Mindset: Tapping Your Entrepreneurial IQ

July 24th, 2009

We’ve released our first course, Mindset: Tapping Your Entrepreneurial IQ. It’s the first in a series of courses which are based on the knowledge and insight of real-world entrepreneurs.
It’s currently being featured on Kauffman’s entrepreneurship.org.

It’s been a long and winding road to say the least. Gary and I embarked on this journey over two years ago. We partnered with Cisco to create a course for their Entrepreneur Institute about a year and a half ago which gave us the opportunity to go around the country and interview tons of entrepreneurs… a wide range of people from varying backgrounds who were either in the process of starting a business, running a business and in some cases had already started and sold many businesses. Their stories are all so valuable because in many cases the entrepreneurs themselves have never taken the time to articulate what they actually did to get where they have. Alot of times it’s become second-nature to them. We’ve taken their stories and applied them specifically in this course to illustrate how an entrepreneur’s mindset really is the starting point from which they all operate.

This experience has been nothing short of amazing. I have personally learned so much that I usually don’t realize it until something comes up and applies to our own business. The great part about it is, it’s not a “theoretical” approach that I read in a text book… it’s a story I remember from one of the entrepreneurs we’ve interviewed.

I’m excited about not only continuing to interview more and more entrepreneurs, I’m also looking forward to creating more courses which will fill out our entrepreneurship program. Stay tuned…

Posted in entrepreneurship | No Comments »

10 Minute Social Media

January 20th, 2009

Social media has been around for awhile now. Innovators and early adopters have been at it for years and the majority of people are now catching up. Whether you’re doing it for personal reasons (reconnecting with friends from childhood, high school, college, etc.), networking for business purposes, or just feel like getting in on it to see what all the hub-bub is about, it’s safe to say that social media is now mainstream.

When it comes to being on social media for businesses and general networking, there seems to be more of a sinking feeling people have that they’re falling behind the curve and something big is passing them by… I’m not going to argue with that. One of the issues I’ve encountered with people just getting started with social media is the feeling they have that it will suck up large amounts of their valuable time. I’m not going to lie to you, it can. For some it will. In fact, I’ve seen many a casual passerby who thought they’d just stick their head in the door to see what’s going on, get sucked in and become addicted. Easily understandable. It really is nothing like we’ve ever experienced before. On Facebook you can connect extremely easily with people you may have thought fell off the face of the Earth. Not only that, you can see photos, videos, likes/dislikes and really get a good idea of someone through their profiles and conversations. It brings you up to speed quickly not only with friends you’ve reconnected with but new people you meet. On Twitter you can talk about your interests and also have conversations extremely easily with brevity. Great way to find new people as well.

So to that point (there was a point somewhere in there), let’s talk about how you can take 10 minutes out of your busy day to get started in the social media sphere and get some traction. I akin the process to working out: the first 2 weeks it’s extremely difficult to get yourself to the gym on a daily basis, but after you get going you feel the obligation and need to be there. It really does take some time just to get in the groove and feel your way around anyways.

I’m going to talk specifically about Facebook and Twitter here. There are plenty of other social networks out there but these are the two I’ve personally kept up with. If you’re looking for information/advice about other social networks, please visit my friend Matt Dickman’s site Techno//Marketer, in fact I encourage it. There are tons and tons of excellent posts there for all your social networking needs. (You can follow Matt on Twitter as well.)

On with it already…

Facebook

Learning about someone quickly has never been easier. Once you start to find people either through the Search on Facebook or “People You May Know”, everything they’re doing or talking about appears on your “News Feed”. If you’re set up to receive email notifications of people either requesting to be your friend or writing on your “Wall”, it’s real easy to keep up. Another quick way is to check the “Notifications” tab (next to “Online Friends”) at the bottom right of your browser which lets you know of anything going on directly related to you.

