20-MPG hybrids aren't getting any traction.

General Motors and Chrysler are betting that their 5,500-pound, eight-seat S.U.V.’s — long the scourge of environmentalists — can be reformed as hybrid models, albeit ones getting 20 miles to the gallon.

Giving a four-wheel drive Tahoe a gas-electric hybrid engine raises fuel economy for city driving to 20 miles a gallon from 14.

“To this point, the G.M. hybrids aren’t getting any traction at all,” said Mike Omotoso, a senior manager with the research firm J. D. Power & Associates.

Where do you start with a reply?

Here's one:

Norway's Think Global AS, plans to sell here in the US, an electric car that gets 110 MPG. - Online WSJ. Link from Newsgang.

GM can't get there from here:

"We cannot get to 35 miles per gallon with anything resembling the current product portfolio, or with anything resembling current technology," said GM (GM) Vice-Chairman Robert Lutz. -BusinessWeek

Take your turn at bat

You can never hit a home run if you don't take your turn at bat. Better to go down swinging, than sit in the clubhouse. - Me.

Checkered by failure...

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat. Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919) 

Just breathe...

You can take from every experience what it has to offer you. And you cannot be defeated if you just keep taking one breath followed by another. Oprah Winfrey, O Magazine, What I Know For Sure, January 2004

Increasing your chances for sales success

Each failure to sell will increase your chances for success at your next attempt. - Og Mandino

Creativity in the long term

Innovation drives entrepreneurial successes. Small business owners crave people who can think creatively. But right now, your public school system is slowly removing every creative program from its curriculum. They have to, because creativity does not fit into the multiple choice standardized test that spells life or death for their funding.

What's the solution? A complete remake of our basic culture and education system to put creativity back into our society. ETA: 30 years. I'm game. Are you?

That's the stated goal of the Northwestern Creativity Project, my local incarnation of the Oklahoma Creativity Project. They gave the estimate of 30 years to reach that goal. There's also a World Creativity Forum, so I'm sure you have a parallel group in your area. We're working together to build events that promote creative thinking. Since we happen to be a bunch of camera nuts, we're doing a photography workshop first.

What does a photography workshop have to do with building a better workforce? It has to do with thinking long term. Our key speaker, Mike Klemme, explained it this way:

I am, in fact working on a "creativity workshop" in Tulsa that will be marketed to Europeans. We will be bringing in budding photographers/CEO's etc. and teach them how to "see" with a camera and to expand their creative thinking abilities. ... I would like to "practice" this format at your event if possible by showing how to use the camera to see things differently and how that ties into entrepreneurism and the ability to find opportunities by looking at things from all angles.

While that's a great explanation (and an idea I support) photography isn't the key here. The key is to get involved in some project, any project, promoting creative thinking in your community. I'm betting the payoff is a lot shorter than 30 years.

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- Guest Author: Becky McCray writes about small business and rural issues at Small Biz Survival, based on her own success and failures.

Be comfortable being misunderstood

Bezos: When we pioneered customer reviews, it was incredibly controversial. I got letters from publishers saying, "You don't understand your business. You make money when you sell things. Take down those negative customer reviews." We’ve never done anything of real value that wasn't at least a little bit controversial when we did it. But if you want to be a pioneer, you have to be comfortable being misunderstood. From the interview: Reading the E-Leaves with Amazon's Bezos.

I think he's on to something. Amazon's revenue grew 38% last year.

Make Rail Fun; Make Rail Green

From Annie Mole's blog about London's Underground Tube Blog:

If being green is rewarded with playfulness, fun, empowerment and some kind of status for doing it and if we see simple little things that we can all do, I think green initiatives will have a much greater chance of success.

You'll see from my cube that I wondered if anyone was talking to the rail companies and TfL about all this. How could people who didn't use the Tube be encouraged to use it when we all know what a hot smelly rubbish and overcrowded form of transport it is? Could my Oystercard usage give me discounts off my residents permit parking or car tax / MOT?

I have no idea what an Oystercard or MOT is. Still the point is universal. Make it a wow experience to go green. Make it fun, add a swing at Amtrak stations, Lord knows on Train 6, the San Francisco Zephyr, the delays could be spent doing something fun. Add a presentation in the club car on how each passenger is reducing their carbon footprint, make them proud, create some status for their role as passengers in lowering carbon emissions. Give 'em a handout or badge or something to show their friends how cool they are for riding Amtrak, being green and reducing their carbon footprint.

I blogged that Rail is the Future in coming decades. But the driver for that growth was negative: rising gas prices, rising air fares, horribly unpleasant air travel experiences. Why not incorporate some positive motivators for going green?

