Duquesa Marketing

www.duquesamarketing.com

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Contact: Geoff Ficke

859-567-1609
gficke@msn.com

Geoff Ficke to Be Interviewed on WEGP 1390 AM Radio It’s Your Life Show on June 11th, at 11:00 AM ET

Duquesa Marketing Founder and Expert to Discuss the Most Useful Technique for Funding a Business Startup is Bootstrapping

Florence, KY  Nancy Ficke, General Manager, announced today that her Branding and Product Development firm Duquesa Marketing has scheduled another in a series of national radio interviews for Company President and Founder Geoff Ficke.

“Geoff Ficke will appear on WEGP 1390 AM radio It’s Your Life Show with Host Tami Kilcollins June 11th at 11:00 AM Eastern time”, said Mrs Ficke. “The discussion will be about the opportunity for entrepreneurs, inventors or small businesses to Bootstrap their new enterprises”.

“We work with hundreds of inventors, small and micro-businesses and entrepreneurs every year”, said Nancy Ficke. For many of these aspiring business owners their primary concern is the funding requirements they believe will be required to enable execution of a proper launch. Many assume they need to raise funding from angel investors, venture capital or banking sources. Very few will succeed by taking this path. There are many options but the simplest, and oldest is the concept of “Bootstrapping”.

Duquesa Marketing has assisted numerous individuals and enterprises start and expand Consumer Product opportunities over the past four decades. The award winning firm has vast experience in all Sales and distribution channels in the United States and internationally.

by: Geoff Ficke

Consider the Menu of Services a Project Will Require Before Interviewing Professional Consultants

Google the word “Consultant” and millions of links immediately pop on to your computer screen. Refine the search term and a smaller, but still massive army of sites will become available for search. Consultants are everywhere and offering every imaginable service.

How does a business or entrepreneur in need of acquiring professional skills go about winnowing down and selecting the right team for their specific need? I am asked this question often while performing my work as a Consumer Product Development and Marketing Consultant. There seem to be two key elements to consider when making this calculation.

The first is to consider what skills you, or your group, possess in the area in which you desire assistance. If you are an excellent writer, and are seeking to build a web-site, preparing the copy and visual layout for the site might be work you could handle by yourself. In that case, the need for a web-master for construction and a site manager to control your PPC and SEO
campaign may be the totality of the help you need.

More detailed projects require different and more comprehensive skill sets. Does your team have the ability to create a Business Model, a Business Plan and execute each work element required to successfully push a product or service into the marketplace? Unless the answer to this question is a hard “yes” you should be interviewing Managing Consultants.

The second important consideration is to assemble a menu of services the project will require. Do the consultants you are interviewing have the capability to manage the whole project, or are they going to specialize in their area of expertise and hand off important work elements to others.

We work internationally, with large multi-national companies, and increasingly with entrepreneurs, inventors and small and micro-businesses. Large clients typically hire our firm for a specific piece of project work. Smaller clients tend to want us to act as Managing Consultants. Many people have successful businesses and careers, family responsibilities and, for
course, mortgages. They often want and need to stay with their chosen work.

A Managing Consultant should be able to take a project from idea or concept stage, to market launch. The capacity to manage product development, prototype and product design work, source manufacturing, organize fulfillment and logistics, create customized Marketing Strategies, handle Public Relations, produce creative elements, packaging design, develop funding possibilities, and Sales Models are only a few of the work product elements that successful Managing Consultants should be able to provide to their clients.

The Managing Consultant’s job is to provide their client with the best options for each item on the work product menu. We typically provide these options and then detail why, if this were our business, we would choose option No. 2 over options No. 1 and 3. We work for the client and all final decisions are made by them.

A good consultant should save clients Time, Money and Mistakes. Experience, professional contacts, a long rolodex and instinct are what separate the really successful consultants from the out of work, down sized corporate manager that has real experience only in structured environments. In the current economy, the market is chock full of this type of consultant. Performing proper due diligence when selecting Consulting help will make or break your projects chance for achieving success.

