Birds do it.
Ants do it.
Humans do it.
Swarm.
A pack of individuals moving in one common direction.
Researchers have found that
individuals within a swarm have
“to balance two instincts:
to stay with the group and
to move in a desired direction.”
This direction can be guided
by just a few leaders,
simply by disrupting the balance.
What does this mean?
Reach these leaders and
you direct the swarm.
Hugh at GapingVoid
talks about the “VaporGuru”,
“people who don’t seem to do very much
except write in their blogs and
speak at conferences.”
VaporGurus observe,
they don’t “do.”
I’ve been asked about becoming a full time writer
or a full time blogger.
How can I write full time
without becoming a VaporGuru?
How can I write about the business world
and not spend time in it?
The bigger question is…
why would I want to?
I love business.
I love being an active part of the business community.
I received an email from a spa recently.
I don’t remember what it said but
I certainly remember how it made me feel.
The sentences within the email
were long and flowing,
using peaceful and calming words.
Simply reading it invoked feelings of relaxation.
Days later, I still associate
that spa with those feelings.
Why am I mentioning this?
Because mood in communications is important.
It is part of branding.
It creates an emotional bond
between the business and the prospect.
And it sells product.
Be conscious of the mood you’re setting.
Ramit Sethi at
IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com
interviewed Laura Levine from
Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Finance Literacy
and asked why young people
don’t attend financial literacy classes.
Her reply included
“Because attending is a big admission
that they’re lacking education.”
The fear of looking dumb,
the same reason your prospect
won’t ask a beginner question about your product,
that easy question holding her back from buying.
So volunteer the information,
put an FAQ on your website,
include a brochure.
Make the information easy
for the prospect to access
without looking dumb.
I’ve received a few emails about
ClientK’s What I’m Reading section
on the sidebar.
Most are dismayed that
I “caved” into promoting Amazon.
Actually advertising income isn’t
why this blog is an Amazon affiliate.
I didn’t sign up for the cup of coffee
the earnings could buy me every quarter.
Why did I sign up?
Because it is the easiest way to display book covers.
There is no need to get permission from each publisher
to display the cover art.
Amazon has already done that for me.
Look at your affiliate system.
Is there a way, other than cash,
to encourage referrals?
Many entrepreneurs trade ownership for expertise.
No money, simply expertise.
This sounds like a good deal.
It’s not.
What I have found time and time again is
that unless money changes hands
the commitment level is low.
That expert you “bought”
suddenly becomes busy
with money making opportunities,
opportunities which do not include
your freebie venture.
So what’s the solution?
Charge a nominal amount,
even if it’s a thousand bucks.
If your expert balks at that,
she didn’t think your venture would work anyway.
You don’t want to partner
with someone who thinks you’ll fail.
With the book launch approaching (May),
I’ve been busy developing new working relationships.
What I do with every “partnership” is
outline how I work best and my expectations.
I capture these in writing (in email) and
send it to the key people involved.
Sounds like a no-brainer but
very, very few people do this.
And not being clear about your preferences
causes unnecessary stress on the relationships.
Be clear about what makes you a happy partner.
Babson College has released
their annual study of woman-run businesses
in Massachusetts.
One interesting finding?
Female leaders are also owners.
80% of the CEO’s held controlling ownership.
Is that surprising?
No.
I was told by a male mentor
during my time in corporate that
if I really wanted to be CEO,
I should start my own company.
Perceived as easier than
duking it out within the male dominated Fortune 500 companies
(‘course anyone can start a company,
making that company successful is more challenging).
25% of the population are introverts
(people who lose power around other people,
extroverts gain power around people)
and I include myself in this number.
When I am “on”,
you wouldn’t know it.
Why?
Because I figured out early on
that if I wanted to be successful,
I had to act like an extrovert.
28.4% of executives do the same thing.
So stop using it as an excuse.
Good product developers are
never truly happy with a product.
They don’t simply launch a product
and forget about it.
They think of the next major tweak
to make the product better.
I love reading romances but
I could see areas for improvement.
In my first business based romance,
Breach Of Trust (launching in May 2008),
one such improvement is
the resource list at the end.
For my next, I’m testing more tweaks.
Companies use this dissatisfaction.
As stated in Google’s ten things they’ve found to be true,
“This constant dissatisfaction with
the way things are is ultimately the driving force
behind the world’s best search engine.”