Business Attitude: August 2015

August 30, 2015

Let's Start with Reining in the Banks - A Localization Fix

I originally released this article a couple years ago - some bank mistake, magnified by it being a national bank had occurred. Bank deregulation amplified these mistakes making these national mega banks not insurable by the FDIC (even though they do - and tell us they do - it makes us feel better (?)). Through deregulation, bank mistakes are magnified and local money becomes a foreign investment. There is a very simple financial principle that makes this very understandable - portfolio theory; if one local bank goes out of business, the FDIC can cover it; when a mega bank goes out of business, not only do we the people lose, but we the people feel it. Mistakes happen (i was a proponent of the deregulation of banks); it about time this one gets fixed. Like Politics, all money is local.

Now the original article (with a few small modifications).

Until the 1970s, banking was governed primarily by state laws, and banks could do business only in their home states. From the mid-70s through 1999, a series of laws deregulated banking eliminating state lines until banking became completely deregulated; those laws and acts included:

In my opinion, deregulating the banks was one of the biggest mistakes that our government made (allowed) over the last 30 years, but I can only say that in hindsight. I believed in deregulation of all commerce; only wisdom has taught me differently.

So why did deregulation occur? Technology, competitive opportunity and expansion, a spreading of the capital to where it was needed, and finally, an economy of scale - a more efficient system. All of these reasons make sense - most occurred and some did not ("...banks peak in efficiency when they reach the size of a small regional institution". says Stacy Mitchell of The Institute of Self Reliance - watch her TED presentation).

So why was deregulation bad? Very simply, money no longer had to stay close to home. Banks could invest your money in projects and products anywhere. Since the idea of business is "to profit", money went to where the most profits could be obtained (the money business is much different than services or manufacturing where location in significant). Sometimes the money went to bad mortgage instruments - the rules allowed this. Sure there were problems like the ones the media made big, but things like big bonuses were earned by creative smart people working within the rules - oh yeah... Having banks working within state boundaries would have greatly limited the size of those bonuses as well - simply, the market would not have been as large.

So what is the solution here? Keep money local - local mortgages, local business, local commerce, local people. In my opinion, moving banks back to being state regulated would solve the problem. This is a monumental task that some people would scream out to be impossible to accomplish. It's not. It was done with ATT (modern history) and Standard Oil (early in the 20th century); in both cases, the sum of the parts were greater then the whole as competition and creativity boomed. So, how? It will be a process much like, but much easier (IMHO) than the aforementioned examples. Regretfully, only the people would share this interests - the banks, their lobbyists, and most importantly, the money would have no interest in this. I would be perceived by the money (and thus the media) as a flaming liberal - whatever.

Bob Leonard
561-371-4113 (Call My Cell)
512-593-8830 (in Austin)

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August 27, 2015

Giving Your Customers What They Want - Online vs Brick & Mortar - It is the Same

To often we see websites that first, tell visitors all about themselves - who they are, how long they have been in business and about their owner's background. In the Brick and Mortar world that would be equivalent to having a customer ask "where are your mattresses?" and you, instead for asking them about 'their' needs and wants (and taking them there), telling them about your qualification and expertise in mattresses. Sounds kind of foolish from the Brick & Mortar perspective - so then why do we take that approach online?

Websites need to act more like their Grand Fatherly predecessor and take the client directly to the products being asked about - to the "Mattress Department". In the online world that would be a deep link directly to the mattress pages.

This is just common sense - isn't it?

Deep Linking your SEO and PPC down to the brand and product level will get you both higher conversion rates and less costly PPC. If someone search "Prince Tennis Rackets" and your sporting goods store comes up, the link should take them to the branded page of and for "Prince Tennis Rackets" - not to your home page. In the PPC model this also means less expensive searches; which do you think is a more expensive key word search? - "Tennis Rackets" or "Prince Tennis Rackets". This is also true when you go from the brand level to the product level - both a less expensive click and a buyer that knows what they want. Take them directly to the product and put a big "Buy Me Now" button there as well as a phone number to your local store just in case they want to pick it up now.

Exercise a little common sense in your online marketing plans and efforts.

Marketing and sales have not changed, we just have a few more tools today.

Bob Leonard
561-371-4113 (Call My Cell)
512-593-8830 (in Austin)

August 21, 2015

Public Speaking / Business Presentations - How I Got There and Why I Did

I was asked in an online speaker chat recently about my speaking and presentation background and how I was able to do it as frequently as I did and how I was paid. To answer that, it requires a little background and history and thus I wrote this for them.

