The Oliveri Blog

Moved my blog to OliveriDesign.com

oliveri — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:03:48 +0000

Hey folks! I have a new site up at http://OliveriDesign.com and that is where I will be blogging for now on. I am also very active on Twitter now so please follow me @brianoliveri (http://twitter.com/brianoliveri) and I will follow you back!

Finding Your Niche

oliveri — Wed, 13 May 2009 03:35:26 +0000

I’ve spent the better part of my life trying to find my niche. People have told me a million times “do what you love and the money will come”. If I had a dollar for every time I heard a variation of that statement…trust me…the money would’ve arrived a long time ago and I wouldn’t be writing this blog. I have spent several years of my life pursuing music. I started very young and by the time I was 15 years old I was playing shows in night clubs in South Florida. I attended a performing arts high school which led me to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. For the longest time I was convinced that I would make a living playing music no matter what…I remember saying to myself “I will make this happen…I don’t care if it kills me”. Well, I’m still alive and I’m not a professional musician at this point. I did have a 5 or 6 month long stretch where I made a fair amount of money playing with a blues band. We played all over the West Coast of Florida and I made fairly decent money every week. It’s funny…I thought it would never get old but before I knew it I was looking at my watch every 10 or 20 minutes to see when we would be getting off…sound familiar? It was still work! No matter what…playing music for a living can turn in to a job…especially when you’re playing in night clubs, dive bars, and random resturaunts. Anyway, after getting tired of playing strictly for money I decided to move to Orlando to have fun with music…I joined a pop punk band. We ended up having a pretty damn good run in the Orlando music scene. At the time, the Orlando scene was pretty awesome and we were having the time of our lives. After leaving the pop punk band I stayed in Orlando for about 2 years…then I moved back to the Tampa Bay Area where my entrepreneurial spirit blossomed.

Not only have I always been passionate about music but I have had a life long love affair with entrepreneurship. Business interests me just about as much as anything else. It’s crazy…I have always had this fire inside me…I want to have not just one but several successful enterprises. Over the past several years I have primarily worked in sales…not only because it paid well but because I needed a flexible schedule while going to school and playing in bands. I have sold just about everything…Nissan Cars, Acne Products, Timeshare, Newspaper & Magazine Ads, Entertainment Events, Training Products, Manufacturing Software, and even Health Benefits. I think you get the point. After all of these crazy adventures in sales I am now an Account Manager for a Mailroom Automation Company, I design websites, and I am still dabbling on eBay. I guess what I am trying to say is that you never know where your search for the perfect niche will lead you. Oh yeah…I am still playing music! I play in a band called John Q here in St Petersburg. I love music and technology!

If you want to find your niche…do what you love and the money will come…just kidding. Well, you should do something you enjoy but you also need to be realistic with yourself and be able to pay your bills. Lets not get ridiculous. If you love playing Scrabble I’m not sure if you can make a living doing it…if you can please let me know how you made it happen and I would love to give it a try one day and maybe even write a blog post about it…haha! Finding something you love that will also pay the bills can be very hard. Be creative and don’t be afraid to try something different because you never know what career you may fall in love with. Just because you always thought you would do one thing (like playing music or modeling underwear) it doesn’t mean that you will never find something else you enjoy that will also turn in to a career. If you are doing something you love and not making money maybe you need to change what you’re doing a little bit. For example, lets say you love playing chess but you can’t manage to pay the bills by playing chess alone. Maybe you should try starting a blog about chess or a chess website to teach people how to play. Who knows…maybe you will end up being on the cover of Forbes or Inc magazine because of your chess related business.

The whole point of me going on and on about finding your niche is that you may find out that what you’re doing isn’t paying the bills. If so, trying something a little different and see if it works. Don’t ever be afraid to fail. Failure means you’re getting closer to success. I have failed so many times and I’m still plugging away. Thanks for reading my rant!

It’s been a while…

oliveri — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 02:36:58 +0000

I have been extremely busy with several projects and to be honest…I almost forgot about my blog…haha! I will be back soon with some updates on what I’ve been doing. I will share with you the websites I’ve been involved in and some of the stuff I’ve been doing online to make a living. It’s been a pretty interesting few months and I am so excited about several things that I have going on. I will be back soon with more details.

