So after years of thought, planning, debate, and doubt, I have finally gone out and become an entrepreneur!  I have created a limited liability company called Stigall Media, LLC.  The goal of this LLC will be to facilitate and support my different companies, ideas, and websites.  The structure of the LLC will support multiple DBAs, so in essence this is an ‘Umbrella LLC’, which will serve as a catalyst for my different ideas.

My next steps:

1. Filing EIN
2. Obtaining Business License
3. Submitting DBAs for different companies

I am motivated because I feel this is a start of a new journey!  Wish me luck!

As I am sure everyone is aware, the big game is this Sunday.  For an avid sports fan such as myself, the game is a bit awkward.  As I am sure you have witnessed, when you go to a Super Bowl party, there is this awkward mix of people who care about the game and people who show up for the party.

A great way to overcome this dilemma is to have games, contests, or pools about the game and the results.  Here are the two games I have encountered that makes the actual game fun for everyone, whether they like football or not.

Squares/Grid

One popular game is called Super Bowl Squares.  It is also known as ‘the grid’.  It’s simple, you draw a grid with 10 rows and 10 columns, each representing a digit from 0 to 9.  The rows represent the one’s digit for the AFC team (Steelers) while the columns represent the one’s digit for the NFC team (Packers).  Players put down one dollar to ‘reserve’ one of the 100 spots on the ‘grid’, representing a score, on a first-come, first-serve basis.  If one chooses ’43′ (4th row, 3rd column), they are predicting the final score of the Steelers to end in 4 (14, 24, 34, etc.) while the final score of the Packers ends in 3 (3,13,23, etc.).  The person who picks the right grid wins the pot of 100 dollars.

Here is a good example of the grid: http://www.printofficepools.com/squares/square100ap.htm

Variations of this game include:

Roulette Style: Sell chips for $1 each (each person has their own color/type of chip) and allow them to put them on any square they want.  People can also choose (odd/even), (01-33/34-66/67-99), or (red/black).  End of game score will result in who wins and loses with the pot and winnings being determined by the losses.

Pot split: Instead of giving all the winnings to the winner, you can split the pot in 2 different ways.  First, you can give $25 to the half-time winner and $75 to the final score winner.  Second, you can give $75 to the final score winner and $25 to the reverse selection (43 vs. 34, etc.).  This makes the picks that are the same number a priority (00, 11, 22, etc.).

Super Bowl Props

Another fun game to play is something my dad has organized for years, which is a compilation of Super Bowl Props and Bets.  Everyone pays $5 for a card that has all the props on it.  People then put a check mark to what they think will happen.

Here is the PDF: http://bit.ly/superbowlgame

Whoever gets the most props right, wins!

We are watching a revolution take place.  A huge shift in the decades long processes and societal norms.  Groupon, and other companies like it, are completely changing the way consumers, and the businesses that cater to consumers, make their purchases.

Thinking abstract, the skeletal backbone of marketing and consumer decisions are based on the classic 4 P’s of marketing: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.   The sudden change, that marketing school never saw coming, is a 5th P: Process.  This change, being led by the Groupons of the world, will have an immeasurable effect on how consumers do their purchasing and how companies do their business.

Currently, a transaction of money from consumers and product/service from companies consists of a very straightforward process: the consumer has a need, chooses a provider to satisfy that need, receives a service or product from that provider, and then pays for those services.  It’s a process where the consumer CHOOSES the services, RECEIVES the services, then PAYING the services.

This is being changed.  Now.

The new process that businesses must adapt to has the consumer paying for services before they are provided.  Based on what is already happening, this step of payment for services can actually happen at any stage of the purchasing process, even before the consumer actually has realized a need for the specific service or product. A consumer buys a “Groupon” for a future service.  Usually, this purchase is for a product or service the user has never even had before. It’s a great way for the consumer to try new restaurants, stores, and anything else they choose. It’s also a great way for companies to acquire new customers very quickly, at a scale never seen before.

Companies must be very, very careful.

My rule for a successful business, whether they are a product, service, retail, or website, is that you maximize new customers, make them happy, and most of all, make them come back.  The market that companies tap in to when providing an online coupon is a very unique market.  Not that they are typically known as the ‘deal-hunters’, but because the process of payment is totally changed compared to 90 % of the standard purchases.  So with the influx of these new customers, how can a company make them come back at regular (more profitable) pricing?

It’s something to think about, but in my opinion, these consumers must be differentiated from the typical consumer.  They are the ones where promotion and price are much, much more important than product or placement in the marketing aspect.  Be careful, when reaching out to them, and have a specific plan in practice to transfer these ‘dealhunter’ customers to real customers.

So the previous website/layout was having issues due to me using it as an experimental testing lab for over a year.  I tried to fix some issues, but the database was so bogged down with junk that I decided to start anew.   I am removing the ‘blog’ atmosphere of my previous website and replacing it with a much more business/marketing setting.

I am using the Client Machine, a premium theme from Freelance Factory.  I love the simplistic, yet fun, layout it provided me along with the invoicing and proposal building functionality.  In the future, I plan to integrate videos and social media as well as improving the commenting system if it is eventually needed.

I want this website to be a place for entrepreneurs and small business owners to interact with me and get advice and insight on how they can improve their business.

If you see any bugs or issues, please let me know.