Duquesa Marketing

www.duquesamarketing.com

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Contact: Geoff Ficke

859-567-1609

gficke@msn.com

Geoff Ficke to Be Interviewed on KWYD 1580 AM The Business For Breakfast Show on May 8 at 8:30 MT

Duquesa Marketing Founder and Expert to Discuss Personality Traits to Success as well as The Best Jobs for Your Future – Creating Your Own

Florence, KY  Nancy Ficke, General Manager, announced today that her Branding and Product Development firm Duquesa Marketing has scheduled another in a series of national radio interviews for Company President and Founder Geoff Ficke in the Colorado Springs area.

“Geoff Ficke will appear on The Business For Breakfast Show with Hosts Marc Mandel, Harriet Fox and Roger Cridlebaugh May 8th at 8:30 am MT”, said Mrs Ficke. “The discussion will be about the best jobs for your future – creating your own. There are opportunitities to take hold of your life and career options by exploring Entrepreneurial opportunities that people find around themselves in their hobbies, homes or jobs”.  There are also certain personality traits within each person that will determine their success.

“We work with hundreds of inventors, small and micro-businesses and entrepreneurs every year”, said Alexis Bruning, V.P. of New Business Development at Duquesa  arketing. “Many of these people carve out successful enterprises by capitalizing on things they experience in their environment. This is a topic that Geoff is passionate about and is always happy to share with an audience”.

Duquesa Marketing has assisted numerous individuals and enterprises start and expand Consumer Product opportunities over the past four decades. The award winning firm has vast experience in all Sales and distribution channels in the United States and internationally.

by: Geoff Ficke

Sourcing and Defining Volume Pricing Is an Absolute Must for Aspiring Consumer Product Entrepreneurs

I have been mentoring a young female entrepreneur for several months. She is not a client of my Consumer Product Branding and Marketing Consulting firm. This earnest lady has a very interesting concept in the Infant and Juvenile product space. Like so many aspiring first time business owners she is confused about how to best organize her enterprise and move from a hobby project to a fully commercial model.

As we discuss her projects status she states that her cost of goods is too high. This is because she is producing in very low volumes and utilizing domestic manufacturing sources. The test marketing and focus groups she has conducted are thus flawed. In order to gain proper due diligence from which to construct an accurate Sales Model, entrepreneurs must be able to ascertain an absolutely tight Cost of Goods.

Short run, hobby business-like volumes represent a distortion of the Sales Model. Unless the entrepreneur wishes to operate a low volume artisanal business it is vitally important to find the best sources of supply and manufacturing and to develop the accurate cost of mass production in hand with the chosen supplier.

We ask our sources of supply for dead-net Cost of Goods pricing for production runs that would approximate mass market distribution models. Dead-net Cost of Goods includes the total amount charged to fully assemble and package an item, plus international freight, customs, duties (if any) and local freight to a Fulfillment center.

The young lady I am mentoring has made the very common mistake of utilizing the much higher Cost of Goods she is currently absorbing based on low volume production and trying to force her Infant travel accessory items to market at a price point that is not viable. Test markets are only useful if the data received is based on solid Marketing fundamentals. Most test markets are not conducted with a goal of making profit. They are laboratories to learn about consumer acceptance, pricing objections, Branding effectiveness, etc. Test marketing saves time, money and mistakes when a product is finally launched after alterations to Marketing Strategies are made.

Take a simple component such as a 12 ounce plastic food bottle. The purchase of a stock Boston Round bottle in quantities of one hundred for testing might be $.25. In purchase volumes of 25,000 the price may drop to $.15 per unit. This type of differential, when applied to every component listed on a Consumer Product’s Bill of Materials will reflect a huge pricing differential. This has a massive effect on the ultimate optimal retail price that consumers will pay for the product.

