Category Archives: Creative Business Ideas

2015: Look Before You Leap?

Creative Business Ideas, Starting Out

Look Before You Leap Marketing Strategy
(Photo by Vishal Patel)

The common wisdom is to “look before you leap”. In business, it’s considered reckless to act before understanding the marketplace, analyzing your competition, and weighing your options. Investors frequently ask for your “five-year plan”. But what if this thinking is (mostly) all wrong?

As a marketing strategist, I advise companies large and small how to define a goal, and develop creative tactics to achieve their milestones. Big companies can afford to create long-term strategies and have the resources necessary to achieve them. Smaller companies generally can’t (and shouldn’t) – since they don’t have the resources nor the luxury of time. So what actions can a small company take?

Repeat the mantra for high-tech startups: Fail Early and Fail Often. Instead of spending time in research, startups spend their time creating cheap & fast tests that yield insights. They then combine the best aspects of their various tests to create a clear path for success (including being willing to scrap the new idea).

For example, before you spend the money to develop a new product, see if anyone wants to purchase it! Create a single website landing page test with an image of your proposed product and a description of the offering. Even put a price and a “buy now” button on the site. But since you don’t have the ability to sell it now, simply have the “buy now” button click to a signup page (to get notified when the product’s available). Then create pay-per-click (PPC) ads which are connected to your test landing page. After a day or two, you should have plenty of data – are people interested enough in your offering to buy it?

If you’re instead offering a new automated service, then simulate the service. Let people order from you as-if you had the technology to automatically fulfill their order – but instead have people manually do the work (behind-the-scenes) to simulate the automation. Later on, you can iron out the technology.

Tests done well can show you the results of your future efforts today, and help you gauge the wisdom of your strategy.

Sometimes it’s better to take a series of small peeks-and-hops instead of big looks-and-leaps.

Layer Your Presentation: Performing

Creative Business Ideas, Speak With Passion

Layer Your Talk With Passion
(Photo by Sanctu)

In two previous articles I covered the basics for writing your presentation (“Layer Your Presentation: Research“) and practicing your presentation (“Layer Your Presentation: Practice“). In this final article in the series, I cover the details of actually giving a great presentation.

Dress for success. The rule of thumb is to dress slightly better than your audience is dressed. If you dress down, you run the risk of a bad first impression. If you dress too nicely, people might assume that you’re not “one of them”. Feel free to break the dress rule – but with awareness.

Bring backups. Technology snafus happen all the time – so plan for the worst:

  • Assume your slides are never sent to the right person for display.
  • Assume your printed speech may be wet, missing pages, out-of-order, or misplaced.
  • Assume your teleprompter text isn’t showing the most recent version of  your speech.
  • Assume your nice shirt or dress will have an obvious stain on it.
  • Assume you won’t have time to eat before your speech.
  • Assume you’ll get stuck in traffic or get lost in an unfamiliar city.
  • Assume the lights will be hot and the room’s temperature will be uncomfortable.
  • Assume your microphone’s volume won’t be set correctly.
  • Assume there won’t be a glass of water to quench your dry mouth.

Be humble. Yes, someone asked you to speak. But remember that it’s unlikely about you – it’s about what your speech can do to help the event. So, be sure to proactively thank everyone on the production team – no matter how lowly they might appear. The production team are the unsung heroes – and you want them to root for you to succeed.

Remember to smile. For me, it’s hard to smile during a talk when I’m thinking about the myriad of other details to get right. A genuinely happy smile will likewise make your audience smile (from mirror neuron patterning) – and they’ll remember your presentation as more enjoyable.

Trying to perfect all of these steps on your first presentation is likely to be overwhelming – at first. I encourage you to gradually add more of these steps to your performance as other presentation skills become more natural.

Widgets, Plugs-In, and Privacy – Oh My!

Creative Business Ideas

Widgets, Plugs-In, and Privacy
(Photo by Josh Hallett)

No doubt you’re aware that many websites have tracking tools installed that allow the website you’re visiting to identify you (what browser you’re using, your IP address, language, mobile device used, etc.). And you’ve likely even installed some analytic software (such as the free Google Analytics) to likewise give you information about your visitors. But who’s gaining from this (inexpensive) technology?

