Successful Blog

Book Review: Wise Guy, by Guy Kawasaki

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If you’ve spent any time in marketing or business development, you’ve certainly heard of Guy Kawasaki.

You might think of him as the ex-Apple guy, or perhaps the first person you ever knew to hold the title “Chief Evangelist” as a professional job. You might have seen him speak at an event, or heard about his famous 10-20-30 pitch rule: “no more than 10 slides, not using anything smaller than a 30-point font, and keeping presentation time to 20 minutes.”

But do you know anything about his journey to becoming “Guy Kawasaki?”

And why is he always smiling?

The introduction to Wise Guy says it’s not an autobiography, and it’s not. It’s a fantastic ride through Guy’s life and lessons-learned, as only he can write.

Read a book

In rough chronological order, Wise Guy takes the reader into Guy’s childhood in Hawaii, which laid the groundwork for both his work ethic and his love of surfing. The anecdotes from his life story are followed by one or more tidbits of wisdom, denoted by the “shaka” symbol (you might know it as the Hawaiian hand gesture that roughly means “aloha” or “right on”).

For all of the writers in our Successful Blog community, Guy recommends a great book called, “If You Want to Write,” by Brenda Ueland. Its primary takeaway is…just write! You don’t have to wait for permission, or a book deal, or anything else. If you write, you’re a writer.

The through-threads in Wise Guy are joy, kindness, and humility. That makes for a “business book” that is only tangentially about business, but all about business. I’d recommend reading this book to anyone who’s feeling a bit stuck in their career, a bit unfocused, or a bit depressed about their achievements. It’s a hit of fresh air.

In case you’re thinking it’s just a series of aphorisms and feel-good quotes, that’s not the deal. One very clear aspect of Guy’s life is his no-nonsense approach. He learned to tell the brutal truth at the side of Steve Jobs, and says that “the foundation of evangelism is a great product.” There are plenty of “evangelists” out there who are colorful foils for sub-par products, but they are doomed to fail. Guy’s mantra is all about working hard, proving yourself, and paying your dues.

I’d recommend reading this book through once, and then bookmarking the lessons that you need to hear more than once. It’s the style of book that you can refer back to, if you find yourself in a professional situation that feels daunting.

You’ll be happy having Guy’s shaka at your fingertips.

 

Wise Guy: Lessons from a Life
by Penguin Group (USA) LLC
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DBPNK41/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_QecBCb2RV4X1N

Disclosure: I received a free digital copy of Wise Guy for the purposes of writing a review. 

 

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who is CEO of Narrative, a new social content platform coming in beta in April 2019.  You can find Rosemary on Twitter as @rhogroupee.

7 Ways to Quickly and Efficiently Re-Brand Your Small Business

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By Nathan Sykes

You may be thinking about a re-brand for your business for many reasons, but the most common one is because you’ve hit a rut. No matter why your company isn’t growing, updating your image, changing your audience or selling new products could all be excellent solutions.

However, changing your business around won’t happen overnight. Some ways to go about rebranding are quicker than others, but keep in mind that this isn’t an instant process. Nonetheless, be sure your new brand is right for your business before investing time and money.

Here are seven of the quickest, most efficient ways to make sure the public knows you’re going in a new direction with your business.

1. Get a New Look

The first step in making your business different is to redo your look. Even if you don’t plan on renaming the company, make sure you invest in a professional artist to create a new logo. Try to get your logo to look as modern as possible — unless you’re marketing to a more traditional audience.

With a new logo comes new promotional material. You’ll need to remake all your pamphlets, billboards, uniform shirts and storefront signs, to name a few. The most important change is going to be your business cards. Update cards with your new logo as soon as possible. Often, a business card is your first contact with new customers and clients. You’ll also need to update your website to match your new brand.

If your brand is changing because of shifting audiences, be sure to look into new avenues for advertising. Try taking out ads on popular websites like Facebook or Reddit that can reach your audience.

2. Remodel Everything

If you want or need an entirely new look, remodeling your brick and mortar stores is an excellent place to start. While not exactly instant, remodeling your stores will be the quickest way to tell the public you’re taking a new approach. One of the easier ways to remodel is to redo the wall panels and siding of your business. Changing the siding isn’t as drastic as tearing down walls, and the new look will speak volumes.

