#230 - Bad Businessman

So, I might be just a bad businessman, or, I’m going to change the world. Either way, here are some thoughts on business and pricing in CRM and, really, everything.

There is a pretty good chance that DIGTECH is going to be merging with another company soon. We’re joining forces because the leadership of the other company are getting on in age and are looking to keep their legacy going. First, I really respect them for making this decision. There is no reason to let something you’ve built for the past 30+ years just die. That being said, there are some decisions that will have to be made.

DIGTECH Pricing Schedule

When I first started my company I was really stressing out over what to charge for my services. There are essentially four levels that need to be priced: Principal Investigator, Project Manager, Crew Chief, and Field Technician. The price you put on proposals is called the billable rate and it’s intended to cover all of your operating expenses (overhead) and is the source of your profit.

A number of companies I’ve worked for have a billable rate for PI that ranges from $85 to $150 per hour. I’ve seen an average for field technician of about $50-$60 per hour. Some companies charge more, some less. The rate is often decided by using a multiple of 2.0 to 3.0. For example, if you want to pay your field technicians $18 per hour, then multiply that by 2.5, for example, to get the billable rate ($45 in this example). Again, that rate should cover overhead and give you some profit at the same time.

Of course, I don’t really have much overhead. I’m completely digital and don’t have offices to pay for. So, do I use a multiplier that’s under 2, or, do I use a standard multiplier so I can stay up with everyone else and just make more money? That’s the big question, isn’t it?

Undercutting, or, Efficiency?

My big question is: what is the price point I can choose that pays my people well, gives the client a fair price, turns a profit, and is respectable? That last one is tricky. If your prices are too low you won’t be taken seriously; too high and you won’t win any projects.  The prices need to be somewhere in the middle.

If my prices are too low I could also be seen as undercutting by the competition. That’s a sore point with me too. Is it undercutting to work more efficiently by completely rethinking the entire business and how we do it? I don’t think so. If I’m paying my people well and growing the company while giving my clients a fair price then I’m happy. If other companies can’t compete with that then that’s not really my problem. Sounds harsh, but, times are changing and you either adapt and overcome or move out of the way.

Joint Venture Pricing

So, If I join forces with a company that’s been in business for 30+ years, what do we charge? Also, we’ll be working in both California and Nevada. Do multi-state companies have different pricing structures for different areas? You would think they do to remain competitive, but, they still have the same overhead to pay. Bringing in another, established, company will give me some of the experience I simply don’t have.

I’ve been building DIGTECH by the seat of my pants. In reality, I don’t really know what I’m doing when it comes to business development. I’ve simply never done it before. What I do have is drive, ambition, and a desire to do things better and more efficiently than they’ve been done in the past.

On the last episode of the CRM Archaeology Podcast (Episode 36) we interviewed firm owner Sonia Hutmacher. Sonia said that she recommends you start a company with $30-$50k. I started with $7k and a credit card. Still in business, though.

Anyway, we have some decisions to make over the next few months. In the end I think it will be great for both companies.

That’s about it for now. I’ve been a bit absent since my other company, Field Tech Designs LLC, has been taking up a massive amount of my time. We’re creating digital field forms for other companies and our application for Android, and eventually iOS, is well underway with development. Since the dev company is in India there are a lot of late night calls so I can work with the development team. There will be many more details to come.

Also, I'm likely starting a new business for aerial drone surveys. We'll be taking aerial photos for large mine complexes, pipelines, utility lines, archaeological excavations, road surveys, and everything else. Sure, it's illegal now, but, hopefully the FAA gets their head out of their collective...well, you know.

From XKCD, of course.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the field!

#229 SAA2014 Wrap-Up

Click on the image to go to the book's page where you can download and/or read!

Click on the image to go to the book's page where you can download and/or read!

I'm just back from the Society for American Archaeology meetings in Austin, Texas and there is a lot to cover.

Blogging Archaeology, Again

I chaired this year’s blogging archaeology session and I have to say, it was a great success. We had only six presenters—Terry Brock couldn't make it—and one discussant at the end, but, the room was full most of the time. At one point I counted about 60 people with a sizable crowd standing in the back. 

After the session there was a lively round of questions and discussion between the presenters and the audience. I only wish we could get those kinds of comments on our blogs! When we were about to be kicked out of the room a fair number of us adjourned to lunch at the Easy Tiger where the conversation continued. 

