Innovation and Entrepreneurship
David Studarus and I went out a week ago Friday to get some images for the Live Near The Beach and Live Near Work brands. The light wasn’t very good that day but we did happen upon the US Open of Surfing with some really nice waves. Then we went back down PCH and up Newport Blvd to Irvine. Before the day ended David met my son Jude. This was a fun day of work!
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What if you were given the opportunity to have lunch with Seth Godin or Donald Trump but you could only pick one. Who would you dine with? Would the choice change if you were paid $5,000 to sit down with Donald but it would cost you $5,000 with Seth?
If given that choice I would chose Seth gladly paying the $5,000.
Why would I make that illogical choice when I could have been PAID $5,000 to have lunch with Donald Trump? Because it’s not about them it’s about me.
I would chose Seth Godin because he has had a bigger impact on me and my business. In my opinion, he is also more humble and approachable. I believe that I can become like Seth but it would be very hard to replicate the same business playbook as Donald Trump. I can start a website that makes money by connecting people. I can’t, and don’t want to, build a 50 story skyscraper in the OC and call it Mobley Tower. I think that best way to make your first billion today is different than when Trump did it. Maybe that belief comes from the fact that I’ve done experiments with Seth’s teachings but I don’t have a lab that would work for doing trial and error in major real estate development projects (once again all about me). I can have a feature page on Squidoo but becoming the next “The Apprentice” isn’t high on my priority list.
Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a bash Trump and praise Godin post. They have written two of my favorite books (All Marketers Are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World
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I’m in the process of setting up an internship program with the Crowell School of Business. This is the same school that I did my undergrad and MBA. It turns out that one of the people who is point-of-contact was my old ‘Intro To Marketing’ professor. I got a D in his class and when I started my MBA I was on academic probation due to that one grade.
Honestly, I really enjoyed his class. Les Harmon is a great teacher. His classes were engaging and I don’t think I missed a single lecture. His presence at the school caused more people to chose marketing as their emphasis than any other field. (I still chose management).
If the class was so great, why did I get a D? I arrogantly thought that if I knew the material then that would be enough. I even went so far as to sit down in his office and say, “I can summarize the entire course in one sentence.” After listening to what I had to say he said something like, “You’re right but I still have to give you a D because you didn’t complete enough of the daily assignments.”
While it doesn’t show up on the transcript… that was one of the best lessons I learned in college. You can’t just know what to do… you have to actually do the hard work on a daily basis. I think that is the problem with a lot of really talented creative people who are not successful. They think that their talents will be enough so they don’t bother to do the daily things that would make someone even less skilled a success.
This was actually a wonderful reminder to me as I start the next phase of my startup company. All the plans in the world are not going to work unless we do the daily tasks that are necessary for success and let honesty and hard work be our constant companions.
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A lifelong friend taught me a lesson this week. There is a lot of power when you start talking about your dreams as if they already exist. If you say something might happen then very few people believe that it will come to pass. You might not even believe it to be true. Yet, when you say, “This is going to happen and we’re excited about it” a funny thing happens… People believe you. Then when other people believe it’s much easier to push the doubts away and catch the vision yourself. I’ve seen first hand how something that was just an idea gets momentium, people join the team, and before you know it the idea is a thing or an event or a business.
One word of caution, this can also work against you if you apply the same practice to something that doesn’t have value. Granted it could be harder to excite people with the story but the principle can be used for bad as much as good.
Language and the stories that you chose to share have more power than you think. Chose them well.
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Quote from Aaron Ross of PebbleStorm
(07/28/2009 – MOTM)
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Ten years ago the reach of a small business expanded from a local sphere of influence to a global one. Initially that was great and the advantages resulted in more competitive prices, greater diversity of product offerings, and an expectation of instant results.
One thing that was lacking was trust. Companies like Amazon and eBay have been successful because they built it back into their business models with customer feedback.
The next trend that I see is a reinvestment in what is local. Online and in stores people like to feel connected to place and community.