During the age of technology, you may have a lot of customers who never walk into your store. That’s why remodeling your website is just as important as the building. Make sure to streamline and update your site as much as possible. Don’t add programs that will make your site complicated or slower. Hire a professional to do the job for you, or remember to use minimalism to your advantage.

3. Launch New Products or Services

Even if you’re not rebranding because of a new service or product line, introducing at least one new product or service as you’re rebranding will help. Having a new offering shows the public you’re changing along with your look. Bringing in a new product or service may also prevent you from having to rebrand completely.

The new product or service you launch will depend on your business, but keep in mind that this is partially an advertising campaign — new offerings will bring in new customers.

4. Join Social Media

Changing your tone and image on social media is one of the first changes you should make, as customers worldwide will have access to the new you. More importantly, social media allows you to interact with your audience and promote advertising. You can get involved with current topics and trends, address customer concerns immediately and show off your new brand message.

If you already use social media for your business, customizing your profiles to fit your new image is easy on most sites. Vowing to get more involved on Facebook and Twitter is one of the best choices you could make when rebranding.

5. Network All Over Again

If you thought your business graduated from the world of networking, think again. When you rebrand, you’re redoing everything about your business. You’ll have to reinvent your image from the ground up, which includes the basics of networking.

Touch up your LinkedIn profile and attend more networking conferences. Keep in mind this is for your business, not a personal rebrand — you’re trying to build connections all over again. This directive is a lot less important for companies in retail than for a client-centric or contract-based business, but networking may be something to look into if you want your business to move up no matter your industry.

6. Invest in Photography

Finding a good photographer might sound like a strange part of rebranding, but it’s crucial. If you haven’t shown off your employees and staff before now, this is the best opportunity to do so. Customers love seeing small businesses honoring their employees. Bringing everyone to a professional studio and spending a little money can go a long way with making the human connection with consumers.

If you already have photographs of everyone, updating them during rebranding is a must. Don’t bother taking the pictures yourself with a smartphone or even a decent camera — you want your business to look professional. If all goes well, your new photos won’t be outdated for several years to come.

7. Donate Locally

This might sound like another odd piece of advice, but donating to local charities is a fantastic way to get your name out there and shed a favorable light on your company. Ethics matter to customers who research businesses — if you haven’t participated in local charities or fundraisers before, consider doing so as you rebrand.

On the off-chance that there’s nothing local to participate in, consider starting an annual fundraiser. Hosting food or toy drives during the holidays can go a long way with making a good name for your business — not to mention, you’ll be helping your community.

The Finishing Touches

Rebranding a business is not cheap or easy. You can complete some steps more immediately than others, such as joining Twitter or getting a new web domain. Other measures, like remodeling your office and networking, will take patience. If you want an effective rebranding of your business, these are some of the best places to start.

No matter your rebranding goals, the most critical step is to remember why you’re changing in the first place. Keep your mission in mind, and the rest will fall into place.

About the Author: Nathan Sykes writes about the latest in business and technology from Pittsburgh, PA. To read his latest articles, check out his blog, Finding an Outlet.

 

Photo by Lonely Planet on Unsplash

Listen to your branding

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Quick…when I say “branding,” what’s the first word that pops into your head?

Is it logo? Style? Design?

Probably something visual. Maybe your mind goes to “brand guidelines” for fonts, colors, and artwork.

Have you ever considered your auditory branding?

Now that live streaming, podcasting, and voice commands are pervasive, you need to add audio to your branding checklist.

Here are some key considerations to make sure that you’re up to speed:

  • If you are using live streaming tools, what’s your tone of voice? Is your speech clear? Do you use profanity or not? How formal/casual are your words?
  • For podcasting, are you using professional audio tools? Do you do leveling or post-production, if you’ve got multiple input sources? Do you have a “voice for radio?” If you don’t have a pleasant cadence or tone, what can you do to improve your speaking voice?
  • If your company name or product name is spoken into a natural language voice command system (like Siri or Amazon’s Echo device), is it easy to produce correct results? Do you have hyphens, apostrophes, synonyms or other roadblocks to easy voice entry?
  • Think of all possible customer touch points where audio might come into play…from your “on hold” music to the background sounds in your office when you’re on a conference call. Are you projecting the right sensation to your customers or partners? (Do they hear your dog barking and realize you’re working from home, or do they hear Starbucks noise and wonder about your professionalism?) Nothing wrong with either of those scenarios, as long as they match the rest of your branding.

