Bruce Outridge

Marketing is a two way street

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Bruce

We have all heard the stories of those companies that went on line and sold thousands of dollars of goods in moments. Musicians release albums and they sell overnight and so everyone feels that will happen if they offer products for sale online. So why doesn’t that happen when you place that one product you have online? Many that don’t like marketing or promoting in general will spend more time trying to market on line because it acts as a safety net. The problem is that sales online can give you a false hope for your own product.

Where many go wrong in marketing online is that they spend all their time there. They have websites set up, they get on social media, and they live online. There is nothing wrong with that but they are missing a big part of their marketing power. They are missing the part of people knowing you as a person or brand. If you are an entrepreneur starting out try meeting people one by one so they get to know you, feel comfortable with your brand, and are comfortable enough to buy your product. The same thing happens when you hear a new song even if you don’t know the band. You hear a cool song, investigate who sings it, learn more about the band or person, then if you enjoy their music when they release a new album you are on line buying it. Either way the people buying your product must know about you. It is harder to do that online than to build a following locally and getting other people to help build your brand.

So the best solution is to build your brand online and offline at the same time. Get out there and meet the people that may buy your products. Let people know who you are and why your brand is the best. People will buy from you because of you if they know you personally. Remember you are the brand of your product. Make sure people can trust your brand!

About the Author

Bruce Outridge is a business and leadership consultant and author. He is the author of the books Driven to Drive, Running by the Mile, and How to Start an Artistic Business in 12 Easy Steps. To purchase his books or to learn more about the company please visit his website at www.outridgeenterprises.ca

Celebrate that you are a business owner!

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Bruce

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In case you didn’t know it’s Small Business Week in Canada. That’s a celebration for those that are entrepreneurs or owners of small to medium sized businesses. We urge you to shop and buy from local businesses not just this week but always if possible. I try to use local businesses whenever possible to do so and although it isn’t always better in price it is usually better in service. That argument is an individual choice and not one that I will be discussing here. What I want to talk about here is the benefits of being a business owner.

I enjoy being in business owner and I think that it is something that anyone with the drive to do so should try and give it all they’ve got. Oh sure there will be those days when you don’t make a penny, there will be those weeks when you have so much work you would have more time off if you had a regular job, and there will be days when you spend your time trying to get paid. Even though most entrepreneurs work more hours than many employed people there is a sense of satisfaction that goes along with that and makes it all worth while. The fact that you are in control of your future, you are working at something you love, and your work ethic and values play a direct part in your success all make the long hours okay. The benefits of being able to move your time around as you see fit, enjoy family time when it is important to do so are all strong benefits that out way some of the negatives of being in business.

So if you are in business celebrate the fact that you had the guts to take it out on your own. Celebrate the fact that are able to control your future. You are making a difference to you career, family, and best of all you. Celebrate the fact that you are in the game. If you are a business owner I salute you. If you are thinking about becoming a business owner, do your homework and by all means join us in the game of business. We invite you to join the team.

About the Author

Bruce Outridge is an entrepreneur and author of the business books Driven to Drive, Running by the Mile, and How to Start an Artistic Business in 12 Easy Steps. To learn more about Bruce or purchase his books visit his website at www.outridgeenterprises.ca

Change Starts with You!

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Bruce

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As the world moves on each year the life of a professional truck driver is constantly in a flux. There are new regulations, undetermined amount of freight, fuel prices that bounce faster than a bouncing ball and wages that seem questionable at times. However the industry goes on and the truck driver prevails. The question is, is that enough? There is no doubt the industry is changing with technology and safety being the front runners, but there is one factor that is going down, the professionalism of drivers. Driver professionalism can be learned to a certain point through training, but when it comes right down to it it is more about attitude and that comes from within. As the demographics for the industry change the professional drivers that were brought into the business by their relatives and were taught about the industry with passion are now retiring. There is a new demographic entering the industry, one that doesn’t have the same passion for the trucking industry that we have once known.

Bruce Outridge

It may seem hard, some reports might paint a dismal picture of the industry, but we need that passion back. The industry will always be there, transportation isn’t going away soon, the mode of travel may change but in the end transportation will remain the key way of bringing products to the public. As an industry we have been looking outside for help with the industry, looking for other ways to bump up our injured industry. We have looked to government, we have looked to schools and technology, but in the end I believe we have to look inside our own people. Outsiders can’t help us because they don’t understand us. As I talk to outside agencies about the trucking industry there is a big misconception to the type of job a truck driver does and the way they are compensated. Contrary to belief there are great companies out there, ones that pay well, ones that have decent equipment, ones that have pride in what they do. Where I hear the grumblings are from inside certain operations themselves. Dispatchers against drivers, Owner Operators against drivers, management against drivers. The turmoil is coming from within.

So how do we fix our flailing industry, how do we make it better to attract the people we want in the industry. We start from the heart of the industry, we start with the passion. I talk with many companies in this industry and the one element I don’t see people teaching is leadership. There are safety meetings, safety talks, company meetings, but no leadership meetings. The people who started this industry early on didn’t start because of the money, they started because of the passion. They started because of their love of the road, the freedom from the office. Why do you think that generations have held positions in the transportation industry. Do you think if it was that bad that many of our former leaders would have let their sons and daughters join such an industry. I agree that the industry has changed a great deal from those early days. It will continue to change because the industry is looking for solutions and as long as you are looking for solutions it brings change.

