Perfect question !  Whenever you invest in your business with marketing and advertising, you should expect that your dollars are hitting the target – or you are just throwing your dollars to the wind.  Frankly, as business owners, we work too hard for the buck for that to happen.  Traditional forms of advertising (newspaper, magazine, radio, television) can be very good forms of targeted advertising.  In an earlier  FAQ blog (Question #6) we gave some examples of not so good targeting marketing.

Our website is specifically geared to targeted marketing.  As we launched this website our primary goal was to help level the playing field for local business owners to get found by folks already searching for your goods and services over the Internet.  80% of the time when people are looking to learn about something or start the buying process they begin on the Internet.  With that in mind, we set about to develop a web portal that could link you through a series of “key words” built behind your Synergy Station Directory listing, your side bar ad, or your job listing in the Synergy Station Hiring Hall.

While our primary focus is the Bakken opportunity, our web portal can work a number of directions.  Where else can you market to the Bakken with keywords behind the scene and another market with different keywords behind the scene at the same time.  Not often we get to double dip.  That’s one of the main reasons we conduct an interview with you as we build your Synergy Station Directory listing.  We look at what else you are doing for advertising and marketing to understand how this piece on Synergy Station works with everything else you are doing.  And guess what – you can change it after it’s built.  The directory listing is as flexible as you need it to be.  If you try something and it doesn’t work, you course correct and redirection the marketing momentum.

Let’s us know if you would like a demonstration on our site, our process, and how this might be a good fit for your business.  Email us through our Synergy Station Contact Us located on our home page on the navigation bar.

Question #5 – Why isn’t everything on www.synergystation.com free?

For us untechie people can you tell me why you have to charge to be on here? Isn’t all this cyber stuff free?

Thanks for the question !  On the one hand it’s an easy question to answer and on the other it’s a hard question to answer.  So hopefully, I’ll do your question justice below:

1st – Access to information on the site is 100% Free

When we first started building www.synergystation.com (Summer of 2011) were we initially looking at this site as a project.  Something that could help bring Bakken to market efficiently and address some of the unmet needs.  A site that could help with the 24/7/365 chaos in the Williston and Sidney areas.

The site was designed to fill a need that no other entity was filling.  As we worked through our bumps and bruise (quite a lot of them I might add), we got advice from a lot of techie people and some business owners (aka not so techie people).  We even sat down and wrote a formal business plan on the site.  We thought about the the various add ons that could come on to the site over the next two years making it a pretty useful tool.  Then we rolled up the big ticket cost of bringing this site to full functionality (techie word for “full meal deal”).  We both had to share the paper bag as we began to hyperventilate.

OMG !  In the techie world, that’s not a lot of money.  But, in my world, that’s a lot of money.

Well, we were committed to make the site happen.  We didn’t want to get into this thing, have it working and truly helping people, and then have to abandon it.   So, we added the business directory  www.synergystation.com/directory to the site and monetized it.  We always knew that we wanted to have a business directory on the site, but the software to do it as Kendall envisioned it wasn’t really available.  The hard cost to design something was around $15,000 and had a lag (development time) of around 120 days.

Thank goodness for our relationship with Brenda at www.blastcreative.com; she and her team were instrumental in helping us launch our business directory cheaper and quicker…and just as we had pictured it.   Kendall wanted local business owners throughout Montana and North Dakota to take full advantage of this economic opportunity whether they were going to expand into the Bakken, so simply try to capture Bakken dollars as they came into their market place.  Remember an earlier FAQ question? …. when we asked folks in the Bakken what they needed and their response was “everything” !  So it really didn’t matter if you were B2B (business to business) or B2C (business to consumer); whether you were retail or wholesale.  If you, as a business were supplying “anything”; our business directory could work for you.

Our Synergy Station Hiring Hall (coming out of test mode in May 2012) works the same way.  Both the Directory and the Hiring Hall are designed to get your ad noticed in cyberspace by those looking for what you provide through SEO (search engine optimization – ya – I know techie….but it works !)

Think about Facebook – it’s free right?  Well not really.  What you give up with every key stroke is your privacy, your marketing behavior.  You use it for free, but the valuable information you “freely” share with Facebook is used to market to you.  Google operates the same way.  Every search is tracked.  They know that if you are looking for “X” that you will also be interested in “Y”.

