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Be First, Best Or Different | By Leah Grant

“You either have to be first, best, or different.”

I found this quote on a quote board so I don’t know what country music singer Loretta Lynn was referring to when she said it, but it seemed a perfect summation of what your business must be when you’re starting out.

Being first is optimal

If you’ve planned carefully you can flood the market with your product or service immediately after opening and your business has a low barrier to entry. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with most companies.

There can only be one first in any category or industry. You were either first or you weren’t.
Being first won’t ensure your success if better and different comes along before you’ve established yourself.

There’s only one best

Of course, best can fluctuate from year to year given any number of factors. We see this in the car industry: “Won best in it’s class in consumer tests.” We see it in TV show ratings. One year everyone’s watching Big Brother the next year they’re hooked on Survivor.

So to stay the best, you have to anticipate what the market needs and wants and keep your current customers happy or they’ll go looking for the companies offering something different.

I’m reading Martha Stewart’s book, The Martha Rules in which she outlines ten business principles for entrepreneurs. Aside from her too recent mentions of her stay in the big house, the book contains solid basic business advice.

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In the book, she says the way to be successful is to take something that people already do and figure out a way to make it better. It’s obvious, she has built her whole empire on that premise.

Think about it…everyone entertains. Martha wrote a book about how to entertain better. Martha’s program regularly shows people how to be better and different doing ordinary things.

She’s bringing in millions of dollars per year selling people tips on things they already do-clean house, cook, garden and entertain. It’s brilliant.

In her book, Martha claims she was the first person to write a book on entertaining. If that’s true, then she covets the “first” category for her industry.

She is also seen as the best in many of the categories she represents. I think Julia Child is still considered the best for the cooking category.

Something that often happens, is that the first also grabs the best category because they’re the ones who set the standard for everyone else who followed.

Be different to thrive

Given first and best are going to account for only one or two companies at the most that means everyone else had better be different if they plan to survive.

An example of this principle is the mp3 player. I received one of the nifty, big iPods that holds a gazillion songs and plays video for Christmas. It was a requested gift. I didn’t want just any mp3 player, I wanted that particular one. Why? Because it’s the best.

A word about “the best”. The best doesn’t mean that the product is actually better than the other products available, it’s that the consumer believes it’s better.

A great example of this is Apple and Microsoft’s early operating systems. Apple’s technology was better-ask just about any technology guru, but the public believed Windows was better, so Windows outsold Apple. It’s all about perception.

With Apple’s mp3 products being perceived as the best and the first mp3 player introduced, Eiger Labs MPMan, no longer being available then other mp3 developers have had to go the different route, but none have been able to steal much business from Apple.

Being different keeps companies in the game and receiving market share even if they weren’t the first and aren’t the best.

Think about Howard Stern-he’s not the best radio talk show host, but he’s definitely different.

Or what about Trader Joe’s? They aren’t the best grocery store, but they carry different products from other grocery store chains.

Another great example is Victoria’s Secret. While department stores hide the “unmentionables” in the corner of their top floor, Victoria’s Secret decided to be different and hang them in the window right in the middle of the mall and even paraded them around on National TV.

So what are you?

Were you the first? Was your product the first of its kind?
Are you the best? Or does the market perceive you as the best?
If you answered no to the first two sets of questions then you better have an answer to the third option:

How are you different from who’s first, who’s the best and everyone else in your industry?

(c) 2009 Leah Grant Enterprises LLC

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEB SITE? You may, as long as you include this entire blurb with it: New Business Mentor Leah Grant publishes Startup Success, a weekly ezine. If you’re thinking about starting a new business or are in the early phases of entrepreneurship, subscribe now for tips, articles and resources at http://www.leahgrant.com
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Preventing Bird Strikes on Windows | By Mark J. Trumper

The dangerous relationships between birds and windows is one that comes in varying degrees. Sometimes it’s just a quick peck of bird meeting glass. Others it’s a small series of crashes and a flutter of wings. The worst, however, are the jarring impacts that resonate throughout an entire house, leaving you and your family members startled and often crippling or killing the bird.