First: Let’s make it clear, Public / Business speaking is rarely a profession (consider it never). You are “somebody” first; you don’t need to be a celebrity, just somebody in something with something to say.

Second: Practice, practice, practice. If you do not speak as part of your job (salespeople) or are not civically active in your community, it’s tough to practice. Your dog does not engage well enough - nor does your mirror. Being a good speaker also requires you to be social.

You must be confident in what you say; a lack of confidence is evident and can kill a great presentation. Passion goes a long way as well; believe in what you are saying as well as yourself.

Speaking should energize you – you should be able to draw from your audience an energy like no other. When you walk off the stage, your feet should barely be able to reach the ground.

Surprisingly, I practiced first as an engineer giving presentations; then a salesperson talking and giving presentations, as a Cubmaster speaking to 40 children and their parents, then as an entrepreneur doing more selling and training. All of a sudden – I was a speaker (presented papers) with invites to various technical conferences and on behalf of companies like Oracle (CODA, IOUG and OpenWorld), Sybase, Sun Microsystems, Intermec and Brio (note: Oracle never paid me, they just gave me a bigger room). I used to speak anywhere anyone would listen (you should too). I was storytelling about my customers' successes with my companies' products and services (all the time, selling something too).

So when did I find out I was good at this whole speaking thing? In the mid through the late 90s, my company was doing a great deal of contract training for Sybase. A Sybase VP asked if I would like to be a fill-in for a late cancellation at a by-invite C-Level, Non-Tech Tech dinner that Sybase did quarterly. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity. I was given the opportunity to talk about what I liked to talk about, to an audience I wanted to get to, from a non-tech perspective, and it happened to be what my audience wanted to hear. I was the popular guy to network with after the dinner and I had decision makers who all (seemed like all) wanted our services. Sybase invited me back next quarter and I was very happy to oblige. I did this for about a year and half (only rule, I could not use the “O” word (Oracle)) In my opinion, they were doing me the biggest favor in the world – easily doubling the size of my business at the time.

Then it happened - I could not make it to a presentation. I let Sybase know with plenty of warning – plenty of time to get a replacement. They immediately showed their cards offering to pay me - pay me more than I could imagine, almost feeling insulted that they had not paid me for the last year and a half (remember, I would have paid them for the opportunity). As much as the offer was, I did not feel it enough to change my plans, so I said “no”. They kept upping the offer over the next 30 minutes until it was 6X their original offer – at this point I was afraid they were going to pull away, so I humbly said “Oookkk”. At a later date, I learned that Sybase valued my presentation at $250K each in incremental services and software sales. I felt special. Just an FYI, this does not work everywhere – speakers to fill slots get paid appearance fees (usually not enough to cover costs). It is when they want [Your Name] that wallets open.

Moral of the story: I would have never known my value if I had not had the ability to say “no.”

Bob Leonard
561-371-4113 (Call My Cell)
512-593-8830 (in Austin)

August 7, 2015

Getting your SEO / Ranking Possibilities Right from Day One - SEO Tips Series

So you are creating a website and your objective is to get found. The first thing you do is go to the network registrars and get your domain name (URL). From the beginning (NOW) lets do it right. Let's get your website's SEO off to the right start.

One of the first things the search engines look at is how long the website has been around. It's the first piece of information in establishing and setting a level of trust. Think of it in terms of job hunting - recruiters look for stable people who have been stable in their job history (funny oxymoron their). The search engines have been programed the same way; has this website been around a while? This one is tough to control if you are just out of school or a new website.

The next thing they look at is how long you (your URL) plans on being around. Again, like job hunting, planned stability counts; like buying a house or any root planting scenarios. In the case of your website URL, if you bought it for one year verses buying it for 7 years speaks loudly to your plans and confidence. One Year domain are many times just flyers - not a lot of confidence in its existence thus not a lot of trust given by the search engines in return. Buying for 7 years is like saying: “I want to be taken seriously.

SEO Tip Bug

Start out on the right foot with your website - for the extra $100, the search engines will take you a bit more seriously from the get-go.

This SEO tip will always be current.

Bob Leonard
561-371-4113 (Call My Cell)
512-593-8830 (in Austin)

Connect to me on LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/in/robertleonard5699
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@T4Leonard
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