So what is free !  For us, free is access to the information we put on the site.  They businesses that advertise job openings in the Synergy Station Hiring Hall, and the businesses that list in the Synergy Station Directory are really paying for all the coding and man power it takes to run this site.  We do things as cheaply as we can so the cost of advertising and listing is extremely affordable.

One thing that was extremely important to us was that this site was an efficient, low cost way for business owners to leverage the Bakken opportunity with minimal red tape.  So when you are using this site free access you can thank those businesses that have come along side us to make this happen for you.  Be sure to visit our Synergy Station Directory or our Synergy Station Hiring Hall .

One of the main reasons we created www.synergystation.com was to help with the 24 / 7 / 365 chaos as Bakken comes to market.  Over time our website will have additional content and features designed to respond proactively to that chaos, but for now, here are a couple examples of how we believe we are helping:

1.   We had a business from the west coast who wanted to relocate their company to the Bakken contact us.  He had been scouting the area for about a year and it was coming down to decision making time.  The owner found us via our Facebook page and emailed us a couple of questions.  I think he was trying to find specific information on our site, but at that point our site had been live for about 3 days and it was pretty bare boned.  From the email we arranged to meet for a cup of coffee.  Over our budget coffee at the WalMart McDonald’s we discussed some of the challenges to the Bakken marketplace he was struggling with.  By the end of the conversation, we had connected this out of state business owner to six Montana businesses that could help him make his business venture in Montana/North Dakota run much more smoothly.

2.  A couple of young entrepreneurs from Utah were just finishing with a project in southern Utah and were looking for the next thing.  A few of their friends had ended up in the Williston Basin with a truck wash business that was turning out to be fairly successful.    Before they took their first scouting trip, they wanted to know who they should connect with in the Williston area to make the most of their time.  We spent about an hour on the phone connecting them to various companies in the Bakken marketplace to help them with their proposed business idea.  Some of their companies were already in our Synergy Station business directory, but some of the contacts we gave them were folks we knew personally in the eastern Montana, western North Dakota area.

3.  Our Synergy Station Hiring Hall, www.synergystationhiringhall.com  (which is currently in test mode) was bolted on to our main website, www.synergystation.com on Christmas Eve morning by our techie guru.  I posted a couple of jobs to the new site which I poached from Monster.com, CareerBuilders.com, and a couple of online recruiters who are actively recruiting for the oil patch. I posted these openings to build a baseline for the new Hiring Hall site so I could see what would attract on the Internet.  Now, remember this was Christmas Eve morning.  For the next day and a half my husband and I were actively buildings Barbie dollhouses, Barbie furniture, trikes, and various other toys with horrible assembly instructions!  On Monday morning, the day after Christmas, I logged on to the site.  We had a resume from someone in Australia that was interested in a position in the oil field that required a Masters in Geology.  How did he find us ?  The site was live, but not really all that visible….or so I thought.  I don’t fully understand how, even after my techie guru explained it to me, but the way our main site is built, as well as the Synergy Station Hiring Hall, and the Synergy Station Directory, is to maximize their ability to get found through a Google search (or any other search engine for that matter).  She (yes our techie guru is a girl !) has helped us to create a website that helps everyone participating in the Synergy Station Directory or the Synergy Station Hiring Hall to get found by businesses and consumers that are looking for you.  I share this story – not because we actually helped someone directly with the job posting in test mode, but to give you some insight into how businesses that are listing in our directory or jobs that are listed on our Hiring Hall are getting found with simple Google searches for key words. What this example showed me is that it didn’t matter that our site fairly new.  What mattered was that it’s set up correctly to help connect people.  There are some amazing sites out their regarding the Bakken, but they aren’t optimized  or set up very well to get found.

4.  Examples of directory success.  I think the best way for you to see, is to Google the following key words to see what pops up on the first page of your Google search:

“bakken water depot”

“bakken lodging”

“archaeology + bakken”

“cultural resource management + bakken”

“social media marketing billings montana”

Some key words are harder to get to the first page of a Google search than others.  Why getting to the 1st page of Google is important?  Well, most folks believe that the cream rises to the top (OK, for those that know me, that’s the extent of my farm and ranch knowledge!).  80% of the time when we are looking for something; either to learn about something or begin the buying process we turn to the Internet.  Most folks don’t look beyond the first page of a Google search – after all the best options must be on the first page – right ?   Well – this isn’t always true, but we don’t have a lot of time to plod through page, after page trying to find whatever we are looking for.  We usually stop looking after the first two pages.  So getting to the 1st page of a Google search is pretty important if you want businesses or consumers to connect with you.

