This is a subject that has been written about for thousands of years. For starters, the Bible has many references to feeding the poor and less fortunate as a fundamental way of demonstrating our humanity. The drive to my Hollywood office on a recent morning brought a new perspective on the subject for me. I don’t often think of a California freeway as a temple of enlightenment and insight, but I’ll accept it whenever it comes. While exiting the Santa Monica Freeway I was greeted by the all too familiar sight of an able bodied young man standing at the ramp’s edge holding a cardboard sign. Regardless of the actual wording of the sign, he did deliver on the stereotype by asking for a cash contribution to help him “get something to eat.” With a smile and a “not this time” I drove on. However just around the corner and fifty feet up the street was another young man standing on the median next to a bucket of flowers and he was holding a bouquet in his hand which was for sale. It dawned on me that both people were in effect asking to be fed but with two different approaches.
So, I asked myself why one man was begging for money while the other was being entrepreneurial and offering something of tangible value in exchange for a few dollars. In that set of circumstances my actions are often guided by the old phrase “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Though many people think that comes from the Bible, it is actually a Chinese proverb. In my opinion giving a person money to buy a meal is simply doing them a favor while teaching them to use their abilities to earn money is really teaching one of life’s most valuable lessons. Which one leaves you with a better feeling long after the moment has passed? Personally I’m most fond of the people who want to learn to fish.
I believe that self reliance can be taught and learned. Our non-profit corporation The Making It Institute for the Advancement of Business (www.MakingItInstitute.org) recently produced a live event that brought together a group of accomplished small business superstars with newer business owners who are hungry to learn how to grow their enterprises. I’m a strong believer that the best way to learn is to learn from the best and that knowledge equals freedom. Our criteria for being a superstar business owner was that you had to have started with very little money and built the business to an annual gross of $10 million or more. There was a wonderful surprise when I invited a diverse group of entrepreneurs to give of their time and share knowledge with ambitious growing business owners. They all responded with an enthusiastic yes! Their impressive businesses range from sales of about $20 million to $750 million. There were no get rich quick stories, no shortcuts to success, and no quick fixes for problems. They nourished the attendees with the truthful real life business experiences that their successes were built on. What the superstar entrepreneurs said was like water to a parched desert plant as the attendees perked up, took a lot of notes and applauded the speakers.
That entrepreneurial spirit and thinking can change lives and I’ve seen it happen. Some years ago I sat with a Los Angeles grandmother who lived in the Jordan Downs housing project, a pretty tough area. She had been accepting welfare assistance for years but had decided that kind of charity didn’t match with the image she had of herself. She was hungry for something better. There was a lot of emotion as she told me of how she’d taken a bus to the wholesale district downtown and found an importer who would sell her athletic socks at wholesale prices. Back in the housing project, she went door to door selling packages of the socks! That was indeed the beginning of an important change in her life, self reliance and freedom from the drug of welfare money. Heralded government programs such as “The War on Poverty” didn’t change her life, but starting her own micro-business did.
One of the reasons that I’m totally devoted to promoting the entrepreneurial spirit in America today is that I see a great hunger in people across the country who want to learn how to transform their lives in successful ways. That yearning that I observe goes far beyond just tallying up dollars. People want to feel good by bringing principled leadership to their business and family lives. They want to feel hopeful and the kind of real security that comes from self reliance and freedom of choice. Part of the general anger we have with most politicians these days and with some mega business CEOs is the absence of principled and values driven leadership. Our group of superstar small business owners got to their special place by embracing those principles along with their persistent pursuit of a personal vision.
Thinking of those two men standing at the Crenshaw Boulevard exit of the Santa Monica freeway, I wonder about the self images that each carries around with himself. Obviously they were both hungry for something because you generally don’t work street corners unless you are truly motivated. Did the person holding the cardboard sign see himself as a helpless beggar or a as a victim of societal influences? When someone told him that he couldn’t succeed, did he begin to believe it? Why did he lose a sense of hope? Was the man waving a bouquet of flowers holding onto an inner vision of building a much larger business by learning to hustle no matter how humble the enterprise? Who convinced him that selling flowers on the street was an opportunity and potential pathway to a better life? Since I know that our inner picture of ourselves drives our outer actions, my goal is to help people see their true personal potential through our “Making It!” television program and the work of the Making It Institute.
Food for the soul and human spirit is perhaps the hardest meal to find, consume and fully digest. I believe that entrepreneurial thinking is the plate on which that meal is well served. Everyone has dreams and yearnings that can be turned into goals to be passionately pursued. When we as a nation learn how to care for and feed that hunger, we become truly unstoppable.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Smart Marketing & Advertising: Don't Overlook The Obvious
What Do You Stand For?
What does a consumer think of when they hear your company’s name? You’d be amazed how different it can be from what you’d like them to be thinking.
Typically, they might not think of you at all. Or it might be a fuzzy, don’t-really-know-much-about you impression.
Good vs. Indifferent
There’s a radio campaign on the air right now for Romano’s Macaroni Grill which is smart, targeted, and makes me want to go there. As a bona-fide Italian, I tend to avoid any place that has ‘chain’ written on it. But I love what their commercials are telling me and how enjoyably they say it. No gimmickry; just well-conceived, nicely-produced work.
I told one of their competitors that they were literally eating his lunch. He wasn’t sure what to do about it. I offered to meet with him – no charge. He said he was too busy to get to it (but he acknowledged he could probably benefit from it). Is it any wonder he’s closing stores versus opening them?
This isn’t about how capable I am; it’s about how asleep some entrepreneurs and company managements are.
Think It Through
How do you want consumers to perceive you? Are you smart? Sassy? Great value? Convenient? (a word to the wise – if you’re all of these things, refrain from saying it all in one ad. The mind can only hold onto one key idea at a time.)
What have you budgeted for your marketing program? Anything? Too little? Too much (yes, it’s possible).
Who are your customers? What are their habits in terms of TV or Cable or Social Media?
How can you reach them?
Marketing and Advertising work when there is planning and strategy involved. Seat of one’s pants doesn’t cut it. Find out about your customers. Call them from time to time. Ask them if there’s anything you can be doing that would be helpful to them. Or, email them the same thing.
It isn’t You Versus Them. It’s You Because of Them.
The Right Message Throughout
Moreover, make sure whatever messages you send (and advertising = messages) represent your company accurately.
There needs to be a decided point of view. This comes back to the initial quote at the top of this article: What do you want them to think? That you’re buttoned-up? Friendly and Fun? Unique? Relevant? Affordable? All these things? (If so, be prepared to prioritize them for your Message Givers – i.e, your advertising and marketing people).
It starts, simply enough, with what’s on your Business Card. How it looks, what it says.
The same messaging should be reflected throughout everything that emanates from your company - from stationery and brochures to television commercials and online communications.
Consistency matters. Carving out a niche in prospects’ minds matters. The resources you choose matter. I had a very successful business owner tell me he was happy with a resource he chose – though getting the work was like pulling teeth. Sometimes, that’s too high a price to pay.
Know Your Business
You probably think this is stating the obvious. Except that I’m somewhere between puzzled and impressed with the way business owners describe their businesses. It’s the answer you want to the question people invariably ask you, “What do you do?” “I make widgets” is an answer. “I have the largest-selling widget business on the West Coast” is a better answer (if it’s true). “I make widgets with a special feature that cuts ten minutes off of the time it takes to install.” Or, “I make widgets that cost less than any other widget on the market.”
See the point? Be specific and sell while you’re doing it. Sell not only what you do, but why it’s good; ideally, why it’s better.
Bottom line, Smart Marketing & Advertising Are Selling
From the benefit your product or service provides to the logo you use on your business card, to messages you communicate – and communicate consistently -– it’s all selling. The challenge always is to decide what your best selling points are and then to make them in a way that allows people to think positively about your brand.
What does a consumer think of when they hear your company’s name? You’d be amazed how different it can be from what you’d like them to be thinking.
Typically, they might not think of you at all. Or it might be a fuzzy, don’t-really-know-much-about you impression.
Good vs. Indifferent
There’s a radio campaign on the air right now for Romano’s Macaroni Grill which is smart, targeted, and makes me want to go there. As a bona-fide Italian, I tend to avoid any place that has ‘chain’ written on it. But I love what their commercials are telling me and how enjoyably they say it. No gimmickry; just well-conceived, nicely-produced work.
I told one of their competitors that they were literally eating his lunch. He wasn’t sure what to do about it. I offered to meet with him – no charge. He said he was too busy to get to it (but he acknowledged he could probably benefit from it). Is it any wonder he’s closing stores versus opening them?
This isn’t about how capable I am; it’s about how asleep some entrepreneurs and company managements are.
Think It Through
How do you want consumers to perceive you? Are you smart? Sassy? Great value? Convenient? (a word to the wise – if you’re all of these things, refrain from saying it all in one ad. The mind can only hold onto one key idea at a time.)
What have you budgeted for your marketing program? Anything? Too little? Too much (yes, it’s possible).
Who are your customers? What are their habits in terms of TV or Cable or Social Media?
How can you reach them?
Marketing and Advertising work when there is planning and strategy involved. Seat of one’s pants doesn’t cut it. Find out about your customers. Call them from time to time. Ask them if there’s anything you can be doing that would be helpful to them. Or, email them the same thing.
It isn’t You Versus Them. It’s You Because of Them.
The Right Message Throughout
Moreover, make sure whatever messages you send (and advertising = messages) represent your company accurately.
There needs to be a decided point of view. This comes back to the initial quote at the top of this article: What do you want them to think? That you’re buttoned-up? Friendly and Fun? Unique? Relevant? Affordable? All these things? (If so, be prepared to prioritize them for your Message Givers – i.e, your advertising and marketing people).
It starts, simply enough, with what’s on your Business Card. How it looks, what it says.
The same messaging should be reflected throughout everything that emanates from your company - from stationery and brochures to television commercials and online communications.
Consistency matters. Carving out a niche in prospects’ minds matters. The resources you choose matter. I had a very successful business owner tell me he was happy with a resource he chose – though getting the work was like pulling teeth. Sometimes, that’s too high a price to pay.
Know Your Business
You probably think this is stating the obvious. Except that I’m somewhere between puzzled and impressed with the way business owners describe their businesses. It’s the answer you want to the question people invariably ask you, “What do you do?” “I make widgets” is an answer. “I have the largest-selling widget business on the West Coast” is a better answer (if it’s true). “I make widgets with a special feature that cuts ten minutes off of the time it takes to install.” Or, “I make widgets that cost less than any other widget on the market.”
See the point? Be specific and sell while you’re doing it. Sell not only what you do, but why it’s good; ideally, why it’s better.
Bottom line, Smart Marketing & Advertising Are Selling
From the benefit your product or service provides to the logo you use on your business card, to messages you communicate – and communicate consistently -– it’s all selling. The challenge always is to decide what your best selling points are and then to make them in a way that allows people to think positively about your brand.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
John Wooden - Beyond Category
Some years ago at a Los Angeles fundraising event I added my applause to hundreds of other clapping hands in salute to John Wooden, the long retired UCLA basketball coach. Like most people in that room, I’d never met coach Wooden but was enthralled by his legendary winning record and his almost beatific presence that evening. Now that his body has died, an untold number of us recognize his unique spirit that defied the confines of being labeled as just a basketball coach.
For me, the magic of learning about Mr. Wooden’s approach to his life and his profession is that his guiding principles easily transcend the athletic arena and have value for anyone who wants to maximize their talents and interests. Like all great inspirational figures, part of his legacy is a treasure trove of phrases that put his ideas into bite sized and memorable quotations. An example is “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." No matter what business or stage of life you are in, I think you’d benefit from reading any one of Coach Wooden’s books. I’d suggest having a look at “Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and Off the Court.” On Amazon, the book has a five-star rating with seventy nine reader reviews which is quite an endorsement for the value of its contents. That may not be the New York Times best seller list, but it is real world success. You’d do well to cuddle up with that one if you are wondering how to build a team that can take your enterprise to a higher level of accomplishment. Small business owners often complain of not having the time to read enough but that really is the easiest way to feed your mind the necessary high value information pertinent to growing a company.