I first check the “Requests” section in the upper right portion of the page. If I have any friend requests I usually answer those and maybe go over to their page and see what’s going on with them. Also, I’ll write something to them by either writing on their “Wall” or by sending them a message directly (found as a link under their profile photo). I usually scan over my “News Feed” which is the default tab showing everything going on with my friends and see what people are doing and if there are any new photos or videos posted. A quick way to connect with others is to find out who of your existing friends have become friends with others which will be listed on your “News Feed” as well. People also join causes which is another great way to find out what people are into and something you yourself may want to participate in.

Twitter

Some people can get thrown off by the “What are you doing?”. This is one of the first things I hear when I mention Twitter. It’s much more than just “Washing my dog” or “Just ate breakfast”. The real power with Twitter lies in finding conversations and people who are talking about things that interest you or are relevant to your field.

The first thing I do when arriving at Twitter is click on the @Replies link on the right column. I want to make sure I didn’t miss someone talking to me. When you want to talk with someone directly on Twitter, reference them with @theirname and they will reference you in the same manner. It also allows others possibly following your conversation to see the other side of the conversation because the @theirname is a clickable link that takes you to their page. This is also helpful for finding new people to follow. For example, if I see @georgenemeth talking to @techczar and I go over to @techczar’s Twitter page and see he’s got relevant information that interests me, then I’ll most likely follow him too. This is actually the primary way I figure out who to follow.

I also check my “Direct Messages” to see if anyone has contacted me directly. This is a way for people to connect directly on Twitter without posting on their page for everyone to see. You can direct message anyone you’re following.

You should be able to get away with spending as little as 5 minutes on Twitter just scanning the conversations going on with the people you’re following or start your own conversation by posting a link to a cool article you read or an event you’re attending. Since you have to condense your post to 140 characters or less, there are a few sites out there for converting longer links into shorter ones. The one I’ve been using recently is bit.ly.

If you’d like to get started, follow me on Twitter

This is just a “quick” primer into the wonderful world of social media. I hope that helps clear things up a bit and maybe takes away some of the anxiety associated with jumping in. If anyone has anything to add, something important I may have missed, or questions please contribute in the comments. Thx!

Posted in Blogging, Facebook, Marketing, Networking, Online Marketing, Permission Marketing, Twitter, Viral Marketing, social media | No Comments »

Is next: entrepreneurship

April 13th, 2008

I’m on to the next iteration of my life…

I started working with my friend Gary Schoeniger almost a year ago on a project called The Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative (eli). Over the last six months, we’ve partnered with the Cisco Entrepreneur Institute and have been creating a course for their global initiative. We’ve also been fortunate enough to gain three more amazing people to join our team.

We’ve been interviewing entrepreneurs over the past few months from Northeast Ohio, as well as several who happened to be in town.

It’s been incredible to say the least…

Please feel free to follow me on Twitter…

Posted in Evolution, entrepreneurship | No Comments »

Curse of knowledge: talking over people’s heads is bad

November 5th, 2007

It’s that trap most of us fall into: the curse of knowledge. Nothing’s worse than the “deer-in-the-headlights” look when speaking with a potential client. I’ve gotten much better at spotting it and stopping myself before I continue to talk over people’s heads. Everyone knows their own business and all the intricate details involved. The trick is figuring out what needs our business fills and relating that to others who could potentially use our products or services.

Case in point. One of my basic services as an online marketing consultant is search engine optimization. When speaking with a potential client, learning about where they are in their online marketing efforts is a good way to gauge what their knowledge of the subject is. If they start off by telling me that they had a web site built 10 years ago and can’t figure out why they haven’t gotten any business from it, I know I’ve got to start from square one for the most part. If they tell me they have several keywords running on an AdWords campaign, I know they’re farther along and will most likely have a general idea of the process.

It’s real easy for all of us to talk shop with fellow coworkers or others in our field. If the purpose of our marketing materials (web site, blog, etc.) is to sell our products or services to others who are very comfortable with the jargon, then by all means talk it up! In this case it’s essential that they’re comfortable with our level of understanding because they already have a high level of understanding themselves. It’s not to say that in other capacities our level of understanding isn’t important, of course it is. It’s how we connect with those who may not have a very high level of understanding that’s the trick. The way to connect is to find out what their needs are and explain to them exactly how we can help them in a way that’s not going to glaze their eyes over.