I thought about mentioning this earlier, but, decided to wait and see how the session, and my presentation, went. Here it goes: I've never presented at a conference—no posters either—and I've never chaired a session. I've seen enough to know what to do and what not to do. A number of people have congratulated me on a great session, but of course, all the credit goes to the presenters and their engaging content.

Blogging Archaeology eBook

A few months ago Doug Rocks-MacQueen and I decided to publish an eBook of the papers presented at the conference. When we asked the presenters if they'd be up for it, several declined because they were publishing elsewhere. Down to just a few papers, we opened it up to the blogosphere. We ended up with a total of 16 papers from bloggers around the world. The papers covered a wide variety of topics ranging from mortuary archaeology to social media to issues related to looting, among others. 

Since we'd planned to release the book at the beginning of the Blogging Archaeology session there were a lot of last minute tasks that needed to be attended to. That meant some intense editing and formatting time for Doug and some really long nights in Austin for me. We got it done, though, and the book is available on my website as a free download. As more people download it, access will get even better.

Blogging Archaeology, The Brand

The day before the release of the eBook, Doug and I were alerted to a possible issue with the title. We simply called the book "Blogging Archaeology" and thought no more of it. There was some concern that the title would cause confusion with the previous Blogging Archaeology session in Sacramento, the associated bogging carnival, and a publication that is yet to be released. It was too late to make a change and we went with it as is. Does it need a change, however?

At most I would add a year to the title. The phrase, "Blogging Archaeology", however, has become synonymous with this blogging and social media blitz that we’re all in. I see it the way I see tissue paper. Most people in the U.S. call tissue paper Kleenex. It’s not Kleenex, however. Kleenex is a brand. It’s the most popular brand, but, still a brand. This is similar to how some people annoyingly call all soda “coke”. In some parts of the country you can ask for a coke at a restaurant and the wait staff will ask “What kind?”.

So, “Blogging Archaeology” it is.

Papers, or lack of

There were a lot of things I would have liked to see this year. That being said, there was a distinct lack of papers I would liked to have seen as well. I felt that I was running all over the place in Hawaii last year. This year, however, my schedule was a lot lighter. Between my book release, the booth I ran for my new company, Field Tech Designs, LLC, the eBook prep, and the Blogging Archaeology session prep, I didn’t have much time for papers. But, like I said, there just wasn’t a lot I wanted to see.

When I did make it to the Great Basin session on Sunday there were a grand total of about 10 people in the room. I could hardly believe it! It’s usually quite full! Of course, since the SAAs don’t have conference tracks, many people were at the associated poster session that took place at exactly the same time. Nice job.

Friends

This year’s conference was amazing for meeting online friends, making new friends, and reconnecting with old friends. I met, for the first time, two of the people that have been recording the CRM Archaeology Podcast with me for over a year: Bill White and Stephen Wagner. Initial impressions? Bill is freakishly tall and Stephan is as snappy a dresser as he alluded to on a previous episode of the podcast!

John Lowe organized a #blogarch tweetup at one of his favorite haunts, The Liberty, for Thursday evening. A lot of people were there and it was great meeting some of the names I’ve come to know online. I even met Mr. Shovelbums himself!

Future Sessions

As I’m writing this, the submission system for #SAA2015 in San Francisco is now open. I need to submit the next #blogarch abstract, but, I’m at a loss for a title. As some have noted, the session isn’t just about blogging anymore. It’s about the broad implications of blogging and social media. To me, blogging is a form of social media anyway. So, I want a title that includes blogging and social media.

I discussed this with some people in Austin and a few thought we could take blogging out of the title. I disagree. We’re still trying to reach an audience that is unfamiliar with blogging and with social media. Until blogging becomes mainstream in professional and academic archaeology, we need it in the title.

Suggestions? Comment HERE ON THE BLOG (!) with title suggestions and abstract suggestions.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you at #SAA2015!

#228 The Best of Archaeology Blogging 2013

This is just a short post to gauge interest in a project I want to do this month.

Right now I’m editing papers about Blogging Archaeology (#blogarch) for an eBook I’m creating with Doug Rocks-MacQueen over at Doug’s Archaeology. The eBook is in association with the Blogging Archaeology session that I’m chairing at this year’s Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting being held in Austin, Texas this year. In case you’re going, the session is on Saturday, April 26th at 10am.

A number of the articles I’m reading for the eBook mention the popularity of some posts and the unpopularity of others. This made me realize an idea for another great eBook: The Best of Archaeology Blogging.

