Inventor makes milestone

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Good timing has given a Sioux Falls inventor's product some national attention.

Donald Junck of Sioux Falls is being honored by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for filing the one millionth Web-based trademark application using the Patent Office's Trademark Electronic Application System.

The trademark will protect his mark "Bait Craft" and the logo of his invention, designed to keep the line leaders of fishing enthusiasts organized.

"When they called and told me, I had this long pause and felt like, 'Yeah, right,' " Junck said. "I thought it was one of my buddies playing a trick on me."

The Trademark Office flew Junck to Washington, D.C., Tuesday. Today, he will present two personalized, wooden versions of his invention to South Dakota Rep. Stephanie Herseth and Sen. John Thune, Junck said. He will tour the White House and Capitol Hill and attend a commemoration ceremony in the USPTO's headquarters in Alexandria, Va.

Lynne Beresford, USPTO's commissioner for trademarks, said Junck's application marks an important milestone for a system that had met with some resistance from those wary of moving the application process online, prior to its November 1997 debut.

"We wanted to have a celebration around the one millionth trademark application because there was quite a bit of resistance to electronic filing," she said. "Getting to the millionth mark was very important to us."

Electronic trademark and patent applications have helped streamline the process, reduced cost for applicants and improved the accuracy of information entered into government databases, Beresford said.

After battling the cluttered contents of his tackle box, Junck said he reached a point in 1995 when he thought there had to be a better way to organize and keep fishing leaders taut.

During the following years, he would invest $30,000 of his own money into its development, buying equipment to design and make his invention, working out of his shop in his home.

He patented the product in 1997 and applied for trademark protection in November 2006.

"I had some naysayers out there," Junck said. "They'd say, 'This is stupid, this is dumb.' I would just smile at them and take it with a grain of salt."

In April, an Iowa company will begin to produce plastic versions of the Bait Craft, which will be available in different colors and sizes, Junck said. There already has been interest by retailers who would like to carry the product, he said.

Junck, a self-described "tinkerer," builds homes with his son Aaron, and credits his children and wife, Deb, for supporting him in all his creative outlets.

"Deb's really got a heart of gold," Junck said. "To deal with all the ups and downs we've had with this and with how much money we've injected into this, and not to have made a dime off it yet, she's been very supportive."

Reach reporter Matthew Gruchow at 331-2301.

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Shawn Lyons Story

http://www.rabbitmovers.com/

Rabbit markets itself as an anomaly in an industry with a bad rep, capitalizing on a staff of artistic types, word-of-mouth referrals, and a Web site that posts positive customer testimonials and descriptions of extra services traditional moving companies don't usually offer.

So far, Rabbit's bare-bones sales and marketing strategy—except for maintaining its site, the company spends no money on advertising—is working. Rabbit's founder, former itinerant writer Shawn Lyons, who started the moving company in 2004 for $1,500—the cost of a 1981 Dodge Ram cargo van—estimates revenues will be around $300,000 in 2006. This is up one-third from a year ago. "Originally, I was just going to do the 'man with a van' thing and have time to write," Lyons says.

But about nine months into helping friends move their furniture in his spare time, Lyons decided he was onto something because demand kept increasing. So he pursued the licensing and insurance required by New York City and State and started to build Rabbit into more than just a traditional moving company, carving out a niche with young urban dwellers.

Today Rabbit, apart from making residential and commercial moves within the New York metro area and renting storage space, also offers massages ($80 per hour) and feng shui ($200). Clients normally take advantage of these extras after the move. Moving prices range from $100 an hour to a flat $1,500 for a complicated, labor-intensive move that includes packing.

Toby MacPhearson, a 31-year-old information-technology worker in Manhattan, paid Rabbit about $650 to move from the neighborhood of Chelsea to Hell's Kitchen, and is glad he took advantage of the feng shui service. "I was mostly in it for the practical aspect: It helped me reduce my stress by helping me set up the apartment in a logical manner," says MacPhearson, who has since referred two friends to Rabbit.

Still, Rabbit is a tiny presence in an industry that generates approximately $7 billion a year in revenues and employs an estimated 450,000 workers. David Sparkman, a spokesperson for the American Moving and Storage Assn. (AMSA), an industry advocacy group with 3,400 members, estimates that there are 5,000 to 6,000 mostly small, family-owned moving companies, with just a handful of large van lines.

With so much competition out there, concentrating on a unique group of customers has helped Rabbit establish a strong reputation. Apart from Rabbit's positive plugs in its Web site's testimonials section, sites like Apartmenttherapy.com and Brooklynian.com include posts such as: "Rabbit Movers are awesome. I've used them and passed them on to friends as highly highly recommended."

That seal of approval lends multiple benefits to Rabbit. "The notion of community in an urban setting leads to positive word of mouth, customer loyalty, and branding, and it seems like Rabbit has all of those," says Heidi Neck, assistant professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College.

