The Dolly Parton Business Model
The Dolly Parton Business Model
It does affect you - because the internet is a very large and very unforgiving business environment. Regardless of how many people tell you how you can make thousands every month, for every eBay there are millions of sites just taking a few $'s a month.
So where does Dolly Parton come into it, I hear you say? Well I also went to the Dolly Parton Dinner Show just before Christmas, which I highly recommended. Having just finished writing for my latest information product - the Entrepreneur Power Pack, I had my business head still functioning. I realized that there are 3 major women within the USA - Oprah, Martha and Dolly - and they all have started and run massive businesses that center on their particular skills.
When setting up your new business, the first question you should ask yourself is “what do you want to do?” I know that this sounds a really silly question – but looking at our three famous ladies again:
• Oprah is known mainly as a talk show host but she started on the radio.
• Martha is known for her TV show but she started catering for weddings.
• Dolly has always been a singer – but she now has her dinner shows and Dollywood theme park and has also been in a few movies.
The lesson here is to decide to do something within an area where you can logically expand upon your skills without losing your market and your past and current customers. People go to the Dolly Dinner Shows – because they are fond of Dolly and want she stands for. Oprah only has to recommend a book on her TV show and it becomes a best seller because her opinion is trusted by millions. Martha has whole streams of income – TV, products, magazines, books etc – all with her name on them and her customers move logically from one to the other, buying as they go.
What is clear is that all of them have very strong brand images – but they also have numerous complimentary streams of income. Martha in particular is a genius at using each of her product streams to feed off of each other – moving her customer base from one item to the next with little effort.
I thought that there were a lot of lessons to learn from Dolly and how she runs her business so well, whilst still being so nice about it! I think we can learn a whole lot from her!
So how does this affect a small one or two person business – click or brick? Planning is such an important part of starting a serious business. You must plan your business taking into account the following:
• You need a strong string of recognizable products or services that are instantly recognizable as belonging to your company. For example we have a string of products, which we constantly add to, called the PowerPack – its concept is that we sell all you need to set up a particular business in one product. Our most popular is the AdSense PowerPack.
• Ensure that you leave room to add extra products or services that are not too removed from your current product stream. For example if you offer lawn services – it’s not too far away to also offer porch cleaning as well. If you provide golfing services – then also sell golf balls, golf gloves etc. Follow the Martha route on that one.
• Decide how you want to present yourself – consider colors, fonts, sizing, quality etc.
• Work out which market you are seeking – find a niche if you can, and build your product range around this.
At the start of this year I sat down with a large mug of tea (I’m a Brit ok – I may live mostly in the USA – but my suitcase is always full of PG Tips), a pad and a pen.
I looked at where I thought that my customer base would be this year and what kind of things they would be looking for.
I then decided what product streams and services I would offer in 2006 and then defined at least 4 products in each stream.
Common wisdom is to look at price ranges of: up to $9.97, $19.97, $47, $97 and $147 when looking at IT and digital based items. On top of that goes consultancy, training and individual coaching. So I tried to decide on my item in each of these price slots as well as a group of free giveaways for viral marketing purpose. Now I am a prolific writer so most of these were going to be of my own design. Don’t worry if you don’t have the time or inclination to do this – look out for existing resell items that you can bundle together to make up the products.
If you have a product or service based company that is not digitally based then you should investigate your own price points. Doesn’t do any harm to have your own ebooks to give away or sell as well though! You might even try short video training courses on how to make the best use of your products or services – be creative.
If you only have or only want a small company then concentrate on no more than 3 product ranges. This gives you about 12-15 products to design plus some giveaways.
So set up so new goals for your own company and try this activity.
The Dolly Parton Business Model - To learn more about this author, visit Lee Lister's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
So I’m talking business models and you have a one person web site or a part time business. So how does this affect you?
It does affect you - because the internet is a very large and very unforgiving business environment. Regardless of how many people tell you how you can make thousands every month, for every eBay there are millions of sites just taking a few $'s a month.