One of the reasons usually stated for not obtaining a mass production Cost of Goods is a lack of knowledge. The entrepreneur does not know of specific factories or sources of supplies. The internet, social media and business directories today make this work so much easier than when I started my first business 36 years ago. The information and networks exist that actually make this process straightforward today.

Unless pricing for a full channel of distribution is not gleaned none of the assumptions that are used to create a business model will hold up. Sales projections, Business Plan elements, procuring investment from Venture capital sources,  Marketing Strategies and many more enterprise building blocks will crumble. Take the time and expend the energy to diligently uncover the most accurate Cost of Goods for your products.

by: Geoff Ficke

Brand Extension Can Be a Key to Growing and Evolving a Consumer Product Line or Service

Switzerland is the couture watch capital of the world. A visit to Geneva and its surrounding cantons exposes the traveler to the hundreds of exotic watch brands made in this famous horology center. Eponymous watch stores, displays, advertisements and billboards and jewelry stores are ubiquitous. Each brand prides itself on the customization, detail, amazing complications and old world craftsmanship that is present in each artisanal timepiece produced.

Rolex, Frank Muller, Constantine Vacheron, Piaget, Chopard, and scores of other producers offer pieces that retail for thousands, to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Exclusivity of distribution is practiced with military-like diligence. Into this clubby world, in the late 20^th century an outlier sprang forth. The amazing Swatch watch line was born.

Swatch is everything that Audemars Piguet and Breitling are not. Mass produced, simple mechanical movements, plastic bands, unlimited and gaudy color combinations and very low retail price points mark Swatch as a watch for everyone. No exclusivity here.

Swatch became an international hit almost immediately. Consumers loved the quirky, whimsical look of the time pieces. And then Swatch did something that seemed counter-intuitive: the Company teamed up with Mercedes Benz to create the Swatch automobile lineup.

Mercedes Benz and Swatch seem like strange business bed partners. And yet, this has become an international example of a successful Brand Extension that is ripe with benefits for both Companies.

Mercedes Benz has been able to keep production flourishing, develop small car manufacturing technologies that could never be perfected on their high end, exclusive luxury models, profit handsomely and still keep their Mercedes Benz Brand name and heritage pristine. The car they produce is known by consumers as a Swatch car, not a Mercedes Benz Swatch.

Swatch, having no capability to produce such complex machines as automobiles, gained the luster and panache of having a Mercedes Benz produced vehicle to sell. The Branding of the cars, the fun, hip color combinations of the interiors and exteriors of Swatch cars stand out in a sea of look alike, dull, even ugly mini-car offerings. It is fun to own and drive a Swatch,
practical too as a miserly fuel sipper and an easy vehicle to maneuver in crowded cities.

The Swatch car has further extended the fame and Branding of the Swatch watch business. The very word Swatch creates instantaneous thoughts of bright, cool and fun products with great design cues. Swatch is by far the largest selling watch Brand in the world.

Rossignol is a famous producer of skis. Many Olympic champions, professional and serious skiers prefer Rossignol skis to any other Brand. This is one of the most famous sporting good brand names in the world.

Some years ago Rossignol, having conquered the ski slopes, decided to enter another arena. They began to produce Tennis rackets. Rossignol tennis rackets are now ubiquitous on the men’s and women’s international professional tennis tours. This is another obvious example of utilizing the concept of Brand Extensions to grow a mature firms business in another space.

Branding Extension can be hurtful to a business franchise. A famous example of this is demonstrated in the history of the venerable Pierre Cardin fashion business. Cardin was one of the earliest proponents of licensing his name. In the 1970’s, at its zenith, Pierre Cardin was generating over $400 million dollars annually in sales turnover of his couture men’s and ladies Clothing and Fragrance lines. Then the pursuit of licensing began.