Just about anyone who is serious about personal development has looked at or at least heard about John Wooden’s “Pyramid of Success” which puts his guiding principles into an easy to read graphic form. The expressed values written on the pyramid were foundational to his herculean accomplishments. Most of us would be thrilled with equaling just a piece of his work. Wooden’s successes include 10 NCAA national basketball championships in 12 years (including 7 in a row!), 88 consecutive victories, and 38 straight NCAA tournament victories, many coach-of-the-year honors, "Sports Illustrated's" sportsman of the year, a lifetime winning percentage of over 80%, and the first man to be elected to college basketball's hall of fame as both a player and coach.
I like coach Wooden’s definition of success which he expressed as the "peace of mind that is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming." That is a principle that I see often at the highest levels of sports and business. Sometimes we spend much too much time comparing ourselves to others, including our competitors and even our friends. I’m told that Wooden didn’t pay much attention to scouting what opposing teams were doing but instead worked long and hard with his players to maximize their potential because true champions are really only playing against themselves. When you pause to think about high achievers such as Lance Armstrong, Steve Jobs, Muhammad Ali and Thomas Edison at the peak of their powers, their results went far beyond others in their fields. In the ultimate feat of setting their own high standards, they had competitors, but no equals.
John Wooden didn’t write about complex ideas with all sorts of research footnotes. And very little of what he really taught is about basketball. I can see that he lived his life based on a clear set of principles, values and ideals. As I read tributes to him from past members of his championship teams, some of them didn’t realize how wise and helpful he was until many years had passed. For the rest of us who never had a chance to get an earful of his guidance, we are fortunate that beyond the books there are a number of audio and video interviews that survive. The trove of his quotes is rich with ideas for management, leadership or parenting such as “The best thing we could do for those we love is to not do what they’re capable of doing for themselves.” At a time when America is stumbling a bit and searching for true heroes to show us a path forward, Wooden’s life is a guiding light to how we can grow the hero within ourselves. Some days we simply have to be our own coach. It is easy to simply box and package John Wooden as little more than a basketball coach but I see him as having grown far beyond that---in fact I think that he was beyond category.
For me, the magic of learning about Mr. Wooden’s approach to his life and his profession is that his guiding principles easily transcend the athletic arena and have value for anyone who wants to maximize their talents and interests. Like all great inspirational figures, part of his legacy is a treasure trove of phrases that put his ideas into bite sized and memorable quotations. An example is “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." No matter what business or stage of life you are in, I think you’d benefit from reading any one of Coach Wooden’s books. I’d suggest having a look at “Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and Off the Court.” On Amazon, the book has a five-star rating with seventy nine reader reviews which is quite an endorsement for the value of its contents. That may not be the New York Times best seller list, but it is real world success. You’d do well to cuddle up with that one if you are wondering how to build a team that can take your enterprise to a higher level of accomplishment. Small business owners often complain of not having the time to read enough but that really is the easiest way to feed your mind the necessary high value information pertinent to growing a company.
Just about anyone who is serious about personal development has looked at or at least heard about John Wooden’s “Pyramid of Success” which puts his guiding principles into an easy to read graphic form. The expressed values written on the pyramid were foundational to his herculean accomplishments. Most of us would be thrilled with equaling just a piece of his work. Wooden’s successes include 10 NCAA national basketball championships in 12 years (including 7 in a row!), 88 consecutive victories, and 38 straight NCAA tournament victories, many coach-of-the-year honors, "Sports Illustrated's" sportsman of the year, a lifetime winning percentage of over 80%, and the first man to be elected to college basketball's hall of fame as both a player and coach.
I like coach Wooden’s definition of success which he expressed as the "peace of mind that is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming." That is a principle that I see often at the highest levels of sports and business. Sometimes we spend much too much time comparing ourselves to others, including our competitors and even our friends. I’m told that Wooden didn’t pay much attention to scouting what opposing teams were doing but instead worked long and hard with his players to maximize their potential because true champions are really only playing against themselves. When you pause to think about high achievers such as Lance Armstrong, Steve Jobs, Muhammad Ali and Thomas Edison at the peak of their powers, their results went far beyond others in their fields. In the ultimate feat of setting their own high standards, they had competitors, but no equals.
John Wooden didn’t write about complex ideas with all sorts of research footnotes. And very little of what he really taught is about basketball. I can see that he lived his life based on a clear set of principles, values and ideals. As I read tributes to him from past members of his championship teams, some of them didn’t realize how wise and helpful he was until many years had passed. For the rest of us who never had a chance to get an earful of his guidance, we are fortunate that beyond the books there are a number of audio and video interviews that survive. The trove of his quotes is rich with ideas for management, leadership or parenting such as “The best thing we could do for those we love is to not do what they’re capable of doing for themselves.” At a time when America is stumbling a bit and searching for true heroes to show us a path forward, Wooden’s life is a guiding light to how we can grow the hero within ourselves. Some days we simply have to be our own coach. It is easy to simply box and package John Wooden as little more than a basketball coach but I see him as having grown far beyond that---in fact I think that he was beyond category.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Graduating to What
All over America, the cap and gown rental business is celebrating the best month of their year as high schools and colleges release a fresh crop of smiling graduates. Parents are in that pride parade, having demonstrated some level of parenting skills and/or sound money management. If you are a graduate, especially at the college and university level you may be filled with a mixture of pride and anxiety. There is a sense of pride at completing years of study and hopefully learning a lot, but with this also comes the anxiety of not being sure of what you are graduating to.
Some good news is that this year’s college graduates face better job prospects than the disheartening job market encountered by last year’s grads. But that doesn’t mean the job market is in a happy place. Starting salaries are a bit lower and according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, there will be only 5% more job offers to this group of graduates than the previous year. Last year job offers were off by 20% from 2008 levels.
There is however a double opportunity in all of this for employers and job seekers. For small business owners, this job market offers the possibility of picking new employees from a broader and deeper pool of prospects. If you are looking for an opportunity, a smaller entrepreneurial company can offer a vibrant, growth oriented and probably grateful atmosphere. Since the seductive fragrance of easy money has at least temporarily evaporated from Wall Street, smart and eager young men and women are considering other paths. I’m not surprised that computer science and finance remain the hot fields according to recruiters. Sadly for me as I survey the scene, some of the graduates are so traumatized by the slim job pickings that they are opting for the academic default position which is to remain in school for advanced studies. If you are one of those people, I can almost hear the groans from your parents.
My advice for graduates at any level is that you have to think like an entrepreneur or business owner because that is what you really are. You are the marketing manager, sales VP and fulfillment officer in a business of one, that enterprise being you! Even if you don’t have any current interest in starting an independent business of your own, you are functionally in business for yourself with the responsibility of creating a desirable personal brand and selling yourself into the right situation. If you have a clear feeling about the field you’d like to grow and prosper in, the rest is about strategies, tactics and persistence.
If there is a magic bullet for navigating the success path, it is simply persistence and I don’t know if today’s graduates really know what that means. Ray Kroc, the man who launched McDonald’s into being a national franchise used to keep a plaque on his office wall inscribed with words from the 30th U.S. President Calvin Coolidge. “Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
So, couple that persistence with credentials, and connections and you have three of the most important tools to grow your personal brand and business of one.
Hopefully you got the credentials in exchange for the thousands of dollars and hours that went into fulfilling your deal with the education system. As for connections, you must realize that you’ve been them since kindergarten. Establishing a great a network of acquaintances and friends is like creating a lush garden. If you nourish it, it will nourish you. There are two books on effective networking that I recommend to every young person who works with me. A foundational volume is “Dig Your Well before You’re Thirsty” by Harvey Mackay. The other book is by Keith Ferazzi and is titled “Never Eat Alone.” Mackay sums up the reason for developing his amazing networking habits by saying “other people know other things—and other people—that I don’t know.”
I feel that our formal education system has become so heavy with administrators that it operates in a kind of slow motion, too often training people for opportunities that have sometimes passed them by. You want to be looking where the opportunities are going to be flourishing five or more years in the future. For example, it may be green technology or teaching people how to navigate the labyrinth of the health care system. Trying to see ahead is like an ability that great athletes such as hockey player Wayne Gretsky had. He didn’t make his moves based on where the puck actually was at the time—he skated to where he thought the puck was going.
You might as well start thinking and behaving with an entrepreneurial attitude right now even if you don’t have a desire to own a business that employs others. I believe that our social, political and financial structures are changing in substantial ways and that entrepreneurial thinking will get you where you want to go. Sixty years ago, one working person could support a household of four or more people, politicians qualified as true leaders and investors could expect steady if modest returns on their capital. Today all of those expectations are suffering San Andreas Fault type shaking. The graduating class of 2010 has to learn a set of life’s fundamentals that were readily apparent to our ancestors regardless of their level of formal education. Having clear goals, focus and positive expectations are among those fundamentals. As my flight instructor said when I was granted my first pilot’s license many years ago, “Congratulations Nelson, you now have a license to learn.” After the proud graduation walk and the loving hugs of parents and friends, I hope you know that the freshly printed diploma offers no guarantees but it is a license to learn. The day may come when the signature on your paycheck is your own.
Some good news is that this year’s college graduates face better job prospects than the disheartening job market encountered by last year’s grads. But that doesn’t mean the job market is in a happy place. Starting salaries are a bit lower and according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, there will be only 5% more job offers to this group of graduates than the previous year. Last year job offers were off by 20% from 2008 levels.
There is however a double opportunity in all of this for employers and job seekers. For small business owners, this job market offers the possibility of picking new employees from a broader and deeper pool of prospects. If you are looking for an opportunity, a smaller entrepreneurial company can offer a vibrant, growth oriented and probably grateful atmosphere. Since the seductive fragrance of easy money has at least temporarily evaporated from Wall Street, smart and eager young men and women are considering other paths. I’m not surprised that computer science and finance remain the hot fields according to recruiters. Sadly for me as I survey the scene, some of the graduates are so traumatized by the slim job pickings that they are opting for the academic default position which is to remain in school for advanced studies. If you are one of those people, I can almost hear the groans from your parents.
My advice for graduates at any level is that you have to think like an entrepreneur or business owner because that is what you really are. You are the marketing manager, sales VP and fulfillment officer in a business of one, that enterprise being you! Even if you don’t have any current interest in starting an independent business of your own, you are functionally in business for yourself with the responsibility of creating a desirable personal brand and selling yourself into the right situation. If you have a clear feeling about the field you’d like to grow and prosper in, the rest is about strategies, tactics and persistence.
If there is a magic bullet for navigating the success path, it is simply persistence and I don’t know if today’s graduates really know what that means. Ray Kroc, the man who launched McDonald’s into being a national franchise used to keep a plaque on his office wall inscribed with words from the 30th U.S. President Calvin Coolidge. “Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
So, couple that persistence with credentials, and connections and you have three of the most important tools to grow your personal brand and business of one.
Hopefully you got the credentials in exchange for the thousands of dollars and hours that went into fulfilling your deal with the education system. As for connections, you must realize that you’ve been them since kindergarten. Establishing a great a network of acquaintances and friends is like creating a lush garden. If you nourish it, it will nourish you. There are two books on effective networking that I recommend to every young person who works with me. A foundational volume is “Dig Your Well before You’re Thirsty” by Harvey Mackay. The other book is by Keith Ferazzi and is titled “Never Eat Alone.” Mackay sums up the reason for developing his amazing networking habits by saying “other people know other things—and other people—that I don’t know.”
