Black Enterprise Interviews Matthew Knowles

Black Enterprise Magazine recently did a great one-on-one interview with Matthew Knowles - the CEO and President of Music World Entertainment. Knowles is best known for spearheading the successful careers of Destiny's Child and Beyonce (his daughter) - the best selling R&B group of all time and the world's most recognized female pop superstar.

Although often exalted for his accomplishments with his daughter’s superstar career, Knowles has a proven track record of more than 200 million worldwide records sales.

What To Do...When You Don't Know What To Do

While starting a new business or expanding an existing one, you may reach a fork in the road - that is, a point where you simply don't know what to do next. You may even feel that your next step will either be a breakdown or a breakthrough.

You have an end-goal in mind, but you simply don't know the next step to get there. Or maybe you do know the next step, but you are clueless on how to proceed in that direction.

Video Game Makes $360 Million In One Day

How bad is the economy when a video game can generate $360 million in sales in just one day? That may sound far-fetched, but it literally just happened when Activision released their highly anticipated "Call of Duty: Black Ops" game for the Xbox, Wii, Playstation, and PC.

According to the company, they sold 5.6 million copies of the game in just one day. By doing this, they broke last year's record of selling 4.7 million copies of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" in one day - which generated $310 million in sales. They easily hold the title of having the two "biggest entertainment launches in history".

Should You Change The Name of Your Company?

Some argue that you should never change the name of your company because you are destroying the brand that you invested so much time and energy into. I agree, but in my opinion, this only applies to companies that are already profitable and actually have brand recognition.

However, for companies that have never reached profitability and have no real brand awareness, changing the name may be an extremely wise thing to do.

Stores Opening, Stores Closing - What Does It Mean?

President Obama says that the U.S. economy is recovering and that the "bleeding has stopped", but other critics say that things are still going downhill. Who's right, and who's wrong? Quite frankly, it's really hard to tell.

Just recently, Kohl's, a major clothing and home furnishing retailer, announced that they will be opening 21 more stores. That very same day, Jack in the Box, a major fast food chain, announced that they will be closing 40 stores.

Both have over 1,000 locations nationwide, but yet one is expanding and the other is retracting. Why is this?

What Does FUBU, Shakey's Pizza, and RC Cola Have In Common?

If you are at least 25 years old, then you have heard of all of these brands - whether you remember them or not. All of them had a huge presence in the 70's, 80's and/or 90's in the United States. However, none of them are as huge today in the U.S. as they once were - but that's not what they most notably have in common.

What's notable is that all three of these companies have shifted their focus to overseas markets in Asia and Europe, and have found greater success there.

Is Your Business A One-Hit Wonder?

Will your business last for years and years to come? Or is it based entirely on a fad that can easily go out of style? Or maybe your business stubbornly thrives on old technology that will eventually be obsolete.

Existing entrepreneurs should take the needed steps to make sure that their business model will be relevant for a long time - not temporarily. Aspiring entrepreneurs too should think about this well in advance before they even get started. Too often, businesses will fold because their owners were ignorant toward small but critical factors.

Is Paypal Enough?

This question will generate many different responses. Some business owners claim that their customers are happy to pay with Paypal, but others find that their customers hate using Paypal.

In my opinion, it's good to accept Paypal payments - but it's definitely not enough.

Here's why:

1) Some people have had bad experiences with Paypal, and refuse to use it again. If this is the only method of payment that your web site allows, you could be unknowingly losing potential customers. Many will just leave your web site without saying anything.

Why Do Ducks Cross The Street When They Can Fly?

If you live in the suburbs, you may have noticed that ducks and geese generally prefer to cross the street instead of just flying over to the other side. Not only is it more challenging and dangerous for them to do this, but it really doesn't make any sense.

Of course, our brains are much bigger and filled with much more intellect - but yet many entrepreneurs will similarly choose the hard or challenging way instead of the easy and simple way when conducting business.

Do You Need Business Insurance?

Many think that business insurance is only for major corporations with thousands of employees, but this is not true. Even a small company with no employees should consider buying a policy.

Business insurance can be very affordable, and can protect you if your company's assets (equipment, property, etc) are ever damaged or stolen or if your company itself is ever sued. It can also come in handy if you ever need to defend yourself from trademark infringements or copyright violations.

Why 90% of the People I Market to Buy What I'm Selling

Over the past 10 years, I've been able to figure out how to get 90% of the people I market to - to buy into my BlackPR.com service. That's right, my conversions are 90% - and I'm not exaggerating. In all actuality, it does require some trial and error, but it's not that difficult to do.

Here's how you can do it too:

1) Keep It Simple
Your web site, your promotional material, your approach, and your service/product should all be simple. Complicate these things, and your results will also be complicated.