Did you know that some of the widgets and plugins you might be using may also be sharing information about your website to a 3rd party, without your knowledge? I noticed this when I installed Privacy Badger (a free browser add-on that identifies who’s tracking you and allows you to turn on/off various tracking on a site-by-site basis). When I visited my own site, I noticed that there was a tracker that I didn’t recognize. After a bit of digging, I realized it came from a free plug-in that I installed and that further research confirmed that the company was offering the plug-in for free because it was collecting data about websites, and selling that information to a 3rd party. I removed the plug-in, because I believe that such business information is mine to own, and for me to distribute as I see fit (and profit from).

(A reminder: by depending on another site, you’re unnecessarily slowing down your own website’s loading time. A slow load time not only affects viewers but also web feeds, and website search engines.)

So, even if you’re not privacy-paranoid, don’t give away some of your key business metrics. You’ve worked hard for all your success.

How Do You Make Them Feel?

Creative Business Ideas

Make Your Prospective Customers Feel Better
(Photo by Thai Jasmine)

You’ve likely heard to focus your marketing on WIIFM (“what’s in it for them?“). Most companies tend to (initially) overly focus on their offering (“what can I do for you?“). However, research continues to show that people aren’t interested in what you’re selling until they perceive the benefit to their needs.

So companies then rewrite their marketing, to clearly articulate a benefit that their audience values – and then show how their offerings provide such benefits (“Got this problem? We can help!“). That’s much better, since it allows people to logically understand your offering in ways that they immediately value.

From a psychological standpoint,  you ultimately need to convince people logically and emotionally. So, instead of just focusing on logical benefits, incorporate emotional benefits as well (“Got this problem? Relax – we can handle it!“). Ultimately people want to feel like they’re making the right decision, and to help secure the feeling, appeal to your prospective customer’s emotional needs. Too much emotion and not enough logic won’t resonate (“Got this problem? We know how you feel!“).

Therefore, it’s important to understand both the logical and emotional benefits your audience values. If you’re unsure, start by looking at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to determine the need your offering best satisfies. And if you’re not sure – ask people why they value what you sell (not simply why they buy it).

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
– Maya Angelou

 

Layer Your Presentation: Practicing

Creative Business Ideas, Speak With Passion

Layer Your Talk With Passion
(Photo by Sanctu)

In last month’s article (“Layer Your Presentation: Research“) I covered the basics for getting ready to write your presentation. In this month’s article (part two of three) I cover the details for practicing your presentation in the comfort of your own home or office.

Get feedback. Before you go any further, find someone to read your draft and look at your supporting visuals. The reader should be someone who would be able to put themselves in the mindset of your audience member. If they can’t understand things now, fix it. Don’t assume that the power of your speaking voice will make things better.

Practice the speech as written. A speech on paper often doesn’t sound natural when read aloud. You’ll want to add natural word connectors (more formally called “discourse markers”) such as oh, well, like, and now. You might also find that certain phrases trip up your tongue too much. During this phase you’re subtly rewriting the speech to make it sound right to your ear.

Practice the speech as if you haven’t memorized it. The flip-side to memorizing your speech (or reading it from your notes) is that you’re more likely to give each word you speak equal weight and timing. This sounds mechanistic. In your natural speech pattern you speak at different speeds, different octaves, and even grasp for words. Practice adding these natural patterns to make your speech sound a bit less rehearsed.

Practice the speech while standing. Get used to standing comfortably (and naturally) for an extended period of time. The simple act of practicing your speech while upright will naturally adrenalize you, so standing can help you practice relaxing more.

Experiment with body dynamics. Your body dynamics can also be used to support your speech in similar ways to using visuals. Walk around a little when talking. Pay attention to what your hands could be doing. Lean forward. Research has shown we get as much meaning from watching body language as we get from listening to a speech (do you prefer to listen to a speech over the radio or watch the video?). On the day of your speech, you can always “dial down” the body dynamics. But if you need to infuse energy in your speech, and you haven’t practiced doing so, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to suddenly add it.

Practice with technology. Will you be reading from a dais or a teleprompter? Will you have a handheld microphone? Will there be camera people filming your talk? Technology can easily fluster you if you haven’t used it before. Borrow a friend’s gear to get familiar with how it works and what works best for your style.