If this industry is to survive it needs to change, if it is to bring new people into the folds it needs to change, If you want the industry for the future things need to change. Be the first to lead that change, change always starts from within. That change starts with you!
About the Author

Bruce Outridge has been in the transportation industry for over 30 years and helps new drivers have successful careers through career guidance and business advice. he is the author of the books Driven to Drive and Running by the Mile. To learn more about Bruce and his work visit his website at www.outridgeenterprises.ca

Are you Doing Your Job or Just Going Through the Motions?

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Bruce

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Everyday in my neighbourhood I take a walk early morning along the lakeside where I live. As I walk through the area full of wildlife, beautiful paths and plant life I am amazed at the beauty of this area. In the spring many babies are born to various mothers of swan and geese variety. It really is the wilderness in the city. Attached to the area is a well known park that is kept up by the city. Once you leave the woods of this area you come into the park area where at the same time in the morning I can see tractors cleaning the baseball diamond, maintenance people checking the pool and so on. There are also a couple of kids hired on by the City to pick up the trash. Although I have issues with the way some are doing their jobs in the park the ones that get me the most are the ones that are assigned to pick up trash. They drive along in a golf cart, one driving, and the other with a long pole to stab the trash they see and put into a bucket. What gets to me is that I am sure they are being paid good money for their work, so the least they could do is get off the cart or at least slow down the golf cart and pick up some trash. After they have passed by me at a high rate of speed I can walk by after them and see trash in plain sight on the path. Was it too far for the pole to stab it, did they even see it? At the speed they drive I bet they didn’t even see it, but their job is not to drive around on the golf cart, their job is to pick up the trash. They are in effect going through the motions of their job.

So I ask, are you just going through the motions in your job? I am going to hope that the answer is no, but some of you may be answering yes. As human beings we are all easily set into our comfort zone and if you work at a place long enough you will get complacent and stop working hard at your position. This happens to all of us and the only way to battle it is to stay fresh through trying to attain new goals or changes within the company. Many feel they are so well integrated in their company that trying to succeed or pushing the envelope is too much work and security will keep them employed. Business has changed as of late however, and it is not enough to go through the motions and hope that your productivity will keep you where no one will notice. As the new people looking for our positions will be coming from schools many of them more educated than we were and giving us a run for our money at these jobs. We have seen this many times before in the movies and news stories. The employee has been at the company for twenty years or more and all of a sudden is handed a pink slip and a package with no notice and not sure what they have done wrong. They may have been doing a good job but was it enough to get them noticed? Was it enough to make a difference? Now I certainly don’t think that every time a company downsizes or lowers their employee count it is based on performance, but sometimes it is.

One of the ways of battling this scenario is to keep trying to attain new goals. Keep the job fresh by reorganizing, changing the way you operate, or improving the team. Keeping yourself fresh is the best way to make sure you are employable in the future.

About the Author

Bruce Outridge has been in the transportation industry for over 30 years and helps new drivers have successful careers through career guidance and business advice. he is the author of the books Driven to Drive and Running by the Mile. To learn more about Bruce and his work visit his website at www.outridgeenterprises.ca

If You Had Trouble Finding Work This Year What Will Change Next Year?

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Bruce

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There are many people looking for work in the transportation industry and many companies looking to hire you, however many people still can’t find jobs. Any seasoned recruiter when he or she hears that a person has been looking for work for a long time and has a commercial license their ears perk up saying whoa, what’s wrong with this person? The truth is that anyone with a license and decent record should not be out of work in the transportation industry unless they want to be. The people that are out of work with a commercial license many times have something that needs to be addressed. That doesn’t make you a bad person, it just may be a glitch you have to fix unless you have many infractions on the license. So what will you do next year or next month for that matter to make the situation better?

For instance if you went to apply for a position and you didn’t have the experience, do you have that now, do you have a plan to get it, have you figured out where you need to go to get it? As a consultant I speak to many new drivers in school or potential owner operators. Many say they want to go and work here or they have heard it is good to work over there, but many don’t have a plan to get there. They’re hoping it will all work out in their favour because the industry is looking for many people. Well I have news for you, even though there is a driver shortage, even though many positions are available it doesn’t mean it will be a cake walk into the great job. You may need more experience, maybe your record is still not as squeaky clean as it should be? Those things can be fixed with time and a plan. But what I see much of the time is people get to the door, find it is not quite as open as they thought it should be and turn and run the other way, never to be found again. I had one driver who went all the way through to the final stage of hiring only to be found he had a medical position that does not allow him to run in the US. When turned down he disappeared and when I followed up with him he said he is planning on finding work somewhere else. He may not have been able to cross the border but he could have found a carrier working within Canada. He just didn’t take the time to reevaluate his options. I see this time and time again.

If this is similar to your situation then periodically you should be reevaluating your resume and your goals. If you don’t have the experience needed right now how many of you have asked if there are other positions available maybe in the warehouse, or in the office. It may get you into the carrier in another role and then when you have proved yourself it will help you in the future. Don’t turn at the first sign of trouble, another question may be the one that gets you the job.

About the Author
Bruce Outridge has been in the transportation industry for over 30 years and helps new drivers have successful careers through career guidance and business advice. he is the author of the books Driven to Drive and Running by the Mile. To learn more about Bruce and his work visit his website at www.outridgeenterprises.ca