Black Is The New Green

Most people know that the annual African American buying power is nearly a trillion dollars. But do you know how much affluent African Americans spend each year? That would be $87 billion, according to the book Black is the New Green by Leonard E. Burnett Jr. and Andrea Hoffman.

The book encourages marketers to tap into this rich buying segment, and shows readers how to follow in the footsteps laid down by brands such as Gucci, HSBC, Sony Electronics, Aston Martin, and others.

Is Your Product Too Dependent on Wal-Mart?

There are some common misconceptions amongst entrepreneurs and inventors about getting their products into Wal-Mart, Target, and other department stores.

Many believe that if they come up with a unique idea and find a manufacturer to mass produce, the rest is super simple. But really, that's where it starts to get complicated.

Getting your product into a department store is very difficult, as you'll have to first manage to get a sales rep to successfully pitch your product to them. Good honest sales reps are hard to come by, and can be quite expensive.

Should You Take Pictures With Celebrities?

Depending on where you live, it can be very common for celebrities (singers, rappers, actors, models, politicians, etc) to attend the same business conferences and networking functions that you attend. Many entrepreneurs, in order to validate themselves, think it's a good idea to take pictures with these celebrities and post them on their web sites or blogs for others to see.

Honestly, there's nothing wrong with this, but here's something to think about:

While you were taking a picture with Tom Joyner or Denzel Washington or whoever, did you blow an opportunity to really network with them? Did you undermine yourself by being labeled a "fan", when you could have been labeled a "potential business partner"?

Remember that those who succeed in business are often the ones who learn to be different. So when everyone else is asking for a picture, why don't you try to be more innovative and productive?

Why not initiate a meaningful conversation about business, the economy, their industry, etc? A celebrity is human just like you - they have challenges and are always looking for solutions. So ask them about their challenges. Ask them about their opinions. If relevant, ask them if there are any services that they are looking for to enhance their careers. Most importantly, ask for a business card.

Being just another person who wants a picture with a celebrity will make you very easy to forget. On the contrary, it's very easy to remember the person who struck up an intellectual conversation and said something worthwhile listening to.

Know What Happened To Know What's Happening

If you make a bad business decision, make sure you fully assess what happened and what went wrong. This will allow you to better understand and deal with the consequences. It will also help you avoid making the same mistakes in the future.

The same goes for making a good business decision. If you do something that produces productive results, make sure you fully assess what you did that worked. This will help you to see what exact you need to continue doing, and it'll help you realize growth in your thinking ability.

Too often, entrepreneurs are blindly making decisions and assuming what works and what doesn't work. As a result, they experience temporary success or no success at all.

Here's a great example: A business owner engages in several marketing efforts all at once - newspaper advertising, search engine advertising, and radio advertising. The campaign is extremely successful, but he doesn't properly dissect it to really determine where the customers came from and why they responded. He just assumes that it was the radio ad campaign that worked best. So, a few months later, he decides to launch another marketing campaign and allocate his entire budget to radio advertising. However, the campaign fails terribly. Obviously, he didn't fully understand what happened the first time - and so he has no idea how to recreate his success.

It's wiser to make business decisions one at a time, so that when the momentum shifts up or down, you'll know exactly what the cause was. You won't be guessing, and you won't be making false assumptions. Even more, you'll have a much clearer idea of what you next step should be.

How To Be Featured in Ebony and Jet Magazines

There are 200+ Black magazines nationally, and the two with the largest circulations are Ebony and Jet. So how does one get to be featured inside?

It's a lot easier than you think!

Here are the steps:

1) Be Seen. Editors at Ebony and Jet like to highlight Black professionals who are well-known and well-respected locally and/or nationally. In order to be well-known, you have to be a public figure. That doesn't mean you have to a celebrity, but you should be an author, speaker, blogger, or some kind of public expert. Whatever your industry is, you should be writing books, giving speeches, and blogging about it!

2) Be Consistent. Editors at Ebony and Jet like to highlight people who are consistently making headlines. So, don't show your face every now and then; Show your face all the time. Use BlackPR.com to regularly send out press releases (about your newsworthy developments) and columns (about your insight and opinions) to the media. The key is to regularly do SOMETHING that will make people notice you!

3) Be Bold. Ebony and Jet, like other magazines, can increase their subscriptions by focusing on controversial issues and people. This is because controversy always catches people's attention. So, think of a way to be more controversial in your approach. Make people respect you for your boldness. Say something no one else will say, and do something no one else will do. If done correctly, being bold and controversial can get you a lot of media attention - and maybe even on the cover!