Get fit. If you’re not in shape, start a small fitness regimen. Why? Treat your presentation as a marathon. By having a fitter body, you’ll be more able to handle the rigor of mental stress and physicality of standing (for hours on end, if you’re recording a video).

Next month I’ll cover how to actually perform your presentation.

4 Steps To Effective Newsletters

Creative Business Ideas, eMarketing

Make Your Newsletters Effective
(Photo by Esparta Palma)

How can you get people to actually read your newsletters?

Step 1: Get past spam filters. With people ever-inundated with emails, it’s harder and harder to get your email to someone’s inbox. There are two hurdles: your content and your IP address. To ensure your newsletter’s content doesn’t look like spam, use some free online tools to validate your email’s content before sending (such as Spam Assassin, Is Not Spam, and Mail Tester). Spam filters also regularly identify certain IP addresses (the computer that’s sending the emails) as being likely spammers (with “low deliverability”). Many newsletter marketing services – often the free ones – suffer from IP address problems, because your wonderful newsletter may be sent from the same IP address as a spammer is using. To spam filters, you’re just like them. For additional fees, you can get a dedicated IP address to avoid any spam filter confusion.

Step 2: A great subject line.  Since you want someone to read the email, you need a subject that’s not spammy and clearly of interest to your audience. A recent trick that improves open rates is to start your subject line with “Re:” to give the sense that your reader has already engaged in a dialogue with your company.

Step 3: Short and sweet. The goal of the newsletter itself is to get them to continue reading to the end. And that requires a deeper understanding of who your audience is and what they’re looking for from you. It should be something quickly read (easily digested) and leave them wanting more. A long newsletter often scares off people. A short email can be quickly scanned immediately. Great newsletters are beautiful to look at as well.

Step 4: Make the newsletter a gift. Don’t confuse a newsletter with a direct sales ad. It’s much more subtle than that – it’s about showing the reader that you understand their needs, so when they have a problem like you’re focusing on – they’ll contact you (or refer a friend to you). You build strength by connecting your newsletters to your website or video library – to keep them “in your world”.

A single newsletter is unlikely to suddenly make your reader sit up and take notice of your offering. Your goal is to get your name into their long-term memory, and that takes repetition and quality. Respect flows both ways.

Layer Your Presentation: Research

Creative Business Ideas, Speak With Passion

Layer Your Talk With Passion
(Photo by Sanctu)

A great presentation is layered with many subtle details. Based on my own speaking style and coaching, I use the following steps to develop a layered passionate speech:

Research the audience. Even if someone tells me what they want me to speak about, it’s important to understand who’s likely to hear your talk and why they’d likely be in your audience. Knowing who I’m talking to will allow me to use the right terminology, examples, and tone.

Research the context. Who else will be speaking that day? What are they speaking about? Whose speech will follow yours? Whose speech will precede yours? Knowing about the context will help you to reiterate concepts from previous speakers and give subsequent speakers adequate opportunities to connect with your speech.

Research the content. When being asked to give a speech, this is the first step most people think about. But you need to find the content that best matches your audience and your context. There’s no use sharing complex material with audiences who aren’t deeply familiar with your topic, nor insulting a learned audience by sharing information that’s too simplistic.

Write the draft. Don’t start writing until you’ve done your research. While you can always change your draft later, the more comfortable you are seeing your new paragraphs on the page, the less likely you’ll want to change them. Don’t get too attached to your words and be willing to throw it all away and start again (remember: when you’re restarting, you’re not back at square one).

Find supporting visuals. No matter how good looking you are or fascinating your speech is, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to get your audience’s full attention for the entire length of your speech. That’s especially true these days – when people are bored, they won’t hesitate to pick up their smart phone and see what’s interesting elsewhere in the world. Visuals shouldn’t simply reiterate what you’re saying (the worst: reading the slide from the screen). Visuals should add emotional punch. If your visual is too good, it may upstage you!

Next month I’ll cover how to practice your presentation.

3 Steps To Perfection

Creative Business Ideas

Perfect Your Marketing
(Photo by Isaac Lee)

Logically we know there is no such thing as “perfect”, but emotionally most people are constantly searching for it. In your marketing, by showing “perfect” you naturally trigger in your audience feeling of comparison (“How do I stack up?”). And if someone in your audience doesn’t feel like they measure up, you’ve created an emotional opportunity to help fill their “void”.