You can take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. They will drink if it tastes good. Same with going green. You can bring us to look at  measures of carbon footprints and dire predictions for our future. Or you can make going green in our personal lives an adventure, a wow, personally rewarding, an experience we can share with others...

Guest Author: Becky McCray

This makes me very happy.

More than happy, really, it makes me delighted to introduce you to the guest author, Becky McCray.

Ever since I met her, I've been a big fan of Becky McCray  and what she's doing with her blog Small Biz Survival. I'm trying to be concise, here. But her voice is authentic, her care and passion for small business and for small towns and for rural economies is real and strong and dedicated. She's an excellent writer. She's a risk-taker. And she's one of the rare people who meld the obsessions and technologies of web 2.0/3.0/blogosphere with the day-to-day challenges of growing a small business, growing it in a small town and growing it in a rural area. She's got a great big heart. Her fans are numerous. And if that's not enough...when she's not blogging and running her own retail business, she's out fixing fences and fence posts on her cattle ranch. For me, that's near the ultimate for bridging worlds. And she does it smoothly and smartly every day, every blog post, every tweet.

Her first guest post is today: Creativity in the Long Term. Here's how she ends it:

The key is to get involved in some project, any project, promoting creative thinking in your community. I'm betting the payoff is a lot shorter than 30 years.

See. She's smart, articulate, has the long-term vision and remains practical: Get involved in some project...

I hope you enjoy her posts as much as I do. And don't wait for her posts here. Go read and subscribe to Small Biz Survival.

10 More Reasons Why Twitter's Going to Grow

Despite some pains of growth, Twitter's going to continue to grow. Here's Robin Bloor's post 10 Reasons Why Twitter Rocks. I'd have to agree.

Social Media Resource of the Week: SlideShare

SlideShare is my choice for Social Media Resource of the Week. I've  come to like it quickly in the past few weeks. That makes me a late-comer to the SlideShare Ball, perhaps. I say it's never to late to share and appreciate a good resource with your friends.

SlideShare  is aptly named. That's its first plus. Its name says what it does. You use SlideShare to share slides and PowerPoint slides, primarily.

Yes, I know I've been quoted saying I hate PowerPoint presentations. I stand by that declaration. But these aren't just any PPT's. These seem to be a veritable best-of's or among the best-ofs for PowerPoint presentations. I may be prone to changing that declaration after seeing some of the PPTs shared.

Right there, you have another value-add. Not only can you you can share your PPTs, you can also learn from many of the best by being able to view their PPT presentations.

In the 12-18 months since I first viewed SlideShare it's added some excellent sharing resources.  My favorite is the widget/API that's displayed beneath each PPT presentation that will allow any user from any major blogging platform to post and embed the presentation directly into their blog. It's like being able to embed a YouTube video directly from YouTube into your blog post instead of having to cut and paste its code. 1+ - Step to Sharing. Here's a few examples of how this instant embed works with my blog: here and here.

Then there's the usual features of Tags, search, comments, Community, favorites, Groups and Events. I haven't uploaded a presentation. (Remember: I hate PPT.) But, I may be inspired to share a pitchdeck I'm creating. I should be able to find some excellent tips and examples of powerful, simple, well-done, PPT presentations that I can apply. I'll share it with you if I do.

SlideShare: Social Media Resource of the Week.

Smallball for Small Business Success.

Shel Holtz shares one of the best resources for small businesses. It's PR Smallball. His examples aren't small businesses. And his focus is on the PR and broadcast industry and it's challenge in creating personalized, meaningful communications as part of, not instead of, traditional PR.

Still...PR is one of the many hats you and everyone wears in a small company. And Smallball is one of the key strengths of a small business:  Personalized, real, meaningful, targeted, unique interactions with your customers.

There's some ideas and suggestions a small business can glean from PR Smallball. And it's validation for small business models when big corporate type like Comcast, etal, use smallball interactions with their customers as Big Ball approaches continue to fail.

Interview with PeerSight Online founders Steve and Andrew McGill

You can listen to it here in streaming mode or download it for later listening.

10 Reasons He Won't Use Social Media

From John Mariotti's post at SmallBizTrends comes his 10 Reasons Why [He} Won't Use Social Media.

Chuckle.

The irony of using a social media tool, a blog, and a social media resource, the guest author post at SmallBizTrends, to decry all things social media is...interesting.

I read it a couple of times to detect irony or sarcasm, satire, or these are thoughts I've heard. I didn't detect any.

I see John's website has rss feeds. That's a powerful resource to maximize the reach of social media.

And he has a blog of his own, Telling It Like It Is. Cool. I like anyone that speaks directly. He does.