We are more than just a website that helps you get found online, however.  We are also a hotlink on the Billings Chamber of Commerce website for energy businesses.  Our Synergy Station Hiring Hall will come out of test mode sometime in May and will be promoted and sold via KTVQ2 in Billings as well as throughout the MTN network (in all but one county in Montana). We are actively networking with a number of other entities focused on this energy wave promotion.  We are the search engine sponsor for the Billings, Montana “Chamber on the Go” mobile app that will be actively promoted throughout the Bakken footprint starting in May.  1/3 of our readers find us through our Facebook page.

5.  We are actively working on an energy event/community calendar that will reach from the Bakken, to Billings, to Bismarck, and beyond. there are lots of opportunities for business owners to get connected, but no one knows about them.  There are lots of opportunities for potential oil field workers to get low cost, to no cost training, but no one knows about them.  These are just a couple of quick examples of how we are working to make things better and easier.  The #1 hot commodity for employ ability in the Bakken oil field is a CDL (commercial drivers license)….so why when the Miles Community College hosted a very low cost oil field truck driving school in Miles City, MT did they have to cancel the event (not once, but twice) – it’s because people didn’t know about it.  That’s why our #1 focus on Synergy Station is communication.  We all have a piece of information.  Share it with us on Synergy Station and let’s help each other make this economic opportunity happen!

Don’t let your eyes glaze over – this was written for the banker !

We believe we can use this immense economic opportunity to strategically direct our collective and individual destinies; but only if we (the community of stakeholders) actively engage in the process. This web portal is designed to go where ever the community needs it to go. Our mission is to provide a pathway for opportunity for all that participate.

By harnessing the combined knowledge of a variety of industry experts, organizational and educational leaders, corporate insiders, business owners, and professional bloggers we will establish a platform of world class experience. This unparalleled knowledge base will serve as a catalyst; providing the impetus to minimize inefficiency; increase productivity; build momentum for continuous coordinated growth; and assure positive, sustainable impact for all energy related activities throughout the Western Energy Corridor.

In a nutshell – let’s pull together as a community to saddle this horse and ride it for as long as we can.  The Bakken is going to happen whether we are prepared for it or not.  We can either be a driver or a passenger on this energy train.  I’d rather be a driver !

Questions lead to an idea for a business which lead to the creation of  www.synergystation.com  

I had been trekking up to the western North Dakota and the eastern Montana area presenting a business planning workshop for a safety course designed by the DOT (Department of Transportation) for about a year.  Over time I began to realize that the Bakken Boom was more than just a boom.  Due to advancements in horizontal drilling, and sectional hydraulic fracturing in the Williston Basin, serious industry and infrastructure was beginning to develop.  This wasn’t a boom – it was going to be a way of life and livelihood for a lot of folks….for a very long time.

I don’t think I fully appreciated just how big the Bakken opportunity was until I went up to the area with the Big Sky Economic Development Authority.  Prior to this trip I had simply travelled up and back with day trips.  After all – there is “NO PLACE TO STAY” in the oil patch.  With the Big Sky EDA we were able to spend more time in the area; meeting with community leaders and business owners involved in oil field exploration and development.  The experience was life changing.  By the time I got home and off the bus my eyes were spinning in my head.  I had truly never seen anything like it !  I couldn’t even get an intelligent sentence out of my mouth when I tried to share the experience with my husband.  So I did the next best thing – I took him up there the next week to see for himself.  Kendall is retired military with a logistics background – he saw things I didn’t.  We learned together as we talked to folks in the aisles of WalMart, the streets of downtown Williston, and at convenience stores diesel pumps.

People who had lost everything somewhere else in this country  due to the economic downturn, were flocking to the Bakken to try and recapture their American dream.  Folks were living out of their cars and trucks in the WalMart parking lot.  The school district in Williston, ND had over 100 kids who were homeless enrolled in the Fall of 2011.  Their families were living in some type of temporary/makeshift housing situation.  There are reported to be over 18,000 openings in the oil patch….but where do you find the jobs?  how do you get trained?  where to you live?  The wait staff in some of the restaurants were on six month work visas from foreign countries.  When we asked folks in the area what do you need?  They replied “Everything” !

How do you prioritize everything?  How do you as a business owner, whether you are an oil field service company or a business in Billings, MT take advantage of the Bakken opportunity?  How do you get your foot in the door?