I feel that our formal education system has become so heavy with administrators that it operates in a kind of slow motion, too often training people for opportunities that have sometimes passed them by. You want to be looking where the opportunities are going to be flourishing five or more years in the future. For example, it may be green technology or teaching people how to navigate the labyrinth of the health care system. Trying to see ahead is like an ability that great athletes such as hockey player Wayne Gretsky had. He didn’t make his moves based on where the puck actually was at the time—he skated to where he thought the puck was going.
You might as well start thinking and behaving with an entrepreneurial attitude right now even if you don’t have a desire to own a business that employs others. I believe that our social, political and financial structures are changing in substantial ways and that entrepreneurial thinking will get you where you want to go. Sixty years ago, one working person could support a household of four or more people, politicians qualified as true leaders and investors could expect steady if modest returns on their capital. Today all of those expectations are suffering San Andreas Fault type shaking. The graduating class of 2010 has to learn a set of life’s fundamentals that were readily apparent to our ancestors regardless of their level of formal education. Having clear goals, focus and positive expectations are among those fundamentals. As my flight instructor said when I was granted my first pilot’s license many years ago, “Congratulations Nelson, you now have a license to learn.” After the proud graduation walk and the loving hugs of parents and friends, I hope you know that the freshly printed diploma offers no guarantees but it is a license to learn. The day may come when the signature on your paycheck is your own.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ADVENTURE
In a week when the big media stories have been about disasters involving an oil spill off Louisiana, immigrant legislation in Arizona and bomb plots in Times Square, my “story of the week” was quite different. It was written in a San Francisco newspaper on April 29th, 1852. The story is a tale of a business adventure under the headline “San Francisco Girls Receive San Diego Cats.”
I believe that entrepreneurial opportunities are all around us and that they only need an adventuresome spirit to unlock them. I also believe that we now have several generations of Americans who don’t realize that. We have legions of people from college students to retirement ready folks who simply are not attuned to thinking like entrepreneurs even though in reality they should.
Let’s get back to that favorite story of mine from 1852. “It was reported that “Terrance “Phatty” Boden brought in a wagonload of cats the other night and cleared 50 dollars in profit by selling them to lonely dance-hall girls. Phatty says that he conceived the idea when he noticed the loneliness of the dance-hall girls when he was here (San Francisco) before as a stage driver. Upon his return to San Diego, Phatty resigned his job and bought a spring wagon and six mules to do some “shotgun freightin.” He offered two boys two bits (25 cents) apiece for all the cats they could find and he left with 250 or more cats---practically the entire cat population of San Diego. Setting up shop below Auggie’s Saloon, Phatty sold his cats for prices ranging from two to three dollars depending on their size.”
The story is a simple classic demonstrating the magic combination of perceiving an opportunity, figuring a way to fill a need or interest and assuming a bit of a risk. I doubt that Mr. Boden had ever heard the word entrepreneur or that he had an extensive education but he certainly knew how to act on a hunch based on something he’d seen. In the California of 1852 just about everyone had the ability to succeed grandly or fail miserably without a lot of interference or support.
To put this into context, I should mention that the California Gold Rush was in full frantic swing from 1848 through 1855 and was one of the great entrepreneurial adventures of the 19th century. As we have recently seen with the Wall Street meltdown, unguided capitalism can attract some of the best and worst human behavior. When James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma it unleashed a torrent of 300,000 people of all ages and many nationalities coming to California. It was all about the perceived opportunity to get rich quickly from gold or from the other people who were seeking it.
The California that we now know began to emerge because the intense business activity surrounding the Gold Rush. San Francisco grew from a small settlement into a booming town. It was a period when other towns, churches, schools and roads were built up and down the state. The wild frontier was tamed by a system of laws and levels of government that lead to the admission of California as a free state within the union in 1850. During this period, names that we recognize today on street signs and public buildings such as Collis Huntington, Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins and Leland Stanford began to earn their reputations as “robber barons”. Some of them weren’t digging for gold, but they were selling the shovels and pick axes that the prospectors needed. These were hard driving and sometimes ruthless people who among other accomplishments built chunks of our railway system. I don’t agree with some of their most rapacious ways, but it took large doses of the can-do American spirit for them to push past almost unimaginable difficulties. Like Steve Jobs, Walt Disney and Bill Gates in the 20th century, they began as ambitious small business owners whose visions became very big. They were people who made things happen instead of waiting for things to develop. For example, if you wonder how Stanford University was born, thank Leland Stanford who founded Leland Stanford Junior University with the equivalent of $400 million (in 2005 dollars) as a tribute to his late son.
While Terrence “Phatty” Boden’s name is not on street signs, performance venues or a great university I love his story and his spirit nonetheless. Whether dealing in gold nuggets or feral cats, the essential lesson is the same. The young men and women of today could benefit from realizing that they have to take that kind of initiative to make thing happen and realize their ambitions, no matter how modest or grand. At some level, everybody is a business owner of at least one enterprise---yourself. If you see it as an adventure, not some fearsome and impossible journey, you’ll be following in the footsteps of people who helped make our country great. If we want a future of greatness, entrepreneurial adventurers will have to be an important part of it.
I believe that entrepreneurial opportunities are all around us and that they only need an adventuresome spirit to unlock them. I also believe that we now have several generations of Americans who don’t realize that. We have legions of people from college students to retirement ready folks who simply are not attuned to thinking like entrepreneurs even though in reality they should.
Let’s get back to that favorite story of mine from 1852. “It was reported that “Terrance “Phatty” Boden brought in a wagonload of cats the other night and cleared 50 dollars in profit by selling them to lonely dance-hall girls. Phatty says that he conceived the idea when he noticed the loneliness of the dance-hall girls when he was here (San Francisco) before as a stage driver. Upon his return to San Diego, Phatty resigned his job and bought a spring wagon and six mules to do some “shotgun freightin.” He offered two boys two bits (25 cents) apiece for all the cats they could find and he left with 250 or more cats---practically the entire cat population of San Diego. Setting up shop below Auggie’s Saloon, Phatty sold his cats for prices ranging from two to three dollars depending on their size.”
The story is a simple classic demonstrating the magic combination of perceiving an opportunity, figuring a way to fill a need or interest and assuming a bit of a risk. I doubt that Mr. Boden had ever heard the word entrepreneur or that he had an extensive education but he certainly knew how to act on a hunch based on something he’d seen. In the California of 1852 just about everyone had the ability to succeed grandly or fail miserably without a lot of interference or support.
To put this into context, I should mention that the California Gold Rush was in full frantic swing from 1848 through 1855 and was one of the great entrepreneurial adventures of the 19th century. As we have recently seen with the Wall Street meltdown, unguided capitalism can attract some of the best and worst human behavior. When James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma it unleashed a torrent of 300,000 people of all ages and many nationalities coming to California. It was all about the perceived opportunity to get rich quickly from gold or from the other people who were seeking it.
The California that we now know began to emerge because the intense business activity surrounding the Gold Rush. San Francisco grew from a small settlement into a booming town. It was a period when other towns, churches, schools and roads were built up and down the state. The wild frontier was tamed by a system of laws and levels of government that lead to the admission of California as a free state within the union in 1850. During this period, names that we recognize today on street signs and public buildings such as Collis Huntington, Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins and Leland Stanford began to earn their reputations as “robber barons”. Some of them weren’t digging for gold, but they were selling the shovels and pick axes that the prospectors needed. These were hard driving and sometimes ruthless people who among other accomplishments built chunks of our railway system. I don’t agree with some of their most rapacious ways, but it took large doses of the can-do American spirit for them to push past almost unimaginable difficulties. Like Steve Jobs, Walt Disney and Bill Gates in the 20th century, they began as ambitious small business owners whose visions became very big. They were people who made things happen instead of waiting for things to develop. For example, if you wonder how Stanford University was born, thank Leland Stanford who founded Leland Stanford Junior University with the equivalent of $400 million (in 2005 dollars) as a tribute to his late son.
While Terrence “Phatty” Boden’s name is not on street signs, performance venues or a great university I love his story and his spirit nonetheless. Whether dealing in gold nuggets or feral cats, the essential lesson is the same. The young men and women of today could benefit from realizing that they have to take that kind of initiative to make thing happen and realize their ambitions, no matter how modest or grand. At some level, everybody is a business owner of at least one enterprise---yourself. If you see it as an adventure, not some fearsome and impossible journey, you’ll be following in the footsteps of people who helped make our country great. If we want a future of greatness, entrepreneurial adventurers will have to be an important part of it.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Call to Action
This week I received an interesting call from a small business owner who needs some help getting sponsors for a poetry project. Separately I spoke with a friend’s daughter who is graduating from college next month and is dealing with the “what do I do now” syndrome. Those two quite different conversations struck a common cord with me regarding what we all have to do if we are to live a life that resembles our dreams of success. We have to be ready to step into the middle of it all with some decisive action and risk taking every day.
I confess that thinking about things and analyzing situations comes easily to me. It’s comfortable, but that is a bit like using a rocking chair. No matter how enthusiastic and good I am at rocking or how long I do it, I get nowhere until I leave the comfort of the chair. It is all about heeding the call to action. About fifteen years ago I read a memorable speech from President Teddy Roosevelt that he delivered one hundred years ago in Paris on the subject of citizenship in a Republic. That speech has long been best known as “The man in the arena” address. Its lesson is for men and women, but that’s how the word was used at the time. One of the reasons I’m devoting this phase of my life to encouraging and supporting business owners and entrepreneurs is that most of them live the life that Teddy Roosevelt describes. Here is an excerpt from his remarks.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Two of the dominant aspects of American life these days, media and politics often seem to ignore the truth spoken by President Roosevelt. The media business is home to a surplus of critics and politicians specialize in telling voters they can have everything with little or no pain. By teaching generations of young people to seek safety and predictability above all else we’ve led them into “knowing neither victory nor defeat.” The young lady I spoke to who is graduating next month is now asking her parents to fork over another $25K so that she can attend culinary school because she may want to be a chef or even a restaurant owner! Well, that business certainly isn’t safe or predictable but remaining in school would seem to be that. Her parents have now helped her secure a low level kitchen job in a nice restaurant, thereby putting her “into the arena.” She’ll find out quickly if she likes the relentless pressures of professional cooking and if so, she’ll earn a chunk of the tuition money.
The woman who called me to help find a sponsor for her public access cable show focusing on poets brought a nice challenge. It turns out that she was expecting me to identify approach and close deals with sponsors. She didn’t want to go anywhere near the arena of knocking on doors or “dialing for dollars.” I offered to share my knowledge in sales and even to share our presentations and techniques with her while being clear that she may not get where she wants to go without putting her mind and body deeply into the process and to “strive valiantly.”
This is the time of year when thousands of young people are graduating from schools with high hopes. One of those hopes is that someone will figuratively lead them to water, hand them a cup and allow them to drink all they want! You and I know that it most likely won’t happen that way. One of my favorite inspirational characters was the Chicago insurance tycoon W. Clement Stone who said “No matter how carefully you plan your goals they will never be more than pipe dreams unless you pursue them with gusto.” That is your call to action.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Going GaGa for Business
Just one year ago the pop music phenomenon known as Lady Gaga was preparing to perform at Palm Springs California’s White Party, perhaps the largest Gay men’s celebration in the country. I’m sure it was a career step up for the Lady (real name Stephani Germanotta) at that time and a significant turn of the wheel for what I think is a masterful marketing machine. As small business owners we can probably learn some great marketing lessons from her story and those of other pop music performers.
I love just about all types of music and have been fascinated by those performers who have the ability to move beyond just having a hit song and a taste of fame to developing a long lasting career. What does it take? Were there other artists equally as talented as legends such as Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson? Yes, but today most of their names are etched in the sands of time rather than on marquees or the cover of People magazine. I’m way off the profile for Lady Gaga’s fan base but since noticing the promotion for her Palm Springs appearance, I’ve been impressed by her brand building and marketing skills. To get past being just a flavor of the year will require all her skills plus the ability to adapt quickly to the marketplace. It is about marketing what you have.