So where does Dolly Parton come into it, I hear you say? Well I also went to the Dolly Parton Dinner Show just before Christmas, which I highly recommended. Having just finished writing for my latest information product - the Entrepreneur Power Pack, I had my business head still functioning. I realized that there are 3 major women within the USA - Oprah, Martha and Dolly - and they all have started and run massive businesses that center on their particular skills.
When setting up your new business, the first question you should ask yourself is “what do you want to do?” I know that this sounds a really silly question – but looking at our three famous ladies again:
• Oprah is known mainly as a talk show host but she started on the radio.
• Martha is known for her TV show but she started catering for weddings.
• Dolly has always been a singer – but she now has her dinner shows and Dollywood theme park and has also been in a few movies.
The lesson here is to decide to do something within an area where you can logically expand upon your skills without losing your market and your past and current customers. People go to the Dolly Dinner Shows – because they are fond of Dolly and want she stands for. Oprah only has to recommend a book on her TV show and it becomes a best seller because her opinion is trusted by millions. Martha has whole streams of income – TV, products, magazines, books etc – all with her name on them and her customers move logically from one to the other, buying as they go.
What is clear is that all of them have very strong brand images – but they also have numerous complimentary streams of income. Martha in particular is a genius at using each of her product streams to feed off of each other – moving her customer base from one item to the next with little effort.
I thought that there were a lot of lessons to learn from Dolly and how she runs her business so well, whilst still being so nice about it! I think we can learn a whole lot from her!
So how does this affect a small one or two person business – click or brick? Planning is such an important part of starting a serious business. You must plan your business taking into account the following:
• You need a strong string of recognizable products or services that are instantly recognizable as belonging to your company. For example we have a string of products, which we constantly add to, called the PowerPack – its concept is that we sell all you need to set up a particular business in one product. Our most popular is the AdSense PowerPack.
• Ensure that you leave room to add extra products or services that are not too removed from your current product stream. For example if you offer lawn services – it’s not too far away to also offer porch cleaning as well. If you provide golfing services – then also sell golf balls, golf gloves etc. Follow the Martha route on that one.
• Decide how you want to present yourself – consider colors, fonts, sizing, quality etc.
• Work out which market you are seeking – find a niche if you can, and build your product range around this.
At the start of this year I sat down with a large mug of tea (I’m a Brit ok – I may live mostly in the USA – but my suitcase is always full of PG Tips), a pad and a pen.
I looked at where I thought that my customer base would be this year and what kind of things they would be looking for.
I then decided what product streams and services I would offer in 2006 and then defined at least 4 products in each stream.
Common wisdom is to look at price ranges of: up to $9.97, $19.97, $47, $97 and $147 when looking at IT and digital based items. On top of that goes consultancy, training and individual coaching. So I tried to decide on my item in each of these price slots as well as a group of free giveaways for viral marketing purpose. Now I am a prolific writer so most of these were going to be of my own design. Don’t worry if you don’t have the time or inclination to do this – look out for existing resell items that you can bundle together to make up the products.
If you have a product or service based company that is not digitally based then you should investigate your own price points. Doesn’t do any harm to have your own ebooks to give away or sell as well though! You might even try short video training courses on how to make the best use of your products or services – be creative.
If you only have or only want a small company then concentrate on no more than 3 product ranges. This gives you about 12-15 products to design plus some giveaways.
So set up so new goals for your own company and try this activity.
The Dolly Parton Business Model - To learn more about this author, visit Lee Lister's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
|||
Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
|||
Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
|||
Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
|||
Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
|||
David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
|||
Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
|||
Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Lee's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
|
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Great Sales Fallacies Emotions Drive Behavior 4 QuickBooks Blunders Vertical Market Ad Network Book of Leadership |
|
 | ||
 |
Email The Reporters
Press Release Builder | |
 |
Top 50 HR Blogs 2009
Top 50 HR Blogs 2009 | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
