Founding a few companies in the ecommerce world (one being a complete failure) has opened my eyes to a number of observations and lessons learned (Most of the lessons learned were from the failure).

Though the digital market place is growing at a tremendous pace, many obstacles face individuals or companies trying to make an impact selling online. In particular, there are three barriers to success for companies selling online, which we have realized:

1. High customer acquisition costs - Companies need to invest in advertising, community managers and other expensive marketing strategies to acquire customers.

2. Customer retention - there are many one off purchases in ecommerce because of lack of loyalty.  The internet is very convenient and your customer is only a click away from the next best deal.

3. Capital overhead - It is costly and very hard to stock warehouses full of inventory.

When jumping into the e-commerce world, these three barriers need to be disected and understood. By understanding these issues, you can often add a twist to your offering which will end up being your competitive advantage. 

Developing a platform that addresses these barriers

I believe that Salus, our new company, which focuses on mobile commerce for health professionals addresses these concerns for any health professional who wants to sell complimentary products online. Salus is a hosted e-commerce platform that allows health professionals to easily create and manage their own online store and iPad application. Every store is pre-populated with industry specific products so when a patient or client makes a purchase the order is shipped right to their home, while the health professional collects the profits.

Our vision is to "provide an e-commerce platform that adapts to changing technology and retail best practices, providing the most efficient experience for every stakeholder involved in the purchase process." BUZZ WORDS!

Plain and simple: 

We are optimizing the retail supply chain in predefined health industries, through technology and the data we collect and analyze. Doing this truly creates a platform that addresses these barriers. 

Health Professionals (which include Naturpathic Doctors, Medical Doctors, Registered Dieticians, Certified Personal Trainers, Optometrists, and Chairopractors) all offer a consolatory service in staple industries. Individuals who wish to take preventative measures and deal with health concerns seek out the assistance and expertise of these professionals. Offering Salus to health professionals has created an ecommerce experience that is geared to success.

1. Customer acquisition costs are low- Health professionals already have a large client base due to offering services complimentary to what Salus provides. Depending on the industry individuals may see as many as 1500-2000 people monthly and recommend products available through our platform to their patients or clients.

2. Salus addresses retention and customer lifetime value (CLV) offering a feature that allows auto refills on orders which are staple in nature. This allows health professionals to offer a discount to patients for signing up for auto refills all of which leads to: Customer retention. As well, each health professional has a personal relationship with their customer that is associated with expertise and trust - ensuring loyalty!

3. Due to the overhead costs most health professionals do not sell product or if they do, sell very limited selection. This is one of the biggest barriers for Professionals that want to sell the products they prescribe - earning extra revenue, while making it easier for patients. We address barrier 3 by connecting directly to the supply chain. Health professionals have no capital overhead because Salus has all of the products online. Inventory is covered by distribution partners who already carry tens of thousands of products and ship directly to patients who order on the health professional's store. 

Over the last year we have observed a number of barriers in ecommerce, but more importantly we have recognized the vast opportunities and we have gone after them. Failing early and fast has allowed us and will continue to allow us to learn and recognize ways to change how things are done in commerce. Hopefully hearing about our experience can also help you.

You may not be building a platform, but you can address these barriers to give your store the competitive advantage it needs. 

Another project our service based company is working on called Wingman is trying to do that right now. No matter what you are working on, it is important to address barriers during the conceptual stage and come up with solutions that not only address them, but become your competitive advantage! 

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Most companies want a video that people watch, share with friends and are influenced to take action by. 

It is impossible to guarantee the creation of a video that will incorporate all these things, but there are key steps that can be taken, in the creation of video, that will make success more likely. 

When we sat down and tried to outline the key components of a good video everything related back to this book:

“Made to Stick”

After analyzing 100’s of “sticky” ideas, the authors of Made to Stick concluded the same 6 principles applied. Below they are summarized with a combination of our thoughts and theirs:

Principle 1: Simplicity

A successful defense lawyer says, “If you argue ten points, even if each point is a good point, when they get back to the jury room they won’t remember anything.” 

We must create stories that are both simple and profound. Showcasing 10 features doesn’t intrigue your viewers to take action, it just confuses and bores them. In fact no one cares about the features in your product; they care about the problem and pain points you solve.

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At Netgen it took us a while to figure out what we were best at and what we should specialize in. I mean we could do everything: graphic design, front end dev, back end dev, motion graphic video, live action video, animation, mobile sites, applications, IT infrastructure, consulting and the list goes on...

It took me longer than I would have imagined to really understand what we were good at, what we were great at and what we were the best at. More importantly it took me a while to understand what the market actually needed.