It was two years ago (August 2008) that Lady Gaga released her first successful album, “The Fame” and began to build her fame in several foreign countries. But as we now know in today’s media saturated marketplace, a person can be famous just for being famous. Excuse me Paris Hilton and Kate Gosselin. When I began to learn more about Ms. Gaga, it became obvious that the young lady can play the piano well, sings with a lovely voice and is able to write catchy songs. In other words she has the basic skills to sustain a music performer brand but she had to first get noticed and work on building a fan base. I’d say her packaging in those outrageous costumes helped separate her from the ever present pack of want to bees.
Who would have thought that when Madonna released her “Like a Virgin” album in 1984 that people would still be talking about her twenty six years later? She has been a brilliant brand builder. As a vocalist her talents are modest but earnest. If she were an American Idol contestant today, Madonna might not make it to round three. But she has successfully charted a singular course of experimentation and reinvention for a quarter century. The odds of doing that in the fickle firelight of pop culture are very long. The core values of a great brand must remain constant but how it is presented and marketed must evolve with the times.
Cyndi Lauper had a worldwide hit album with “She’s So Unusual” in early 1984 around the same time as Madonna began her rise to stardom. Though Lauper has sold millions of records over the same timeline as Madonna, you decide who is the bigger name brand today. The worlds of pop and hip hop music are littered with the bones of performer’s disintegrated careers. You do remember Wild Thing by Tone Loc don’t you? How about Christopher Cross who racked up hit records, Grammy awards, an Oscar award and a Golden Globe in a short space of time in the early eighties. Wherever Mr. Cross is now he must feel as though his career went from sunny and sizzling to the dark side of the moon.
I think that one key to Madonna’s brand success is that she has constantly developed it over the years, offering something interesting to each new generation while holding onto some of her late eighties fans. She has been a magnet for press coverage as a result of living a clearly unconventional lifestyle. And she has explored various music trends which kept pure music fans interested. Madonna has succeeded with what the very best marketers in the world have always done; they have trusted their inner instincts and followed them. Barry Manilow has a long career arc, having been hot and cold over the years. Now he’s performing in front of crowds in Las Vegas. Manilow’s core value is that he truly loves and respects the music and that has nourished his relationship with fans for decades. Paul McCartney is filling the Hollywood Bowl with his durable product forty years after the Beatles broke up! Prince has always enveloped himself in an aura of mystery on top the fact that he is a consummate musician. Being a mysterious iconoclast who can play music exceptionally well had helped him establish a strong personal brand. Among the newer generation of performers there are people such as Gwen Stefani who may have what it takes to build a long lasting personal brand.
What the business branding lessons we should take from these people? First your product has to be useful or desirable to a sizeable body of consumers and you have to help them notice it by building awareness. It needs a distributions system that makes it easy for them to access the product. You want to develop a clear product identity. Pop stars have a clear advantage there because their faces, voices and costumes separate one from another in the public consciousness. The key to longevity is to never stop developing your product or presenting it in fresh ways to potential new customers. The old Volkswagen bug changed in over a hundred ways during its lifetime, but there was never a danger of mistaking it for anything else.
It will be very interesting to have a look at Lady Gaga’s career a year from now to see if she’s mastered the art of keeping the brand fresh without breaking the bond with her core fans. She got noticed as a costumed curiosity who also had songs with strong lyrics. Will she learn to be a successful marketer for the long term in the unstable world of pop culture? She faces challenges similar to those that all small business owners must master. First there is the product then the perception, and most importantly, keeping the relationship with your customers alive. Last week I watched a 1969 Dick Cavett interview with Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. Cavett asked Jagger if he could picture himself singing a prancing around a stage at age sixty. Jagger’s reply; “sure I could.”
I love just about all types of music and have been fascinated by those performers who have the ability to move beyond just having a hit song and a taste of fame to developing a long lasting career. What does it take? Were there other artists equally as talented as legends such as Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson? Yes, but today most of their names are etched in the sands of time rather than on marquees or the cover of People magazine. I’m way off the profile for Lady Gaga’s fan base but since noticing the promotion for her Palm Springs appearance, I’ve been impressed by her brand building and marketing skills. To get past being just a flavor of the year will require all her skills plus the ability to adapt quickly to the marketplace. It is about marketing what you have.
It was two years ago (August 2008) that Lady Gaga released her first successful album, “The Fame” and began to build her fame in several foreign countries. But as we now know in today’s media saturated marketplace, a person can be famous just for being famous. Excuse me Paris Hilton and Kate Gosselin. When I began to learn more about Ms. Gaga, it became obvious that the young lady can play the piano well, sings with a lovely voice and is able to write catchy songs. In other words she has the basic skills to sustain a music performer brand but she had to first get noticed and work on building a fan base. I’d say her packaging in those outrageous costumes helped separate her from the ever present pack of want to bees.
Who would have thought that when Madonna released her “Like a Virgin” album in 1984 that people would still be talking about her twenty six years later? She has been a brilliant brand builder. As a vocalist her talents are modest but earnest. If she were an American Idol contestant today, Madonna might not make it to round three. But she has successfully charted a singular course of experimentation and reinvention for a quarter century. The odds of doing that in the fickle firelight of pop culture are very long. The core values of a great brand must remain constant but how it is presented and marketed must evolve with the times.
Cyndi Lauper had a worldwide hit album with “She’s So Unusual” in early 1984 around the same time as Madonna began her rise to stardom. Though Lauper has sold millions of records over the same timeline as Madonna, you decide who is the bigger name brand today. The worlds of pop and hip hop music are littered with the bones of performer’s disintegrated careers. You do remember Wild Thing by Tone Loc don’t you? How about Christopher Cross who racked up hit records, Grammy awards, an Oscar award and a Golden Globe in a short space of time in the early eighties. Wherever Mr. Cross is now he must feel as though his career went from sunny and sizzling to the dark side of the moon.
I think that one key to Madonna’s brand success is that she has constantly developed it over the years, offering something interesting to each new generation while holding onto some of her late eighties fans. She has been a magnet for press coverage as a result of living a clearly unconventional lifestyle. And she has explored various music trends which kept pure music fans interested. Madonna has succeeded with what the very best marketers in the world have always done; they have trusted their inner instincts and followed them. Barry Manilow has a long career arc, having been hot and cold over the years. Now he’s performing in front of crowds in Las Vegas. Manilow’s core value is that he truly loves and respects the music and that has nourished his relationship with fans for decades. Paul McCartney is filling the Hollywood Bowl with his durable product forty years after the Beatles broke up! Prince has always enveloped himself in an aura of mystery on top the fact that he is a consummate musician. Being a mysterious iconoclast who can play music exceptionally well had helped him establish a strong personal brand. Among the newer generation of performers there are people such as Gwen Stefani who may have what it takes to build a long lasting personal brand.
What the business branding lessons we should take from these people? First your product has to be useful or desirable to a sizeable body of consumers and you have to help them notice it by building awareness. It needs a distributions system that makes it easy for them to access the product. You want to develop a clear product identity. Pop stars have a clear advantage there because their faces, voices and costumes separate one from another in the public consciousness. The key to longevity is to never stop developing your product or presenting it in fresh ways to potential new customers. The old Volkswagen bug changed in over a hundred ways during its lifetime, but there was never a danger of mistaking it for anything else.
It will be very interesting to have a look at Lady Gaga’s career a year from now to see if she’s mastered the art of keeping the brand fresh without breaking the bond with her core fans. She got noticed as a costumed curiosity who also had songs with strong lyrics. Will she learn to be a successful marketer for the long term in the unstable world of pop culture? She faces challenges similar to those that all small business owners must master. First there is the product then the perception, and most importantly, keeping the relationship with your customers alive. Last week I watched a 1969 Dick Cavett interview with Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. Cavett asked Jagger if he could picture himself singing a prancing around a stage at age sixty. Jagger’s reply; “sure I could.”
Twitter or the Pet Rock?
Early in 1975, Gary Dahl a California advertising executive came up with the idea of the “Pet Rock” which quickly became a pop culture phenomenon and made him a millionaire. By Christmas of that year, the fad was over and the cute little rocks from a Baja beach went back to just being nuisances at the ocean’s edge. I think that Twitter may be destined for a similar fate.
I must confess that as a small business owner, salesman and marketer, I haven’t yet found a use in my business for Twitter and I’ve treated every encouragement to use it like a jury duty summons. Because my business resources are limited by dollars and staff size, the first question I ask about any new whiz bang idea is “how does it help me get the attention of people who are in a position to buy what I’m selling?” In my case those products are, TV and radio program sponsorship plus seeking partners for our non-profit, the Making It Institute. If I can’t connect those marketing and sales dots with Twitter, I’d prefer to just read about it rather than invest precious hours in attempting to make it work for my business.
Here are some interesting numbers on Twitter from RJ Metrics that would interest marketers. The number of monthly new users dropped from 7.8 million to 6.2 million in mid 2009. That report also says that just 17% of Twitter users updated their accounts last December, an all time low. The Nielsen Company says that 60% of Twitter users don’t return from one month to the next. While I’m not predicting the total demise of this branch of the social media tree, the digital world is littered with formerly hot ideas. You remember Friendster and Second Life don’t you?
The words Tweet and Twitter imply something small. At a certain level, I think that Twitter is made for small businesses since we are always yearning for economical ways to put our messages in front of prospective customers. Because small business owners can say and do things that buttoned up corporate marketing types would have to get lots of signed approvals for, there are some success stories. I read a story that Someecards has about 1.7 million followers while the giant and legendary Hallmark Cards has around 2000. One of those companies has 14,000 employees and the other just 5 full timers. Part of the Someecards winning strategy is not being afraid to post some downright crass statements in their tweets.
How are the big marketers handling Twitter? Dell Computer seems to be riding a wave of success because they use the service to tell customers about bargains in their outlet store. In American culture having someone lead us to a good deal is very high on the “I love it” scale right behind our affection for the flag and long buffet tables! One of our sponsor clients, Verizon shelled out a billion in advertising dollars in 2009 but they only have about 5000 followers in their tweet parade. In other words you’ve got to have an offer that has some special appeal to your followers and consumers.
Even politicians (or their assistants) are thumbing their way through this fairly new form of outreach. This week the Los Angeles Times featured an article titled “Congress Keeps it Short and Tweet” about the legislators who are using Twitter. Just the idea of those folks on social media sites reminds me of the historic phrase, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.” I’m under the impression that the 140 character limit that Twitter enforces might not be compatible with the natural verbosity of politicians who are usually looking for a more spacious platform. Elected officials are probably the polar opposite of an ideal profile for effective Twitter marketing.
Here is my bottom line. The flood of messages showing up in my in-box these days has me dreaming of an electronic shovel to get rid of 100 or more messages per day. Add social media messages to that, and the whole thing is making me antisocial! If your life is being bombarded in a similar way, you too may be growing suspicious of all electronic message advertising. For any of the social media tools to really work for you, it had best be by spreading useful, compelling and beneficial information to prospects and customers. Just as before Twitter, there must be a strategy and good idea in your marketing messages. Sometimes you’ll have to be snarky and irreverent to break through the clutter of clogged in-boxes, but small business owners can get away with that much better than large corporations. Despite some marketing success stories, something inside continues to tell me that Twitter is really the territory of those people named Hilton or Kardashian or Kutcher. I must confess that I often feel that everybody’s talking but very little of immediate use or lasting value is being said.
I must confess that as a small business owner, salesman and marketer, I haven’t yet found a use in my business for Twitter and I’ve treated every encouragement to use it like a jury duty summons. Because my business resources are limited by dollars and staff size, the first question I ask about any new whiz bang idea is “how does it help me get the attention of people who are in a position to buy what I’m selling?” In my case those products are, TV and radio program sponsorship plus seeking partners for our non-profit, the Making It Institute. If I can’t connect those marketing and sales dots with Twitter, I’d prefer to just read about it rather than invest precious hours in attempting to make it work for my business.