Over a period of about 20 years, the fashion franchise that Pierre Cardin had arduously built began to crumble. The extension of his brand became an industry joke. The formerly famous Pierre Cardin logo began to appear on a slew of wholly unrelated, unfashionable, cheaply made products. Sport bags, running shoes, cheap Asian ties, mass market plastic tableware, bath towels and hundreds of other products began to flood discount stores with low end goods carrying the iconic PC logo. Department stores and luxury boutiques took notice and discontinued the Pierre Cardin lines they had carried proudly for years.

Mercedes Benz has enhanced their business by extending to partner with the Swatch. Pierre Cardin did not police his brand and his extension into rubber flip flop-type products meant death to his fashion house.

Brand Extension is a technique that we have practiced on our products and for client Consumer Product brands for many years. It is a wonderful way to grow a mature business. But remember, the Brand Extension must make sense to your most important asset, your customers and clients. Do no harm!

by: Geoff Ficke

A “Wanna Be” Entrepreneur in Reality Is a “Wantrepreneur” and Will Never Be Successful

Very few of the hundreds of Consumer Product projects that my Branding and Marketing Consulting firm review each year ever go much beyond the talking stage. Talk is cheap. Deamers dream. Successful entrepreneurs are relatively rare. The necessary makeup to compete in the marketplace of ideas and products is in fairly short supply.

The best descriptive I can use to describe the dreamer that will never launch is the portmanteau “wantrepreneur”. This is the word we use to define the eternal grazer. They hope, wish and want to be successful but will not take the absolutely necessary steps required to get into the game. This pseudo-entrepreneur wants a lot of things, variously including…

• Wants a Business Plan
• Wants Design Engineering
• Wants Prototyping
• Wants Branding Development
• Wants Legal Counsel
• Wants Patents and Trademarks
• Wants Marketing Strategy Customized
• Wants Market Research
• Wants Focus Groups
• Wants Licensing Opportunities
• Wants Web-site Design
• Wants Social Media Management
• Wants Sales Representation
• Wants a Public Relations Campaign
• Wants Manufacturing Organized
• Wants Fulfillment Systems Organized
• Wants Investment, Funding
• Want all of this and often much more!

The reality is that the aspiring entrepreneur has two options available to achieve the above work elements that are but a partial list of the items that must be present in order to achieve a Consumer Product or Consumer Service launch.

1.   Hire vendors that can successfully perform in their area of specialization.

2.   Do it yourself.

I started my first business in 1978. I did it myself. I was a self-taught entrepreneur who, once having figured things out, realized that I could repeat the process again and again. I did this for a series of ventures that I launched. It can be done. I and many others are proof that with enough drive, ambition and confidence in themselves and their ideas success is a real option. Option #2 is not a chimera but it is not easy.

Option #1 is the route that most prospective entrepreneurs are forced to take. The skills that must be mastered can seem daunting to a novice. The list is long, much longer than detailed above. Successful entrepreneurs always find the means to raise the monies needed to hire professional help in areas that they do not have mastery of.

“Wantrapreneur’s” always attempt to acquire talent and expertise with promises, futures, equity and histrionics. The approach they take always follows an obvious lineup of talking points. Their Toy or Board Game is the next Monopoly or Bratz Doll. Their Wellness Supplement will revolutionize the Joint Pain market. The Pet Product they have developed to comfort arthritic dogs will sell hundreds of thousands of units. The Juvenile Jewelry line they have conceptualized will be on every little girl’s wish list. The list goes on endlessly.

The “wantrapreneur” always wants vendors to partner. I always ask what a person does for work. When I am told, “Salesman, truck driver, insurance adjuster, bank analyst”, etc., I respond with another simple question: “Do you work for free”? Qualified engineers and graphic artists and consultants are paid for their work, their experience, their Rolodex. Proven professionals actually save entrepreneurs time, money and mistakes.

How an aspiring entrepreneur approached funding sources and professional vendors is crucial. We rarely see this introductory process handled properly by novice entrepreneurs.  Do your due diligence. Do not attempt to sell dreams. My dreams are almost certainly not your dreams.

