For some reason this recession is breeding mediocrity at a rate I've never seen before. I mean, really? That's the best you can do? Is this the best I can do? I don't think so. No settling here…

So, I'm taking the economic "situation" as my own personal "Dip." (Read Seth's book by the same name.) And, I'll admit, I'm bored. Or exhausted from watching the news. Or distracted by life. Whatever the reason, it's time to shake things up…a LOT.

I hate mediocrity. It upsets my case in a big way.

I'm inspired by Seth's words (which I can now more fully appreciate thanks to the Seth Godin action figure that my buddy Darrin sent me) in The Dip that say:

Seriously: how dare you??? Don't waste a good thing. Hey, Mr. Main Street manager… quit wasting time on the same old same old and do something remarkable to change your local world. Hey, Miss retail store owner, be the winds of change in your community. Quit griping and letting life get in your way. This is life at its best. Be the success story that paves the way for others. Do something different. Don't just use Facebook, innovate with Facebook. Don't just be on Twitter, reinvent your business with it. Don't just have a web site… blow minds with it. Be the best in your world. If you must advertise in the local newspaper, get attention. Don't wonder if it got attention – make sure it does. Go the extra mile to over deliver on promises, to amaze customers, to be the most memorable thing that happened in their life today…and tomorrow.

Me? My mission is to inspire you to be revolutionary. "Passion" is an overused term. But I have a zeal, a passion, a burning, unceasing desire for you – yes you blog reader – to be the best in the world. Do you have that desire? Does it burn in your belly? Do you stay up at night trying to figure out how to make it happen? I want that for you. And I want you to sink your toes into the beaches of Costa Rica in a few years and laugh with the simplicity of it all. It's so simple…

Revolution: a drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving.

Be that. Be a focused, laser-intentional revolutionary.

Around here, we're shaking the cob webs off and leaning into our revolutionary thinking. We're eliminating wasteful ideas, work, habits and spending. We're getting rid of mediocre (or at least making a valiant attempt)… and we'll do it live this week on this blog just to prove that it can be done. Watch.

With your target objective (mission) and goals in clearly defined, it's time to start planning, researching and taking action. With our planning for the National Main Street Conference, we really only had about two weeks of firm planning time.

Here is how I broke down the planning: logistics, action items tied to goals, contacts and packing.

For me, the list proved to be a bit daunting. I am a perfectionist, and on occasion bite off more than I can chew. This conference wasn't the only thing on my plate after all. I have small business owners that I consult each week and projects and other speaking engagements to manage. Knowing all of this, I must say I did a fine job of making my lists, then editing myself.

I cannot state this any more strongly for those planners among you: there are plans that will save the world – but require the moon's sacrifice in order to happen. And there are the plans that work, that achieve real, measurable results – because, quite simply, the plan was edited into reality.

I am a journalism student by training, so with list in hand, I took out my trusty red pen. I found it helpful to actually categorize my action items by those tactics that would produce the most bang for my buck with no regard to my personal comfort level. Some of the items would require me to get outside of my actual personality in order to produce the greatest results for the least effort. (Now that is what I call LEAN THINKING.) The categories led me to basically edit into oblivion every tactic that wasn't an all-star. What we ended up with, I believe (and I may be wrong), we've ended up with a more flexible schedule that will allow us to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves while securing PRE-conference certain appointments and plans that have us well on our way to achieving our target objective.

Let me explain:

Tactic that got the red ink:
- Drinks and appetizers for a large group of folks, many of whom we don't know. Would have required a fair amount of planning, organization and time spent inviting, etc.

Instead…
- Made lunch appointment with a state coordinator to discuss upcoming opportunity to speak for the first time in this state.

We did set some meet-ups and lunch dates in advance of the conference, all scheduled for the first two days. This leaves us time to build new relationships over a meal, coffee or drinks later in the conference schedule, if needed. We used the list that the conference provided of registered attendees as well as our existing contacts in order to schedule valuable encounters.

We also took the time pre-conference to promote our attendance at the conference on social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, and Twitter. We also offered some valuable information and information of our attendance via the Main Street members only listserv to which we are members. Even now, you can follow the conference at the Twitter hashtag we created at #MainStreet09.

We have an on-site goodie in store, too… stay tuned, so you don't miss valuable small business owner survey results that will be available to conference goes FIRST, before we post it on our web site.