Social Networking for Drummers

oliveri — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:34:40 +0000

I recently launched a new site called drummerheaven.com because I have been a drummer since I turned 8 years old. I have been involved in music my whole life and I love social media, so I figured a social networking site for drummers would be a great idea. It has similar features that you would find on myspace, facebook, or friendster but it is specifically geared towards drummers and musicians. I’ve seen some sites that offer a few social networking features for drummers, but I am trying to provide as many features as I possibly can. I think it will be a great tool for drummers, musicians, and fans to network via the web. I love the name drummerheaven.com and when I originally bought the domain name I had something totally different in mind…until I found a sweet social media platform called kick apps that really enabled me to launch this site in a lot less time than I ever imagined possible. I could have met with my development team and developed something like this with not nearly as many features to get the wheels turning (in regards to the idea of a social networking website for drummers, musicians, and fans). The problem was that it would have taken me so much more time. I didn’t have a lot of time on my hands to start this project, so I took the path of using a very kick apps social media platform. Get it? Very kick apps….haha! Like kick bleep! I mean…kcik a@$! Just kidding. Anyway, if you have a minute after reading this long winded post please check out my latest side project by going to www.drummerheaven.com now. Keep your eyes peeled for more blog posts in the near future. Talk to you later.

Starting fresh in 2009

oliveri — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 22:23:46 +0000

I know this may sound very cliche, but I really feel like I will be starting fresh in 2009. I’ve told people this before “everyday is starting a new year if you really want to get technical.” Does that make any sense to you? Haha! Either way, what better day than January 1, 2009 to start fresh and begin some new ventures! I finally finished several projects that I wanted done before 2009 and I just made it yesterday which was just a few days before the new year. I wanted to get everything from 2008 done and start fresh in 2009. It looks like I will have a more consistent income starting January 5, I will be working on some new websites starting mid January, and I will be working on some new projects of my own this year. I am looking forward to a prosperous year and I can’t wait to accomplish some of the goals that I have in mind for 2009. I have many goals written down and a specific list of to do’s that will most definitely be done by the middle of this year. I hope you all had a great holiday and I hope you have a happy new year!!

Quit While You’re Ahead

oliveri — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:34:27 +0000

I was visiting a client a couple days ago and I happened to notice an interesting looking business next door. It was a chopper repair shop with a funny name…I wouldn’t dare mention the real name of the shop…let’s just say it was called The Hogdoc. I decided to stop in to see if I could do anything to help this “Hogdoc” get more business. I looked at his sign, business cards, and flyers and I did not see a web address anywhere. When I first met the owner I had sparked some interest when I told him I could get his business cards printed for about half the price he was already paying. Naturally, my first question after building a little rapport and getting him interested in printing was “do you have a website or a myspace Joe?” He looked at me like I was speaking in tongues and brandishing a rusty pocket knife. His reply was something to the effect of “A damn website won’t help me…all they do is cause problems. Besides, my brother owns a multi-million dollar web design company down in South Florida.” What do you think I asked him next? Neglecting the fact that the first part of his reply was that a website won’t help him I said “Your brother owns a multi-million dollar web design company? Why don’t you have his programmers throw together something for you?” I guess the generation gap wasn’t helping and my comment kind of offended him. He looked disgusted and said to me “I told you…I don’t need a website…it won’t help me.” I figured I would keep pressing the issue to see if I could talk some sense in to him, but my efforts would not penetrate his thick skull nearly enough. I think I persisted enough to even scare him off and blow the chance of getting his printing orders every month.

My point? The reason why I decided to write this blog is sometimes you just need to know when to quit. In many situations I have learned that if I would have just quit while I was ahead things would have been much easier. For example, the Hogdoc would have been easier to close on printing business if I would have just shut my mouth about web design. Some folks just don’t understand the power of the internet and some never will. What’s that old poker saying? Wait…was it a Kenny Rogers song? “Know when to hold em, know when to fold em” or was it “know when to fold em, know when to hold em.” Either way, you just gotta know when to shut your damn mouth sometimes…quit while you’re ahead.