The challenge is taking the skills and advantages that were learned by opening up the boarders and applying those standards to local enterprises. Even a small business that has a brick-and-mortar business needs a website. Do they need full eCommerce functionality? Maybe not, but they might need an online menu or store hours. People expect that now.
What will people expect tomorrow? I think it will be a hybrid of both that I like to call hyper-local.
I’m trying to accomplish this with my hyper-local real estate brands like Homes Near Campus or Columbus Square. I’ve found it difficult finding quality, consistent, and relevant content that is valued by the community. It requires an investment that doesn’t always have a clear ROI but one that I believe will pay for itself long-term. I fear that if we’re not leading the trend then it will be so much harder catching up.
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How often do you review progress? For many things a weekly review is the most frequent that is needed. More than that and you don’t have an opportunity to get the enough data to make meaningful decisions. Too long and you might not be able to identify cause and effect.
Take the time to review and make meaningful goals. When you succeed, great! If you miss the mark then you have the ability to make quick adjustments.
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One of my targeted real estate brands is Homes Near Campus. As such I have been following the real estate market since 2003 near Biola University. Recently when reviewing the data I noticed a positive bounce in prices and a drop in inventory. Plus the days on market has stabilized. If this continues then my investors who own properties within one mile of the campus will be happy.
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This is something that has been passed down from family and friends over the years. It is very inspiring and worth a ponder, especially in a “difficult” economic period.
A winner takes big risks when he has much to gain.
A loser takes big risks when he has little to gain and much to lose.A winner focuses.
A loser sprays.A winner says, “Let’s find out!”
A loser says, “Nobody knows.”A winner has a healthy appreciation of his abilities, and a keen awareness of his limitations.
A loser is oblivious of both his true abilities, and his true limitations.When a winner makes a mistake he says, “I was wrong.”
When a loser makes a mistake he says, “It wasn’t my fault.”A winner plays the people more than the cards.
A loser plays only the cards, and it might as well be solitary.A winner knows that people will be kind when you give them the chance.
A loser feels that people will be unkind if you give the chance.A winner isn’t nearly as afraid of losing as a loser who is secretly afraid of winning.
A winner works harder than a loser, and has more time.
A loser is always to busy to do what is necessary.A winner takes a big problem and separates it into smaller parts so that it can be more easily manipulated.
A loser takes a lot of little problems and rolls them all together until they are unsolvable.A winner goes through a problem.
A loser goes around the problem and never gets past it.A winner makes commitments.
A loser makes promises.A winner shows he is sorry by making up for it.
A loser says he is sorry but does the same thing the next time.A winner judges himself by the standard of excellence in his field.
A loser judges himself by the standard of mediocrity in his field.A winner knows what to fight for and what to compromise on.
A loser compromises on what shouldn’t be compromised, and fights for what isn’t worth while to fight about.A winner learns from his mistakes.
A loser learns only not to make mistakes by not trying anything differently.A winner says, “I am good but not as good as I ought to be.”
A loser says, “I am not as bad as a lot of other people.”A winner tries to never to hurt people, and does so only rarely.
A loser never wants to hurt people, but does so all the time.A winner listens.
A loser just waits until it is his turn to talk.A winner would rather be respected than liked, although he would prefer both.
A loser would rather be liked than respected, and is willing to pay the price of mild contempt for it.A winner is sensitive to the atmosphere around him.
A loser is sensitive only to his own feelings.A winner feels strong enough to be gentle.
A loser is never gentle, he is either weak or a petty tyrant.A winner respects those that are superior to him, and tries to learn something from them.
A loser resents those who are superior to him, and tries to find chinks in their armor.A winner explains.
A loser explains away.A winner feels responsible for more than his job.
A loser says I only work here.A winner says, “There ought to be a better way to do it.”
A loser says, “That’s the way its always been done.”A winner looks ahead, but not too far.
A loser looks back, but not far enough.A winner paces himself.
A loser has only two speeds, hysterical and lethargic.A winner uses a massing as means of enjoying.