Here are some interesting numbers on Twitter from RJ Metrics that would interest marketers. The number of monthly new users dropped from 7.8 million to 6.2 million in mid 2009. That report also says that just 17% of Twitter users updated their accounts last December, an all time low. The Nielsen Company says that 60% of Twitter users don’t return from one month to the next. While I’m not predicting the total demise of this branch of the social media tree, the digital world is littered with formerly hot ideas. You remember Friendster and Second Life don’t you?
The words Tweet and Twitter imply something small. At a certain level, I think that Twitter is made for small businesses since we are always yearning for economical ways to put our messages in front of prospective customers. Because small business owners can say and do things that buttoned up corporate marketing types would have to get lots of signed approvals for, there are some success stories. I read a story that Someecards has about 1.7 million followers while the giant and legendary Hallmark Cards has around 2000. One of those companies has 14,000 employees and the other just 5 full timers. Part of the Someecards winning strategy is not being afraid to post some downright crass statements in their tweets.
How are the big marketers handling Twitter? Dell Computer seems to be riding a wave of success because they use the service to tell customers about bargains in their outlet store. In American culture having someone lead us to a good deal is very high on the “I love it” scale right behind our affection for the flag and long buffet tables! One of our sponsor clients, Verizon shelled out a billion in advertising dollars in 2009 but they only have about 5000 followers in their tweet parade. In other words you’ve got to have an offer that has some special appeal to your followers and consumers.
Even politicians (or their assistants) are thumbing their way through this fairly new form of outreach. This week the Los Angeles Times featured an article titled “Congress Keeps it Short and Tweet” about the legislators who are using Twitter. Just the idea of those folks on social media sites reminds me of the historic phrase, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.” I’m under the impression that the 140 character limit that Twitter enforces might not be compatible with the natural verbosity of politicians who are usually looking for a more spacious platform. Elected officials are probably the polar opposite of an ideal profile for effective Twitter marketing.
Here is my bottom line. The flood of messages showing up in my in-box these days has me dreaming of an electronic shovel to get rid of 100 or more messages per day. Add social media messages to that, and the whole thing is making me antisocial! If your life is being bombarded in a similar way, you too may be growing suspicious of all electronic message advertising. For any of the social media tools to really work for you, it had best be by spreading useful, compelling and beneficial information to prospects and customers. Just as before Twitter, there must be a strategy and good idea in your marketing messages. Sometimes you’ll have to be snarky and irreverent to break through the clutter of clogged in-boxes, but small business owners can get away with that much better than large corporations. Despite some marketing success stories, something inside continues to tell me that Twitter is really the territory of those people named Hilton or Kardashian or Kutcher. I must confess that I often feel that everybody’s talking but very little of immediate use or lasting value is being said.
Can We Handle the Truth?
In the hit film “A Few Good Men” starring Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise, Nicholson’s character screams out the memorable phrase while being questioned in court, “You can’t handle the truth.” The ongoing health insurance squabble, alarm bells surrounding public sector budgets and the constant political food fight brought those words to mind for me this week. The only way to find out if we can really handle the truth is for us to consistently hear the truth from business leaders and political types and I don’t think the truth-meter needle is moving often enough right now.
I want to say two things here to clarify my blog writings. My passionate interest is in small to mid-sized businesses and how entrepreneurial thinking can help all of us. I really do believe that our lives will be better if we run them on sound business principles. Political rhetoric is of no real interest to me and I don’t write with a political party preference. Both major parties have done some good things over the last 60 years for the long term health of our country as well as making some pathetically boneheaded and harmful moves. My questions regarding political moves are just about the same as I’d ask of any business owner. They are: What is the goal? Are your strategies grounded in logic? How do the finances work out?
For example, the overly discussed, dissected and vilified health insurance reform legislation means one primary thing to me; politicians are demonstrating either a lack of knowledge or contempt for basic economic realities. We now have another underfunded entitlement program joining others that have the words social or medi as part of their names. The truth is that the money will run out and that will mean; cutting entitlements, asking for more money or printing a lot more money. As the British are fond of saying, it will end in tears.
There is a passage in the bible that says “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." I often supplement that wisdom in my speeches by telling the audience that before showing you that freedom; the truth will first kick your butt!
Here is a lesson in painful truth from newly elected New Jersey governor Chris Christie. His state like California and New York is facing fiscal disaster. Unlike the governors of those other states he seems to be pouring some painful truth into the discussion. He told the legislature that he was impounding $2 billion of the state budget, and cutting spending in 375 state programs to eliminate their $2 billion budget gap. Of course there were howls of unfair and all the comments you’d expect from a choir of vested interests. However he did not take money from public education and didn’t ask for more taxes on property owners which strike me as common sense thinking.
The hardest truth for politicians to speak about is that pensions and benefits are the biggest driver of spiraling spending at all levels of government, which was also a key factor in the death of General Motors and Chrysler. Sound business principles dictated that those companies go through the fire of bankruptcy to be able to shake off some of that smothering burden before being reborn in a slimmed down form. With no disrespect to the many able public servants and government workers, let’s look at some numbers. A New Jersey state employee who retired at age 49 has paid a total of $124,000 toward his pension and health benefits. If he lives to the expected age, he’ll receive a total of $3.8 million in pension and health benefits! Who really wants to pay for this? The naked truth is that this story is repeated hundreds of thousands of times across the country and even the slow learners understand that this model can’t be sustained. I did say that truth will kick your butt before any feeling of freedom flows in.
As a small business owner, I get the good and bad news weekly if not daily. In my world, truth can’t be obscured for very long. Even in what used to be America’s largest corporation, General Motors, suspended truth eventually won the battle and imposed it’s will on the fate of that iconic company. Some years ago, a tough old real estate developer said to me “you have to lay a solid foundation under whatever you do because gravity always wins and brings you back down to earth.”
Is this a doom and gloom prediction? I don’t think so. Sound business principles can be applied at any time as long as we are willing to accept truth and work through the resulting pain. Anyone who has kicked an addiction can attest to that. I believe that the human spirit is indomitable and that the true American foundation in capitalism is solid. We just have to be true to it.
Since my business is built around media, I often muse on what role all media plays in diverting American’s from dealing with the truth. Another motion picture, “Network” written by the legendary Paddy Chayefsky was prophetic on the subject in 1976. The lead character is fictional network anchorman Howard Beal. He has some choice words regarding truth. “Listen to me. Television is not the truth. Television is a God*****d amusement park! Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, story-tellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, side-show freaks, lion tamers and football players. We're in the boredom killing business! So, if you want truth go to God. Go to your gurus. Go to yourselves because that's the only place you're ever going to find any real truth. But, man, you're never gonna get any truth from us. We'll tell you anything you want to hear.”
Whether we can handle it or not, it is time for a major dose of truth.
I want to say two things here to clarify my blog writings. My passionate interest is in small to mid-sized businesses and how entrepreneurial thinking can help all of us. I really do believe that our lives will be better if we run them on sound business principles. Political rhetoric is of no real interest to me and I don’t write with a political party preference. Both major parties have done some good things over the last 60 years for the long term health of our country as well as making some pathetically boneheaded and harmful moves. My questions regarding political moves are just about the same as I’d ask of any business owner. They are: What is the goal? Are your strategies grounded in logic? How do the finances work out?
For example, the overly discussed, dissected and vilified health insurance reform legislation means one primary thing to me; politicians are demonstrating either a lack of knowledge or contempt for basic economic realities. We now have another underfunded entitlement program joining others that have the words social or medi as part of their names. The truth is that the money will run out and that will mean; cutting entitlements, asking for more money or printing a lot more money. As the British are fond of saying, it will end in tears.
There is a passage in the bible that says “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." I often supplement that wisdom in my speeches by telling the audience that before showing you that freedom; the truth will first kick your butt!
Here is a lesson in painful truth from newly elected New Jersey governor Chris Christie. His state like California and New York is facing fiscal disaster. Unlike the governors of those other states he seems to be pouring some painful truth into the discussion. He told the legislature that he was impounding $2 billion of the state budget, and cutting spending in 375 state programs to eliminate their $2 billion budget gap. Of course there were howls of unfair and all the comments you’d expect from a choir of vested interests. However he did not take money from public education and didn’t ask for more taxes on property owners which strike me as common sense thinking.
The hardest truth for politicians to speak about is that pensions and benefits are the biggest driver of spiraling spending at all levels of government, which was also a key factor in the death of General Motors and Chrysler. Sound business principles dictated that those companies go through the fire of bankruptcy to be able to shake off some of that smothering burden before being reborn in a slimmed down form. With no disrespect to the many able public servants and government workers, let’s look at some numbers. A New Jersey state employee who retired at age 49 has paid a total of $124,000 toward his pension and health benefits. If he lives to the expected age, he’ll receive a total of $3.8 million in pension and health benefits! Who really wants to pay for this? The naked truth is that this story is repeated hundreds of thousands of times across the country and even the slow learners understand that this model can’t be sustained. I did say that truth will kick your butt before any feeling of freedom flows in.
As a small business owner, I get the good and bad news weekly if not daily. In my world, truth can’t be obscured for very long. Even in what used to be America’s largest corporation, General Motors, suspended truth eventually won the battle and imposed it’s will on the fate of that iconic company. Some years ago, a tough old real estate developer said to me “you have to lay a solid foundation under whatever you do because gravity always wins and brings you back down to earth.”
Is this a doom and gloom prediction? I don’t think so. Sound business principles can be applied at any time as long as we are willing to accept truth and work through the resulting pain. Anyone who has kicked an addiction can attest to that. I believe that the human spirit is indomitable and that the true American foundation in capitalism is solid. We just have to be true to it.
Since my business is built around media, I often muse on what role all media plays in diverting American’s from dealing with the truth. Another motion picture, “Network” written by the legendary Paddy Chayefsky was prophetic on the subject in 1976. The lead character is fictional network anchorman Howard Beal. He has some choice words regarding truth. “Listen to me. Television is not the truth. Television is a God*****d amusement park! Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, story-tellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, side-show freaks, lion tamers and football players. We're in the boredom killing business! So, if you want truth go to God. Go to your gurus. Go to yourselves because that's the only place you're ever going to find any real truth. But, man, you're never gonna get any truth from us. We'll tell you anything you want to hear.”
Whether we can handle it or not, it is time for a major dose of truth.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Kentucky Fried Wisdom
Some years ago I met and spent some time with a legendary business owner who personified a particular branch of entrepreneurship, that being those people who start a business later in life. Meeting a man with one of the best known faces in America was memorable and thinking of him today still makes me smile. That man was Harland David Sanders, better known as Colonel Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Because his face was plastered on signs all over the U.S. and Canada at the time, walking down a public street with him was like being in the company of a megastar. People constantly waved, smiled and asked for his autograph.
Well, Mr. Sanders wasn’t really a military Colonel, but was given the honorary title by the governor of Kentucky. But he was a real businessman who started the KFC franchise operation out of desperation when he was 65 years of age. His startup capital was money from his first Social Security check that he used to go on the road and call on prospective franchisees! At the time I was in my twenties and was simply amazed that he started when most people are retiring to their hobbies and focused on spoiling the grandchildren.
Today in our country, more than 5 million people age 55 or older are self employed or operate their own business according to the Small Business Administration. This is the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs across the land right now. The number of self employed people ages 55 to 64 has grown 52% between 2000 and 2007! Jerri Sedlar the author of “Don’t Retire, Rewire,” said two types of people start businesses: those who always planned to and those who cannot find a job.