I want to collect unedited blog posts from around the world related to archaeology blogging. These aren’t just any posts, however. These are the posts that were the most popular on your blog for 2013. Popularity can be determined any way you want. You can use unique page views, comments, number of times it was re-blogged, etc.

So, if you’re interested, comment below, send me a message with the form to the right, or, email me at chriswebster@digtech-llc.com.

The Best of Archaeology Blogging book for 2014 will be announce a bit earlier in the year next year than this one was. Promise.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the field!

#227 Printing Wikipedia or How to Think Backwards

I recently hear a report on NPR about a German company that’s trying to raise money to print Wikipedia into about 80 m of books. That’s about 1,000 volumes at about 1,200 pages each; over 1 million pages. This is so stupid it makes my brain hurt.

Some of the people interviewed by NPR thought it was a fun idea and others disagreed. Of course, the tech people they interviewed thought it sounded neat from an artistic standpoint, but, ultimately thought the idea flew in the face of what Wikipedia is all about.

A couple possible supporters were librarians. They have been traditionally cautious about using Wikipedia as a resource and thought that having a print version my make it more trustworthy, somehow. Right. That makes sense. Sounds like blogging. Call it a blog and it’s not taken seriously. Print that same entry in a book and suddenly it becomes relevant and citable.

Why is this an idea? Why is it even a thing? What’s the point? By the time the volumes are printed a significant portion of Wikipedia will have changed and new articles will have been created. So, I ask again, what’s the point?

The creators of the project want to draw attention to the volume of information that is available on Wikipedia. That I get. They say that maybe more people will use the resource if it’s also available in printed form. That I don’t get. The entire premise of Wikipedia is that it’s a flexible and changing resource. It’s constantly updated and constantly improved upon. How many encyclopedia companies are still in business? Not many. There’s a reason for that.

This idea has backwards thinking written all over it. The German print company is trying to appeal to people that don’t want to use the electronic version. They want to give others a chance to use the resource that might not have access to a computer or the Internet. I understand some of that, but, in the end you can’t hold everyone’s hand. Some people just aren’t going to be able to play.

I deal with this attitude in archaeology on a DAILY basis. So many company owners, and even younger staff members, are so resistant to new technology that they’ll make the old methods work at any cost. Usually the cost is time, money, and efficiency. Until that starts to cost them business, however, they seem OK with it.

Printing Wikipedia is about as smart as hand-writing a bunch of forms you’re just going to digitize anyway. Who does that? Oh, right. EVERYONE.

At least it doesn’t look like this project will get funded. At the time of this writing the Indiegogo campaign has 31 hours left and they’ve only raise $12,530 of their $50,000 goal.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the field!

#226 Nazi War Diggers - It’s our fault, not NatGeo’s

Nazi War Diggers is a new show from NatGeo (formerly the National Geographic Channel but hipsterized to gain a new audience). The premise is similar to recent shows in this country, except that it takes place in Europe. Stars of the show dig up World War II artifacts, and apparently human remains too. I’m not going to explain the show or critique it. I’m also not going to link to the show and increase their page rank.

What I am going to do is talk about the root of the problem by first talking about Wal-Mart and Starbucks.

Wal-Mart

Why is Wal-Mart in business? They are constantly the butt of liberal jokes because “everyone knows” what kind of person shops at Wal-Mart. Their treatment of employees, both in the U.S. and in factories overseas, is pretty much well know, and yet, they’re still in business. Not only are they in business, but, they are thriving. 

So, why is Wal-Mart thriving? Because the people that shop there want them to thrive. For whatever reason, Wal-Mart customers have decided that having a major retail outlet in their small town is preferable to having a number of smaller businesses run by their friends and family.

Cost. It’s the only thing that makes sense. People shop at Wal-Mart because it’s cheap. It’s cheap enough for customers to look past the decline in small businesses that inevitably happens when Wal-Mart comes to town. It’s cheap enough for customers to not concern themselves with the treatment Wal-Mart employees receive. 

So, Wal-Mart is a crapy company with questionable ethics, but, people shop there because it’s cheap. Let me restate that: customers make the choice to shop there.

Starbuck’s

In many respects, Starbuck’s is the complete opposite of Wal-Mart. They treat their employees well, the have environmental programs in place (whether they always work is another matter, but, they’re trying), and, they actively try to have a good relationship with coffee farmers and communities in areas where they get their supplies. They’re not perfect, and, I’m sure many people reading this have objections to what I’ve said. Do the research, though, and you’ll see that it’s mostly true.

