Doc Franchise Writings and Ramblings

I recently got onto a plane, settled in with my computer case at hand, my ipod Touch at the ready - my Bose headset set up and my computer in my pre-planned position to swipe it out of said aforementioned case.

Then came the flight attendant.

He looked at me, grinned and asked if I would "be so kind" to switch seats with a husband who was needed by his wife so the two of them could keep their baby from exploding onto the passengers in and around where she was currently seated. Now, here I am. I am comfortable. I have perfected my environment. And this clown disrupts my mental zen. Further it will require some deliberate focus and nurturing to get me back on track once I have settled into my new digs.

This of course is a minor thing isn't it?

Imagine that same seat-swapping scenario occurring during a period of severe weather turbulence. Not only would you be anxious and feeling unstable in your current seat, you now have to collect yourself, mobilize without falling on your pa-toot with such concern related to spilling all over the passengers along the way and then get re-oriented in the new situation.

Organizationally change is usually difficult. It typically comes in the midst of failure and chaos. Change amidst instability is the worst. Yet many employees are feeling lost, anxious, hurt and confused lately as their companies reorganize, reallocate resources, cut costs and downsize staff.All the while, in the bigger picture, the economy searches for stabilization.

Franchisee's, are typically once-bitten victims of this kind of turmoil. Actually, many of them may have been bitten several times by downsizing or more generally, by being deeply and personally affected by change that caught them off guard in their previous careers.

It is then no wonder, now, at a time when they seem to have more control as business owners (often a significant reason they became business owners in the first place) when put into similar transitional scenarios in their franchise business, they resist strongly. They dig their heels in, shut their ears and just refuse change.

My experience also tells me that franchise organization must be better at forecasting and predicting change within the company and in the greater market than their corporate counterparts in business. This higher standard of expertise is something the franchisee, though it may be unspoken, is buying when he invests that fee into the franchise.

Franchises need to make a core competency out of looking at their current situation, considering options and executing on those well in advance of the changes needed. Franchise organizations, compared to companies that operate multi-unit/multi-regionally have many "owners." They have many decision makers and to get this distributed leadership onboard takes a significant communications effort. That effort must start sooner and create an atmosphere of listening, learning, hearing, training and teaching.

While we are at it, think of communication as the second core competency that every franchise desiring success must have or acquire. Period! Franchises must be communications experts.

If it typically is a 6-month ramp up time to changes required for a corporation then a franchise needs double that time. This time should be allowed for contemplation and preparation before transition can be deeply understood and welcomed. Occasionally changes are made under emergency circumstances. If this is the case, just know that success and acceptance is not likely to be 100% or even 75%. You will have to manage to another lower level of acceptance (and should you get better, because of your culture of trust then count it a blessing!)

To encourage employee buy-in, a executive I met recently shared how her company applied the "head, heart, hands" concept as an organizational imperative as they underwent some restructuring. I believe this kind of methodology is even more significantly exercised within a franchise since the cultures of franchises are so very personal (and the more personal the better in my estimation.)

Here's how it works:

Knowing that staff would find any change unsettling, the company's leadership created a unified plan to fully communicate and engage their teams before taking any action. Explaining all the logical and rational reasons for the change would enable staff to begin intellectually processing the information (head); acknowledging how the change would make employees feel before, during and after implementation would assuage their fear (heart); and outlining the tactical plan and ensuing goals would satisfy their need for action (hands).

Franchisers, remember, you have a very sensitive leadership team. They are your franchisees. They come in all shapes and sizes. They are however acutely concerned with change. Keep them abreast of unique opportunities or concerns in their area of concern (which includes the home office by the way.) Change, in our current climate may be inevitable but it does not have to be excruciatingly painful. Your leadership will make all the difference.

John is a 26-year professional in the franchise industry. He has been a franchisee, a franchise executive and an advocate/consultant to the public and to dozens of franchise companies. He is the founder and managing partner of Wilson Associates and can be reached at docfranchise@gmail.com. or direct office 480.838.1641

Everyone has heard of it by now. Very few know how to use it and I suggest that many franchises are still missing out on a major marketing process by continuing in the dark ages by ignoring it. I am talking about Search Engine Optimization.

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is a powerful Internet tool aimed to increase brand, product and service visibility and your business presence on the web. Since the Internet is now the primary source of information and goods for multi-market and Top 100 regional market companies and service providers, it only makes sense to be as visible as possible in order to attract and meet the needs of your prospects, clients and customers.

There are many ways to approach SEO efforts, and it can be difficult for businesses just starting out. Luckily, there are many resources available to assist in SEO efforts, especially for small businesses. Here are my quick tips for effective SEO marketing and your franchise.

