Hello Online Marketers! Today I'm bringing you a great interview with Mary McDonald of McDonald Consulting. Mary has grown this business big, and she's very adept at what she does. Read on to find out all about her business:
KB: Mary McDonald, thank you for
taking the time to participate in this interview for our readers.
To set the stage for this interview, would you please tell us a bit about
yourself?
MM: Thank you for inviting me! My background is in engineering, and my
interests are varied! I like to play piano, scrapbook our family photos, watch
movies, and get involved in environmental causes. I have a wonderful husband who stays at home
while I travel, and two children ages 13 and 11. We live in Austin, TX after having lived in
upstate NY for 15 years; I grew up and went to school in New England.
KB: Wow, you are very blessed Mary to have a husband who does that while you
travel and pursue your dreams.
Okay, give us your elevator speech,
or 30-second spiel, about what you do, about your businesses:
MM: I have two businesses – performance
improvement consulting, and online movie rental (which is also a business
opportunity for others).
The McDonald Consulting Group is a
performance improvement consulting group that helps companies improve their
bottom line (keep more of their profits) by improving the way that they do
assignments and tasks. I’ve been able to
take the techniques that work for production and manufacturing and improve
processes for service companies also, and we are going to start providing
services for companies that work in Asia
– providing engineering and quality services.
The business that my husband Bill and I
are involved in is online DVD rentals, similar to NetFlix and Blockbuster Online,
called Mailbox DVDs. You can rent
unlimited movies, 3 at a time, for only $20 monthly. You make a commission on every customer that
rents movies from your site, and the movies, the money, and the shipping is all
done by another company. Best of all, anyone
can have an online site including support for less than $200!
KB: Now that’s a new spin on network marketing (which I love) and also a great
way to have the best of both worlds: movies AND a business!
How long have you been in business
for yourself?
MM: The McDonald Consulting Group has
been in business for over 9 years, and Mailbox DVDs is only a month old!
KB: Talk about diversity! Why or what was
the determining factor for you in starting your own businesses?
MM: I started The McDonald Consulting
Group when I left my last company – I knew I could help other companies, which
remains my motivation, and instead of moving from company to company, I can now
help multiple companies at once.
Mailbox DVDs was started to generate a
second income stream for us – we have been looking at ways to supplement our
income, and wanted something that would ‘work while we sleep’ as well as be
affordable as an initial investment. At
$180, this was tailor made for us.
KB: That is not a bad initial investment and with no product line to carry, it
does seem to work in as a great second income for you Mary, without a lot of
time investment.
What, in your experience, has been the
greatest benefit in running and owning your own businesses? What do you like
best about your businesses?
MM: I really enjoy the ability to
choose who I work with and how much I work.
I’ve grown my consulting company to 5 from just me, and now have
locations in Atlanta
and Burlington,
so I am contributing to the economy.
Even though I work a lot of hours and travel around the world to provide
top flight service to my clients, I love it!
I am really enjoying the movie rental
business opportunity, and especially introducing it to other
entrepreneurs. Several other IVWCC women
are also part of the team, and we work together to help each other and support
each other!
KB: You sound like a very determined woman not to mention a brilliant business
woman Mary! Wow, from one to 5 and you did it yourself - that’s impressive. I’ve also found that the IVWCC members are so
supportive and we each have different interests that often come together like
that in joint ventures Mary – that’s great!
Running a business takes a certain
“mindset” so tell us what is the most difficult or challenging part of having
and running your own businesses:
MM: I think that you have to be willing
to work your business all the time – when you’re not feeling well, when you’d
rather be playing hooky – because your business is built by doing things well,
every day.
KB: Boy that is so true. No such thing as 9 to 5 when you work for
yourself. Who is your primary target
audience? How do you attract them?
MM: For McDonald Consulting Group, my
primary audience is quality and operations in companies. My typical contact is the VP or Director in
the company. I attract them via our
website, www.mcdcg.com,
as well as by giving papers and being recognized as a national expert in
quality systems and quality and environmental standards.
Mailbox DVDs – our primary target
audiences are twofold – we are looking for entrepreneurs who want to have their
own business opportunity, and we are looking for lots of people to introduce
our movie rental site to. The way we
attract them is by advertising, print cards, websites, and offering special
incentives such as buy-2-get-1-month free promotions!
KB: Seems like you’ve got the right focus on the where, how, where and why for
your advertising Mary. Can you share
with our readers what you are currently doing to promote your business? How do
you integrate your online promotions with your offline promotions?
MM: For the consulting business, I re-branded
my company and announced a new direction, which allowed me to contact my
present and past customers and present the full range of services we now offer.
Mailbox DVDs – we are promoting the
website via Ryze, making posts on various forums, and by posting our website on
business cards and distributing.
KB: You definitely are focused. I’ve found out that is one, if not THE, major
key to your business success. Is your
business primarily online or offline or both?
MM: The consulting work is entirely
offline – although we are bringing into online with the new direction. We will be offering white papers and reports
for sale online. The online presence was
to allow companies who were doing an online search to find us.
Mailbox DVDs is entirely online – how
customers order movies, how distributors track their business, and how new
distributors sign up.
