INTERVIEW WITH:
MADONNA PELTIER-YAWAKIE
TURTLE ISLAND COMMUNICATIONS
E-MAIL: mpy@turtleislandcom.com
Phone: (763) 424 6257
By Remi Douah Doua0003@umn.edu
The purpose of this case study is to feature the work of Mrs. Madonna Peltier-Yawakie, a Minnesota entrepreneur. A phone interview was conducted with Madonna to capture and record her experience as the business owner of ‘TurtleIslandcom.com’. Emphasis was mainly put on her use of the Internet as a business tool. The following questions guided our phone interview. They included:
1. How long have you been using the Internet?
2. How much time do you spend everyday on the Internet?
3. How do you use e-mail as a communication tool (for example, communication with customers, vendors, or suppliers, organizations)?
4. How do you use the Internet as a business tool?
5. How did the Internet change your ways of doing business?
6. How has your business changed as a result of having your website (sales, customer service, advertising, promotion, and relation with vendors)?
7. What challenges or difficulties did you face as a result of having your website? Would you share your experience of how you overcame those?
8. Overall, how would you say using the Internet (or having the website) contributes to your business success?
9. Do you have any recommendations for small business owners considering using the Internet in their business?
Closing Digital Divide in Tribal Lands
Native Lands,
Current Places,
and History
http://www.kstrom.net/isk/maps/mapmenu.html
‘TurtleIslandcom.com’, is run and owned by Mrs. Madonna Peltier-Yawakie and her husband. It is a telecommunication firm created about 3 years ago, and focuses on addressing issues related to digital divide and access to technology in Native American communities across the U.S. She has two full-time employees and has sub-contractors around the country.
The passion to take a major role in enhancing telecommunication in Indian countries has led Madonna to use the Internet as a business tool to reach and communicate with business partners, customers, and potential customers around the country. “I have been using the Internet since 1995 for business purposes”, she says. Madonna devotes a portion of her working hours on the Internet to communicate with her colleagues and customers. She enjoys the advantages that come along with the use of the Internet. They include: Sending e-mails, attachments, receiving responses instantly from customers and partners. She says, “I spend about three hours a day on the Internet. I use it for sending e-mails, documents and attachments”.
Enjoying the wonders of the Internet
Madonna recognizes that the Internet has forced her to change the way she conducts her business. She admits that she has become more efficient in getting things done. She has also reduced the cost of operating her business to some extent. She comments, “When I first started doing typing work, I would have to run to the mailbox to send documents”. She continues, “the Internet has changed the way I do business tremendously. It is knowing I have the freedom to share information with people I am working with and getting feedback from them and being able to complete work while cutting time and costs”.
Besides communicating via e-mail, Madonna also uses the traditional telephone and face-to-face methods to interact with customers and partners. She also points out that the later is more important to her because her customers and partners need to nurture that human aspect of doing business through communication, physical and personal contact, and communication. “To share information we use conference calling and e-mailing. Typically we serve documents. We don’t use chat rooms or do any type of talking over the Internet”.
Madonna points out, “I still communicate over the telephone. We have face-to-face meetings on projects, which is crucial to our work because we still have to maintain that contact element. I think it is critical for the type of work that we do. We need to reach people, be with them, and interact with them”.
Securing her working environment
The use of the Internet does not come without paying a price. Security over the Internet is a concern. Madonna is fully aware of the fact there are some risks associated with using the Internet for business purposes. “I feel like there are some security issues”, she says. “I send some documentation, but we have some disclosure agreements to be signed by customers before we begin sharing information or before they share information”. She adds, “I am cautious when I am sending emails. I would not say overly cautious, but aware that whoever I am writing to, or when customers are writing to me, emails are sent for our eyes only, therefore we have a firewall in place”.
Indeed, Madonna is rightfully concerned about security on the Internet even though she does not engage in any financial transactions via the Internet. However, sharing classified information via the Internet does not guarantee her that her intellectual property right is protected and safe. Consequently, she takes some measures to address that issue by installing a firewall on her system to protect herself.
Designing a culture-specific website
Besides using e-mail, Madonna takes advantage of the potential of the Internet and develops a web site for her business: www.turtleislandcom.com. Madonna knows the importance of having a web site as a business tool. She comments, “to do business in today’s environment requires a web site because people who you do business with, want to know about you. Somehow they use the Internet as a resource to check your company and to do background checking. For us the Internet has been a resource and a good tool for potential clients”.