Small business tip: Making plans BEFORE you get to the event in order to maximize your time AT the event.

P.S. For real live blogging of the actual conference sessions, etc.
check out the official conference blog which is very well done so far
at Main Street Live 09. You can get an insider's perspective as the staff of Michigan Main Street live blogs the conference on their blog (What can we say? They are our star student!). And you can follow the conference on Twitter at #MainStreet09.

Andy and I arrived in Chicago this morning to mix and mingle among the conference goers at the National Main Streets Conference happening now through Wednesday of next week. Notice, I didn't say that we came here to attend the conference. Because we really didn't.

Hopefully, that statement doesn't highly offend those of you reading this, but this is a key point to attending a conference, trade show, market, etc. where lots of folks you know or need to know are also attending. As we (Team HALO) live blog this event throughout the next few days, you'll hear us talk a bit about the content of the conference – mostly from interviews conducted from attendee viewpoints, some of our own application (it is our blog after all), and possibly some speaker interviews. However, most importantly – and of most value to you – our small business constituency – will be our play-by-play application of our success and failures as we seek to make the most of the opportunities that present themselves this week. It is our goal to do all we can to meet, greet, find follow-up opportunities, etc. so that we can most efficiently and effectively help you, the small businesses across America that call Main Street your home. Our live blogging will mostly consist of the steps we've taken to achieve our goals – and the steps you can also take to achieve yours in similar circumstances.

So, let's dive right in… what are our goals for this conference, after all? As with any business venture, great or small, we will never know if we've arrived or how best to get to our goals if we have no road map. Goals are specific and measurable and targeted – when accomplished, they add up to success. Let me put our strategic planning in perspective for you:

Context: For the first time in three years of attending this conference (I know, we're young tikes still at this Main Street stuff), we are not presenting. We originally had a scheduling conflict and were not planning to attend this year at all. Then, at the last minute, plans changed and opportunity availed itself. We had approximately two weeks to plan our trip and set our goals.

We could not set goals without admitting that for one year concluding about six months ago, our business suffered periods of inconsistency in service stemming from personal matters that are now resolved. Having taken steps to protect our business from these sorts of issues again, then restructuring our business entirely to meet the demands of a new economy and the budgets of small business owners, re-defining our mission with laser sharp precision and marking the past six months as evidence of the measurable results we provide (not to mention the other eight great years prior to the fumble), Andy and I confidently went about the business of setting goals and a budget for attending this conference. With no presentation to prepare and no scheduling limitations (I must admit this left me feeling quite liberated), we set a primary objective and five goals for our conference attendance.

Target objective (basically the same as our 2009 mission statement): Open doors that allow us to encourage and equip hundreds of Main Street businesses towards success and profitability in 2009-2010.

Here are a couple of our goals for achieving that outcome through conference attendance (we can't give away all our secrets, can we? Maybe later.):
1. Meet and secure follow-up opportunities for further discussion (relationships are all we are looking for – not business deals) with three targeted people of influence (we identified them and set a plan for meeting them).
2. Leverage our attendance at the conference to raise awareness for our work with Main Street businesses across social media networks and at the conference in general.

Small business tip: Both budget and goals should be well researched and
well defined prior to making any firm commitments like registration
fees, hotel reservations, etc. Wise business owners (and non-profit execs) test the waters as
much as possible PRIOR to spending any money. A target objective with 3-5 measurable goals sets the framework for success.

Stay Tuned: Next post will give you a sneak peak into our pre-conference planning.

P.S. For real live blogging of the actual conference sessions, etc. check out the official conference blog which is very well done so far at Main Street Live 09. You can get an insider's perspective as the staff of Michigan Main Street live blogs the conference on their blog (What can we say? They are our star student!). And you can follow the conference on Twitter at #MainStreet09.

A critical question came through on the National Main Street listserv today. I don't respond very often – when I do, it's a topic I feel passionately about. When the responses started rolling in to refer GoDaddy and Yahoo SiteBuilder as viable alternatives that will actually GROW a business… I am saddened that we don't cling in the bad times to the truths about business that we know in the good times… So, here's the questions – and my response follows.

QUESTION:

I’m writing an article for our newsletter and wondered if there are any cheap/free website services out there for small businesses that you would recommend?  Amazingly enough, only about half my merchants even have a presence on the web, and some of those are very amateurish. Any advice?

