PORT ANGELES — Forget the big fix. Forget the next big thing.
You already have what you need for success, small-business motivational speaker Jon Schallert told about 75 entrepreneurs Tuesday at Schallert’s $8,000 workshop, “Increasing Sales and Profits as a Destination Business” at the Red Lion Hotel.
Just find what you do best and make it sing by channeling your message through social networking sites such as Facebook and contacting news outlets about what you do that’s special, said Schallert, of Longmont, Colo.
“Most people look for the big fix,” Schallert told the group.
“They want one big thing to work, to make everything right. There is no big thing.
How are you different?
“A most basic thing to get down is how you are different from everyone else. From there, everything can branch out.”
Schallert said entrepreneurs should ask themselves: “Who is the top 10 percent of customers, and how do we capture that?”
It’s also not necessary to have “an overall marketing plan,” Schallert said.
“You are all underestimating your market size. You usually underestimate your market size when you don’t focus enough and are not aggressive enough going after the people you really need.”
Businesses don’t need to act completely in concert, Schallert added.
“You don’t need everyone to move, not everyone needs to play,” he said.
“You should find a core group of people who want to move forward and forget about the naysayers.”
As a model for websites to draw customers to the North Olympic Peninsula, he suggested going to www.newburyport.com, which has information about Newburyport, Mass.
Schallert, who did marketing for Hallmark Cards, also suggested participants consider taking his 2 ½-day “Destination Business Bootcamp” at the Mariott Complex in Longmont, which costs $1,295 a person and about $2,000 when food and hotel is added, he said.
$8,000 for workshop
Schallert’s $8,000 fee — $1,143 an hour — was funded with $4,000 from the city of Port Angeles and $4,000 from the Port Angeles Downtown Association and seven Port Angeles businesses: Elwha River Casino, Red Lion Hotel, Pacific Office Equipment/OlyPen, First Federal, Fairchild Floors, Jim’s Pharmacy and Lakeside Industries.
The Port Angeles Downtown Association spent an additional $2,500 to cover Schallert’s travel costs and lunch at the Red Lion.
His lodging and meals were provided at no cost.
Three attendees interviewed during breaks in the workshop said they were excited by what Schallert offered.
Three responses
Lyn Fauth, owner of Tiger Lily Clothing in Port Angeles, said Schallert gave her a broader perspective that she can employ when she starts fresh.
She’s moving her business from Laurel Street east to between Laurel Street and Lincoln Avenue, probably later this summer.
“What I need to do is reward my good customers and attract new customers and focus on where I want to go,” she said.
Fauth said she will look anew “at everything, from what the customer sees when they look at the store to what they see on a website to giving them an experience that makes them want to come back and rave about the store.”
Edna Petersen, owner of Necessities & Temptations gift shop in Port Angeles and an organizer of the event, said she would leave with a greater understanding of the importance of the Internet, including Facebook.
“I haven’t known how to do it as efficiently,” she said.
“What I have heard repeatedly today is that it’s not as much how you look as how you do business to make it successful,” Petersen said.
Two employees of Ruddell Auto Mall in Port Angeles said they left the session with specific ideas about how to generate business.
Director of Business Kathleen Ruddell said she plans to expand the company’s Internet presence so potential customers can browse through a “virtual showroom” and wants to draw business not just from 15 minutes driving time away but from two or three hours away “because they find our business different.”
“We can’t stay side-by-side with our competitors. We have to launch ourselves way ahead for us to get noticed.”
Service Manager Mike Striegel said Ruddell should trumpet the expertise of the staff, noting the company employs two GM World-Class Technicians.
“Holy daylights, we have more than in the Seattle area,” Striegel said.
“We’ll see if it works. If you don’t try, you won’t know.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladaily news.com.