The process of starting a business or launching a Consumer Product is arduous. There is a reason for this. If it was easy everyone would be doing it and they are most certainly not. The difficulties inherent in getting a product off the ground act to cull the marketplace and serves as a type of Merchandising Darwinism. Merchants, distributors, investors, venture capital, strategic alliances and partners all seek out projects that survive the development process and are representative of the old saw “survival of the fittest”. “Wantrepreneurs” do not need apply.

by: Geoff Ficke

The Most Useful Funding Technique for Funding a Business Startup Is the Oldest: Bootstrapping

My Consumer Product Development and Marketing Consulting firm is approached almost daily by entrepreneurs seeking to launch a new enterprise. For many of these aspiring business owners their primary concern is the funding requirements they believe will be required to enable execution of a proper launch. Many assume they need to raise funding from angel investors, venture capital or banking sources. Very few will succeed by taking this path.

Capital is extremely selective in placing highly prized investments in untried startup businesses, run by anything less than experienced entrepreneurs. It rarely happens. The expectations of professional investment sources is simply too difficult for most novices to be able to satisfy steep requirements for Return on Investment,  Use of Funds, Professional Management Teams or First Mover Advantage.

When we explain to first time seekers of capital the complexities and difficulties that they will face in successfully securing a funding round, we almost always are confronted by resignation. The inevitable query we hear is, “Well, how do you get started”? There are many options but the simplest, and oldest is the concept of “bootstrapping”.

Bootstrapping is simply self-funding. Some of the greatest successes in the history of business were self-funded by Bootstrapping. The most famous is MicroSoft, followed closely by Hewlett Packard. Leslie Wexner launched The Limited in Columbus, OH in the 1960’s by bootstrapping a single dress shop in a strip mall. Estee Lauder created the world’s most successful Cosmetic brand at her kitchen table in the Bronx. King Gillette did much the same in the 1890’s when he launched his eponymous shaving brand. There are hundreds of publicly traded companies around the world that were nurtured to life initially by bootstrapping.

The beauty of not accepting, or seeking an equity investment partner is obvious: There is no partner to share ownership and the necessity to hit performance marks required to obtain funding is eliminated.

True, bootstrapping can hinder the rapidity of growth. But the process of bootstrapping demands discipline and enforces controls on spending that become part of the DNA of the firm as growth occurs. Expenditures are weighed and considered before very dear capital is committed.

The three Magi were bootstrapping incense merchants. Every pioneering farmer or blacksmith was initially a bootstrapping business person. Your insurance agent, realtor, most salesmen, lawyers, shop owners or artisans are bootstrapping for their income. To the extent that capital is required to open a restaurant, coffee shop, day spa, sales agency, franchise a business or set up a landscaping firm the funding required to be able to bootstrap these opportunities comes from friends, family or personal savings.

The Venture Capital community has a well-known phrase to describe the source of seed funding: “Startup monies come from Friends, Family and Fools”. Money flows easily to new, novel business concepts, but only after there is a confirmation of a proof of concept and sales traction is demonstrated.

Bootstrapping is not glamorous. It requires total commitment and focus. Fancy offices, fresh cut flowers in the reception area, expense account lunches and leased luxury automobiles are not line budget expense items for bootstrapping Companies. Credit cards may need to be tapped. Home equity utilized. Aunt Jane approached for a loan. If the entrepreneur is driven, there is nothing that will deny them the opportunity to convert their concept in to a going concern. Bootstrapping is the simplest, oldest, and in most instances, the only strategy available to start a new business.

Duquesa Marketing

www.duquesamarketing.com

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Contact: Geoff Ficke

859-567-1609
gficke@msn.com

Lori Leigh Designs™ to Introduce Earring Chalet Organizer at JCK Jewelry Show, Stand 2408

Popular Jewelry Industry Trade Expo to Be Held at Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel, Las Vegas, June 1-4, 2012

Whittier, CA  Lori Torline, Founder and President of accessory jewelry product development firm Lori Leigh Designs LLC, announced today that her group will unveil their novel,
fashionable earring organization system product line at the upcoming JCK Jewelry Expo in Las Vegas, NV.