1. Set a Goal

Search engine optimization efforts (SEO) will not go far without a specific goal in mind for your overall branding efforts. What words do you want to own on the web? How do you wish to be positioned on the web? If you have a strong competitor or competitors and they already have established a high presence using certain terms and owning a particular place in the minds of customers you need to ask yourself, "what can I own? What position still exists that would service our company and our branding?"

Before you dive head-first into your market position efforts, develop a strategy for what you want to accomplish. Perhaps it already exists in your current marketing plan. Is that plan transitional to the Internet? Secondly, create objectives that relate to your planning. Whether it’s to increase the number of views to your website or landing pages each week, increase your franchisees page rank, expand your customer base or have a newsworthy story picked up by a certain number of information outlets, having a goal for market positioning and goals for constant web presence and position improvement within your field will assist you in improving your brand, and also provide something to compare and measure your results against as it relates to your current efforts.

2. Add a Blog

I want to keep this simple today but so here is the simplified version of understanding web presence. Research has consistently shown that a static Web site (create once - walk away) will have little lasting effect on improving your marketing efforts. A blog is a way to change that. Even having a blog (ongoing messages about you, your business, your business partners, the market you are in and the market trends) as your main SEO priority can help drive traffic to your Websites.

And oddly enough a blog also adds credibility to your company, shows customers that you’re Web savvy, and can help your company stay on top of current trends. Like every other part of your marketing game make sure the blog has an over all purpose and is providing content that will attract readers from the beginning. Again, site credibility is a key for a webblog. One word of caution, Blogging is a commitment. Make sure you realize you are in it for the long haul. Have it determined that you can add contact to your blog at least once and more would be better times a week.

3. Produce Valuable Content

There is an increasing trend for companies to form with the intention of making money simply through advertising and second-rate content. While these companies do provide keyword-rich content, they do it for all of the wrong reasons. Search engines respond to the number of times a term is repeated on a site, as well as the number of other sites that are linking back to it. Inbound links from these sites are what really drives up your page rankings. This is what many SEO link builders focus on the most. Don't get stuck just yammering on about particular key words or links. Providing interesting and valuable content that will stand out from the fake sites is surprisingly easy to do.

Google offers this insight for webmasters:

“The best way to get other sites to create relevant links to yours is to create unique, relevant content that can quickly gain popularity in the Internet community. The more useful content you have, the greater the chances someone else will find that content valuable to their readers and link to it. Before making any single decision, you should ask yourself the question: Is this going to be beneficial for my page’s visitors? “

4. Use Free Resources

The Internet provides a number of resources and tools for analytics and web marketing, and many of them are free. Again, for brevity sake, I simply refer you to Google, do a search for SEO analytics. As a matter of fact our favorite web search tool has it's own free tools. Installing tools such as Google’s Analytics can help you track traffic, and also give reports of where visitors are coming from, how often they visit, and the keyword searches (What did they search for that brought them to you?) that bring them there. Additionally, Twitter has long been a tool for Web marketing and SEO efforts, because of the number of people one can reach at just the click of a button. The Twitter community has amazing and free tools to capture who is viewing you, from where and from your efforts get a sense of why. Can you imagine how that helps you to understand how the market, potential clients and competitors might see you and your brand?

NOTE: You can get a sense of your current status by typing “link:yourwebaddresshere” into Google; the results will show what sites are currently linking to your site, and you may discover some sites and users you were previously unaware of. Analyzing the results can help to target certain audiences and build a base for developing future tactics and content.

5. Establish Relationships

For my money Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are the top 3 social networks every business needs to hook into. You can create relationships with similar companies in your field, market partners, influential writers, PR professionals and journalists as well as people who are interested in your company. Establishing these relationships, will gain you a community that are willing to distribute links to your site and often link back to your site from their web addresses.

Within those web tools mentioned above there is a second way to improve your product, service and company message. Participate in discussions, and join forums within those web sites and their tools. Linking to others’ content can highlight your company, your brand, your service and your content.

The extended value of this last methodology provides you a professional platform and process within a more ubiquitous arena of interest. Your inks will be displayed from credible, influential Web sites that will add valuable traffic to your site.

Learn more about SEO on your own. Don't just leave it to the so-called professionals. Most of them are less than 24 and know nothing about your business, what you are attempting to accomplish through your web presence or know how to ensure you attract the right viewers to your websites. What they do know is the general information I just shared with you here. It's up to you to add the particulars.

John is a 26-year professional in the franchise industry. He has been a franchisee, a franchise executive and an advocate/consultant to the public and to dozens of franchise companies. He is the founder and managing partner of Wilson Associates and can be reached at docfranchise@gmail.com. or direct office 480.838.1641