Sadly, these impacts are far more common than you might think. In an article for Audubon magazine, David Malakoff cited that in North America, window strikes kill between 100 million and 1 billion birds annually. According to an NPR story, Professor Daniel Klem of Mulhenberg College things that Malakoff’s estimate is too conservative, and that the real number easily exceeds 1 billion birds in the United States alone.

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Why do window strikes happen?

It’s hard to know for certain exactly why window strikes happen, but observation has granted some measure of insight. The first, and seemingly most common, rationale is that birds simply cannot see glass. The transparency of the glass makes the window look open, and this is often complicated further by a window on the opposite side of the house. This causes what is commonly referred to as the “tunnel effect,” meaning that the bird believes that the two windows lack glass and thus represent a clear tunnel to fly through.

The other primary reason for bird strikes seems to be reflections. Windows in houses and buildings can easily reflect the environments around them. So, while the house or building certainly appears to be a house or building, the windows look more like wooded areas which are perfectly safe for flying.

Ways to prevent window strikes

There are a range of possibilities for preventing window strikes. The most effective method is to remove a window, or to completely cover it with something opaque and non-reflective like wood or cardboard. Granted, this removing a window is a bit drastic and not practical for the vast majority of home owners. Thankfully, with a little understanding as to why birds strike windows, home owners can reduce bird strikes with more people-friendly methods.

Covering Windows

While boarding up windows is an extreme solution, it does prove a point. Putting something between the window’s glass and the outside world can both alert a bird to a physical object and prevent reflection. The line for most home owners seems to be when such a covering moves from the area of protecting birds and into the realm of obstructing views. Home owners have several options like summer storm screens, to heavier plastic “shade cloth” and even the commercial CollidEscape film, all of which help to remove transparency and restrict reflection to various extents.

Silhouettes and Obstacles

Another tactic is to prevent the bird from coming near the window. Some homeowners put blockades, such as a tree or bird feeder, in front of a window, particularly windows that are struck with some frequency. If you notice that your bird feeder is causing birds to strike your window, then moving the feeder further from your house would be a prudent move. Another popular method, which works to varying degrees, is to intimidate birds away by way of statues and silhouettes. A statue of an owl, or a cut out made to resemble a flying hawk can cause an errant bird on a collision course with a window to change course.

The Happy Medium

For many home owners, window strikes are infrequent happenings and thus can easily be remedied by merely moving a bird feeder or placing a hawk silhouette in a tree. For others, more permanent measures must be taken. However, for majority of home owners in areas with heavy avian traffic, there is a happy medium. Make part of the window more obvious with the application of custom stickers. Placing stickers on a window makes the glass less transparent and can break up reflections, minimizing two of the most common reasons why birds strike windows in the first place. Special sticker creating techniques can even make these stickers nearly-invisible to humans while birds staying perfectly visible to birds. Such stickers benefit birds while doing very little to detract from the value humans derive from said windows.

Stickers used to prevent bird strikes can come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Homeowners can make use of seasonal varieties like flowers for spring, snowflakes for winter, and even holiday images. These stickers can even be made in the images of predatory birds, thus mimicking the silhouette effects and adding to the sticker’s effectiveness.

The real key to preventing bird strikes is to change the status quo. This can be done through changing the locations of physical things – like bird feeders and trees – thus forcing birds to alter their flight paths. Or, it can be done though intimidation, via silhouettes of predators. Or, a home owner can change the bird’s perception of the actual window. Stickers, whether they are human-visible or not, make windows more obvious to birds, while screens and covering cloths negate the qualities (reflections and transparency) that make windows harmful to birds in the first place. The question for home owners is to determine which window strike prevention method works best for you.

Mark Trumper is the CEO of MaverickLabel.com, an industry leader in label and printing products catering towards the needs of small business owners. Maverick Label, the Internet’s source for cheap stickers and window decals, is found online at: mavericklabel.com.
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