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Raising A Project Person

Since you are a project person
(why else would you be reading this blog?),
odds are someone in your family
is or will be a project person also.

Having heard a certain 8 year old project person
burned down yet another barn,
here are some of my thoughts
on raising one.

Realize that the projects are going to happen.
Direct these projects by asking questions.
Safe questions like
“I wonder why worms
crawl all over the sidewalk when it rains”,
NOT casual comments like
“I bet fireworks are easy to make”
or
“I wonder how Peter Pan flies.”

Teach good project management skills.
They are going to pick up habits,
they might as well pick up the right ones.

Don’t judge failures,
help them learn from them.
The best way to do that?
Ask more questions.
Let them figure out the answers for themselves.

Most of all,
try to be present for any live experiments.
That way,
small fires don’t end up as big fires.

The Tale Of Two Housewarmings

I went to two housewarmings
on the same weekend.

The first housewarming
was held by a professional party planner,
throwing fancy parties was her job.
Guests were fed shrimp skewers on couscous.
Tasty yet expectations were so high,
guests were disappointed.

At the second regular family housewarming,
guests were fed steakettes with rice.
Not as fancy as the first
yet because of lowered expectations
(we expected burgers and hot dogs),
guests were happier.

Often companies are competing
more with expectations than
with competitors.
Exceed expectations and
your customers will be thrilled.

The Repeat Customer

I’m doing it with my romance blog.
Consulting companies do it with support agreements.
Stores do it with extended warranties.

Convert a one time buy
into a regular stream of income.

One perk of this strategy
is in justifying
the always questioned marketing spend.

An author buddy promoted his static website.
He got some great one time traffic.
There was no reason for readers to come back
so they didn’t.

I’m getting great traffic also
but because of the blog format,
the promise of a new story every week,
my readers are coming back.
I’m seeing readership build.

The result?
The two of us might have the same
number of our first titles sold
for this specific marketing push
but I have the potential
of selling my next title to the returning readers.
More value for the same
semi-pricey marketing spend.

Middle Of The Pack Pricing

A loved one is selling his house.
He has noticed that the most traffic
in his neighborhood
has been going to the lowest priced house
and the highest priced house.

Why?

Because pricing MEANS something
to the buyers.
The lowest priced house is seen as value,
the highest as premium,
the middle of the pack?
Not seen at all.

Pricing is part of the marketing mix
for a reason.
Pay attention to where you price.

Educated Vs Average

Do you have English PhD’s
writing your communications?
Is that a good idea?

A highly educated person knows
30-40,000 words.
The average person knows
10-15,000 words.

That is a huge gap in communication,
a gap that could cost your company money.

Ensure that your marketing and sales team
is only using those core 10,000 words.

BTW… the most commonly understood English word
is NOT yes,
it is ok.
That tidbit has come in very handy
when I’m traveling.

Knowing The Past, Predicting The Future

In
The Intelligence Edge,
the authors state that business people should be able
“to recognize old and unprecedented patterns,
and know how to take advantage of each.”

Knowledge of history is a huge part
of both intelligence gathering
and new product development.

Knowing what worked and
what didn’t work in the past
guides future decisions.

Take the time
to study the history
of your product and industry.

The Small Business Advantage

I wanted to buy
a potted miniature rose
for my Mom.
I called up the small town florist
a block from her.

I ask for them to deliver the potted rose.
Sorry, we don’t sell those,
they respond.

A normal customer would hang up at that point.
I, knowing that they share mall space
with a grocery store that DOES sell the roses,
ask if they can simply buy one
as a favor for me, a regular customer,
resell it to me for a mark up,
and
deliver it.

Silence.
No, we can’t do that.

I then call the big chain that DOES do it.
And you know what?
Their prices on the other flowers,
the flowers I normally buy,
are much less expensive.

The main advantage of small business is
flexibility.
Lose that and
you lose customers.

Temporary Marketing Spend, Permanent Results

One of the pushbacks
I get from money limited entrepreneurs
is spending on marketing
is an on going expense.
Stop spending,
the results stop too.

I agree.
That is why I always try to leverage
temporary marketing into permanent marketing.

When I was looking to advertise my book online,
I concentrated on sites
with blogs or permanent author pages.
Once I had set up the banner or cover or newsletter ads,
I also requested guest blogs
or author pages
or interviews.

These permanent features,
mentioning my site and name,
will give me results long
after my marketing spend is done.

The Best Of Both Worlds

Many of us are or have been in this place.
We have enough income
from our budding business
to pay the bills
but we’re scared to leave the full time job
because we can’t depend on
that entrepreneurial income.
It could stop tomorrow.

How did graphic designer
Janet Lackey solve this problem?

She negotiated a “stable retainer”
guaranteeing her a certain number
of billable hours and revenue.

The best of both worlds.

Throwing Knives And Overextending

When you throw a knife,
the impulse is to put everything you have
into it.
A mistake.
If you overextend your arm,
you can damage your joints
and
you won’t be able to throw another knife
until you heal.

The same thing happens in business.
If you overextend your money, time,
or other resources on a specific project,
these resources will be unavailable
for other opportunities.

That could be good,
or bad,
depending on the results.

Think before you put 110% into anything.