A loser makes a massing an end in itself and therefore no matter how much the loser amasses, he never looks upon himself as a winner and he never is.A winner knows that the verb ‘to be’ must precede the verb ‘to have.’
A loser thinks that enough of the verb ‘to have’ is what makes the verb ‘to be.’What we give away we keep, for it is in the giving that we receive. What we keep to ourselves we loose, for in the keeping we cannot reproduce. When we die we take with us only that which we have given away.
Author: Unknown
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Most people think that innovation and entrepreneurship is an isolated activity. One that is done by brilliant people in a garage somewhere and isolated from the world until they reveal their brilliance. Yet, That couldn’t be further from the truth. Innovation requires collaboration. It lives and or dies from the environment from which it’s born.
When was the last time that you had a good conversation with a like-minded person about your business or ideas? Do you have people who encourage to try even if you fail (and everyone fails)? Yesterday, I had a long conversion with one of my muses. Kurt reminded me of the importance of surrounding myself with people who have the desire and ability to listen. Sometimes by just talking about a problem a solution can be found. Or maybe they have experienced the same thing and you don’t need to feel alone or stressed out even if it is difficult.
If you don’t have a muse… you need one! If you already have one (or many) today is the best day to give them a call and chat. Nine times out of ten they get as much out of the interactions as you do (sometimes more).
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I recently ordered some new business cards from OvernightPrints.com and was happy with the quality and price. A designer friend of mine recommended that I use them but only if I went with a matte finish and preset the Pantone/PMS colors in Illustrator (instead of expecting what was on the screen to match the printing). These were good tips and I was satisfied with the results.
One thing that he didn’t mention was to look for a coupon code before placing the order. I saved 20% off their already good prices by first going to RetailMeNot.com.
If you can’t afford high-end printing this is a good option to maintain quality and seriously save on the budget. Obvioulsy it helps if you have a good layout so spend the extra cash on hiring a designer and save on the printing.
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Did you know that search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing don’t search active websites but rather their saved copies? This is one of the reasons that it can take a while have your results show up on thier websites. It takes time for them to visit (or crawl) your page so they can index it and include it in their rankings.
Often you can view their cached page instead of the one that is live on your website. Today this saved me from losing a webpage that was accidently destroyed in my database. I was able to find the cached page, open up the source code, grab the missing data, and re-publish the page.
Last year I wrote an article titled, Elephant in the Room. This post described how webpages can continue to live on even after they’re deleated from your servers. Today I found another example (and short-term archive) that exists on the web.
I’m glad that I was able to find an unplanned online backup of my data. However, it’s also an important reminder that what is published online never truely dies. It might be hard to find but it might not be gone.
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Yesterday Microsoft launched is new search engine Bing with an expensive advertising campaign. I bet the owners of bling.com are super exited as the value of their domain has increased the chance that they can convert that domain into real bling.
Of course the first search that I completed was for “Paul Mobley”. I’m happy to say that Microsoft got that right by putting me up on top. =)
Yet, for me that will likely be one of the last times that I use the search engine. Is it me or is this new launch of little or no importance? How much market share will they be able to capture from Google and Yahoo? Do they honestly believe that a major marketing campaign will change the ingrained behaviors of millions of internet users? Even if their system was good why would we want to give them another monopoly?
I predict that Bing will go Bust.
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Advanta has announced that they will be no longer offering small business credit cards. With only 3 days of warning they have indicated via e-mail and on their website they are no longer able to fund activity due to their own financing problems.
Small Business owners have appreciated the focus that Advanta has given them. Unfortenatly, this is going to make it more difficult to obtian working capital. For many small business owners Advanta was some of the first credit they they obtianed to operate their businesses.
Problems with the credit card companies is going to have a “trickle-down” effect and harm small business and the overall economy. Good bye Advanta. It was nice to know you.
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Back in August 2008 I wrote an article about Pandora. I mentioned that while the service was currently free they would likely go to a subscription format in the future. That day has arrived. (insert I told you so).