We launch Synergy Station in an attempt to help.  Our main goal is to help with the 24 / 7 /365 chaos throughout the Bakken marketplace.  We primarily focus on communication, collaboration, and education – but we also connect folks to the Bakken opportunity through networking and good old fashion word of mouth referrals.  There’s that old saying that you are six people from knowing everyone on the planet – well – in Montana you are 1 1/2 people from knowing everyone else in the state.  North Dakota operates much the same way.

Our Synergy Station Hiring Hall will be launching in May 2012 – it’s designed to connect employers and potential employees.  Our Synergy Station Directory is designed to help business owners find each other.  It’s more than just a directory – its a way to get found by those trying to find you.  We’ll discuss this a bit more under a FAQ about the directory.

We started Synergy Station as a project, but we had a lot of business owners come to us and tell us that if we turned our idea, our project into a business they would come along side us to make it happen.  After all - as a project we could just wake up one day and stop writing a check to fund this favorite charity of ours; thereby derailing the momentum and potential of this site.

Our ultimate goal is to help.  We only succeed if we make a difference.  All of us have a piece of information.  All of us know someone, who knows someone….etc.  The station is not about us - it’s about all the folks that participate on the station.

We want to hear from you !  We treasure your feedback !  We want you to tell us what you need !  We want you to help us make this huge economic opportunity happen for as many people as possible !

Well this is really three questions, and each question leads you to another question – which is why we called this series “20 Questions”.

Most people find www.synergystation.com either through our Facebook page, a random Google search about the Bakken, or by someone telling you about our website.   I think the best place for me to start is to explain what the website is and how it works.

1.  The homepage is simply one gigantic blog.  Okay – what’s a blog?  Without being too technical, it’s just a online (web) log of content. A web log is known as a blog.  That content on the homepage can range from something about housing challenges in the Bakken, to environmental issues, to hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas, to business tips in the Bakken, to a funny little spoof column called, “What happened in the world this week while you were too fracking busy to notice”.  Each blog (article) is only about 500 to 700 words long.  Short and sweet.  Some blog pieces have links to other content on the site as well as links to more information off the site.

2.  You are free to roam all over the homepage (blog) at no charge reading various blog content.  You can register / subscribe if you want – it’s free as well.  Why would you subscribe?  So you can receive our newsletter and updates.  You will also need to subscribe if you want to comment on a blog you have read.  We don’t automatically publish all comment.  There is a delay, until the editor has reviewed your comments.

3.  You can put key words into the search box (located on the right hand side of the home page).  If you don’t find what you are looking for, email us (Contact on the navigation bar) and we’ll try to find the information for you, get it on the site, or email you directly the link.

4.  Go to “About Us” on the navigation bar.  It will tell you a little bit about us (the founders), why we created the site, our vision, our purpose, our mission, and who our bloggers are.

5.  Our web site is a continual work in progress.  We try to improve the site, add additional content (blogs) to the main website (www.synergystation.com) as well as add to other sections of our site:  the Synergy Station Hiring Hall and the Synergy Station Business Directory everyday.  So be sure to return to the site frequently for updated, expanded content.

6.  If you want to follow a specific subject or blogger, scroll down to the bottom of our page.  The home page is a lot longer than it looks.  Down at the very bottom on the right hand side is the RSS  section.  This is where you can subscribe (free of charge) to content that interest you.  Any new content in the category you are interested will automatically be emailed to you….until you unsubscribe.

7.  When you look at the slider on the homepage (just below the navigation bar) you will only see  @ 20 articles displayed.  The slider plays the the latest six blog pieces and generally 14 of the most popular article.  But there is a lot more content on the site.  You can search with keywords, go down to the bottom of the page and click on an RSS category, or click on a particular blogger to view additional content pieces.

8.  By cliking on the business show case logo you can quickly link to these businesses.  Some will quick link to their directory listing, their blog piece or directly to their website.  The business showcase articles are at the bottom of the home page (lower left hand side).  Or you can RSS follow business showcase articles.  Or you can type business showcase in the search box.

9.  We put the latest two to three blog pieces on popular topics on the home page under category headings such as:  housing, jobs, infrastructure, transportation, etc.

10.  If you would like to follow a particular blogger…go to the bottom of the homepage and click on their photos in order to view the various blogs pieces they have written.

11.  If I didn’t’ answer your question?  or If the above answers lead to more questions?  Feel free to either comment on this blog (this requires you to register / subscribe) or email us through our Contact page.