One way in which Starbuck’s is similar to Wal-Mart is that they are a corporation that tends to put similar businesses out on the street when they move in. I have a difficult time sussing out why this is. Starbuck’s isn’t cheaper, and in fact, they are usually a lot more expensive than the local places. They are consistent, however. You can go to a Starbucks in New York City, and then one in San Francisco, and have the same experience. The store will look similar, the pastries will be similar, and the coffee will taste the same. 

When I’m on the road and just want a soy latte, I go to Starbuck’s. I know what it’s going to taste like and I’m never disappointed. I’ve been to hundreds of local coffee shops around the country and a soy latte at each one tastes just a little bit different. Some are good and some are bad. If I have time to live in the neighborhood and figure out what I like then I’ll do that. If I don’t have time, I’m going to Starbuck’s. 

So why does Starbuck’s put other shops out of business? The ultimate answer is that they have what consumers want. Whatever that is isn’t important, unless you own a coffee shop. What’s important is to note that Starbuck’s didn’t put the local coffee shop out of business. The businesses friends, family, and neighbors did. In a capitalist economy, the consumer is king.

Say what you will about big business and corporations. They fact remains that consumers dictate what businesses succeed and which ones don’t. When a corporation eliminates your options they call that a monopoly and it’s illegal. It’s not a perfect system, but, it mostly works.

NatGeo

What do Wal-Mart and Starbuck’s have to do with this show and NatGeo? They didn’t decide to put other stores out of business. They didn’t decide to become huge, evil, corporations. They simply decided to give customers what they wanted and what they wanted was a place that was convenient, sometimes cheap, but always consistent. As soon as that stops, business will slow down and stores will close. Look at Best Buy and Barnes and Noble. They are responding the the growing internet marketplace by closing stores. Eventually all books and electronics will be purchased online. They didn’t realize that soon enough and the consumers made them pay for it.

So why is NatGeo not to blame? Because they’re a business. They’re a business that is in the business of giving their customers what they want. NatGeo was pitched a show that was similar to a few other shows that have been very successful. We’d all like to think that networks are run by people with sound ethics and moral principles. Wake the eff up! NatGeo is run by a corporation that is beholden to their customers and their shareholders. They have a responsibility, not for ethical programing, but for profitable programming.

Everyone seems to be upset at NatGeo, but, the only way to stop NatGeo from airing shows like Nazi War Diggers is to stop watching Nazi War Diggers. Of course, just having us ivory tower, high-minded, NPR-listening, farmer’s market only-shopping archaeologists and environmentalists stop watching isn’t going to work. Our numbers aren’t big enough. What we need to do is tell others why they shouldn’t watch the show.

Your Assignment, Should You Choose To Accept It

Be vocal. That’s it. Pretty simple, really. Tell family and friends why they shouldn’t watch the show. Tell them to tell their family and friends. Eventually, word will spread. It’s a simple theory, but as Wal-Mart shows us, people are lazy and activism is hard.

Don’t blame NatGeo for bad programming. They’re doing what their customers want them to do. NatGeo has a potential to put on some really good shows. We just have to show them that good, ethical, shows about archaeology can be what people want. Maybe we should all get together and pitch them something. Maybe a reality show about CRM archaeologists. Talk about drama…

Thanks for reading and destroy me in the comments!

#225 #BlogArch March - Where is blogging going?

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So, I completely missed February. Between trying to pay the bills, a huge proposal I had to write, and starting a second company (more on that in a future post) the time just got away from me. Nothing has changed, since I'm writing this on my iPad while walking so I don't get behind in the Great Archaeology Step Challenge over on FitBit. Maybe I need to move to Mars. That extra hour or so every day would really come in handy.

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The Question​

Doug's final question for the blogging carnival is: Where are you/we going with blogging, or, where would you like to go?"

The Answer

The simple answer is that I would like to see blogging become a jumping off point for conversations in different mediums and among different people. Good blogs should turn into TV shows, documentaries, books, and podcasts. Start the conversation on the blog and continue it elsewhere. 

Some blogs already do this in various ways. A few are syndicated on larger websites and some bloggers have been asked to write for larger media outlets. My own blog is coming out in a few weeks as a book from Left Coast Press. Well, part of a series I did, anyway.  