Posted in Blogging, Copywriting, Marketing, Networking, Online Marketing, SEO, Search, Viral Marketing | 1 Comment »

Radiohead: “It’s Up to You” – Viral Marketing done right

October 1st, 2007

I’m a huge Radiohead fan. I visited their site today with a pleasant surprise. They are releasing their new album in 10 days.

What really impressed me was the price: “It’s Up to You“.

Radiohead currently has no label so they will receive 100% of their album sales. Most artists under contract with major record labels receive a little over 10% of the actual album price. So from a financial standpoint they really can’t do much worse.

I’m not going to discount the fact that this unprecedented act of a major artist bucking the music industry will undoubtedly receive a ton of exposure.

Beyond the issues Radiohead has with the record label dominance of the music industry, what this really is at its core is faith in their product - viral marketing in its truest form. Put out a remarkable, quality product and people will gladly do the marketing for you through word of mouth.

People can pay £1 if they choose to, which I’m sure a few will. My bet is that most will pay at least what they would for a regular album and a good amount will pay more. Why? Appreciation for their honesty and the fact that they’ve consistently put out quality music. Any fan will pay for that.

How many of your “fans” can you say would do the same?

Posted in Evolution, It's Up to You, Marketing, Radiohead, Viral Marketing | No Comments »

Support for Mac and its users still limited

September 26th, 2007

Up until this week, my bank was Sky Bank. Sky Bank was recently purchased by Huntington and they officially switched over to Huntington this past Monday. The transition seemed as though it would be smooth. That is, until I received an email regarding my online banking for Huntington:

Step 1: Verify System Requirements

Browser Requirement
Internet Explorer 5.5 and above

Operating Systems Supported
Windows 2000
Windows XP

Alright, that’s going to be a problem. I do have a MacBook Pro which has the ability to run Windows. That doesn’t mean I want to fire up Windows every time I need to check my bank account online. I don’t run Windows unless I absolutely have to and it’s just convenient to have the ability to do my online banking from the Mac OS.

I got a call from a Huntington online banking specialist asking why I hadn’t set up my online account. I let them know I am a Mac user and inquired as to what my options were. After checking with his manager, here is what he told me: “We advise that Mac users find access to a Windows based PC. Your other option is to contact Apple and talk to them about a workaround.”

Huntington Bank is not a small company. They have the resources to provide support for the Mac if they choose to. I understand that Windows users still make up roughly 90 percent of the population. Why alienate a potential market of users who are growing yearly though? Especially when you look at an average Mac user.

It never ceases to amaze me that this is still an issue. Five or even three years ago, maybe. With the growing number of users and interest in Apple, the iPod and iPhone, it just doesn’t seem to make sense. From a customer service standpoint, well, larger companies seem to do this all the time. From a marketing standpoint… I guess they just didn’t think it through.

Needless to say, if anyone knows of a bank that supports Mac online, I’m looking ;)

Posted in Apple, Mac, Marketing, Viral Marketing, iPhone, iPod | 5 Comments »

7 Pitfalls to avoid in design

September 17th, 2007

Every business has a marketing effort in some capacity, and all the marketing materials are in need of design. Design is one of the most overlooked areas in business.

If you’re going to put the effort into creating a marketing tool, it just makes sense to engage whoever will see it. How many business cards or brochures have you thrown away without more than a glance? Why do you think they never had a chance?

The answer to those questions whether you consciously make that decision or not is design.

The implicit message has everything to do with whether or not someone will listen to what you have to say.

Here are 7 design pitfalls to avoid:

1) Straying away from your brand
When you put together your company brand (ie. logo, letterhead, web site, etc.), there were certain fonts and a basic color scheme. Stick to it. If you put out marketing materials that are not consistent with your brand, you’ve just created a gap between you and your audience. When they see that flyer or brochure and then head over to your web site, make sure they know they’re in the right place. This is all a part of the trust building process.

