June 2014 – Page 3

Is It Your Birthday?

I recently celebrated a birthday.
I’ve given my birth date
to hundreds, possibly thousands
of businesses.
Less than a dozen contacted me
on my birthday.

Facebook sends me a reminder
of friends’ upcoming birthdays.
Because I’m a writer,
many of my friends are readers
(i.e. customers).

I post a birthday greeting
on each friend’s wall.
They LOVE this, LOVE it.
A ‘famous’ writer wished them
a happy birthday.

You,
as the founder of a company
your customers love,
are famous also.
A birthday greeting from you
would create as much or more excitement.

Acknowledge your customers’ birthdays.
Show them you care.

Hiring By Project Vs Hiring By Month

I’m a project girl
and I tend to look at each book I write
as a separate project.

When my business grew,
I hired help on this project basis.
I’d hire Y person to help market with book release 1.
If Y person wasn’t available for book release 2,
I’d hire someone else.

I could do this
because there was a spike of tasks needed
around release days
and many of these tasks
didn’t require in depth knowledge of my business
to complete.

Recently, because of growth,
there’s been a constant, every day
increase in my work load.
These tasks also require
more of a history with my business.

It no longer makes sense to hire
different people on a project by project basis.
One constant point of contact
would add value.

Know when to
hire by project
vs
when to
hire by month.
Different situations
require different solutions.

How Many Subscribers Do You Need For A Newsletter?

A writing buddy was debating
whether or not
she should spend time and effort
sending out a newsletter.
She had over 3,000 subscribers
but only approximately 300 readers
opened her newsletter.

I told her
that selling 180 units of one title
in one day
will give her a ranking of about 1,000.
That will put this title
on some of the top 100 lists.
These lists will push more sales.

These 300 readers could also be
forwarding her newsletter.
Forwards are invisible,
not tracked any where.

In other words,
she doesn’t know
how many readers
are reading her newsletter.

How many active subscribers
do you need to justify
a newsletter?

One.
One super fan.

The Sharing Culture

Elina Furman,
co-founder of Pley,
a subscription service
for kids who love LEGOs,
shares

“I think “sharing” will be as commonplace
as social media in two years.
In 10 years,
it will be how people
consume and interact
with the world.
Kids are setting us up for that
—they are learning it first.
It is our new paradigm.”

What is sharing?

Her company is an example.
Parents share Lego sets,
using Pley as a conduit
(and a sanitizer).

Zipcar is another example.
Members share car ownership,
again with Zipcar as the conduit.

As ‘mine’ is
one of the first words
children learn,
I don’t think the owning culture
is going away
any time soon
but both can certainly coexist.

Consider servicing the sharing community.

Establishing Trust

We don’t buy
from salespeople we don’t trust.
Establishing trust
is key.

How do you accomplish this?

Bruna Martinuzzi
shares

“There are myriad ways
to establish trust,
including being punctual,
being prepared and
showing a genuine interest
in the other person.
Most important,
know your product and service,
and listen well to understand
the other person’s needs.”

Establish trust first
THEN pitch your product.

The Death Of The Entrepreneur

A study from
The Brookings Institution
states that
startups have been in steady decline
from the late 1970s.

“Whatever the reason,
older and larger businesses are doing better
relative to younger and smaller ones.
Firms and individuals appear
to be more risk averse …
and fewer people are launching firms.”

I agree with
the American Express Open experts,
calling bullsh*t on this study.

I personally know of
THOUSANDS of start ups
last year alone.
Almost every romance writer I’ve met
is self-publishing.
They’re producing, marketing, selling
a product.
Some of these writers are making millions.

Yet they don’t consider themselves
entrepreneurs or businesses.
Writers are often grouped with contractors,
even though they’re selling products,
not services.

I suspect bloggers, youtube celebrities,
and other media mavens
weren’t considered entrepreneurs either.
When was the last time
you met a 20 something
WITHOUT a social media presence
and a dream for leveraging
that influence?

Entrepreneurship might not look like it did
a decade ago
but it is alive and well.

The Race To The Bottom

Seth Godin has a great post
on how being the cheapest option
isn’t the positioning
you wish for your product.

“Every great brand
(even those with low prices)
is known for something other than
how cheap they are.

Henry Ford earned his early success
by using the ideas of mass production
and interchangeable parts
in a magnificent race
to the most efficient
car manufacturing system ever.
But then, he and his team learned that
people didn’t actually want the cheapest car.
They wanted a car
they could be proud of,
they wanted a car
that was a bit safer,
a bit more stylish,
a car built by people
who earned a wage
that made them contributors
to the community.”

The race to the lowest price
in romance eBooks
has already reached zero.
Writers can’t be the lowest price player.
They can merely tie for that spot
with THOUSANDS of other writers.

Eventually, your industry will look the same.
The lowest price might not be free
but it will be zero profit.

Price can’t be your competitive advantage,
not in the long run.
Work on some other competitive difference.

How To Increase Twitter Followers

Kevan Lee,
at Fast Company,
has an excellent article
on increasing twitter followers.

Some of the tips are obvious.
The more you tweet,
the greater number of followers
you will have.

Some are not.

“If you are a brand looking for
more followers on social media,
it’ll help to know what your followers are after.
Nielsen research conducted
a study for Twitter UK back in March,
revealing the top ten reasons
why people follow brands.

55% follow because they like the brand.
52% follow for special offers or promotions.
51% follow to stay up to date
with news from the brand.”

What does this mean?

Don’t be shy about
offering your twitter followers
special offers or promotions.
This is what they want
and expect.

Getting Attention

My books were recently featured
on a popular national TV talk show.
It was featured on a Friday
and I cancelled my personal plans
because I figured book bloggers
and media folks would want to talk to me.

Hmmm… no.
Not one person approached me.

By Saturday afternoon,
I realized I’d have to reach out
to the media and book bloggers.
I approached over 1,000 media outlets
ranging from TV talk shows
to my community’s paper.

By Monday afternoon,
I had been mentioned in about 20 book blogs.
By Tuesday afternoon,
I was old news,
not worthy of coverage.

If you market constantly,
your business will likely get a similar break.
Don’t assume this break
will attract media attention.
Reach out to them immediately.

What Is Real?

As a writer and an entrepreneur,
I hear the word real a LOT.
When are you going back
to working a REAL job?
When are you writing
a REAL book?
When will you make
a REAL difference in the world?

These questions imply
that I’m doing the opposite,
that I’m busy working an IMAGINARY job,
writing my IMAGINARY books,
making an IMAGINARY difference in the world.

When the response is phrased like this,
even the people asking these questions
realize they’re being ridiculous.

Jonathan Bush,
CEO and Co-Founder of
athenahealth,
faced the same questions
when starting his business.
Advising his younger self,
he’d share

“That is a real thing,
I would tell myself.
Everyone says they need a real job,
but you can define
what is real and worthy.”

Everything you do is real.