So, where should we be going? We should be using our blogs to engage with the public. Some bloggers seem to write for others in thier profession. To me, this is a little like preaching to the choir. I understand it in many cases, but, I think we need to spend more time explaining what we do to the public. After all, our job is only half done when the research is finished and the report is written.

​SAAs

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We'll be talking about some of this at the Blogging Archaeology session at the SAAs this year. I'm hoping to have a meetup with four of the panelists from the CRM Archaeology Podcast where we can continue the discussion. I'd like to buy a few more microphones and a mixer so we can do a live recorded question and answer show too. If you find value in what we do, click through to the website, if you're not already here, and click the donate link. Every amount helps and you'll be entered into a drawing for the book I mentioned above.

Thank you to Doug for organizing this blogging carnival! I think it's been a rewarding and insightful experience for everyone involved.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the field, and, at the SAAs! 

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#224 SCA2014 Saturday Reflections

I started the day bright and early and was at the conference center by 8am. I headed straight into the symposium that occupy much of my morning.

Californian Rock Art: Heritage Management, Scientific Studies and Sacred Landscapes

I learned a lot about rock art during this symposium. I've never formally study rock art types and documentation standards, but, I have recorded it on CRM projects. We just did basic information recording and left the hard work up to future researchers that happen to find our site within the 9000 page report that was generated. Good luck. Yay gray literature.

An image I took in 2007 at PNM. I reversed the images and played with the levels to get the petroglyphs to pop out. It's no DStretch, but, it worked.

The first paper was about a monitoring protocol for Petroglyph National Monument (PNM) near Albuquerque, New Mexico. My wife and I visited there while working on a project between Grants, NM and Chaco Canyon.

PNM is an amazing place. Just following the paths the NPS has laid out will take you past thousands of rock art panels. Some seem to be off by themselves and others are in dense groups. The proximity of the monument to civilization is it's greatest detriment. The monitoring protocol, developed by Aileen Dear, is intended to document and monitor degradation and damage to the panels. It's a massive undertaking and the only sure way to ensure long term security is to educate the public.

From www.DStretch.com

There were a couple interesting papers about great murals. These are pictographs that are mostly animals and anthropomorphs. Murals are some of the most awe inspiring ancient art that you'll ever see. There is a heavy concentration of them on the central Baja Peninsula.

Several papers were about studying Cupules, and the relief opposite, Pecked Curvilinear Nucleates (PCN). Cupules are often, if not always, pecked into soft rock called schist in order to create a powder that, when mixed with water, makes a blue paint. They are often associated with fertility rituals and often just the powder is rubbed on the body. One of the presenters mentioned a rock on a site that was full of cupules. He told his students not to touch the rock. They didn't listen. According to the presenter there were more than a few wanted, and unwanted, pregnancies. Cupules are one of the oldest forms of rock art in the world.

Pecked curvilinear nucleated.

I skipped out on some of the rock art papers to see a paper from a friend, Sylvere, about population replacement in the Channel Islands. He was reporting on some mtDNA research that was done. Their findings showed a connection to populations in New Mexico between 1000 and 1600 years ago. Makes you wonder what people learn by coming to local, regional conferences. Maybe we should be going to conferences in neighboring regions to help build our picture of prehistoric life. I smell an entirely different blog post…

Lunch was spent with Dr. Alan Garfinkel, CA rock art specialist. Following lunch I helped him set up a viewing of his film, "Talking Stone: The Rock Art of the Cosos". I saw most of the film the first night, but, it was too noisy to hear much of it. Alan has been trying to get me to work with him on the Coso rock art down at the China Lake Navy Base. A recent contract win might help with that.

The afternoon was spent chatting with old friends, some networking, and a few interviews for the podcast. Since I didn’t have a ticket for the banquet either (see the last blog entry), I went back to the hotel and tried to wrestle the treadmill into shape. It wouldn’t go. So, I did my workout outside. I was trying to get as many steps in as possible because my FitBit was about to die and I didn’t bring the charger. You don’t realize how dire this circumstance is and there is no way I can explain it. Suffice it to say that one bad, low step, day will haunt me for the next seven days. CURSE YOU FITBIT!

After my workout I had dinner with an old friend, the man with the hat (listen to the podcast for more on that…). Now I’m finishing up the evening with a blog post and I’ll do some podcast editing for a night cap. Exciting life.

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you in the field!