Beware of Bad Business Advisors

Maybe you have a lot of resources, and are surrounded by many professionals that you consult with before making decisions. Despite this, before you take business advice from anyone - make sure that they really know what they're talking about.

Just as not all doctors are good doctors, the same goes for financial advisors, lawyers, consultants, accountants, marketers, etc.

Too often, I hear someone say something like: "Well, I talked to my friend who's a lawyer and he said its okay." My response to this is always: "How do you know he's a good lawyer?" Lawyers give bad advice all the time, and passing a bar test doesn't necessarily mean that the person is smart, intuitive or honest.

Before taking the advice of a "professional", be sure to review their history whenever possible. For instance, would you be comfortable taking advice from a lawyer who failed the bar test 10 times before he finally passed it? Would you be comfortable consulting with an accountant who graduated college with a "C" average?

Ask for the contact info of the person's previous and existing clients. Talk with them and ask specific questions. This will always give you a better idea of whether or not you should be taking advice from someone.

I find that nowadays everyone wants to share their "knowledge" and offer their opinions. I've seen overweight people telling others how to lose weight. I've seen people in debt telling others how to get out of debt. And, I've seen unsuccessful business people telling others how to be successful in business.

Listening is never a bad thing, but before you take someone's advice - make sure that they're a reliable resource.

Bigger Is Not Always Better

Many believe that a company's level of success is based entirely on it's size. This is not always true. Having more employees and large office space doesn't necessarily give you an advantage.

A small company with just one or two employees and no office space can easily be more profitable and can compete with, and often outmaneuver, a bigger company. Even more, a small company can be more simpler and less stressful to manage.

In the age of the dot com, it is very common for successful businesses to be run by one or two people who work at home. These types of businesses can typically generate anywhere from $30,000 - $1,000,000+ a year.

Very different from 10-20 years ago, you don't have to have a storefront to build a business and you don't necessarily need office space. It can all be done virtually.

I know people (Americans) that live overseas and run their businesses online - with all of their customers being in the United States. Not only do they not have to deal with their customers face-to-face, but they don't even have to be on the same continent.

So as you formulate (or reformulate) your business ideas, think big - but also think small. Keep your overhead low. Being able to afford office space, doesn't mean you have to buy into it. And the same goes for multiple employees.

Be determined to run your business in the most simple cost-effective way possible, and whenever possible - keep the size of your company to a minimum.

Are Your Prices Too High?

I work with a lot of authors, and it always surprises me when first-time authors are selling their books for $25. In my opinion, $25 for a book is very expensive - especially when people have never heard of you. Even $20 is just too much.

I've also seen people selling their independent DVDs, CDs, etc for just way too much money. Sadly, these people lose so much on sales because people just don't feel the item is worth that much.

What about the prices for your services and products? Are they too high? Are you losing customers because they feel you are too expensive?

The best way to price whatever it is that you're selling is to look at your competition, and go lower. If your competition is selling books for $15, sell your book for $12. If your competition is selling DVDs for $20, sell yours for $15.

Don't get so hung up on the idea of only making a tiny profit per sale. Which would you prefer - to make a $1 profit on thousands of individual sales, or to make a $0 profit on no sales?

Go with the Walmart method. Underprice your item, and take the lower profit. You'll make up for it in volume.

Make sure to do this the first time around - before you launch your promotional campaign. If people visit your web site and feel your prices are too high, they won't be coming back after you realize your mistake and decide to lower the price. You have to capitalize on their initial inquiry.

A Jack of All Trades - Good or Bad?

Contrary to popular belief, it is perfectly okay to be a Jack of All Trades (or a Jack of Many Trades). These phrases are commonly used to describe an entrepreneur or business owner that possesses many skills and offers many different services to customers.

If this describes you, this is a good thing - not a bad thing. Many well-known entrepreneurs such as Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump, Ted Turner, Warren Buffett, etc. have several different companies that offer a variety of services. They understand that it's smart to have multiple streams of income, in case one particular industry begins to take a downturn.

Even rap artists have found great success doing this. They own rap labels, film companies, clothing companies, shoe companies, jewelry companies, and often local restaurants in their hometown.

While it is perfectly okay to be a Jack of All (or many) Trades, don't make the fatal mistake of combining all your services into one company. For instance, it's a terrible idea to indicate on your business card or web site that you're a lawn mower, web developer, photographer, and interior designer.

Instead, create a different company (and web site) for each unique service that you provide. This way, your potential customers won't be inundated with services and products that they really have no interest in. They will only see information pertaining to what they're inquiring about.

Also, they will perceive you as a highly-skilled professional that knows what you're doing. If they see too many different services offered, they may assume that you're not an expert at anything - but just have a lot of casual knowledge. That, of course, is not the impression you want to give.