I think two factors led to us falling flat for about a year before we hit our mark:

1. Lack of experience - I was a first time entrepreneur who was trying to figure out how to get people to drink our koolaid. I should have done a better job of analyzing market needs and recognizing ways to specialize. 
2. Distractions - I was focused on being an entrepreneur and was not focused on building a business. Every time a shiny opportunity dangled infront of me I chased it, without diligent analysis or a plan for execution. 

While running Netgen I co-founded a digital phone company and an e-commerce brand management company. I spent a lot of time working on making these companies successful along with Netgen, without understanding the short term and long term implications of "spreading myself to thin". 

In January 2011 I realized the most important lesson I could have ever realized.

"It is easy to start a business but hard to execute" especially when you co-found three bootstrapped companies in one year (my 2010)...

So at that moment, I considered the phone company and e-commerce platform personal failures (They are still running, but without my active involvement). I promised myself right then, that I would not commit to a new venture again unless it "made sense" and was viable. My goal now was to focus on Netgen and build it into a succesful, self sustaining media company. We had all the tools to be successful:

• Highly skilled and motivated team;
• A referenced client base; and
• A diverse set of skills that the market needed. 

And that was our biggest barrier. Our services were so broad we confused ourselves in regards to what we did.

That was until Eli Fathi and Aydin Mirzaee asked if we could create a video for their product, Review Room. After completing the video and recognizing how uninque a communication tool this was, we decided to turn our focus onto a booming market... Animated Explainer Videos. 

We created a very focused brand that specialized in animated video for companies that wanted to tell a simple, entertaining story. A story that connected with their viewers and converted them into customers.  

This new brand also helped us recognize the opportunity to reposition Netgen into a company focused on developing marketing websites and UI design for web and mobile apps. We realized what our specialties were and what the market wanted. They wanted video, websites, mobile sites and any type of digital tool that would help convert more customers. Hence the entire rebrand...

Netgen - "conversion by design"

Getting specialized and giving Netgen the attention it needed has led to great success: Servicing over 70 clients across North America including billion dollar companies such as VMware and Citrix.

Do I regret some of my decisions in 2010? Not at all! I think they defined me as a person, as an entrepreneur and defined Netgen as a company. These failures and decisions also helped me recognize a pretty cool opportunity and now that Netgen is self sustaining with an amazing team I would like to introduce...

NDstorefront... STAY TUNED

PS. You would think after reading this blog I would have learned my lesson about spreading myself too thin...

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You Rock!

Maybe you have the best product on the market, or maybe the services you offer are truly unique or maybe you have just developed cutting edge technology that will change the world ...

So What?

Who cares if your technology or solution is better than the rest if you can’t explain it effectively and truly showcase your competitive advantage.

More and More People are Turning to Video

Video is one of the most popular forms of communication for companies who need to explain their product, service or what makes them different. More specifically many companies are turning to ANIMATED video for this purpose.

Animated video offers a lot of advantages:

• No limitations - an animated video can allow you to do all kinds of special effects and tell stories that are impossible to tell unless you have a hollywood budget
• Cost effective - With an animated video you can showcase a professional image and tell any type of story without breaking the bank.
• Engagement and trust - everyone loves cartoons and if done correctly a simple animated video can quickly capture a viewer’s attention and peak their interest to learn more.

These videos allow you to use simplistic communication and descriptive animation to truly explain whatever it is a company needs to explain.

More than an explanation!

But to be effective it is much more than just an explanation and cool animation.

It comes down to one thing…

These videos need to make something “CLICK” with your target audience.

For marketing to work you need to create a revelation, you need something to click in the viewers mind and connect them to the story you are telling.

Making your video enjoyable to watch is just as important as clear presentation of a product or service. You need to find a group of story tellers who can convey your message clearly and entertainingly.

Forget the Technobabble

It is easy to be blinded and get caught up in the features of your product or brand. But you have to remind yourself, that making something click and making viewers want to learn more is the main goal. If you make your video enjoyable and tell an engaging story, viewers will search out more information about your great product, unique service or world changing technology and most likely they will convert into your customer.

So if you are looking for the right group of story tellers check out Simple Story Videos and find out how you can make it click for your audience.

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We have always said “we are more than a digital agency”. We actually hate that title “digital agency” because it doesn’t define who we are, what we do and what we are creating at Netgen.

Over the last year we have recognized an opportunity to truly understand trends in the market, streamline/automate our internal processes and turn our services into products we can sell across North America and even the world.