KB: Mary, you have great strategy! What
is your best source of customers, prospects and/or clients?
MM: For McDonald Consulting, the best source
of customers is leads from existing customers and as a result of presentations
at technical conferences.
For Mailbox DVDs, we are doing well by
contacting our warm leads (folks we know either through business or personal)
as well as neighbors and friends. Since
it is an online opportunity, your location doesn’t matter!
KB: Believing in what you do doesn’t hurt either does it? Since we’re are having this interview on the
International Virtual Women’s Chamber of Commerce channel, we know you are a
member of this organization but are you a member of any other professional organizations? If
so, would you please tell us a little bit about them and why you chose these
particular organizations to affiliate yourself and your business?
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MM: I’m a Fellow in the International
Microelectronics and Packaging Society (IMAPS) since my prime consulting
clients come from semiconductor manufacturing; and the American Society for
Quality, where I am a Senior member.
These societies are key for networking and identification of customers,
as well as recognition as a national expert in quality standards.
KB: Very niche specific memberships,
which are, like you said, key. Online
networking groups are rising in number so are you a member of any online
networking groups?
MM: I belong to Ryze and LinkedIn as
well as IVWCC. I also participate in an
online forum through my Business Owners Coaching Club through Deb Micek, which
I recommend to others. If you can’t get
in the Coaching Club right away, try the Business Owner’s Journal.
KB: I’m a member of all the same online groups too Mary and they are great
ones! I have been meaning to get in on the Business Owner’s Journal with Coach
Deb, thanks for telling us all and reminding me!
On average, how often do you visit
those networks? Do you post messages there regularly, or are you more of an
information seeker and lurker?
MM: I try to post to all forums at
least 2x/week. Some of my close friends
and business associates I know only virtually – I’ve never met them! That’s only possible if you get to know them
and they get to know you!
KB: You’re right Mary and that’s also relationship building that will in the
long run build your business also. Moving onto a very vital subject in online
business, on average, how many email messages do you receive every day?
MM: I receive about 100 e-mails a day.
KB: That’s a pretty good amount. About
how many of those emails are actually email you either requested, from clients,
or pertinent information?
MM: About
15% are actually pertinent. The rest are
from Ryze networks, unsolicited e-mails, or info from various groups and
organizations.
KB: On the whole not too much spam though it sounds like. What is your number
one complaint, if any, about email?
MM: I don’t really have a number one
complaint – I do business using it, and need to scan as much as I can since you
never know where the nugget is going to come from.
KB: Very refreshing to hear that
Mary. Do you publish a newsletter or
ezine?
MM: I haven’t yet been able to get to
this.
KB: That’s very understandable
considering all your travel and size of your business. Do you subscribe to any newsletters?
MM: I
subscribe to a wide variety of newsletters, from professional societies, from
trade groups, and from many members of the IVWCC.
KB: Exactly what I do too Mary. Are you familiar with RSS?
MM: I’ve been following the IVWCC
threads on it…
KB: That’s great Mary and I’m sure we’ll all be learning more together.
Do you read or subscribe to any RSS
feeds/blogs?
MM: No – not aware how to, but it’s on
my list.
KB: May I suggest the IVWCC as your
first RSS channel to subscribe to? The link to subscribe is http://quikonnex.com/channel/quiksteps/ivwcc
. There are so many ways to promote ourselves online and off, and one of the
most touted and apparently great ways to do so online is to write articles. Do
you write articles for use on the internet?
MM: I have written two books (the
second is being published this month – on Management) and published
several articles (on management integration).
KB: Mary, you amaze me! I don’t
know how you do all this but I’m sure you have a great system in place. Wow,
two books!
Have you ever submitted a press
release? How has that worked for you?
MM: Yes, they work pretty well.
KB: After what I’ve learned about
you so far, I’m pretty certain that all you set out to do works pretty well
Mary.
What is the most creative thing you
have done to attract customers?
MM: Held a party to launch the
re-branding – and used a ‘launch’ theme (boat ride), etc. to attract them!
KB: Now that doesn’t only sound creative but very fun as well! If there was one thing you wish you had (other
than time!) to help you growyour business, what would it be?
MM: More time to devote to the
strategic running of the company rather than the actual operations/service
provision.
KB: That’s something I can relate
to and I think I’ve heard many others say exactly the same thing. I guess
that’s where our Virtual Assistants are now coming in!
If you could offer a word of advice
to someone wishing to start a business in
your field, what would you tell them?
MM:
I firmly believe that everyone should
do what they love, and the money will follow.
I work on my businesses about 12 hours/day, but since I don’t consider
it ‘work’, it’s all good!
KB: Amen to that Mary! Thank you
again for taking the time to participate in this interview.
============= End==============
Mary McDonald
CEO, The McDonald Consulting Group
Performance Improvement Consulting
Let us improve your processes up to 30% in 4 easy steps!
512-280-7175
NOTE new fax # 1-603-917-5993
www.mcdcg.com
Mary is also Executive Director of AustinWIT,
the local chapter of WorldWIT (
www.worldwit.org)
Join now!
Bill's venture - online DVD rentals!
www.myonlinemoviestore.com
Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a
well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out,
shouting..."Whew! What a ride!"