Here's my thoughts on his 10 reasons, each italicized from his words:

1) Identity theft risk. Yes. Somewhat. No more so than paying bills online or receiving credit card statements in the mail. That's the source of my identity theft in ...1998.

2) Drowning in a tidal wave of complexity. Yes. Somewhat. But it's of our choosing, really. No one's ever forced me online. Try as I might, I've never been able to do the same with others.

3) ...defunct or otherwise transitory Internet, email or proprietary Web systems. Yes. Change is swift out here.

But only if you want to.

And the choice in evolution and business is always change or die.

But, it's still a choice.

4) Someone always comes up with a newer, better, more cooler one. And yes, it can seem like a high-school 'cool' contest sometimes. No doubt. And like in high school, the genuine friends stay together whether in different colleges or in different social media sites.

5) Security is like passing your credit-card around at an open bar. Your credit card receipt at restaurants is an open invitation for misuse. There's really no difference. The best social media sites and communities are free and open like SmallBizTrends and Twitter and blogs.

6) There are other ways...I'm confused on this point. What are the other ways you can network without placing your identity in the hands of others? Wear a mask at chamber meetings and use business cards with anonymous drop-mail PO boxes?

7) Real business people realize that this social networking trend is superficial. This is my favorite. Yes, all those folks who've created an industry worth billions, with millions of members, who've helped businesses continue to reduce the cost of advertising and promotion, free mailboxes of unwanted direct mail, engage with their customers, drive improved cash-flows, reach markets and network with creatives and decision-makers they'd never reach, create jobs as a result and compete against corporate brands...oooo, we're just all so darn superficial. Yes.

Honey? I'm superficial. (Oh, darn. She already knew.)

8). The hassle of your computer...and the user-interfaces of social media is far too great. So, um, how'd you write and post and publish this list of 10 reasons why you hate to do what you just did?

And how'd you  find this site? See above point about change and the learning it requires.

9)  I want to choose who will be involved and know that their involvement is willing and enthusiastic. Um. Ok. What sites are you using where that's not happening?

And do you know everyone (that's a few hundred thousand strangers or close friends, which is it) that's reading this post or the posts on your blog or visiting your website?

You're not searching their identity using their IP addresses are you, John?

10) I am simply too busy....Ok. Lots of people are.

And I admire, though, that you've blogged weekly since 2004. That puts you in the very small percentage of social media users, sometimes known as bloggers, who maintain their blog for more than a few months. And starting with a blog in 2004 makes you an early-adoptor, I think. That you don't know their identity makes your blog and your readers no less a community than other social media sites that require a member login.

I liked the last paragraph of your first post on December 10, 2004

What must happen is for balance to be regained is for everyone in the "central chasm" to start taking a much more proactive role in ensuring the diversity, quantity and balance of information and perspectives needed to keep our country great. That means start generating good, insightful, interesting information and getting it widely disseminated.

I agree. There's no better way to do that than how you did it: blogging, adopting these new social media resources, sharing your insights with a resource that gets it widely disseminated like you've done here.

And the debate continues another round.

I do agree with John about the power of in-person, face-to-face, meetings. They do add a richness and depth and connection. Having said that, there are bloggers and others I've never met in person. And yet, my connection with them and our respective support for each other's goals, both personal and professional, is as deep and strong as those I've met in person. And vice versa, some people I've met in person are more superficial than any I've met online even if only through their fake IDs.

At the end of the day, social media's a tool. It's a resource. Sure, some make it a lifestyle. Cool. Their choice. Some make snapon tools a lifestyle, too. And like all tools, you use the one that best fits your goals and personalities and that shows you a positive ROI. Social media's not made for everyone. Neither are chamber of commerce meetings and rubber chicken as the entre'. Choose the one that best suits your needs, that brings you a network that supports and enriches your life and your theirs.

Disclaimer: I'm also a guest author at SmallBizTrends. And social media helped my former company generate growth and positive cash-flows while it competed against national brands. And while I disagree a bit with John's post, he writes some good stuff at his blog.

5 stories of social media's reach

From Financial Aid Podcast come 5 stories that showcase the reach of social media and it's power ...to change lives for the better.

And that's what it's about, right? Successful businesses, big or small, are characterized by their ability to change lives for the better.

Link from BeckyMcCray on Twitter.

Social Media: A day in the life...

It's not THAT far from the truth, sometimes. From John Sass:

Microsoft's Death Rattle

Begging your customers never work.

Bribing your customers never work.

Paying...them...to...use...your...product...each n' every time...isn't...a customer-acquisition plan. It's just the noise you create to muffle your death rattle from the ears of your customers and employees.

That's not my quote.