This wasn’t possible many years ago. The opportunity to commoditize a service offering and sell it around the world using only the internet wasn’t an option. Internet adoption was for early adapters and wasn’t even really, really mainstream until social media. Search wasn’t always how people found what they were looking for and many people didn’t trust e-commerce. We all know this changed many years ago, but still companies are slow to adapt.

We have always used the internet to market but we never took advantage of it’s full potential nor have we yet. That being said with the launch of a new division called Simple Story Videos we new that the internet had to be a bigger force.

What is a Simple Story Video?

A Simple Story Video (SSV) uses custom animation and narration to explain a companies story and make a direct, emotional connection with their audience. A SSV will help companies:

• Engage their target audience
• Truly explain their value proposition
• Increase conversion rates
• Duplicate their sales force
• Attract investors

There is obvious benefit to companies using SSV but in order to sell beyond the quite city limits of Ottawa and reach a mass audience we had to do a number of things.

First we had to automate our process (from inquiry to delivery) and streamline the scaling of this offering so we could handle demand.

Second we had to figure out how to reach a mass audience without a single person on our sales staff.

We turned to the internet. We now use some of the best online tools to reach people in the UK, California, BC and beyond.

What do we do?

Some of the top services and companies we used and continue to use to help build this brand are listed below:

• SEO - Search Engine Optimization (google)
• Trada - Crowd Sourced Paid Search (PPC)
• Quora - a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it. The most important thing is to have each question page become the best possible resource for someone who wants to know about the question.
• Social networks specifically our Twitter account

The most important thing to understand is that the world is constantly evolving and that it is up to you to evolve with it and take advantage of what the internet has to offer.

It may mean changing your service or product and it will mean utilizing the best online tools to market and convert more customers. It has changed our business and opened up our market from a market which contained 800,000 people to a market that has 6.93 billion people…

So what are you waiting for? Contact someone you know that gets “it” and take advantage of their wealth of knowledge.

For us, this is only the beginning as we work on the launch of our new mobile division and try to keep up to date with everything the internet has to offer.

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An important question to ask yourself: Why do you do what you do?

Culture builds business

One of the things we connect with as a young group is the idea of empowerment and “culture” within a workplace. As we prepared for the launch of Netgen in 2009, one company (Zappos) and one leader (Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh) in particular really stood out to me. Tony helped implement a business model and brand that would only succeed with the right culture. He actually did the unthinkable:

He created a culture where customer service and call centre employees enjoyed their job…

After seeing a list of their core values I was inspired. I actually copied some of them from the Zappos website and initially used them on our own. However the problem was that these core values didn’t truly represent who Netgen was. Core values need to be more than words on a website or a plaque. They need to truly represent your company culture.

Let your culture define your core values

As we started to add new team members it was obvious that finding like minded, passionate individuals was a must. Staying small and nimble allowed us to react and adapt to everything that came our way. It also allowed for empowerment and autonomy where every member of the team was in charge of finding ways to make “this” work. In reality, we are still small and all of these things still apply, except now we feel we can actually define our own core values. Core values that are based on fact, that are based on our experiences, and based on life at Netgen. We let our culture define our core values!

Netgen Core Values

Here are our five newly-defined core values and a little description for context:

• Embrace the unconventional – Be proud of who you are, who we are, and how people view us
• Create balance – Even if we have a lot of work, make it fun and take time for yourself. Go for a swim, relax on the couch, or have a scotch. Create balance even when you feel bogged down. Reach out to colleagues/friends, go on a retreat, find solitude etc. Know when to work, and when to be a husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, son, daughter, mom, dad, or friend.
• Fail early and often – Take risks, try things, be empowered, and never worry about messing up - because we will all learn and grow from it. We are all in this together!
• Make an impact – Make an impact in our community - for our clients, in our industry, for our colleagues, for our friends, and for our families.
• Support Dreams – If one of us has an idea for an app, or to write a hit song, or to run with the bulls, we will support this as a team.

Culture Management

At Netgen even though we are a small company we make culture management a core aspect of our business. People often ask me what I do on a day to day basis; what my role is in leading Netgen. The truth is, the most important role I have is Culture Management.

The beauty of being in charge of culture management is I only have one goal to accomplish and measure. Though it is hard to measure, if accomplished our business and our clients will have great success.

How do we measure our culture management plan?

When the question is asked: “Why do you do what you do?” or “Why do you work with Netgen?” and you hear:

“Because I couldn’t see myself ever wanting to do anything else.”

Then I feel our culture management plan and our company as a whole is working.

Do you have that feeling where you are now? If not, perhaps you could consider working at Netgen. We have lots of fun!