Social Networking for Business

oliveri — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:34:15 +0000

Sigh…Social Networking for Business. It seems like so much more to keep up with doesn’t it? I’ve heard business colleagues say things like “Man..I need to update facebook, myspace, linkedin, twitter, and my wordpress blog today. Will it really help my business or am I just spinning my wheels?”

Social networking will help your business in many ways. If you are just getting started focus your time on one or two social networks at a time rather than killing yourself with every one on the web. If your target market is people under the age of 30 then you may want to start with myspace and twitter. If you are looking to target a more professional group then you may want to start with facebook and linkedin.

Establish your credentials by writing a detailed profile. Make sure you include your contact information and web address or multiple web addresses if you have more than one website. Being that profiles from social networks are captured by search engines make sure your profile is keyword rich. Brand yourself…whatever it is that you consider yourself to be an expert in should be what you write in your social network profile. Photos make your profile look so much more personal. Make sure you upload photos that you are comfortable with anyone seeing…you don’t want clients (or potential clients) running across pictures of you and your buddies getting trashed on Saint Patrick’s Day.

Take advantage of the great resources available through social networks. Join forums related to your field and put yourself out there. Let people know what you do and how you can help. Make sure you don’t post anything you will regret though…don’t be emo (emotional). You want to contribute to discussions in a positive way. Other users will start to recognize that you know what you are doing.

Do not be a friend floozy (floo·zy also floo·zie – A woman regarded as tawdry or sexually promiscuous – Dictionary.com). You want quality not quantity when it comes to friends on any social network. I have had profiles with thousands of random friends and it really didn’t benefit me. Be weary of friend requests from spammy looking profiles and people that are not really on a network to be productive.

That is about all I have to say about social networking for business…at least for now. I appreciate you reading my blog and if you ever have any questions about what I am writing about please let me know.

Brian O.

Slashing Marketing Budgets

oliveri — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:02:54 +0000

It may sound crazy, but it’s a reality in today’s economy. Companies that are struggling to survive right now are tempted to cut marketing budgets regardless of the potential consequences. Think about it for a minute. Your marketing budget is what keeps you alive especially in the hardest times. Wouldn’t it be counterproductive to cut your marketing campaigns? No amount of cutting marketing costs is going to generate more revenue for you and your company. On the other hand, you need to keep track of your campaigns and decide what does work and what does not work. If something is working and generating sales you should not even consider cutting it out of your budget. If something is not working or only working to a very minimal degree then go ahead and slice and dice it all you want. Instead of taking that money and spending it on something else like a vacation…try something new! There’s so many ways to promote your business these days. You can spread out your marketing budget and use several methods that actually converts your web traffic in to sales. A good mix of marketing strategies will take your company to the next level regardless of the current economy…well…that’s assuming you have a great product or service, excellent customer service (customer love), and the right amount of talented people to get the job done. There’s a million things that go in to a successful business. My point is that without marketing you are pretty much digging your theoretical grave. Lets go over some marketing strategies that have worked for me and my colleagues.

The right mix takes expert guidance. Do you do your own taxes? If you do…god bless you. Most people that own successful businesses hire experts for tasks they do not have a complete handle on. Sorry for the tangent about hiring an expert…it just makes the most sense. Here’s a list of marketing strategies that have helped me in the past.

TV Ads
Direct Mail
ONLINE – Websites, Social Media (Blogging, Social Networks, Forums, & Podcasts), Banner Ads, Video Ads, e-Newsletters, Email Marketing, Search (Paid & Organic), Online Press Releases, Online Media Partnerships, etc.

The online marketplace has changed the way we sell products and services. Take advantage of this…don’t let the competition get ahead of you because you waited around. Get out there and start marketing online whether you are spending money or not…do something and see for yourself why every major company spends more and more money every year on online marketing. Start out small and build…one step at a time. Nothing happens overnight.