Leopard Dog wrote that comment at TechCrunch's debate over Microsoft's decision to pay users of its search engine. It's a great quote.

And he's right.  The noise of the announcement and the ensuing hype and debate at TechCrunch is just that: mere noise to hide the death rattle of Microsoft.

Microsoft?  You're one of the world's largest companies, with one of the largest collections of smart people. The market is $16 billion and will double by 2010. You currently have 9.1% of this market and you're losing even that small slice.

And you've engaged your corporate brain trust, incentivized them with an understanding of this opportunity...and this is what is spit out. We'll pay our customers to use our product....!

Microsoft, let me suggest another idea. Here's Seth Godin talking to your competitor, Google. Listen to his description of Google's plan. It's complicated. But it's boiled down to this: Google gave their audience something worth talking about. And they did it...for free.

It's had some success.

Newsgator: I don't think you get it

Um. I don't think you get it, Newsgator. Your news article rating ...thing on your front-page after I login is a waste of my time. Yours, too. But I'm interested mainly in my time. Here's why:

1) You know what news I'm interested in. My 200+ newsfeeds should tell you what news I'm interested in. What more do you need from me?

2) You know I'm not interested in your news. My zero response to your front page request to rate certain articles...to help you better cater the news to [me]...should also tell you the news you present to me isn't of any interest.

Here's what I am interested in from your service:

* Speed up, speed, speed up. Our time together, mine with your service, increases in value as it decreases in length. The less time I spend waiting...waiting...waiting...while you manage my feeds makes me happier. It's an inverse relationship. Less is more. Less time waiting is more time I love your service. That would make me tell more people about how great you are. That would make better use of my time. And that would make better use of your time serving me.

Banks Can Do a Better Job Serving Small Business

From Aite Group LLC comes a report that describes the Mistakes Banks Make When Serving Small Business. The three are:

* Graphical Capabilities

* Cash Flow Forecasting Tools

* Tracking Uncleared Checks and Electronic Payments

Having been a small business CEO, I can say they're right. Those serve as three missed opportunities. Our banks never offered those.

But where they really missed serving small business needs, the real missed opportunity, was in basic customer service. Things like answering the phones, being helpful, providing accurate information, being flexible....all seemed outside their mission statements. We used national and local banks. And the attitude towards service was remarkably consistent.

Link from Payment News.

Small Business Resource of the Week: PeerSight Online

PeerSight Online is my pick for the inaugural Small Business Resource of the Week.

Why? Why PeerSight Online? It was one of the best resources I found as CEO of a small company that helped insure my success and that of the company.

What is it? It's a peer board meeting service.

Huh? PeerSight Online brings together your peers in small business leadership, management, entrepreneurs to meet in a confidential setting. There you can share not only your knowledge, but your challenges and needs, frustrations and plans, solutions for others, with your peers. 

A peer board, a group of your peers you can turn to for support and solutions, is critical to the success of a business leader. Sure, you have a Board of Directors. But it's unlikely and unwise to turn to them for support or solutions. The same goes with your employees. As a business leader you need to be able to share your challenges with a respected group of your peers in a confidential setting.

I found each meeting of my peer board brought solutions to my vexing problems from two sources:

A. The other members of the peer board. We each had expertise in other industries, in other expertise, and those along with a different perspective usually resulted in valuable insights or questions or outright solutions that helped me solve a pressing challenge.

B. Myself. I found at the end of many meetings I'd discovered a solution from either participating in the conversation by asking questions or offering a solution that had worked for me in the past. That process of my engagement solving others' problems often delivered solutions for problems facing me.

Personally, I hate meetings. I quickly tend towards impatience and re-focus if a meeting's not well-organized around creating engagement. I get bored easily. I like decisions made quickly. But I found the meetings with PeerSight were productive, organized, focused, useful.

And that's in part to the focus Steve McGill brings to each meeting's agenda. It's prepared, communicated before each meeting and with a spot for each member to participate. And the meetings are scheduled once every 3 weeks with a conference call.

Granted, I was CEO of a conference call provider when I was introduced to Steve and Peersight and you'd expect me to endorse that resource. On the other hand, the schedule of a 2-hour conference call, once every 3 weeks allowed for very efficient use of my time in preparing for a meeting and allowed for solutions on each call to be easily digested, integrated, and put to use in the next days. That meant regular, manageable progress.

If you want to maximize your progress as a small business leader, learn and grow from a peer board of others like you, find proven and manageable solutions faster and easier...you should join.

And if you want to know more about Steve McGill and PeerSight Online, then join me tomorrow at 9:30 AM Central when I interview him on my BlogTalk Radio show. You can listen live in streaming mode at this url: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/zane-safrit.