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The service based glass ceiling

I heard an interesting speech last night by Bruce Poon Tip from Gap Adventures who made some points about his company that resonate with me:

• “In service based companies there is a glass ceiling”
• “Our main competitors service offering is as good as ours”
• “We differentiate and stand out in the market based on our business model which is focused on core values and truly living them.”

If every company is special does that mean no one is special?

We develop beautiful, goal-centric websites, effective e-commerce platforms, cool iPhone apps and amazing motion graphic videos.

But so do other companies in Ottawa/Ontario/Canada/North America.

Specifically looking at the Ottawa market there are a number of digital focused companies such as BVO2 orMAD that create amazing pieces of work who (hopefully) we may collaborate with someday.

Service based companies are kidding themselves if they believe “they are by far the best”, “they can create better websites than anyone else”, etc.

We are all skilled professionals and we all have extensive experience in this market. We all do the same research, learn from the same resources and follow the same web standards. A company’s process can only be so unique and a budget can only be stretched so far. We hire the best staff and ensure quality of work is to the highest standard, as do all of our “real” competitors.

Like our “real” competitors, our work is to the highest quality, because we keep our game sharp, focus on technology trends and make creativity a staple in our projects.

So what makes us who we are? What makes us great to work with?

Netgen core values define our business

Netgen has always been focused on a set of core values and living a culture that allows us to love work; this translates to us providing the best service we can offer our clients. After Bruce’s presentation we decided to redefine our core values based on how we currently operate and how we want to operate.

We want your help!

We have always had a set of core values on our website but now want 4-5 redefined values that truly represent our business model and our culture at Netgen. Our core team is working on coming up with ideas, but we would like your suggestions as well.

Use the following examples of Netgen life to help create core values that you think represent our culture:

• We like to have fun
• We like to make a difference in our community and in people’s lives
• We are all friends on Facebook
• We are very focused and driven
• We are passionate about our craft
• We are a little crazy
• We are competitive - donut races, employee 100 m dashes, the Sweatgen Olympics, etc.
• We truly care about our customers success

For those of you that know us and how we operate our business we would love to hear some of your ideas to help us redefine our core values and overall core business model.

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An important question to ask yourself: “What can you do today?”

The beauty of community involvement is the ability to make a huge difference within your means. Many times using the expertise and resources you have available rather than just monetary contributions can make a greater difference. If you are creative and strategic, an investment of time can provide exponential return based on the value of the time given. A good example:

In 2008, as a student with no job, I donated over $100,000 to the Canadian Cancer Society.

How?

When we started our not for profit organization I was not financially stable. I was still a student, but I wanted to give back. Utilizing my expertise, my connections, my passion, and most importantly a lot of my time, we were able to start Typically Canadian and make a contribution that I believe made a difference.

We cycled across Canada honouring inspiring Canadians every day at each one of our stops. We told their story to inspire others to get involved in which ever way they could. Give your time, donate money, tell your story. With 100’s of amazing stories told, countless people engaging with the Cancer Society, and over $100,000 in donations we were confident we had accomplished our goal. The time we gave provided exponential return for our community. 

As a company we have also learned from this model.

The Ottawa Foodie Challenge

A good friend of mine had an idea come to fruition last year. Carolynn Lacasse is a passionate young woman who loves business, loves food, and loves giving back! Her idea was the Ottawa Foodie Challengeand it was something our team wanted to be a part of.

The Ottawa Foodie Challenge is a scavenger hunt of sorts that utilizes social media and great local foodie joints. We created a list of great local institutions that glorify Ottawa and help define our city. Participants were asked to visit the places on the foodie list and perform certain tasks for ‘points’.

With the help of the other fabulous co-founding partners (Matt Richling, Larissa Beznaczuk-Smyrnew) we helped Caro bring her vision to life. The donation of time from everyone resulted in a professional image, a strong communication strategy, great media buzz, blogger outreach, sponsor gifts, and a huge uptake of participants who raved about the event.

As a test project in 2010 we were able to raise over $1000 for the Ottawa Food Bank, while creating awareness around the city for community hunger.

This was done with just a small time investment from everyone over a month long period. We believe in the potential this event has and with a larger time investment this year, Carolynn, Matt, Larissa and the Netgen team (specifically Karl) plan on blowing 2011 out of the water.

Final Thoughts

I never believe in excuses like “I don’t have enough time” when it comes to getting involved and being a valuable member in the community. Our team at Netgen works long days and, many times, throughout the weekend, yet continuously find the time to get involved and offer time to make a difference.

As we speak, our amazing team is finding time in their busy lives to give back.