MY ANSWER:

Your community of businesses is not the exception – they are the rule. Please see this article posted last week by the Center for Media Research regarding poor online presence by small business:

http://adjix.com/ybb2

An excerpt that strikes me:

“Webvisible found that online search and e-mail newsletters are the only forms of traditional media that are growing among consumers who wish to locate local products or services. Compared with two years ago, respondents report they use search engines and email newsletters more, while they use newspapers, magazines, direct mail and radio less.”

The unfortunate truth is that those who do have a web site have a dated web site that they may not be able to edit for one of two reasons (in my experience).

• Their web guy doesn’t keep up with them or has disappeared
• Or they are frustrated by using a free/low cost tool like GoDaddy.com (not to pick on anyone in particular) that is a tool only – without any education or ongoing support or marketing advice.

Web sites are no longer optional for small business owners. As you can see from just this single article (there are more out there to reinforce this if you Google for the info), online spending is growing – and provides an avenue for growth for our downtown businesses. Not to mention the customer loyalty/retention, marketing outreach and other benefits a good web site provides.

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS143830+02-Jan-2009+PRN20090102

Let me repeat myself: A GOOD Web Site.  The problem with many “do-it-yourself” web site products is that they don’t educate the builder – and so the business owner – not an expert at web useability or search engine optimization – does what looks good to them (not necessarily what may look good to the customer) – or what frustrates them the least – in their web building – and their business suffers for it. What would you think of your best downtown business if you walked in tomorrow and found it in complete disarray with mismatched signage, poor lighting, and unorganized displays and more? This, in essence, is what happens with most do-it-yourself tools that come without education, coaching or ongoing human expert support. It doesn’t matter how cheap it is if the money washes down the drain. The purpose of a web site in today’s economy is to be the centerpiece – not an afterthought – of a small business marketing plan that includes both online and offline marketing tools.

Please encourage your business owners to make sure they understand the implications if they choose a big-box web hosting solution. This is not to say every big box experience is bad…but well, around Main Street circles, I think we can be honest and admit the track record. It’s no different with web hosting and mass marketers of web site products.

JonI completely agree with, if the budget is unavailable to embark on a valuable web site development journey – then tools like Blogger, WordPress and Typepad provide a solid, respected alternative in the short term.

For higher end functionality, search engine optimization and strategically designed web sites, Fox Web co. offers a solution that starts at less than $1000. (Fox is our sister company who specializes in small business, having the heart of a teacher and works almost exclusively with Main Street businesses – sorry for the shameless self promotion.) Another option that is popular right now is retrofitting existing web sites to allow business owners to make updates themselves for much less regardless of the hosting company.

Hope this helps offer a different perspective into this very important conversation for the future economic stability of our downtowns.

At this moment, I'm wondering if my mother would approve. She's not much on potty humor. Well, then again, I must take after her, because I'm not either. And my hesitation escalated when my honey just asked me if I was blogging from the bathroom. Horrors!

I immediately explained that we were blogging ABOUT the bathroom…or more specifically about business bathroom experiences and other such forlorn locations…not really ABOUT bonding with the girls in the bathroom (as we girls have sometimes been known to do). I mean, no self-respecting Southern belle would ever blog FROM the bathroom…would they? 

Humor aside (sorry mom!), I do have a thing or two – and a tip or two to share about how to make the most – and I mean make the most money – from a customer's time spent in your business bathroom. So, when Stephanie asked me a couple of years ago to join this jolly group of bathroom bloggers for an annual Bathroom Blogfest, I said YES immediately, and I can't wait to share another year's worth of my observation and practice in the experience jungle with you, readers of the official Bathroom Blogfest '08 – Cleaning Up Forgotten Spaces Around Us.

This week, I'm going to tell my funniest story yet to date about bathroom marketing. I mean, if you don't think it's funny, then you've never had a two-year-old interrupt your most personal moments. (You've really gotta stick around for this one.)

While I'm at it, I think I'll throw in a bit of personal testimony on the best and worst bathroom arrangements I've found from the perspective of a mother who has had the "privilege" of potty training this past year. (Not as funny, but hopefully money-making potential will offset the loss there.)

Stay tuned and also check out my other friends who are making their mark this week on the topic of bathroom experiences.

Susan Abbott at Customer Experience
Crossroads
Katia Adams at Transcultural
Marketing
Shannon Bilby at Floor Talk!

