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Scott Berkun

Member since: Jan 26, 2006
Last activity: Mar 16, 2009

  • Hi Sharon:

    There are many different ways to discount. I even found one on your website:

    From http://www.personalchefsnetwork.com/:

    Are you currently a Personal Chef? If you are a current or former member of another PC organization we have a great opportunity for you. You can register for our Symposium and become a full member of PCN all for $999. That is a savings of $449 over doing both separately.

    Your discount here is a combination of services discount. Great! You've found a way to offer customers greater perceived value (to them) in exchange for purchasing more services (to you).

    This is not wildly different from a commitment of services discount, what i suggested in the article, where you price 10 widgets purchased over the next year down to the price of 9.

    I'm not saying you should do this - I have no idea how your business works and I'm trying to keep my mouth shut. But you are using a type of discount as part of your business, just a different type than the one I mentioned.

    Posted Oct 01, 2008 How the financial crisis affects small business by Scott Berkun

  • There is another article here to be written about the credit market and how specifically it impacts small businesses who current have loans or will need them in the short to mid-term. I'm not a credit expert - but if you are speak up :)

    Kelleen - this could be you!

    Posted Oct 01, 2008 How the financial crisis affects small business by Scott Berkun

  • Hi Joy:

    Thanks for the advice, but I have to disagree on at least one point:

    Keep in mind that when people get scared hard to think straight, or see clear action. Your advice of what to do gets lost in the supporting data. So find a way to give me a checklist of functional action items from my point of view.

    I offered exactly ZERO data :) For a 600 or 700 word piece I didn't see the point of making a checklist, it's thin enough IMO as it is at about 5 paragraphs.

    Posted Oct 01, 2008 How the financial crisis affects small business by Scott Berkun

  • Sharon/Art: Hey, YMMV. Discounts come in many shapes and sizes and there are ways to do it without destroying your brand value, premium or otherwise. Many high end restaurants offer cheap happy-hour specials: no loss of brand value there.

    It's s often a good business move to convert short term customers into longer term commitments, even if you have to discount. If you run the right math, selling 10 haircuts at $20 generates more revenue than selling 5 haircuts at $30.

    And Art: you might be right if we're talking about years. Aiming for 3 month / 6 month commitments from clients instead of week to week won't have the negative effect you're talking about. Again, it's insurance. If you want insurance against a slow economy you have to pay for that insurance somewhere.

    Posted Oct 01, 2008 How the financial crisis affects small business by Scott Berkun

  • Also check out Paul Kruglik's article:

    Tips for weathering the economic downturn

    Posted Sep 30, 2008 How the financial crisis affects small business by Scott Berkun

  • I'm not a blog consultant, and I don't even play one on TV, so YMMV:

    On traffic: the simplest way to build traffic is to consistently provide value to people on a topic you have expertise on. There are tons of tricks but they won't help much if what people read when they get to your blog isn't valuable to them.

    Bag 'O Ideas:

    1) If you want Seattle traffic, make sure all your clients, friends, family, etc. know about your blog, and know why it might interest them. Your clients are your most powerful network to start with - they already respect your opinion and want more from you.

    2) Offer advice. Linking to NYT articles provides one level of expertise - the expertise of the NYT article author. But it's more valuable if you provide your own context - what questions did the article raise and what are your answers?

    3) Have a rhythm. People seem to obsess about volume of blog writing, but that's not as important as rhythm. If you make it clear you'll post an opinion or article every Wednesday, people will learn to expect, and appreciate, that kind of consistency.

    4) Provide value. What are the common questions you get asked? Common misnomers about naturopaths? Common ailments people make mistakes about? Pick a juicy topic each week and dig in.

    5) I think there are quite a few naturopaths on biznik - email them, or organize a lunch with blogging/Seattle alternative media, as the topic. Maybe you can form a blog together that you all contribute to.

    And for ref:

    Does one bring traffic to one's blogsite by linking to other blogs

    Call it either a blog, or a site.

    And a trackback is a way to find out who is linking to something you wrote. Depending on the blog software you're using, you'll be informed of trackbacks in different ways.

    Posted Sep 06, 2007 Linking and Backtracking to other's blogs a conversation started by Hannah Albert ND

  • Eva: Photos are great, but why not have yourself in the photo in some way: a foot, a hand, a neck, a corner of your shoulder, something, so at least you can say the photo is of you, just not in the boring, predictable headshot variety? Even a photo of your desk, or chair, without you in it, has way more Eva character than any icon could have.

    Posted Aug 14, 2007 I dare you a conversation started by Karrie Kohlhaas

  • I do both, but use them differently.

    The blog is for short posts, news and updates, and there's no guarantee on when I'll post. The newsletter is monthly and it's always a new essay or new writing of some kind.

    As much as it seems everyone has moved to blogs and RSS/newsreaders, there are many folks who prefer to read e-mail, or who like to have something to read when offline and commuting to/from work.

    If you're looking for a blog site, or blog software, I highly recommend wordpress. You can host a blog for free at wordpress.com, or install wordpress on your site. I've been using it for years, know the founder of the company and recommend it.

    Posted Aug 14, 2007 Blogs vs. Newsletters. a conversation started by Joy Strzechowski-Amada, LMP

  • Hey - aren't there some career counselors among the biznik flock? This seems like their chance to sweep in and demonstrate your magic powers :)

    While we're waiting for them - here's some (likely) bad advice.

    I'd run the various lines from your skills:

    designing/building: how far does this love go? Does it have to be theater-centric? What about more geekish pursuits? Check out zefrank.com which is a crazy mix of performance, comedy, theatre and design. What are all the points in-between where you are now and something like what he's doing? More artistic than what he's doing?

    performance: Public speaking? Corporate events? Event planning? Being an MC for various kinds of events? If you stretch it far enough, any sort of corporate retreat or conference is a kind of theatre (performers, audience, theme, logistics, etc.) I'd poke at toastmasters and see about the public speaking thing.

    And on it goes - I'd keep running those lines from skills and see how many different possible applications I could find. Torture/bribe friends to help flesh out the lists and keep some objectivity ("No Scott, supreme emperor of the universe is not a job"). Then, when exhausted, I'd stack rank all the ideas I had on two criteria: love and income/opportunity. Then I'd start at the top, pick one, and commit to trying to make it happen. When I got stuck, I'd hit the next item on the list, or, as is often the case, being stuck would help me to see a better way to approach the problem than I could have possibly seen without getting stuck in the first place.

    But I'm not a pro advisor on this stuff, so if you're laughing or crying at this point, pray to the career councelor gods - I'm sure they'll swoop in and advise shortly.

    -Scott

    Posted Aug 16, 2006 A Bit Confused...But Hanging On... a conversation started by Bradley McDevitt

  • Absolutely - if I'm lucky I'll pull together enough mojo to convince the biznik overlords to let me do a biznik event once the book is out :)

    -Scott

    Posted Aug 16, 2006 Get interviewed for a book on innovation a conversation started by Scott Berkun