Here is the three step solution to sell “perfection” in your marketing campaigns:

1. Show perfection. For ideas of how to represent perfection, take a look at people’s Pinterest pins for the keyword “perfection”, or simply show images of beautiful & vibrant people, perfectly organized spaces, or a decorator-designed living space.

2. Ask the simple question “How do you compare?” That’s why people love taking short quizzes to see how they stack up to others. If you simply ask them how do they compare (to whatever ideal you’re offering in your marketing) you’ve created an opportunity to sell to them – if they don’t feel they “stack up”.

3. Offer the solution: “If you want this, we can help get you there!” If money is truly no object, perhaps people can ultimately achieve “perfect”. But likely, getting them to “good enough” will satisfy most of your target audience.

Selling perfection is a double-edged sword. If you’re claiming you can help get people closer to “perfect” then your marketing must also be “perfect”. Great images. No typos. Information presented in an attractive “voice”. If your marketing doesn’t look and feel perfect, then your marketing message will ring hollow. And you’ll have a perfect failure.

Give Your Marketing An Edge

Creative Business Ideas

Give Your Marketing An Edge
(Photo by Dave Shafer)

Most of the time, we look for the “sure thing”. A “sure thing” tends to be middle-of-the-road. It’s safe. It’s reliable. It’s expected. And it’s mostly forgettable. So what is a business owner to do?

Look to the edges for your next opportunity, client, or learning. Something (or someone) that’s not safe – something that’ll make you have to reconsider some of your assumptions and learning. You’ll likely to have more objections working on the edge. People around you will be worried that you’ll fail. You’ll think of yourself as insane for giving up the safety for the excitement of something new. The edge is definitely not safe. You might even lose a sale or opportunity. But the opposite of growth is stagnation, and stagnation is equivalent to a “sure thing” – a slow business death.

Is looking to extreme edges right for every business? Definitely not. You need to take into account your target audience. If they are middle-of-the-road people, then they’re likely not to be as interested in true “edges” (it’ll make them edgy).  For them, something on the “edge” is likely to be an evolution in your offering – not a revolution. So instead of pushing for an extreme edge for your prospective customers, push for a smaller edge. Something they could adjust to, and even (grow to) appreciate.

Consider the perspective of a new business competitor. Would they likely launch a “me-too” offering (copying your safe/sure-thing)? Or, would they attempt to leapfrog your offering with something re-imagined, something far-reaching, and something harder to copy?

Ultimately if you’re not growing beyond your edges, you’re slowly losing your own edge.

The Island of No-Marketing

Creative Business Ideas

Marketing To Improve Sales
(Photo by Easa Shamih)

Imagine you’ve landed on the beautiful Caribbean island of Sa Lez. It’s sunny, populated, healthy, and bustling with activity. As you wander around you notice that there are no stores, only market stalls. At each of the hundreds of stalls, you see that each vendor lists what they offer and their price. How would you choose which vendor to purchase from?

It’s clear that the vendor’s price list alone is likely not enough to sway your purchase. Digging deeper, you might compare vendors based on location, or best selection, or longest line, or best looking display, or best smile. You’re using other cues to help you pick the best vendor for your needs.

This is the essence of marketing. How can a business owner help people to choose their products or services?  It starts by identifying the type of person who’s looking for what you’re selling, and clearly articulating what makes your offering better for them.

Now, imagine you have one of the stalls at the market. What should you do to get more customers? Here are some varied approaches:

  • Sit in your stall, and watch what people touch and ask for (passive learning).
  • Give a talk at the entrance of the market that gets everyone excited to buy from you (active sales).
  • Do something wild, that strongly gets the attention of a few people (so they tell their friends), while the rest of the people ignore you completely (guerrilla marketing).
  • Hand out flyers at the entrance with a special free treat that many of the people there are appreciative of (but few remember or talk about) (product sampling).

There’s no absolute right or wrong approach to market your business. The right solution is the one that works for you and your prospective customers. While experts can suggest the best practices to begin your marketing strategy, ultimately it’s up to you to fine-tune the approach to customize it for your specific needs.