I think that some of those people are gleefully getting a belated start on their lifelong dream and others are being forced to take the entrepreneurial plunge out of necessity. When you feel that your job might disappear like coastal mist in the noonday sun, you are living with a lot of stress. If you are going to toss and turn at 4am over business, it might as well be about your own enterprise. This current economic crisis should be teaching us that like it or not, everybody has to develop some level of entrepreneurial consciousness.
Buyout packages and golden parachutes often supply the necessary capital and finally scratching the itch to be one’s own boss is a pretty strong motivator to take the risk. My experience producing a Making It! a small business TV show has brought me into contact with hundreds of business owners across the age spectrum. I can tell you that starting a business while your gray hair is beginning to dominate won’t be as easy as you think nor as hard as you might fear. By your fifth decade, you probably know more than you are aware of and have a support network that is broader and deeper than you realize.
I started Nelson Davis Television Productions because of the realization that my bosses who were presented to me as geniuses really weren’t. By that time going to another job interview had about the same appeal as wrestling alligators with a python holding up my shorts. You have to take a great leap of faith and think only of what you want to have happen while obliterating all thoughts of any less successful outcome.
Starting your business is one of those rare categories where the government can actually be helpful. The SBA web site can direct you to some advice and expertise tailored for people 50 and older. Universities and community colleges all over the country have night classes and extension courses that offer just about everything you need to know to take this important leap. Of course you have to supply the self confidence and drive. You have to be the president of sales and marketing. My philosophy is that nothing gets made until something gets sold. Whether you make one dollar or a million, the feeling of self development and realization is worth the effort to be your own boss.
Another reason that thinking of Colonel Sanders brings me a smile is that at age 80 he was still having a lot of fun. He had sold KFC for $2million (about $14M in today’s dollars) to a group of businessmen when he was 74 years old. Like most ex business owners, he wasn’t happy with how they ran the operation when he was gone. I remember him telling me in his heavy Kentucky accent how awful they were. The way it came out of his mouth sounded like “Dem Bastids.” One of the smartest and most successful business owners I know right now is 74 vigorous and healthy years old. His friends often ask when he plans to retire, and his response is “retire to what?” These older business owners are proving that age and accomplishment does have its privileges, challenges and rewards!
Well, Mr. Sanders wasn’t really a military Colonel, but was given the honorary title by the governor of Kentucky. But he was a real businessman who started the KFC franchise operation out of desperation when he was 65 years of age. His startup capital was money from his first Social Security check that he used to go on the road and call on prospective franchisees! At the time I was in my twenties and was simply amazed that he started when most people are retiring to their hobbies and focused on spoiling the grandchildren.
Today in our country, more than 5 million people age 55 or older are self employed or operate their own business according to the Small Business Administration. This is the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs across the land right now. The number of self employed people ages 55 to 64 has grown 52% between 2000 and 2007! Jerri Sedlar the author of “Don’t Retire, Rewire,” said two types of people start businesses: those who always planned to and those who cannot find a job.
I think that some of those people are gleefully getting a belated start on their lifelong dream and others are being forced to take the entrepreneurial plunge out of necessity. When you feel that your job might disappear like coastal mist in the noonday sun, you are living with a lot of stress. If you are going to toss and turn at 4am over business, it might as well be about your own enterprise. This current economic crisis should be teaching us that like it or not, everybody has to develop some level of entrepreneurial consciousness.
Buyout packages and golden parachutes often supply the necessary capital and finally scratching the itch to be one’s own boss is a pretty strong motivator to take the risk. My experience producing a Making It! a small business TV show has brought me into contact with hundreds of business owners across the age spectrum. I can tell you that starting a business while your gray hair is beginning to dominate won’t be as easy as you think nor as hard as you might fear. By your fifth decade, you probably know more than you are aware of and have a support network that is broader and deeper than you realize.
I started Nelson Davis Television Productions because of the realization that my bosses who were presented to me as geniuses really weren’t. By that time going to another job interview had about the same appeal as wrestling alligators with a python holding up my shorts. You have to take a great leap of faith and think only of what you want to have happen while obliterating all thoughts of any less successful outcome.
Starting your business is one of those rare categories where the government can actually be helpful. The SBA web site can direct you to some advice and expertise tailored for people 50 and older. Universities and community colleges all over the country have night classes and extension courses that offer just about everything you need to know to take this important leap. Of course you have to supply the self confidence and drive. You have to be the president of sales and marketing. My philosophy is that nothing gets made until something gets sold. Whether you make one dollar or a million, the feeling of self development and realization is worth the effort to be your own boss.
Another reason that thinking of Colonel Sanders brings me a smile is that at age 80 he was still having a lot of fun. He had sold KFC for $2million (about $14M in today’s dollars) to a group of businessmen when he was 74 years old. Like most ex business owners, he wasn’t happy with how they ran the operation when he was gone. I remember him telling me in his heavy Kentucky accent how awful they were. The way it came out of his mouth sounded like “Dem Bastids.” One of the smartest and most successful business owners I know right now is 74 vigorous and healthy years old. His friends often ask when he plans to retire, and his response is “retire to what?” These older business owners are proving that age and accomplishment does have its privileges, challenges and rewards!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
TWITTER AND THE PET ROCK
Early in 1975, Gary Dahl a California advertising executive came up with the idea of the “Pet Rock” which quickly became a pop culture phenomenon and made him a millionaire. By Christmas of that year, the fad was over and the cute little rocks from a Baja beach went back to just being nuisances at the ocean’s edge. I think that Twitter may be destined for a similar fate.
I must confess that as a small business owner, salesman and marketer, I haven’t yet found a use in my business for Twitter and I’ve treated every encouragement to use it like a jury duty summons. Because my business resources are limited by dollars and staff size, the first question I ask about any new whiz bang idea is “how does it help me get the attention of people who are in a position to buy what I’m selling?” In my case those products are, TV and radio program sponsorship plus seeking partners for our non-profit, the Making It Institute. If I can’t connect those marketing and sales dots with Twitter, I’d prefer to just read about it rather than invest precious hours in attempting to make it work for my business.
Here are some interesting numbers on Twitter from RJ Metrics that would interest marketers. The number of monthly new users dropped from 7.8 million to 6.2 million in mid 2009. That report also says that just 17% of Twitter users updated their accounts last December, an all time low. The Nielsen Company says that 60% of Twitter users don’t return from one month to the next. While I’m not predicting the total demise of this branch of the social media tree, the digital world is littered with formerly hot ideas. You remember Friendster and Second Life don’t you?
The words Tweet and Twitter imply something small. At a certain level, I think that Twitter is made for small businesses since we are always yearning for economical ways to put our messages in front of prospective customers. Because small business owners can say and do things that buttoned up corporate marketing types would have to get lots of signed approvals for, there are some success stories. I read a story that Someecards has about 1.7 million followers while the giant and legendary Hallmark Cards has around 2000. One of those companies has 14,000 employees and the other just 5 full timers. Part of the Someecards winning strategy is not being afraid to post some downright crass statements in their tweets.
How are the big marketers handling Twitter? Dell Computer seems to be riding a wave of success because they use the service to tell customers about bargains in their outlet store. In American culture having someone lead us to a good deal is very high on the “I love it” scale right behind our affection for the flag and long buffet tables! One of our sponsor clients, Verizon shelled out a billion in advertising dollars in 2009 but they only have about 5000 followers in their tweet parade. In other words you’ve got to have an offer that has some special appeal to your followers and consumers.
Even politicians (or their assistants) are thumbing their way through this fairly new form of outreach. This week the Los Angeles Times featured an article titled “Congress Keeps it Short and Tweet” about the legislators who are using Twitter. Just the idea of those folks on social media sites reminds me of the historic phrase, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.” I’m under the impression that the 140 character limit that Twitter enforces might not be compatible with the natural verbosity of politicians who are usually looking for a more spacious platform. Elected officials are probably the polar opposite of an ideal profile for effective Twitter marketing.
Here is my bottom line. The flood of messages showing up in my in-box these days has me dreaming of an electronic shovel to get rid of 100 or more messages per day. Add social media messages to that, and the whole thing is making me antisocial! If your life is being bombarded in a similar way, you too may be growing suspicious of all electronic message advertising. For any of the social media tools to really work for you, it had best be by spreading useful, compelling and beneficial information to prospects and customers. Just as before Twitter, there must be a strategy and good idea in your marketing messages. Sometimes you’ll have to be snarky and irreverent to break through the clutter of clogged in-boxes, but small business owners can get away with that much better than large corporations. Despite some marketing success stories, something inside continues to tell me that Twitter is really the territory of those people named Hilton or Kardashian or Kutcher. I must confess that I often feel that everybody’s talking but very little of immediate use or lasting value is being said.
I must confess that as a small business owner, salesman and marketer, I haven’t yet found a use in my business for Twitter and I’ve treated every encouragement to use it like a jury duty summons. Because my business resources are limited by dollars and staff size, the first question I ask about any new whiz bang idea is “how does it help me get the attention of people who are in a position to buy what I’m selling?” In my case those products are, TV and radio program sponsorship plus seeking partners for our non-profit, the Making It Institute. If I can’t connect those marketing and sales dots with Twitter, I’d prefer to just read about it rather than invest precious hours in attempting to make it work for my business.
Here are some interesting numbers on Twitter from RJ Metrics that would interest marketers. The number of monthly new users dropped from 7.8 million to 6.2 million in mid 2009. That report also says that just 17% of Twitter users updated their accounts last December, an all time low. The Nielsen Company says that 60% of Twitter users don’t return from one month to the next. While I’m not predicting the total demise of this branch of the social media tree, the digital world is littered with formerly hot ideas. You remember Friendster and Second Life don’t you?
The words Tweet and Twitter imply something small. At a certain level, I think that Twitter is made for small businesses since we are always yearning for economical ways to put our messages in front of prospective customers. Because small business owners can say and do things that buttoned up corporate marketing types would have to get lots of signed approvals for, there are some success stories. I read a story that Someecards has about 1.7 million followers while the giant and legendary Hallmark Cards has around 2000. One of those companies has 14,000 employees and the other just 5 full timers. Part of the Someecards winning strategy is not being afraid to post some downright crass statements in their tweets.
How are the big marketers handling Twitter? Dell Computer seems to be riding a wave of success because they use the service to tell customers about bargains in their outlet store. In American culture having someone lead us to a good deal is very high on the “I love it” scale right behind our affection for the flag and long buffet tables! One of our sponsor clients, Verizon shelled out a billion in advertising dollars in 2009 but they only have about 5000 followers in their tweet parade. In other words you’ve got to have an offer that has some special appeal to your followers and consumers.
Even politicians (or their assistants) are thumbing their way through this fairly new form of outreach. This week the Los Angeles Times featured an article titled “Congress Keeps it Short and Tweet” about the legislators who are using Twitter. Just the idea of those folks on social media sites reminds me of the historic phrase, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.” I’m under the impression that the 140 character limit that Twitter enforces might not be compatible with the natural verbosity of politicians who are usually looking for a more spacious platform. Elected officials are probably the polar opposite of an ideal profile for effective Twitter marketing.
Here is my bottom line. The flood of messages showing up in my in-box these days has me dreaming of an electronic shovel to get rid of 100 or more messages per day. Add social media messages to that, and the whole thing is making me antisocial! If your life is being bombarded in a similar way, you too may be growing suspicious of all electronic message advertising. For any of the social media tools to really work for you, it had best be by spreading useful, compelling and beneficial information to prospects and customers. Just as before Twitter, there must be a strategy and good idea in your marketing messages. Sometimes you’ll have to be snarky and irreverent to break through the clutter of clogged in-boxes, but small business owners can get away with that much better than large corporations. Despite some marketing success stories, something inside continues to tell me that Twitter is really the territory of those people named Hilton or Kardashian or Kutcher. I must confess that I often feel that everybody’s talking but very little of immediate use or lasting value is being said.
I'm a Customer, Damn It!