You can now subscribe to Pandora for $36/year and enjoy an ad-free experience.
Previously they only used web ads (which were easy to ignore). Now they’ve started to deploy audio ads inserted into your music station(s). They appear to only be a few seconds in length but they’re much more noticable.
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Coldplay :: Good Idea – Provide a free album as a thank you to the fans.
Coldplay :: Bad Idea – Failure to test your system. Online album unavailable due to a technical glitch.
It’s a wonderful idea to give a free album every once and a while. However, you need to test the system to make sure that it actually works and does not anger or frustrate the fans. Coldplay announced last Friday that the new live album LeftRightLeftRightLeft would be available for free. You have to provide an email address and then it directs you to a download page. When you click “download” all that happens is that it prompts a request for a “Username” and “Password”. No album available… Just frustration.
Anyone planning on doing something viral remember that you want people to talk about how you did something cool, not how you screwed up. We don’t appreciate incompetence.
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Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a FICO for your small business?
Judging personal credit is easy. You just look at the FICO scores from the three credit agencies and see how you stack up to the statistical average. What if that existed for small business. A FICO type score that took into consideration your branding, competitive advantage, innovative ideas, and market share. This would be a useful tool for the entrepreneur in determining which ventures warranted continued investment and effort.
Unfortunately, this tool doesn’t exist. Some of the best business ideas were launched at the wrong time and others were under-captatilized. The best in those four areas doesn’t guarantee success. Rather luck often plays a role.
Yet, despite the propentency to failure… America was founded on the idea of independence. That we are free to create our own path, and therefore, our own success or failure. If you have an innovative idea then you should cultivate it. If you have consistent branding then you should be rewarded. If you have a competitive advantage then you should exploit it. If you have market share then you should defend it.
If there was a FICO score that graded your business would you listen to it or continue to forge your own way? Would you abandon a business that had an excellent small business FICO but was under-capatilized or experiencing economic difficulty?
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Do you have a process for identifying unexpected success? Are you surprised when your business is generating sales in markets different than you had intended? Many web-based business have done a good job of implementing analytics that allow them to modify their approach and maximize profitability. Unfortunately, in other businesses the same feedback mechanisms don’t always exist. If they do, arrogance may prevent us from capitalizing on them.
Often the way you view your company will prevent you from taking advantage of the largest opportunities. For example, what if a manufacturer of packaging equipment refused to resell plastic wrap even though their customers were asking for it. The belief that they’re in the equipment business instead of the packaging business might cause them to lose out in millions of dollars in profit.
What if the way that you’ve defined your market is different than you intended? Shifting gears and investing effort to this new market may be just the strategic shift that your company needs.
Keep an eye out for the unexpected success. The market knows what it wants…. we just have to be humble enough to listen.
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Things might be tough for your small business right now but it could be worse. Imagine if your ownership and board of directors was 90% union and government. That would really suck. So if you’re feeling down, take heart, you’re not GM.
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American Express is continuing it’s attack on small business owners. The latest battlefield is the credit lines of small businesses who have never been late on a payment or gone over their limit. It’s understanding that the risks have increased for AMEX but you would think they would try to keep the best customers instead of kicking them when the economy is down. Here is a short excerpt from letter directly from American Express to an employer of six people.
Given today’s difficult economic environment, all of us need to think about how we control expenses and reduce risks. At American Express we want to be a responsible lender during prosperous times and more challenging ones. This means carefully reviewing the spending and debt profiles of our Cardmembers – and making difficult decisions.
Translation… we over extended ourselves and we need to cover our butt. We believe that the short-term risks are greater than the long-term impact of not being there for our best customers when they need us most.
Your credit limit may have changed, but your value to us has not. We remain committed to our relationship with you.
Translation… please try not to hate us to much. Even though our actions say that we don’t trust you we want you to continue to believe that you are important to us.
Good luck American Express. You’re actions are tarnishing your brand. You used to be the best friend of small business. Now you’re becoming a fair weather friend. We’ll remember how you treated us during these “challenging times”.
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