Those who hire Rabbit to help them move shouldn't expect stereotypical movers. "Most of our guys are artists or in some creative field; they're just a really creative bunch," says Lyons, who counts chefs, painters, musicians, and writers ranging in age from 23 to 43 as his employees. "We're trying to move away from the perception of movers being supermacho creeps. Movers kind of have a bad rep in New York, and for good reason. There are a lot of scams, so we try to combat that," he says.

Aside from wanting to work with people whom he liked on a personal level, Lyons says it was easier to communicate the tone he's trying to create for the company to people who already intuitively understood it through their own experience. Trying to nurture friendly interactions with clients further sets Rabbit apart from the competition.

Since good employees are the key to creating a good moving experience, Rabbit pays fair wages across the board. Lyons says most of his movers make between $13 and $15 an hour, while many other companies pay workers under the table or at minimum wage. Keeping morale up, he says, is a necessity when your primary selling point is alleviating stress for the customer.

Also atypical of a moving company: Rabbit's community of young movers and customers is forming around the Brooklyn art scene. Lyons studied literature and writing at Temple University in Philadelphia and wanted to have his career fit with his creative background. So he recently bought and renovated a space in Brooklyn's Dumbo neighborhood (Dumbo stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge), where he now rents space for artists to display their work.

Not directly related to Rabbit's moving business but intimately connected with its people and its style, the studio will host exhibitions at this year's Dumbo Arts Festival, and some of the artists will be Rabbit's own movers. Lyons says most of the people he expects to attend the exhibition are former customers who asked to be added to the Rabbit mailing list.

The company also specializes in moving art for galleries. Lyons says the movers' appreciation for the work establishes a trust between them and the client. "What's really great is that they're not just movers, they're really smart guys. In a business you need things that are malleable—people who are quick and able to adjust to what you need," says Priyanka Mathew, gallery director for Gallery Arts India, one of Rabbit's clients, and a former banker at Goldman Sachs. Mathew says Rabbit has moved scores of contemporary Indian paintings and sculptures without damaging a thing.

The company also employs a design aesthetic on its Web site, trucks, and T-shirts that appeals to its target demographic of young urbanites. "I just went along with what I would want in the aesthetic of the designs, the character, and quality of the movers. So far it's working, I think," says Lyons.

Rabbit's faithful clients—Mathew included—agree that the company's got staying power. "I really think this is the way that business is going to be moving—especially small business. You have to be sound fundamentally, but to create a niche and an edge, you've got to try and differentiate yourself, and that's what Rabbit does very well," says Mathew.
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Is Nature a Marketing Guru?

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Technology rules. Yeah, for about five minutes--then natural instincts take over. Are you stupid enough to fight Mamma Nature? Well go ahead and rewrite the rules if you can, cause the Big Mamma knows one thing. She’s tried and tested it all. And if you want to play by her kooky rules, she is willing to teach you a thing or two.

The question is, are you willing to learn?

Do You Pay in Advance?
Have you noticed how big a brand Red Bull is today? Or how insignificant their advertising is? Red Bull shuns print advertising and has never done a triple back flip on a web campaign. Yet, it has found roots in over 50 countries. And has cemented its loyalty in the fickle land of teenagers.

So what’s Red Bull’s big secret?

It’s called GIVING.

Their marketing strategy was simple. They enticed students with free cases of Red Bull, if they threw a party. Guess how many students need an excuse to have a party? With a simple act of giving away free cases to the right target audience in the right universities, Red Bull became a very rich Red Bull.

Yet Where Are Most Marketing Plans Aimed?
Too often marketing is aimed solely at GETTING. Look at all those marketing plans, those many advertisements blaring away on the radio and TV. It’s get, get -- all the time!

Yet, nature pooh poohs the stuff. Putting a carrot (not cart) before the horse, nature works on the giving part first. In its own little marketing and advertising way, a flower works contrary to most marketers. Using the bait of colour and nectar, it draws the bees, knowing full well that its very existence depends on giving bees what they want first, so the bees will carry their pollen.

Wander down the supermarket aisle and you’ll see what I mean. Fifty thousand brands stare at you, screaming at you to buy them. Then a little ol’ lady offers you a sample of a product. Fifteen seconds into your tasting session, she gives you another sample. Then, for no apparent reason, a bottle or two of the product finds itself in your cart. Were you sold? You betcha!

Giving works for a simple reason. Nature hates imbalance. If the deer get faster, so do the cheetahs. It’s a classic system to keep things in balance. Which effectively means that to create an imbalance in marketing in your favor, you’ve got to give first.

Are You Ready To Do the 1-2-3 and Cha-Cha-Cha?
Do you play the dating game? Or do you rush in to conquer most of the time? Mamma Nature knows that haste makes waste. Yet marketers think nothing of blowing squillions of dollars on various hare-brained, get-rich-quick schemes that achieve far less than their potential.