2) Multiple fonts, sizes and colors
Two different font types are good. It mixes it up a bit and adds some graphical dimension to your design. Beyond that, though, it tends to start convoluting things. Same goes for font sizes and color. If you vary the text sizes and color within one piece of marketing material too much it begins to subconsciously disconnect the reader. If you’re going to use different colored text, make sure it matches your color scheme.

3) Fancy hard to read fonts
There are plenty of cool fonts out there. If you’re planing on using a font for more than a name, title, or tag line at most, stick with the simple readable fonts. When reading, the more work your brain has to exert on making out what the words actually say the more likely you are to just stop reading altogether.

4) Bold everything
Bolding is a technique used to make important phrases or points stand out. When people have to look at an inordinate amount of marketing pieces every day, they tend to scan over it briefly first to see whether there’s any value in it. Their eyes are drawn to bolded terms or phrases. Use this to your advantage. If everything is bolded, in most cases they won’t read any of it because the importance of those phrases and points is completely lost, along with the fact that it’s harsh on your eyes!

5) Writing a novel
The least amount of information needed without leaving anything out. Sometimes it’s a tough tightrope you have to walk, but think of it this way: would you rather have them read a few important points or nothing at all? Overwhelm your audience and risk losing them.

6) No images or graphics
Give them something to look at besides words. Using images or graphics within a layout tends to break things up. If you have a page of text with nothing else it’s overwhelming to your brain (and boring). Make sure these images and/or graphics have some relevancy to your message and don’t over do it. Having too many images can have a negative effect as well. Striking that balance of information and imagery is key.

7) Be like everyone else
Wouldn’t you like to stand out from the crowd? Give your audience something that will make them tell someone else about you. If you give them something remarkable, they will spread the word faster than any marketing campaign you will ever come up with could. They will remember you the next time someone else brings up a need you fill and it may have nothing to do with whether or not they’ve even used your product or service themselves. Create that impression through your design.

Posted in Blogging, Copywriting, Design, Marketing, Online Advertising, Online Marketing, Permission Marketing, Viral Marketing | 2 Comments »

iPhone price cut, new iPod Touch introduced and Steve Jobs makes amends

September 6th, 2007

The new iPod Touch and iPod Nano

I’m going to have to rename my blog soon to “Apple Man” or “Mac Daddy” or something clever… It doesn’t help that I haven’t had a chance to post in weeks due to vacation and heavy project load, but the fact of the matter is, it seems like Apple/Mac stories and reviews have dominated my posts recently.

Anyways…

Let’s start with the first issue that hits me personally: Steve Jobs announced yesterday that the price of the 8GB iPhone would be nearly cut in half to $399 while the 4GB model is discontinued altogether. The 4GB model getting axed was pretty much a no brainer… who’s not going to pay an extra $100 for twice the hard drive space? I personally don’t know anyone who even entertained the thought of buying the 4GB model.

Now the price cut of the 8GB is another story. I’m not going to lie and say that it didn’t completely annoy me when I found out initially. I stood in line for hours and paid the full $599 less than 10 weeks ago. Had it been 6 months to a year later, I’m sure I wouldn’t have cared at all.

After giving it more thought and letting the sting wear off, I put it into a marketing mindset:

  • Anyone who was going to buy the iPhone by now for $599 has already done so (sales have pretty much dropped off). Time to get the rest of the market who potentially wanted to buy but thought $599 was a bit too steep.
  • It also helps that most people who already bought have been raving about it so this price cut could potentially open the flood-gates again.
  • Also, I know it’s the beginning of September, but Christmas is not too far off (I received a text from my sister on Sunday asking me what I want for Christmas, I swear!).

    • Jobs and Apple also released the new iPod Touch which seems to be the iPhone minus the phone. It has some other limitations (no mail capabilities, maps, stocks or weather), but essentially it gives people the ability to have an iPhone without having to switch carriers or deal with AT&T. It also has the ability to connect to WiFi where available which gives users the ability to get on the web via Safari. The one thing it does have that I’m pretty envious of is a 16GB model.

    One of my main reasons for buying the iPhone was having the ability to check mail from my phone so the iPhone to me personally would still make the most sense. Who wants an iPod and a separate phone anyways?