I want to give a shout out to:

• Our web developer Fred, who is giving his time to build a website for the CCSR Conference and theOttawa Clothing Drive.
• Christopher, who is creating the social strategy for the conference and giving countless hours to organizing lead up events.
• Gabe, did a short documentary to create awareness and combat drinking and driving
• Thomas our intern is redesigning and developing the Typically Canadian website

All of these guys make sacrifices in their personal life because they have passion and are committed to making a difference. This is what they can do today. Now it is time to ask yourself: What can you do today?

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Children, teens and young adults all make up the Internet generation (aged 12-35). This segment represents a huge market of purchasers, but more importantly influencers. You have the power to use their voice, but first you must understand the Internet generation.

This segment represents a huge market of purchasers, but more importantly influencers. You have the power to use their voice, but first you must understand the net generation.

A few stats to consider as you plan on communicating with this generation:

1. Since 2006, blogging has dropped among teens and young adults while simultaneously rising among older adults. 14% of online teens now say they blog, down from 28% of teen internet users in 2006.
   • Always consider Technology and Change.  youth are always on the cutting edge and are currently exchanging ‘macro-blogging’ for microblogging with status updates

 

2. Young adults act much like teens in their tendency to use these sites.  Over 80% of online 18-29 year olds use social networking websites, nearly identical to the rate among teens, and significantly higher than the 45% of internet users ages 30 and up who use these sites.

   • You can’t afford to ignore a medium used so religiously amongst the net generation?

 

3. Teens are not using Twitter in large numbers. While teens are bigger users of almost all other online applications, Twitter is an exception. 8% of internet users ages 12-17 use Twitter, while Young adults lead the way when it comes to using Twitter or status updating. One-third of online 18-29 year olds post or read status updates.

   • Always consider your target audience and their media consumption habits.

 

4. Cell phone ownership is nearly ubiquitous among teens and young adults, and much of the growth in teen cell phone ownership has been driven by adoption among the youngest teens.  Three-quarters (75%) of teens and 93% of adults ages 18-29 now have a cell phone. More importantly, roughly half of 18-29 year olds access the internet wirelessly on on a cell phone (55%)

   • Think beyond a desktop or notebook.  Smartphones make it easy to access the web from anywhere at anytime.

 

Conclusion

The net generation is tech savvy and they are always adapting. Do your research, learn from and show interest in this generation.

We take great pride in working with youth and learning everyday from our Network/Netgen Team.  That is our greatest strength; we have passion for and understand this generation because our creative team (the network) is this generation.

So it is time to ask yourself; do you understand this generation?

If the answer is no, take some time to ask questions and learn from the Netgen Team. 

Reference: Social Media and Young Adults

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Most of us have heard of the show "Undercover Boss". For those who haven't, Undercover Boss is a new show that debuted after the Superbowl on CBS.

Most of us have heard of the show "Undercover Boss". For those who haven't, Undercover Boss is a new show that debuted after the Superbowl on CBS.

The show's premise features a senior executive at a major corporation, who for one week works incognito in his/her own company as a newly-hired entry-level worker, to find out how the company really works (including the impact of "corporate policy") and identify some of the unsung heroes among the workers.

Undercover Boss showed viewers the power and negative effect SR management can have on front line employees.  More empathy needs to be shown when implementing efficient or cost cutting measures.  Participation in this show will have short term results within the company, but how will they ensure communication channels stay open?

As a SR manager or company owner, what can you do?

You could go undercover... But most companies can't afford to do that.

So go overcover, promote collaboration and use internal social media to relate and empathize with front line employees.  Implement an online, workplace, community experience for your employees.

Utilizing and promoting internal use of social media will benefit your employees, your company and your bottom line.  More than that, Companies need to consider the labour shortage expected for 2015 in Canada.  Here is what internal social media can do for your company:

• Show that you care about employees and their opinions
• Provide job satisfaction.  Employees are empowered and feel they are contributing to  the success of the organization
• Eliminate the barrier to communication and collaboration across company lines and hierarchy
• Communicate timeless and key messages in new ways to engage a younger and more diverse workforce
• Find diamonds in the rough.  With social media you give special attention to those who care. It allows front line employees, who have potential, to stand out, offer value and become true brand evangelists
• Stemming from the last point; here from people who have good ideas, who you wouldn’t have heard from before.
• Social media will support growth by learning and collaborating with ALL employees
• Recruit and retain the best and brightest

SO What’s Next?

In today’s world, companies must focus less on hierarchy and more on collaboration. 

SO I ask:

Will you go undercover and fix things once (short-term)? 

 or

Will you go overcover and implement internal social media (Long-Term)? 

Braatzy
twitter.com/braatzy | facebook.com/braatzy

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