Business Turnaround

It shouldn’t have been a surprise, really.

The local Blockbuster shut down last week. Online rental, video streaming, and movie on demand dominate the brick and mortar video industry. And, although I’m sure all of these in-home options played a part in the demise of our local Blockbuster, there was another factor involved here. In our little central Texas town “going out to rent a movie” is considered “Entertainment.” So I think what really took this big boy down was the little kiosk called Redbox. It’s convenient, it’s cheap, and you still get to leave the house to choose your movie. Never mind the fact that browsing takes place on a video screen. Hey, I told you it’s a small town. We’re easily entertained.

Twelve years earlier Blockbuster moved into our town and ran almost all of the mom-and-pop video rental stores out of business. Ironic that this giant was brought down by a little red kiosk with a footprint the size of a phone booth.

Did Blockbuster see Redbox coming? Or were they scanning the horizon for a bigger predator competitor? What about your business? It’s not always the big-boxes and the mega-retailers you have to worry about. Sometimes competition comes in a small package.

Just ask Goliath.

“He doesn’t work here anymore,” she said. When I replied that I’d gotten the name directly off of her company’s website, she told me, “That’s old.”

It happens so fast, doesn’t it? You change something about your image or your company and you don’t change the website.

Hey, I understand. One of my books was revised and repackaged with a new title and people were still ordering the old one off of my website because I hadn’t updated it. To make matters worse, the new title was on there, too. So when some people ordered both books, I had to make an embarrassing phone call and say something like, “Uh, well you see, it’s sort of the same book…”

One of the reasons for the popularity of "blogs" is because, as blogging expert, Dave Young says, it's like a website that doesn’t gather dust. But, if you're going to have a website it's still better if it doesn't gather dust in the first place. When was the last time you dusted off yours? And if you don't have a website, it may be time to consider one. According to the Wizard of Ads, Roy Williams, it's today's Yellow Pages and a vital part of deepening your relationship with those you serve.

Of course, keeping up to date doesn’t stop at your website. Business cards, style of dress, even the language you use needs to be fresh and relevant. And um, seriously, about that hairstyle…