Category: New Business Development

Seth Godin has a great post
on the perils
of going public

“Here’s a Wall Street analyst
with Needham & Company
speaking her truth, about Facebook:

“Wall Street cares about the business model.
We care less about changing the world.”

The reality of being a senior executive
at a fast-growing public internet company
is that you’re surrounded by
thousands (or tens of thousands)
of people who make
millions of dollars every single time
the stock price goes up a dollar.

And that’s where
the seeds of demise are sown.”

This change starts well
before the company goes public.
Accountants usually come in
and ‘craft’ the story,
pressuring executives to make changes
to ensure the IPO goes well.

Going public is more than
a funding decision.
It will change your company.
Consider the other impacts
when making your decision.

When I first started blogging,
there were
very few female business bloggers.
Unfortunately,
almost 10 years later,
there are STILL very few female business bloggers.
There are even fewer female social CEOs.

Andrea Learned
shares

“The related study,
conducted by Refresh and
discussed by Zach Taiji
in Social Media Today,
found that the average CEO
who uses social media is,
…wait for it…
a 38 year old male.
Though I guess
it is “A Refreshing Look…,”
(as goes the infographic’s title)
in that there now ARE social CEOs to point to,
the gender disparity therein
is far from refreshing:
of the social CEOs studied,
89 percent were male
and 11 percent were female.”

A blog can open doors.
I’ve been invited to
events I wouldn’t otherwise
have attended.
I’ve met influential people
I otherwise wouldn’t have.
This is with me being semi-anonymous.

Consider being more active
on social media.
Share your expertise
and experiences
with others.
More importantly,
show the world
that you’re there,
you have a voice.

In the writing world,
we have two types of writers

– the hobbyist,
the writer who writes
whenever she feels like it,
not caring about deadlines
or building her readership

and

– the professional,
the writer who treats writing
like a job or a profession.
She is on a constant deadline,
either editor or self inflicted.
She’s concerned about
having too long between releases,
worries about readership build.

Many entrepreneurs fall into
one of these two categories also.
If you’re reading client k,
you’re likely a professional.

Because we are the masters
of our own schedules,
it is tempting to fall into
hobbyist habits.

The question I ask myself
is
“If I were on the corporate fast track,
would I take this action?”
Would I take three vacations
in three months?
Would I spend an entire day
baking cookies?
Would I volunteer my time
to petsit the neighbor’s new puppy?

Decide which type of entrepreneur
you are.

Many newer writers
believe that hitting the
New York Times Best Seller list
is the ultimate goal,
selling a sh*tload of books
in one week.

Professional writers know
that a best seller today
doesn’t mean a best seller tomorrow,
that one hit rarely makes a career
(unless it is a 50 Shades size of hit).

The TRUE benefit of
having a best seller
is having access to those readers,
converting them
into newsletter subscribers,
ensuring future access to them.

As Seth Godin
shares

“Today, the smart money
is investing in digital assets,
and legions of entrepreneurs
are trying to build long-term value online,
where it just seems so easy.
100,000 downloads of your new app,
or a quick rise to #1 for your new ebook
or a million ‘hits’ to a new website.

Easy come, easy go.

The digital asset that matters
is trust.
Awareness first, then interaction,
and maybe a habit,
but all three mean nothing
if they don’t lead to permission and trust.
The privilege of connection.”

Ensure you have a means
of converting your one-time hit
into a lifetime of sales
BEFORE you achieve this hit.

Yes, definitely offer
big ticket items to customers
during the holiday season
but don’t forget to stock
the small, lower-priced holiday gift items
also.

These little presents,
including Christmas ornaments
and stationery,
are products
shoppers might pick up
as stocking stuffers
or as small host gifts.

Leah Spurrier
co-owner of
HighStreet Cincinnati,
shares

“The holiday season is really interesting
because so much of your numbers
are done with little things.
We just went really deep
into little things last year.”

Don’t forget the little presents.

We often equate
adding value to adding features
but in this cluttered world,
simplicity appeals to many customers.

Glen Stansberry
asks

“Have you added extra features
to your product over the years
that nobody uses anymore?
Usually these changes come about
because competing often means
blindly copying the same features
as your top competitor,
without ever really asking why.

It’s important to
pinpoint these unnecessary features
for a few reasons.
Extra features that nobody really needs
are often costly from a development standpoint.
Eliminating these usually means
you’ll save money on development and support.
Unnecessary features also make
your product more cluttered
and harder to use,
which diminishes its value.”

Are all of the features
on your product
adding value?
Are they still relevant?

I have an endless number of story ideas.
Coming up with ideas isn’t a challenge.
Coming up with valid marketable ideas is.

The idea, for me, is the start
of the process.
Before I write a story
based on this idea,
I look at the market,
at trends,
past sales,
reader preferences,
whether or not
this appeals to my current readers,
if it will expand my readership…

Then there’s execution.
The idea has no value
unless I deliver the product
based on this idea.

As Dr. Dave Popple,
a corporate psychologist,
shares

“Effective innovation is
50 percent data gathering,
10 percent brainstorming
and generative thinking,
and 40 percent execution.
Anyone can generate ideas,
but if they are not rooted in facts
and are impossible to execute,
they are worthless.”

Coming up with an idea
is a small part
of the innovation process.
Plan your time around this.

As entrepreneurs,
we can’t do everything.
There are so many tasks needed
to build a business
that doing all of them
is almost impossible.

We delegate.
We outsource.
We partner.

Which tasks should we do ourselves?

Seth Godin suggests
three reasons
you should consider
completing tasks yourself.
(listed from the worst reason to the best)

“0. Because you are the cheapest available worker.”
“1. Because people (clients) will notice when you do it.”
and
“2. Because you love it.
Because the work matters to you,
and this task, right now,
is the best version of the work you can find.”

I would advise that
you factor in
the opportunity cost of your time
(you could be completing another task)
when deciding
whether or not
you’re the cheapest available worker.

Don’t delegate what you love.

As a former newspaper reporter
and now a published writer,
I’ve been on both sides
of interviews.

The questions asked
drive the answers.
Form the question to be upbeat
and you’ll likely receive
a more positive answer.

Ask the question casually
and you’ll receive
a more casual answer.

Never ask multiple questions
all at once.

In October’s
Men’s Health,
sports sideline reporter
Erin Andrews
shares

“If you ask two questions at once,
you’re going to get
only one answer.”

In interviews,
questions drive the answers.

I know I’m pushing myself,
expanding as a person,
when I get a sick feeling
in the pit of my stomach.

Change is uncomfortable.
It is supposed to be.

In June’s
Men’s Health,
actor
Hugh Jackman
shares

“You want to get somewhere
you’re not physically?
It’s going to be uncomfortable.

The end result is good,
but it’s uncomfortable to change.
It’s frightening.

So in a way,
feeling comfortable is a warning sign.

Accepting this as part of life
was a big change for me.”

Are you too comfortable?