Laurence Borel at Blog
Till You Drop
Jo Brown and the blogging team at Kohler Talk
Lisbeth Calandrino at Lisbeth
Calandrino
Sara Cantor at The
Curious Shopper
Becky Carroll at Customers
Rock!
Katie Clark at Practical
Katie
Iris Shreve Garrott at Circulating

Ann Handley at Annarchy
Elizabeth Hise and C.B. Whittemore at The Carpetology Blog
Maria Palma at Customers
Are Always
Sandra Renshaw at Purple Wren

Kate Rutter at Adaptive
Path
Claudia Schiepers at Life
and its little pleasures
Carolyn Townes at Becoming
a Woman of Purpose
Stephanie Weaver at Experienceology

C.B. Whittemore at Flooring The Consumer

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We’re all guilty of making assumptions about our customers. It’s a fact of life – we often jump headstrong into situation after situation with certain expectations and end results in mind – and we get disappointed time and time again. Why is that?

Is it unrealistic expectations? Is it wrong assumptions? Is it a wrong approach or jaded viewpoint?

Maybe.

I can’t speak to your personal psychological perspective, but I can tell you a common dilemma that I see my clients face on a nearly daily basis. That is the assumption that customers know what to do or how to interact with what you’re selling.

Tonight, for instance, my business partner and I worked well into the night working on a specific database project for a client. This project is going to change their world. It’s going to bring them notoriety and convenience, efficiency and frankly save them time hand over fist. Problem was, we assumed that the client gave us the data in a format we could use – the correct format. We assumed the client understood what it was they were buying. We assumed a lot of things about the data, the client, the situation. In the end, few of them were correct. So, we spent the better part of the project breaking our own assumptions. Once we did that, the project wasn’t really that difficult… it was just a matter of doing what we know how to do without the barrier of the assumptions.

Doesn’t make sense? How about this. A high end interior fabric store buys the latest trends in fabric. They shop High Point and Atlanta and New York and they have in store the fabrics that will be shown in the top magazines in coming months. They stock the store, price it right and wait for the masses to buy. The people come. The people go. They don’t buy as they should.

What’s the problem? It’s not a problem of customer volume or product or even in-store experience. All of those bases are covered. The problem is that the store owners assume that their customers will share their vision – that they will see how to use the product, they will be able to visualize it in their homes, they will have ideas and creative energy to know what exactly to do with the product this store is selling!

That’s a bad assumption because… the customer does NOT know what to do. They never do.

You might as well start each and every day with a new assumption – ASSUME the customer NEVER knows what to do with your product, service and experience. When you start with that assumption, your business experience will thrive. Instead of buying fabric, you will soon be selling ideas and an idea based experience. You will educate, create, and imagine. Your job will become the giver of the vision. Assume that your customer is clueless. Assume they don’t have any good sense. When you are wrong in your assumptions – it will be a pleasant surprise. But most of the time you’ll be correct – and you’ll win in business.

So try this tomorrow, change your small business strategy to a new assumption. And seek to educate and inspire – whether you are trying to deliver health food or home improvement products, gifts or baby clothes, shoes or wedding gowns, hardware or hotel nights. Assume the worst case and seek to remedy that situation with each and every customer interaction.

Your business will benefit – the results will be immediate.

It’s that time again – I can’t believe it! Once again this year, Team HALO is issuing a challenge and planning to only shop independent small businesses for our holiday shopping needs. From November 10 – December 25, we dare you to find us buying a holiday gift in Wal-Mart or Best Buy!!

Now in it’s THIRD year, the HALO Holiday Shopping Spree 2008 will go to new levels this year as we travel the heartland next week shopping, taking notes, photos and blogging about all things customer experience across retail America. We’re looking for Main Street communities and shopping and eating tips for eastern and central Tennessee, Kentucky, southwestern Indiana and southern Illinois.

Stay tuned – we’ll be adding a Facebook travel map and lots more details in the coming couple of days! (If you’re not a Facebook Friend, then it’s time to get moving. Everyone is there – including your customers. So, learn the ropes by tracking our trip – ask us to be your friend. We’ll accept!)

More importantly, if you’d like us to stop in your town – speak now or forever hold your peace. This will be a busy travel season, but if you’re chosen for a shopping stop, you’ll get free advice for your business or community from an expert team of retail and community experience marketers.