    The new iPod Nano came out which is pretty incredible as well. It’s about as compact as you can get while still having the ability to watch video. It also has the Cover Flow capability of the iPhone and other iPod models. At $199 for the 8GB model it has a ton of value considering all its capabilities and compact size.

    *I started writing this post last night, and since then Steve Jobs has issued “an open letter to iPhone owners” on the Apple website. In summary, he received an outpouring of complaints concerning the price drop and explains the reasoning. At the end, he offers every iPhone customer a $100 store credit at Apple.

    Way to go Steve, you did the right thing. Nothing worse than alienating not only the loyal Macheads that have never even considered using anything else, but more importantly, the people that could potentially make the switch after buying the iPhone. A hundred bucks doesn’t go very far at an Apple store, which could also equate into converts using their credit towards making that switch with that new shiny iMac that just came out less than a month ago.

    Posted in Apple, Evolution, Mac, Steve Jobs, Viral Marketing, iMac, iPhone, iPod | 1 Comment »

    Apple’s world domination only started with the iPhone… Next: iMac

    August 7th, 2007

    Steve Jobs has a master plan for Apple: world domination. The iPhone was the beginning of the end for the PC and Windows. Am I jumping the gun here?

    I don’t think so.

    As I’ve already stated, the iPhone could be the first step in Steve Jobs’ master plan to start turning the tables on Microsoft’s lion’s share of the market. His next step: Release the Kraken! er, I mean the new iMac. (a solid Clash of the Titans reference never hurt anyone)

    It even matches the iPhone, if not surpasses it, with its stunning look and design. It’s a brushed metal flat screen monitor with a computer in it. A fast computer. I’m not going to geek out here, but take my word for it… you’re not going to find anything like it out of the box.

    So what does all this have to do with world domination? Well, let’s take a step back here. Back on June 29th, the mighty iPhone was released. Sales? One million plus in about a week. Is this just a coincidence that such a slick looking, powerful Mac comes out less than two months later? Probably not. That’s just about enough time to let those PC users who bought an iPhone get acquainted with the easy to use Mac operating system that just so happened to be included with the iPhone. Sounds like just the right time to strike while the iron’s hot.

    Is it also coincidental that I found this link on the Apple website? It may have already been there, but if it has I haven’t seen it.

    I’m not going to discount the fact that students will be heading back to school, that’s always a good time for a new iMac release. It’s really just great timing all around putting the two factors together. Actually, there’s a third event that will be happening in less than another two months (see a trend here?): the release of Leopard, the revolutionary operating system that will make Vista look like your old TRS-80.

    Steve Jobs is well on his way to world domination. If we want to go even farther back, the iPod sure can be argued as the real beginning to Apple’s run, but I think the recent chain of events starting with the iPhone could be the tipping point. Only time will tell.

    Posted in Apple, Evolution, Mac, Steve Jobs, Viral Marketing, iMac, iPhone | No Comments »

    Practice makes perfect: Mastering the Art of Copywriting

    July 27th, 2007

    The last two posts on Copyblogger have brought up an extremely valuable point that I myself need to implement: great writing abilities only come with tons of practice.

    It’s just like anything else really.

    Besides the project deadlines and client needs, writing has become a huge priority in my work. Marketing is all about the writing, online or off. Selling your products or services starts with engaging people. Telling your story in a way that grabs someone’s attention is not an easy task.

    The other problem besides time constraints is the fact that most people, including myself, feel as though they have to hit it out of the park on every offering. I’m not saying sacrifice quality just for the sake of repetition. There’s a tightrope you have to walk between writing often and making sure you put genuine thought into it.

    If you’re writing in a journal or some medium that has a minimal amount of exposure, then you have a chance to hone your skills without anyone, or hardly anyone, seeing it. That’s one way to get the reps in without sacrificing quality.

    I know myself that I need to get on a more regimented schedule of writing more often. Not only does this “flex my writing muscles“, it also keeps me in front of my readers with more frequency. As long as I can make the effort to get in front of more people more often, the quality will undoubtedly increase with the experience I gain in the process as well.

    Posted in Copywriting, Online Marketing | No Comments »