Here's an example. Harley Davidson has been to hog hell and back. Just in time to save its bacon, it decided to work on the cha-cha-cha instead of the wham, bam method. The reward has manifested itself in thousands of die-hard Harley fans that would go all the way on their Harleys. Even today, despite being in an enviable position, Harley still finds time to wine and dine its customers while thumbing its nose at traditional media.

Another good example of cha-cha-cha marketing is how the British operated in the 19th century. Instead of slamming their way into conquering new lands, they went as traders. Whether history likes it or not, they maximized their potential in a systematic and natural marketing manner.

What Happens When Nature Goofs Up
Even nature loses out when it fails to obey its own rules. As long as it sticks to its spring, summer, autumn, winter routine, we go along with the "relationship." Yet every time it does the 60-second prime time TV spot on us, we absolutely hate it. Oh sure, there’s great colour, drama and pizzazz in a whirling tornado, but there’s zero empathy and a whole lot of defiance.

Turn on the music, move those feet. This isn’t some behemoth CRM program we’re talking about. Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but flowers arouse less suspicion. Do the cha-cha-cha and the getting to know your customer. It’s cheaper, it follows steps, and it works.

Is Your Target Audience "Everyone?"
Nature would laugh at you and laugh heartily. Are you setting yourself up for disaster or what? Even a pimple-ridden 13 year old knows exactly who her knight in shining armor is. While the concept of being in the company of 20 gorgeous men would set her eyes alight, her brain knows better.

Yet most businesses horrify the heck out of Nature. In an apparent suicidal move, they go after a general audience in order to maximize their returns. Some of the biggest brands today are built on single-minded focus. Mercedes, Volvo, Rolex, McDonalds, Red Bull and Playboy all have a clearly defined target audience.

If you doubt it, take a look at a wild dog attack on a National Geographic broadcast. Have you noticed the focus and strategy of their attack? They single out the prey and go after it in a pre-defined relay system. It gets results, and isn’t that what you want?

Gotta Keep on Dancing
When was the last time your heart stopped beating? And isn’t that good, because if it did, you’d be taking harp lessons in a big hurry. Nature doesn’t stop its marketing campaign and neither should you. The first thing businesses do when the economy takes a downturn is pull the plug on marketing. Fat good that’s going to do you! That’s like telling your heart to work at half the heart beats when things aren’t good.

The planet doesn’t stop rotating, the trees don’t stop growing and the fish don’t stop swimming. Yet in an absolute violation of the most basic law of nature, we stop and start like some trainee driver.

There Ain’t No One Like Me!
Nature doesn’t brand-extend. It creates something and then it throws away the mould. When it creates a product, it makes sure that product thrives, grows and multiplies. It adds colour, shape and size for a bountiful variety, but brand extension is a no-no.

Yet look at some of the biggies out there. They put out their brands and then put their names on everything from computers to soap. Dove still stands for soap with 1/4th moisturising cream. Yet, in the supermarket, Dove tries to take on the full force of nature by brand-extending.

Does it work? Yes and no. People have too much clutter in their heads already. To add to that clutter is asking for trouble. Our brains identify with one object when we are given a name.

From Nokia to Chimpanzee
When I say Nokia, you say mobile phone. Yet Nokia sold everything from gumboots to computers -- even TV sets. Then one day it dawned on them that they could conquer the world with a brand name that stood for one thing and one thing alone.

Sure a chimpanzee and a baboon are both monkeys, but they’re essentially different products. You won’t find a chimpanzee light or a chimpanzee diet in the species. They’re either chimps or they’re baboons! Besides, their unique brand name allows you to identify them with zero confusion every time! Uniqueness is your brand’s birthright. Use it well.

Here are some "Au Naturel" guidelines to business and marketing strategy:

1) Pay in Advance: First you shall sow, and then you shall reap. And you must sow in fertile ground not on rocky soil. Give, and you shall receive. Does this all sound familiar? Are you giving away anything worthwhile on your website, through your advertising, in your brochures?

2) Do the dance one step at a time: You’ll just make a fool of yourself if you don’t build up your reputation with your customers. Give them the best you possibly can. When nature puts on a beautiful butterfly, it starts with a worm.

3) Put on the glasses: Get focus in your life because Nature will make sure you pay big time if you don’t. Sure you can get business, but think of what’s possible if you focus. A little focus right now reaps long-term rewards. It’s your choice.

4) She’s only happy when she’s dancing: Is that a Bryan Adams song? Or is Nature telling us what we should be doing? She’s on the floor. Go on and boogie.

5) And then there was one: Is your fingerprint different? Is your iris different? Do you have a clone? Nature doesn’t think it works in real life. Why do you think differently?

6) And finally: Take off your headphones and look at what nature is saying.

It’s showing you the colour of money!

By Sean D'Souza, http://www.psychotactics.com/

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