Inc. staff

CEO Notebook

 

I can't afford formal market research
When Karen Scott got started in the mail-order baby-products business, she put together her own focus group--using the local newspaper. After clipping 250 birth announcements, Scott contacted the new moms. She sent them surveys and conducted phone interviews, asking what products young mothers sought. Based on the responses, Scott added more travel products at her company, Chelsea & Scott, in Lake Bluff, Ill. Ten years later travel products are still top sellers at the $28-million business. --S. G.

Challenge
What's the difference between many companies' newsletters and Brooks O'Kane's? His gets read. ClearVue Products Inc., a $5-million cleaning-products company in Lawrence, Mass., produces a newsletter that's a lively mix of serious company news and zany items that engage readers. A sample: When president O'Kane wanted a raise, he asked readers to petition his father-in-law, chairman of ClearVue's parent company. Letters poured in. One reader wrote, "Daughters always bring strange things home, and sometimes you can't get rid of them no matter what--looks like you're stuck." --S.G.

Think your newsletter is better than O'Kane's? Prove it. Mail a copy to Stephanie Gruner, Inc. Magazine, 38 Commercial Wharf, Boston, MA 02110.

CEO Sound-off

What entrepreneurs are telling Inc. about employee motivation

"I have a hard time with Generation X-ers. Some are great, but most don't think they have to work hard. Building a career is not their priority. They spend most of their time on the phone making social plans."
--Owner of a $2.7-million New Jersey marketing agency

"Do you have any suggestions on how to start a business that doesn't need any employees? I'm tired and fed up. Dealing with some moron whose only thought is when he or she can get home, plop in front of a TV, and get drunk or stoned is wearing me out."
--Manager of a 650-person South Carolina manufacturer

"A lot of kids getting out of school aren't getting the right opportunities or aren't being asked to use their abilities. That's more the problem than that they are lazy. We have all Generation X-ers here. They work really hard."
--Owner of a $2-million California manufacturer

How can I communicate with customers on the Web?
When Cathey Cotten, owner of a technical recruiting company called MetaSearch, shares information about potential job candidates with clients, she doesn't bother with faxes or letters anymore. Instead, Cotten posts rÉsumÉs at password-protected customer pages that are part of MetaSearch's Web site. "The turnaround time is great," says Cotten, whose $360,000 company is based in San Anselmo, Calif. "If you fax a rÉsumÉ, it literally sits there for days or gets lost." Cotten's system alerts her when a client reads a rÉsumÉ and reminds her to follow up with a call.

Doug Wright, president of $2-million Wright Communications Inc., also uses password-protected Web pages. The New York City graphic-design company's site enables clients to view work in progress, approve changes, or sign off on finished work by E-mail. Wright can set up a new client page in less than a half hour. Before he makes a sales call, he prepares a page for the prospective customer. "It makes us look like one of the big guys," he says. --S. G.

Resources

For more ideas about how to spruce up your newsletter, check out the Web site where newsletter guru Elaine Floyd, owner of Newsletter Resources, in St. Louis, offers free tips on content and design ( www.newsletterinfo.com). The site also features a catalog of books and pamphlets, innovative newsletters from around the country, and links to other newsletter-related sites.

For a list of newsletter dos and don'ts, read " Spicing It Up," by Stephanie Gruner, in the July 1996 Inc.

CHELSEA & SCOTT, Karen Scott, 75 Albrecht Dr., Lake Bluff, IL 60044; 847-615-2110 104

CLEARVUE PRODUCTS, Brooks O'Kane, P.O. Box 567, Lawrence, MA 01842; 508-794-3100 104

HYDE TOOLS, Ken Rizner, 54 Eastford Rd., Southbridge, MA 01550; 508-764-4344 104

METASEARCH, Cathey Cotten, 6 Bridge St., 2nd Floor, San Anselmo, CA 94960; 415-256-2970 104

OMNI TECH, Terry Anderson, N. 27 W. 23676, Paul Rd., Pewaukee, WI 53072; 414-523-3300 104

STONEFIELD JOSEPHSON, Ron Friedman, 1620 26th St., Suite 400 South, Santa Monica, CA 90404; 310-453-9400 104

W&H SYSTEMS, Jim Iversen, 120 Asia Pl., Carlstadt, NJ 07072; 201-933-7841 104

WRIGHT COMMUNICATIONS, Doug Wright, 67 Irving Pl., New York, NY 10003; 212-505-8200 104

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