Entrepreneurs are moderate optimists.
Optimism is essential for taking the calculated risks
all business founders need to take.
So how to nurture this optimism
while the media is all gloom and doom?
Easy answer.
Turn the tv off and
focus on the business.
Don’t worry about being uninformed.
You will still hear the bad news.
You simply won’t hear it constantly.
Protect your optimism.
It is essential to your success.
I hear it from wanna-be entrepreneurs
all the time.
If only they had a million dollars,
they could get their idea off the crowd.
The thing is…
there are plenty of ideas
that don’t need a million dollars in capital
to launch.
As Geek Squad’s founder Robert Stephens says
“Innovation is about trying lots of things.
Rather than spending $100,000 on one idea,
we could put $1,000 toward 100 ideas …
Many billion-dollar businesses don’t start out
as a billion-dollar idea,
they start out as a $500 idea.”
Get started with that $500 idea.
When interior designers decorate a room,
they often recommend having a focal point.
Why one focal point?
Why not two or three?
Because of the Von Restorff Effect.
German researcher Hedwig von Restorff discovered
that when one item sticks out from the rest,
it is more likely to be remembered.
Not only more likely to be remembered
but this image or word or fact makes
all the other information seem less important.
A magnificient fireplace makes homebuyers
less likely to remember the crack in the tile.
When designing a store,
an ad,
an executive summary,
ensure that there is a focal point and
that focal point highlights
what you want the prospect to remember.
Sometimes the best candidate
for an open position
is a former employee.
So how to facilitate that?
Fiorella Callocchia,
founder of HR Impact,
advises expanding your open door policy
to include not only communication but
welcoming back past employees.
That means keeping in touch and
recognizing past service.
A recent study shows that
people tight with their spending
are also more sensitive to marketing ploys
designed to reduce spending pain.
These ploys don’t have to be huge or fancy.
In one experiment,
participants were asked if they would be willing
to pay $5 to have free DVDs shipped overnight
instead of waiting four weeks for delivery.
The cost was described in two ways,
either as a “$5 fee” or as a “small $5 fee.”
Participants in the tight spending group
were 20 percent more likely to pay the fee
if it was called “small.”
Yep, that single word increased response by 20 percent
It is tempting.
Your company is paying for the hotel.
You have a generous per diem for meals.
All you’d need to fund is another airfare.
But here’s the thing…
conventions are for business,
first and foremost.
If your spouse can help you with that goal.
Great.
Take him.
For example:
The Consumer Electronics Show In Vegas
has a spouse pass.
With some prep work,
you can make twice as many connections.
If the convention is closed, however,
seriously think twice.
Will the spouse be happy doing his own thing
during the day?
And, as many of the real business connections
happen over dinner,
during the night?
If the answer is no,
go solo and
take a real vacation later.
When I was babysitting,
I learned never to “let” kids win.
They knew when I did and
then they’d suspect their clean wins.
Giving the impression that
they couldn’t win on their own
certainly didn’t improve confidence.
Derek Jeter’s dad was the same way.
He tells April’s Men’s Health,
“You know the showcase at the end of
The Price Is Right?
When I was 5,
he used to beat me at the showcase every day
before afternoon kindergarten.
I’m 5 years old!
I don’t know the prices!
But he taught me a lesson:
No one’s going to let you beat them.”
No one’s going to let you beat them.
Not at baseball, not at business, not in anything.
Play to win.
Spring is traditionally the launch
of the home renovation season.
Wondering if the possible recession
is going to put a damper on this year’s spending,
I asked a buddy of mine in the business.
His marketing angle?
It is all about paint.
He’s calling paint the lipstick of the reno business,
low cost yet impactful,
an affordable luxury.
Are you offering an affordable luxury
in your product line?
One of my favorite authors has a new book out.
It is the best she’s ever written.
I’d love to recommend it.
I can’t.
Why?
Because the book is a compilation of characters
found in previous books.
If you haven’t read those books,
you’ll be lost.
Sequels of successful products are tempting
but be very, very careful.
It is so easy to filter out new customers.
Combine that with the natural loss
of previous product customers
and you have lower sales.
John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts,
has sounded off on sequels in the games industry.
“For the most part, the industry has been rinse-and-repeat.
There’s been lots of product that looked like last year’s product,
that looked a lot like the year before.
We’re boring people to death and
making games that are harder and harder to play.”
Roots and the U.S. Olympic Committee have parted ways.
Was that a bad thing?
Roots co-founder Michael Budman didn’t think so.
He called the split “one of the best deals that
I’ve ever orchestrated for Roots.”
Would it have helped the bottom line?
No.
“We didn’t have anybody who wanted to buy the product,”
he pointed out.
None of the big U.S. retailers would sell it.
Would it have helped branding?
No.
The Olympic Committee wanted a more formal look
than the Roots brand is known for.
And then there are the protests.
“The Olympics represent something different to me now,”
Budman said in the same interview.
“It’s people being put in jail because they are protesting.”
No one wants their brand associated with that.
Just because a deal is high profile,
doesn’t mean it is the right deal for your company.