The older I get, the more I enjoy a helpful interchange with people who work diligently for businesses of any size. But, with each passing day, businesses who covet my dollars seem to want me, the supposed customer to do more of their work and to give them money for that privilege! If I’m paying, being treated like a customer would be a fine idea.
I think it all began with self service gasoline stations. Not only do I remember .55 cent gasoline, but I recall the days when there were service station attendants who would check the oil and scrutinize the tires while filling your tank. Sadly, those memories are now shrouded in the mists of history. At first it was a charming novelty and a time saver to pump your own gas. They even discounted the price! Now we are the hose handlers, there are no discounts and the only people you see are behind a bullet barrier.
In the early 1980s I was an early adopter of an ATM card from my bank. It was both cool and great to be able to replenish my cash supply at times when the bankers were asleep. But as time went on it became obvious that the bankers really wanted us to use the ATM all of the time so they could get by with fewer tellers. In a counter move a couple of years ago, at least one bank began offering concierge service to get a competitive advantage.
Supermarkets are now joining in that game with some featuring self-check-out. Do you really want to be behind the person with 40 items in their cart the first time they use that service? I’d rather have to take close up pictures of a rattlesnake! I like what comedian George Carlin had to say on the subject of getting out of a supermarket. “I'm not the cashier! By the time I look up from sliding my card, entering my PIN number, pressing 'Enter,' verifying the amount, deciding, no, I don't want Cash back, and pressing 'Enter' again, the kid who is supposed to be ringing me up is standing there eating my Almond Joy.”
One of the things we most easily connect with and sometimes yearn for is the sound of a human voice, especially one that is able to respond to your questions. It is OK for me to tell my Blackberry to “call office” and have it do just that, but when I get the office, I want to speak with a real live person. Customers should be warmly greeted and treated with respect. Too many managers and employees loose site of who is really paying their salaries.
Everywhere we look, businesses are beating the bushes in search of customers, but the same enterprises are pinching and squeezing on customer service. Yes, it is challenging to find good people and even more so to train them well. Sadly, service from a live and knowledgeable human being is becoming the new luxury, soon to be afforded only by those who demand it and are willing to pay more. You can now book a plane trip, print out a ticket, endure the security screening and be on your way to the destination without anyone paying attention to your needs until they offer to sell you a sandwich onboard! And airlines wonder why they are sliding toward post office territory on the scale of experiences we dislike.
No, I’m not against progress but I am also a true contrarian. In my own business the phone is answered by live people between 9am and 6pm. We don’t ask you to choose languages or have a trap door behind the pound key leading directly to voice mail hell.
If I’m dealing with your business as a customer, then I really want to be treated like a customer, not one of your associates who works there and gets paid for it. My money should buy service and the attention of a human being even if fleetingly. Give me a human experience and in return I’ll give you loyalty and more business.
Anybody can install an automated phone system and other electronic “service” devices. They are now just another commodity. If you want a competitive advantage in this marketplace, bring a human face and voice to what you do. It will be appreciated and we know that can lead to sales and growth. Give me a reason to be a good customer by treating me like a desired customer. That is the true definition of a brand.
I think it all began with self service gasoline stations. Not only do I remember .55 cent gasoline, but I recall the days when there were service station attendants who would check the oil and scrutinize the tires while filling your tank. Sadly, those memories are now shrouded in the mists of history. At first it was a charming novelty and a time saver to pump your own gas. They even discounted the price! Now we are the hose handlers, there are no discounts and the only people you see are behind a bullet barrier.
In the early 1980s I was an early adopter of an ATM card from my bank. It was both cool and great to be able to replenish my cash supply at times when the bankers were asleep. But as time went on it became obvious that the bankers really wanted us to use the ATM all of the time so they could get by with fewer tellers. In a counter move a couple of years ago, at least one bank began offering concierge service to get a competitive advantage.
Supermarkets are now joining in that game with some featuring self-check-out. Do you really want to be behind the person with 40 items in their cart the first time they use that service? I’d rather have to take close up pictures of a rattlesnake! I like what comedian George Carlin had to say on the subject of getting out of a supermarket. “I'm not the cashier! By the time I look up from sliding my card, entering my PIN number, pressing 'Enter,' verifying the amount, deciding, no, I don't want Cash back, and pressing 'Enter' again, the kid who is supposed to be ringing me up is standing there eating my Almond Joy.”
One of the things we most easily connect with and sometimes yearn for is the sound of a human voice, especially one that is able to respond to your questions. It is OK for me to tell my Blackberry to “call office” and have it do just that, but when I get the office, I want to speak with a real live person. Customers should be warmly greeted and treated with respect. Too many managers and employees loose site of who is really paying their salaries.
Everywhere we look, businesses are beating the bushes in search of customers, but the same enterprises are pinching and squeezing on customer service. Yes, it is challenging to find good people and even more so to train them well. Sadly, service from a live and knowledgeable human being is becoming the new luxury, soon to be afforded only by those who demand it and are willing to pay more. You can now book a plane trip, print out a ticket, endure the security screening and be on your way to the destination without anyone paying attention to your needs until they offer to sell you a sandwich onboard! And airlines wonder why they are sliding toward post office territory on the scale of experiences we dislike.
No, I’m not against progress but I am also a true contrarian. In my own business the phone is answered by live people between 9am and 6pm. We don’t ask you to choose languages or have a trap door behind the pound key leading directly to voice mail hell.
If I’m dealing with your business as a customer, then I really want to be treated like a customer, not one of your associates who works there and gets paid for it. My money should buy service and the attention of a human being even if fleetingly. Give me a human experience and in return I’ll give you loyalty and more business.
Anybody can install an automated phone system and other electronic “service” devices. They are now just another commodity. If you want a competitive advantage in this marketplace, bring a human face and voice to what you do. It will be appreciated and we know that can lead to sales and growth. Give me a reason to be a good customer by treating me like a desired customer. That is the true definition of a brand.
The Fear Locker
There is a film out right now titled The Hurt Locker that is getting a lot of buzz as the movie awards season rolls out. The movie follows an Explosive Ordnance Disposal bomb technician, one of the hundred or so soldiers in Iraq who dismantle roadside IEDs planted by insurgents. What I find even scarier than being in close contact with a live bomb is the way that we are being inundated with messages of fear from every angle in every part of our lives.
We received a great lesson on fear over 70 years ago when newly elected President Franklin Delano Roosevelt uttered one of his most memorable phrases in his inauguration speech: “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
The attempted bombing of an airliner on Christmas day is what prompted me to sort of audit everything I heard or saw on radio and TV for one day. To sum it up, I should be cowering in fear at this very moment based on what the media outlets sent my way. Trembling should rack my body with any thought of flying, driving through certain parts of town, touching my neighbor’s child, consuming a long list of foods, and not to mention that the future of civilization as we know it may be in doubt. Today, I’m sitting in my Los Angeles office looking at a light rain falling between me and the Hollywood sign. Meanwhile, the media is shouting at me about possible mud slides rather than the fact that we live in a desert and need every drop of the water. The rain is a blessing, not a curse. But of course, “run for your life” gets more attention than “we are grateful for the drought relief.”
The radio is on while I’m writing this, and it is teaching me about fears that I have never experienced. In just two minutes, I learned to be fearful of the Internet as it relates to children and that I need a paid consultant to fight the credit card companies. The recent election upset in Massachusetts was a good indicator that institutional fear is driving an increasing number of our actions.
Since I view the world around me through the prism of small business and entrepreneurial thinking, I suspect that the business of capitalizing on fear is a growing enterprise. Do you have an electronic security system at your home? How high is the stack of your insurance policies that cover the loss of darned near everything? About a year ago, gun dealers were even running out of ammunition to sell. When did we stop doing things for rational or emotional reasons and start waiting for our fears to be unleashed to prod us into action?
Business owners are not exempt from fear, but if you aren’t selling it, you are certainly working to conquer it. When I was a youngster attempting to build a submarine sandwich business with a partner, our landlord gave us some of the best advice ever. He said, “in business you have to learn to love your problems because they are the only thing you are assured of having every day.” Business problems plague all companies from time to time. Searching Google will bring over 30 million results on the topic. It is not the business problem itself that defeats people from solving it, but it is the fear the problem generates. Recognizing that difference is the first step to a solution. By identifying critical elements to the problem, the solutions reveal themselves as a by-product of the process. Fear has only a miniscule place in the equation of success.
Though I’ve chosen to sell hope instead of fear in my business, I do have some fear infused days as a business owner. I’m working to make them a rare occurrence and I hope that you are too. We can’t move forward until we step out of the fear locker. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Don't waste life in doubts and fears; spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour's duties will be the best preparation for the hours and ages that will follow it.”
We received a great lesson on fear over 70 years ago when newly elected President Franklin Delano Roosevelt uttered one of his most memorable phrases in his inauguration speech: “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
The attempted bombing of an airliner on Christmas day is what prompted me to sort of audit everything I heard or saw on radio and TV for one day. To sum it up, I should be cowering in fear at this very moment based on what the media outlets sent my way. Trembling should rack my body with any thought of flying, driving through certain parts of town, touching my neighbor’s child, consuming a long list of foods, and not to mention that the future of civilization as we know it may be in doubt. Today, I’m sitting in my Los Angeles office looking at a light rain falling between me and the Hollywood sign. Meanwhile, the media is shouting at me about possible mud slides rather than the fact that we live in a desert and need every drop of the water. The rain is a blessing, not a curse. But of course, “run for your life” gets more attention than “we are grateful for the drought relief.”
The radio is on while I’m writing this, and it is teaching me about fears that I have never experienced. In just two minutes, I learned to be fearful of the Internet as it relates to children and that I need a paid consultant to fight the credit card companies. The recent election upset in Massachusetts was a good indicator that institutional fear is driving an increasing number of our actions.
Since I view the world around me through the prism of small business and entrepreneurial thinking, I suspect that the business of capitalizing on fear is a growing enterprise. Do you have an electronic security system at your home? How high is the stack of your insurance policies that cover the loss of darned near everything? About a year ago, gun dealers were even running out of ammunition to sell. When did we stop doing things for rational or emotional reasons and start waiting for our fears to be unleashed to prod us into action?
Business owners are not exempt from fear, but if you aren’t selling it, you are certainly working to conquer it. When I was a youngster attempting to build a submarine sandwich business with a partner, our landlord gave us some of the best advice ever. He said, “in business you have to learn to love your problems because they are the only thing you are assured of having every day.” Business problems plague all companies from time to time. Searching Google will bring over 30 million results on the topic. It is not the business problem itself that defeats people from solving it, but it is the fear the problem generates. Recognizing that difference is the first step to a solution. By identifying critical elements to the problem, the solutions reveal themselves as a by-product of the process. Fear has only a miniscule place in the equation of success.
Though I’ve chosen to sell hope instead of fear in my business, I do have some fear infused days as a business owner. I’m working to make them a rare occurrence and I hope that you are too. We can’t move forward until we step out of the fear locker. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Don't waste life in doubts and fears; spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour's duties will be the best preparation for the hours and ages that will follow it.”
BEST OF THE BOWL
Whatever the Super Bowl represents to die hard football fans, it also is one of the largest gatherings of American business people each year. In addition to being a schmooze fest in a warm weather location, I feel it is a celebration of “the best” that can be inspiring to small business owners as well.
I haven’t been to a football game since Al Davis’ Raiders left Los Angeles to return to Oakland, which lets you know that on a scale of 10, my fan level is at about 4. When the raiders were the local LA team, I was attracted to their positioning slogan which was “commitment to excellence.” I don’t know when they last lived up to the phrase, but I liked it and think that my connection to any sport played at the highest level is really about an interest in excellence.
