Kevin Smith On Chasing The Whimsies

Kevin Smith,
actor/writer/producer,
is known for bringing unlikely characters
to the big screen.

So what is his advice
for others seeking similar success?

“Chase the whimsies.
Don’t stop fucking
chasing the whimsies
because there’s so much reality
out there.
All I ever did all my life
was chase after
dopey little shitty dreams.
But you aggregate enough
dopey little dreams together,
you get one fucking big dream
that comes a callin’
and holds your life together.”

I totally agree.
Rarely do I hear about
entrepreneurs recognizing their innovation
as “the next big thing.”
Usually, they focus on the little innovation
and it grows into
that big thing.

Your dream doesn’t have to be big
to lead to success.

Chase the whimsies.

The Power Of Touch

Sales 101:
When possible,
have the prospect hold
the product.

We all know this “rule”
but WHY does it work?

As Martin Lindstrom explains

“A recent study conducted
by Bangor University together
with the United Kingdom’s Royal Mail service
also revealed the power of touch,
in this case when it came to snail mail.

A deeper and longer-lasting impression
of a message was formed
when delivered in a letter,
as opposed to receiving
the same message online.

FMRIs showed that,
on touching the paper,
the emotional center of the brain
was activated,
thus forming a stronger bond.

The study also indicated that
once touch becomes part of the process,
it could translate
into a sense of possession.

In other words,
we simply feel more committed to possess
and thus buy an item
when we’ve first touched it.”

Once we touch an object,
it becomes ours.

Have your prospect
hold your product.

Published
Categorized as Sales

Nolan Bushnell On Entrepreneurs

Nolan Bushnell is the founder
of Chuck-E-Cheese and Atari.

What is his definition
of an entrepreneur?

“The critical ingredient is
getting off your butt
and doing something.
It’s as simple as that.
A lot of people have ideas,
but there are few
who decide to do something about them
now.
Not tomorrow.
Not next week.
But today.
The true entrepreneur is a doer.. not a dreamer.”

Yes, I know you’ve heard
this “you must do” message
often here
on Clientk.

There’s a reason for that.
You HAVE to do
to succeed.
It is one of key success factors
ALL entrepreneurs, authors, brand builders,
hell, anyone
agrees upon.

Do it NOW!

Great Times For Entrepreneurs

It astounds me
when I talk to people
and they DON’T have
a business or idea they’re working on.

The opportunities are amazing.

If you don’t believe me,
believe Guy Kawasaki.

“Think of everything that
an entrepreneur needs
(tech ones, anyway),
and you’ll see that most things
are free or cheap.

Marketing: use blogs and social media
to promote your products.

Tools: most tools are Open Source and free.
Microsoft offers free versions of applications
like Word, Excel and PowerPoint in the cloud!

Infrastructure: More cloud goodness—
you don’t have to buy servers anymore.

People: callous for me to say,
but in a recession,
people are free or cheap.

Office space: what office space?
You can work out of your garage
(like David Hewlett and Bill Packard)
or just form a virtual team.

The bottom line is
this is one of the cheapest times
to be an entrepreneur,
so go into your garage and start prototyping.”

You heard the man.
Go!

Being Memorable

Mike Michalowicz has a great post
on The 5 Ways To Make Yourself Memorable.

If you’re building
a long lasting brand,
I think #5. Be Genuine
is the most important.

“Show who you really are.
Let people see your flaws,
as well as your triumphs.
Be open about how much
effort and hard work
was put in to get you
where you are today.
Offer advice, and take advice.
Don’t be a know-it-all.
Be a person that other people
will feel comfortable around
and not feel as though
they are not “good-enough”
to be in your presence.”

Why is it most important?

Because it is damn hard
to maintain a fake personae
over a long period of time.

Be memorable
and be genuine.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Abundance Of Love

As we’ve discussed before,
there are two types of people in the world.

There are those that believe
in scarcity,
that success is a zero-sum game.
If you win,
they lose.
These folks may say they’re happy
for your success
but they’re not really happy
because by you succeeding,
you’ve reduced the chance
of them succeeding.

In the other camp
are those that believe in abundance.
They believe if you win,
they can win also.
They’re happy for you
when you succeed.
They’ll help you to succeed.

So what does this have to do
with today,
Valentine’s Day?

One of the easiest ways
to determine
a woman’s view of the world
is to listen for the word ‘love.’

Scarcity believers won’t use love
to describe much.
They believe they can only love
so many people, so many things.
One of my loved ones is a scarcity believer
and she’ll only sign a specific number
of holiday cards with ‘love.’
As her family grew,
she nixed siblings off her list of people
she loved.

World of abundance women
will use love to describe everything.
They love white chocolate brownies.
They love people they met
two minutes ago.
They love movies and books
and their jobs
and…well…everything.
They believe love and wealth and success
is unlimited.

Listen for the love.
Those are the women
you want on your team.

Anna Wintour On Being A Bitch

It is rumored that the bitchy boss
in The Devil Wears Prada
is based on Anna Wintour,
the editor-in-chief of Vogue,
a woman
designer Karl Lagerfeld calls
“the most famous
fashion journalist in the world.”

Now
you and I know
that if a woman is the boss,
odds are
some ass is going to call
her a bitch.

Anna Wintour points out
to 60 Minutes
that the proof is in the employees.

“I have so many people
that have worked here for
15 to 20 years.
If I’m such a bitch,
they must be gluttons
for punishment.”

Exactly.
People aren’t stupid.
They don’t work for decades
for a bad boss.

Is Anna Wintour tough?
Of course.
You don’t survive for long
as a leader
if you’re not tough.

As Wintour points out
“People respond well
to people who know what they want.”

No one follows a bitch.
They follow leaders.

Counselor Troi On Fans

In a mini-interview with Space,
Marina Sirtis
who played Counselor Troi
on Star Trek: The Next Generation
said when she sees actors
being rude to
or having no time for their fans,
she wants to punch them in the nose.
THAT is how strongly
she feels about treating fans well.

Kelley Armstrong,
a New York Times Bestselling author,
is known for always responding
to readers.
Always.

I saw Richard Branson once
in an airport.
A young entrepreneur wanted
to talk to him.
Richard Branson missed his flight
to make time
for the complete stranger.

Fans, readers, customers
are important.
They pay your bills.
They’re the reason
your business exists.

Make time for them.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

The Personalized Ad

An ad by
O.B., yes, the tampon company,
is circulating Facebook and Twitter.

Why would women
forward a tampon ad?

Because it is damn clever.

Apology
is a music video
which women can customize
for their own name.
The lyrics are customized.
The graphics are customized.

It doesn’t work for every name
and it certainly doesn’t work
for male names
but it works
for enough women
that we’re… well… excited.

THIS is the new advertising expectation.
THIS level of personalization.

And it also proves
that if the marketing is clever enough,
it WILL go viral,
no matter what product is advertised.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Leadership And Drama

A writing organization I belong to
spent the last couple of years
debating whether or not
to recognize the achievements
of ePublished authors.
This created a lot of drama
and bad feelings.

They finally decided ‘yes’
and the membership breathed
a collective sigh of relief,
applying themselves to their true business
of writing.

There was about three months
of peace.
Then the leadership made the decision
to exclude any LGBT writing.

More distracting drama.

It is really tempting
as a leader
to constantly make changes,
tweaks here and there
that may or may not
be necessary.
We feel like we’re doing something.

The issue is…
changes create drama
and drama is distracting.
Distractions kill businesses.

Ask yourself
if your proposed change
is important enough
to distract your employees
from your core business.
Don’t create drama
for no reason.