Our web site was designed by ‘Visualtechnics’and maintained by Madonna who updates it when needed. The site is made up of five major headings that include: Home; About Us; Resources; Services; and Workshops. Madonna was heavily involved in the design and content of the web site. In terms of the layout and appearance, Madonna wanted the website to have a strong Native American cultural flavor in it.
Indeed, what catches the viewer’s attention is the use of a great deal of Native American colors and images and the turtle. Madonna explains it was a marketing decision to have her web site ‘talk’ to her target audience, Native Americans in Indian countries. She comments, “The title of our company is Turtle Island Communication, our target market is tribal nations throughout the United States. We wanted the visual message, throughout our web site to be maintained and because of that visual message and its native people; we have gotten positive comments about the site”.
Targeting Tribal Nations
Indeed, Madonna capitalizes on her cultural heritage as a Native American to connect with her market audience, through the use of Native American symbols and mythology, but more important, she provides an explanation of her logo on her web site: “For indigenous people of North America, the Turtle holds significant meanings. Our origin is referred to by many of the tribal nations as, “Turtle Island”.
Creating Trust
This approach allows Madonna to create a sense of trust at two levels. First, on the cultural level, she positions herself as someone who knows her community inside and out, and the importance of its cultural symbols in the lives of her customers. She explains: “both of us [husband and her] are Native Americans and have a good understanding, because of our visits, knowing what kind of goods and services are being delivered on tribal land areas throughout the United States. We realized there was something that could be done, and that is ultimately our business”.
Second, she and her husband have the technical knowledge and expertise in issues relating to communication and the digital divide in Indian countries. She acknowledges, “My husband worked in the industry for over 15 years and myself I have over 12 years of experience in the industry. My husband worked as an engineer and I worked as a market manager. We both have significant understanding of what the industry was. We used our knowledge and applied our experiences”. She also adds, “Knowing where we came from and understanding the technical barriers and opportunities and understanding the industry and its perceptions have helped us with our business.”
Another element that contributes to creating trust via her web site is the workshops and services she offers to her customers. The workshops serve as an educational tool and a marketing tool as well. Through the workshops, she provides a wealth of information to her clients and advises them about current and relevant issues affecting their lives and communities. Secondly, she builds a close relationship with her present and potential customers.
In gaining this trust, Madonna establishes a broad and large network of businesses which work with tribal lands. She says, “What I believe about small businesses is, you need to have a track record. Workshops were done in 1998, and 1999. We offer workshops on our web site because this is the type of work we do which is very relevant. It shows that we have understanding of issues about Indians and their tribal lands before the federal government began paying attention to the issues of Indian reservations, and we contributed to national policy”.
However, it is important to note that the true essence of trust was established through the use of cold telephone calls. These calls allowed Madonna to turn potential clients into real clients. She explains, “When we first started, it was through telephone calls so, initially the telephone component may not have been so evident, but I think that over time, it led to trust. That is true of both client business relationships doing what you say you would do allowing customers to feel like as though they need or want your services”. Madonna was able to survive those initial cold calls because she could relate to her customers as they shared similar cultural backgrounds. Madonna was and remains very knowledgeable of her business telecommunications.
Understanding target market: Key to success
The success of www.turtleislandcom.com can be attributed to several factors. The first one has to do with the efficient way of using technology, the Internet. The web site is well designed in that its layout is simple and straight to the point. It is also very graceful in the way it helps the reader navigate through its links to access information.
Second, www.turtleislandcom.com has done a great job understanding its target market: Native Americans in Indian countries. As an American Indian owned company, Turtle Island, has focused on a niche that is unique, and more important, a market that both Madonna and her husband know extremely well. That knowledge is expressed in the design of their web site. The use of Native American heritage throughout the site gives the viewer a sense of belonging to a culture.
Third, Turtle Island represents a great educational tool, not only for Native Americans, but anyone who wishes to know more about issues relating to communication and digital divide in Indian countries. All of the factors mentioned above have contributed to building trust among Turtle Island customers; trust that is a vital element in the success of any company.
Finally, Turtle Island is aware of the global presence that one gets when they have a web presence. However, Madonna is not in a hurry to venture into that market. For the time being, she has one focus: Tribal nations. She concludes: “No, we haven’t done anything [with the global market]. We have, talked with people from other countries, but we have not done any work in those countries. In the area of the work we do, Tribal Nations have basic levels that are below national standards, and we feel we can invest more that needs to be done in the United States with our markets rather than going to other parts of the country [world]. We feel there are experts in other parts of the world that would be able to understand their communities and how to best serve them”.