The Super Bowl is much more than just a football game that determines the world champion in a bruising sport. It is a great business exercise which attracts other businesses and provides opportunities for doing business even while shouting, eating, and perhaps sipping a drink or two. As a bonus, it is usually held in a location where the danger of a snowstorm spoiling the fun is very low. Small business owners get a piece of the pie from dozens of events that are staged each year during Super Bowl week as well as in the months leading up to it. It’s all pretty entrepreneurial. Even a Motel 6 in the host city probably has a couple of great weeks.
Though my football libido is less than average, I am a fan of some of the legendary coaches and players because they embody success lessons that all business owners can learn from. The late Vince Lombardi, who coached the Green Bay Packers to win the first ever Super Bowl, may be the most quoted football coach ever. A copy of the book, “Motivation Lombardi Style,” is on my office bookshelf with plenty of marker tabs signifying favorite pages. From 1959 to 1967, every season was a winning season for Coach Lombardi’s teams. Now the winning Super Bowl team receives a championship trophy named after Lombardi. My favorite quote from him is: “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.” Vince Lombardi.
So when I settle in at a social gathering with an all carbohydrate snack menu while watching Super Bowl 2010, I’ll take inspiration from seeing the best playing the best. It will remind me of the psychic and material rewards of discipline, focus, and determination. The game will remind me that a team of people working together from a common playbook can overcome some pretty intimidating obstacles. One of the fundamental rules for that level of accomplishment is preparation, preparation, and more preparation. When the camera tilts up from the field to the owners box, it is a reminder that there is room at the excellence table for twenty somethings and for senior citizens. At both sidelines there are nervous coaches who know that they have done their best to lead the eleven men on the field. Like true leaders, they realize that greatness comes in shared responsibility. The best earned their place at the table; it wasn’t legislated for them to be there. “Leadership is based on a spiritual quality; the power to inspire, the power to inspire others to follow.” Vince Lombardi.
As the New Orleans Saints take the field in Miami against the Indianapolis Colts, you don’t have to really care which fine team wins. The same spirit of enterprise and indomitable will that has built and sustained our country is what you’ll see in the game and hopefully find uplifting. I like what Jim Mora, former coach of the New Orleans Saints, had to say about the Colt’s quarterback Peyton Manning. "What sets him apart is his preparation. That's it in a word: preparation. He prepares himself mentally, physically and emotionally to be the best that he can be. Now, everybody wants to be the best. But Peyton does what it takes to be the best. There's a difference."
May we all allow ourselves to aspire to really being the best. That is my super bowl.
If you want to see more of my blog posts or website, visit: makingittv.
I haven’t been to a football game since Al Davis’ Raiders left Los Angeles to return to Oakland, which lets you know that on a scale of 10, my fan level is at about 4. When the raiders were the local LA team, I was attracted to their positioning slogan which was “commitment to excellence.” I don’t know when they last lived up to the phrase, but I liked it and think that my connection to any sport played at the highest level is really about an interest in excellence.
The Super Bowl is much more than just a football game that determines the world champion in a bruising sport. It is a great business exercise which attracts other businesses and provides opportunities for doing business even while shouting, eating, and perhaps sipping a drink or two. As a bonus, it is usually held in a location where the danger of a snowstorm spoiling the fun is very low. Small business owners get a piece of the pie from dozens of events that are staged each year during Super Bowl week as well as in the months leading up to it. It’s all pretty entrepreneurial. Even a Motel 6 in the host city probably has a couple of great weeks.
Though my football libido is less than average, I am a fan of some of the legendary coaches and players because they embody success lessons that all business owners can learn from. The late Vince Lombardi, who coached the Green Bay Packers to win the first ever Super Bowl, may be the most quoted football coach ever. A copy of the book, “Motivation Lombardi Style,” is on my office bookshelf with plenty of marker tabs signifying favorite pages. From 1959 to 1967, every season was a winning season for Coach Lombardi’s teams. Now the winning Super Bowl team receives a championship trophy named after Lombardi. My favorite quote from him is: “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.” Vince Lombardi.
So when I settle in at a social gathering with an all carbohydrate snack menu while watching Super Bowl 2010, I’ll take inspiration from seeing the best playing the best. It will remind me of the psychic and material rewards of discipline, focus, and determination. The game will remind me that a team of people working together from a common playbook can overcome some pretty intimidating obstacles. One of the fundamental rules for that level of accomplishment is preparation, preparation, and more preparation. When the camera tilts up from the field to the owners box, it is a reminder that there is room at the excellence table for twenty somethings and for senior citizens. At both sidelines there are nervous coaches who know that they have done their best to lead the eleven men on the field. Like true leaders, they realize that greatness comes in shared responsibility. The best earned their place at the table; it wasn’t legislated for them to be there. “Leadership is based on a spiritual quality; the power to inspire, the power to inspire others to follow.” Vince Lombardi.
As the New Orleans Saints take the field in Miami against the Indianapolis Colts, you don’t have to really care which fine team wins. The same spirit of enterprise and indomitable will that has built and sustained our country is what you’ll see in the game and hopefully find uplifting. I like what Jim Mora, former coach of the New Orleans Saints, had to say about the Colt’s quarterback Peyton Manning. "What sets him apart is his preparation. That's it in a word: preparation. He prepares himself mentally, physically and emotionally to be the best that he can be. Now, everybody wants to be the best. But Peyton does what it takes to be the best. There's a difference."
May we all allow ourselves to aspire to really being the best. That is my super bowl.
If you want to see more of my blog posts or website, visit: makingittv.
AMERICA VS CANADA
I had never heard of something called The Index of Economic Freedom until recently. The 2010 edition of this index published by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal tells me that Canada, our frozen neighbor to the north is now economically freer than the United States! That was a head turning surprise to me. I thought that being born in America and living in California placed me in the spacious corner office of the headquarters for economic freedom. As it turns out, I was wrong, really wrong. The most famous Canadian entrepreneurs that I knew of left that country to build their empires. Jack Kent Cooke moved to California to own media companies, the Los Angeles Lakers and The Forum. Roy Thompson, a nerdy newspaper owner moved to Britain where he became Lord Thompson of Fleet. They certainly weren’t letting any Canadian ice form under their feet or chill their ambitions.
You see, I grew up on the Canadian border in Niagara Falls, New York and I worked in radio and television in Canada’s capital, Ottawa for over ten years. My first business ownership was there when, with a partner, we opened Fat Albert’s Subs and Pizza. While every country has its entrepreneurial class and awe inspiring success stories, I never thought of our frigidly frolicking neighbors as being really business friendly. In fact, a feeling of heavy taxation and questionable national priorities is what prompted me to return to the U.S. and to work my trade here in the much warmer Golden State.
Economic freedom is measured in 10 categories by the Heritage Foundation, and they’ve been issuing their report for the past 16 years. For 2010, America took a tumble from sixth place to number eight behind Canada. The top 5 are Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. Note that Asian-Pacific countries dominate the rankings. But you’ll be delighted to note that some logic does prevail since Cuba, Zimbabwe, and North Korea are at the very bottom of the list.
So what did the U.S., a country built on the entrepreneurial spirit, do to lose our footing? According to The Heritage Foundation, we are now lacking in the areas of monetary freedom and property rights. Our government’s reactions to the economic and financial crises of the past couple of years are seen as interventionist. They say that the Washington gang’s actions discourage entrepreneurship, accelerate job losses, and weigh us down with record setting deficits. In countries such as South Korea, Germany, and Poland (yes, Poland) they defied the economic pressures and maintained or expanded economic freedom as measured by Heritage.
I agree with the Heritage Foundation folks that private and free enterprise does the best job of reducing poverty. Heavily regulated economies have an internal friction that slows or prevents forward movement and puts a chill on ambition. The public sector simply does not create value in the marketplace or incentivize its participants to be better and faster. High rank elected officials often talk about change, but they are really mired in the status quo. A wise and wealthy friend of mine recently said regarding political office seekers, “Nelson why wouldn’t anybody question the motives of a person who spends $5 million in pursuit of a $200,000 job? They will owe their soul to people who simply want their own gravy train to keep on running.”
The delicate balance between free enterprise capitalism and useful regulation is difficult to achieve. We have had it before in the U.S., and we need to get back to that place. When the sticky stuff hit the financial fan a year and half ago in our country, I called a couple of Canadian real estate friends in Vancouver and Ottawa. They were not having a mortgage meltdown, and their banks were not begging for outside help. It seems that their regulations had saved them from playing the same foolish games that our bankers had been allowed to indulge in. Perpetual vigilance is demanding but necessary. Economist Adam Smith wrote in his 1776 book, The Wealth of Nations, that “When institutions protect the liberty of individuals, greater prosperity results for all.”
We should be humbled by the fact that the economic freedom that lifted America to be the most prosperous country in the world is being systematically eroded and compromised. Increasingly, the small business community is on the front line in defense of the entrepreneurial spirit and values. When our friendly neighbor to the north, whose primary export seems to be winter weather cold fronts, moves above us in the economic freedom ranking, it may be time for us to put on a parka and learn something—eh!
If you want to see more about my blog or website, visit: makingittv.
You see, I grew up on the Canadian border in Niagara Falls, New York and I worked in radio and television in Canada’s capital, Ottawa for over ten years. My first business ownership was there when, with a partner, we opened Fat Albert’s Subs and Pizza. While every country has its entrepreneurial class and awe inspiring success stories, I never thought of our frigidly frolicking neighbors as being really business friendly. In fact, a feeling of heavy taxation and questionable national priorities is what prompted me to return to the U.S. and to work my trade here in the much warmer Golden State.
Economic freedom is measured in 10 categories by the Heritage Foundation, and they’ve been issuing their report for the past 16 years. For 2010, America took a tumble from sixth place to number eight behind Canada. The top 5 are Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. Note that Asian-Pacific countries dominate the rankings. But you’ll be delighted to note that some logic does prevail since Cuba, Zimbabwe, and North Korea are at the very bottom of the list.
So what did the U.S., a country built on the entrepreneurial spirit, do to lose our footing? According to The Heritage Foundation, we are now lacking in the areas of monetary freedom and property rights. Our government’s reactions to the economic and financial crises of the past couple of years are seen as interventionist. They say that the Washington gang’s actions discourage entrepreneurship, accelerate job losses, and weigh us down with record setting deficits. In countries such as South Korea, Germany, and Poland (yes, Poland) they defied the economic pressures and maintained or expanded economic freedom as measured by Heritage.
I agree with the Heritage Foundation folks that private and free enterprise does the best job of reducing poverty. Heavily regulated economies have an internal friction that slows or prevents forward movement and puts a chill on ambition. The public sector simply does not create value in the marketplace or incentivize its participants to be better and faster. High rank elected officials often talk about change, but they are really mired in the status quo. A wise and wealthy friend of mine recently said regarding political office seekers, “Nelson why wouldn’t anybody question the motives of a person who spends $5 million in pursuit of a $200,000 job? They will owe their soul to people who simply want their own gravy train to keep on running.”
The delicate balance between free enterprise capitalism and useful regulation is difficult to achieve. We have had it before in the U.S., and we need to get back to that place. When the sticky stuff hit the financial fan a year and half ago in our country, I called a couple of Canadian real estate friends in Vancouver and Ottawa. They were not having a mortgage meltdown, and their banks were not begging for outside help. It seems that their regulations had saved them from playing the same foolish games that our bankers had been allowed to indulge in. Perpetual vigilance is demanding but necessary. Economist Adam Smith wrote in his 1776 book, The Wealth of Nations, that “When institutions protect the liberty of individuals, greater prosperity results for all.”
We should be humbled by the fact that the economic freedom that lifted America to be the most prosperous country in the world is being systematically eroded and compromised. Increasingly, the small business community is on the front line in defense of the entrepreneurial spirit and values. When our friendly neighbor to the north, whose primary export seems to be winter weather cold fronts, moves above us in the economic freedom ranking, it may be time for us to put on a parka and learn something—eh!
If you want to see more about my blog or website, visit: makingittv.
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