“We will be attending and demonstrating the Earring Chalet at a number of jewelry and gift trade shows throughout the rest of 2012”, said Mrs. Torline. “Our research indicates that JCK is a premiere show for presenting new lines like ours and we have already begun the process of making USA and international retailers and distributors aware of our participation in JCK”.

“Every woman loves her earrings, and every woman experiences the frustration of organizing and protecting their collection”, said Nancy Ficke, General Manager of Florence, KY based Duquesa Marketing, managing consultants for the development of the Earring Chalet project. “Lori  has perfected a truly fashionable, easy to use organizer that will be must-have on every vanity table”.

We will offer the Earring Chalet in two formats a Vanity Box holding 75+ pairs of earrings, and a Traveler holding up to 15 pairs”, said Mrs. Torline. “The units will be presented in designer color options, and we will announce pricing for USA retailers and international distributors at JCK”.

Duquesa Marketing

www.duquesamarketing.com

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Contact: Geoff Ficke
859-567-1609

gficke@msn.com

Geoff Ficke to Be Interviewed on The Morning Show with Host Jae Nash on May 9th at 11:15 am CT

Duquesa Marketing Founder and Expert to Discuss 5 Personality Traits to Success

Florence, KY  Nancy Ficke, General Manager, announced today that her Branding and Product Development firm Duquesa Marketing has scheduled another in a series of national radio interviews for Company President and Founder Geoff Ficke.

“Geoff Ficke will appear on The Morning Show with Host Jae Nash May 9th at 11:15 am CT”, said Mrs Ficke. “The discussion will be about the 5 Personality Traits to Success. Mr. Ficke will explain if your idea or business is a good one and if you have what it takes to succeed. Do you have a product idea but just aren’t sure where to start? Is your business ready to move to the next level, but you don’t have the connections to make that happen? Geoff Ficke has been helping hundreds of people make their business dreams come true.

Through his 40 years of practical experience Geoff has been mentoring, teaching and consulting with small and micro-businesses, entrepreneurs and inventors to enable them to turn dreams and ideas into products and successful commercial opportunities. Geoff and his team have worked with products from skin care to cupcakes to health supplements and more.

Duquesa Marketing has assisted numerous individuals and enterprises start and expand Consumer Product opportunities over the past four decades. The award winning firm
has vast experience in all Sales and distribution channels in the United States and internationally.

Duquesa Marketing

www.duquesamarketing.com

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Contact: Geoff Ficke
859-567-1609

gficke@msn.com

Geoff Ficke to Be Interviewed on Blog Talk Radio Successipes Show on April 25th at 3:30 PT

Duquesa Marketing Founder and Expert to Discuss 5 Personality Traits to Success

Florence, KY  Nancy Ficke, General Manager, announced today that her Branding and Product Development firm Duquesa Marketing has scheduled another in a series of national radio interviews for Company President and Founder Geoff Ficke.

“Geoff Ficke will appear on Successipes Show with Host Lori Wilk April 25th at 3:30 pm PT”, said Mrs Ficke. “The discussion will be about the 5 Personality Traits to Success. Mr. Ficke will explain if your idea or business is a good one and if you have what it takes to succeed. Do you have a product idea but just aren’t sure where to start? Is your business ready to move to the next level, but you don’t have the connections to make that happen? Geoff Ficke has been helping hundreds of people make their business dreams come true.

Through his 40 years of practical experience Geoff has been mentoring, teaching and consulting with small and micro-businesses, entrepreneurs and inventors to enable them to turn dreams and ideas into products and successful commercial opportunities. Geoff and his team have worked with products from skin care to cupcakes to health supplements and more.

Duquesa Marketing has assisted numerous individuals and enterprises start and expand Consumer Product opportunities over the past four decades. The award winning firm
has vast experience in all Sales and distribution channels in the United States and internationally.