Take some time today to do an “audio audit” to make sure that this important aspect of your branding is supporting your mission.

 

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Featured image via Flickr CC: Patrick Breitenbach

Are Printed Business Cards Obsolete?

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The conference was fantastic.

I attended lots of sessions where I learned new things, I got a good sense for where my industry is going, and I had lots of great one-on-one, eyeball-to-eyeball conversations.

In the past, my first activity when I returned home from a conference was to place a giant stack of business cards on my desk, and enter the information into my contacts.

This week, it hit me that I came home with only a small stack of business cards, and most of them were from vendors I spoke with in the exhibition area.

Hmmmm.

What has changed?

  • A shift toward authentic connections, rather than business transactions
  • Social networks now contain the vital contact information
  • The world moves too fast for print; we all have half-full boxes of cards with old titles, phone numbers, and emails
  • People change jobs and companies more often
  • More online networking than offline…no need for thousands of cards

But there is still a place for printed business cards.

 

The Case for Business Cards

They provide a tangible reminder of a moment in time. I know some who jot down a quick note on the back of business cards, either to remind themselves of where they met or some physical characteristic of the person to aid in remembering their name later.

Personality/branding and succinct messaging. Your business card can sometimes give a more precise and quick summary of your business than you can, off the cuff. For situations where an elevator pitch isn’t feasible (in an actual elevator, for example), a quick handing over of the card and “please call/email me when you have a moment to talk” might work.

Stand in for your physical presence. When I bought my last car, the salesperson handed me several of his business cards to give to my friends/family who might be in the market for a car. Handing out business cards can make it easy for your customers to refer people to you, and ensure that your messaging isn’t mangled in the translation.

 

The Case Against Business Cards

Startups can save money. Cards aren’t really that expensive, but if you add up the design time, printing, and reprinting, along with the waste, it might be an expense that a small startup can skip.

You may work harder to make an impression. My friend Lisa Jenkins told me once that, “if I can’t remember you without a business card, you didn’t make a very big impression!” I like the idea that the force of your personality or the strength of your connection will leave a memory stronger than a piece of paper.

Save trees, resources. I probably have a full forest worth of old business cards in my office. The move toward paperless communication is leaving printed business cards, brochures, and other detritus of the old system behind.

 

Where do you stand? Are you still handing out paper business cards? What do you do with the ones you bring home?

 

 

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

 

Featured image via Flickr CC: Geoffrey Franklin

How to Stand Out as a Brand When You’re a Young Company

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By Rachel Fowler

A Princeton survey reported at SmallBusiness showed that not less than 67% of Americans favor small business.

With this in mind, I decided to try my best in small business in America right after graduation. It has been a long journey with lots of painful mistakes. So to save you time, I decided to give you some of my personal tips on how to stand out as a brand.

Make it clear what your brand is. Merchandising, products and logo are very important but not as important as your brand. It is mostly about the experiences of your customers summed with visual elements and customers’ interactions. Take into account that your PR company, your internet publications, mentions and even your social media should be presented in the exact same tone to get your customers’ trust.

Stand out from the crowd of competitors. Unless you have designed a new source of power that can replace oil and gas, you have to be different in order to stand out from the crowd of competitors. Pinpoint your strong sides that make your brand unique. Don’t forget to include your differentiation in your marketing materials.

Make great products. No one will doubt that the key to being successful among small business companies is to have great products. If your product is lacking quality or service, no PR company will help you. Word of mouth is the best marketing tool and you should use it well. Getting your customers to recommend you to their friends is a big deal, which shouldn’t be underestimated. 

Ensure that your customers know the face behind the product. Most small businesses fail because of the repetitive absence of the owner. Take the “Kitchen Nightmares” television show as a simple example- no restaurant can stay open, if the business is being run by itself. You have to be everywhere and literally know everything that goes on in your company. Your employees will look up to you and if you are not engaged, neither will they be.

Make a recognizable name and logo. It is important to make an effective logo at the beginning. Changing logo and worse the name of the company can be quite costly down the road. It should be recognizable and reflect the nature of your product as much as possible. For example, if you have a dog company, your name should be closely associated and recognizable among your target audience. Take “Woofies” and “Doggone Natural” as examples. Both names reflect the nature of the product and are easily recognized by customers.

Make a value proposition. This shouldn’t be confused with a price. The value means to think what your customers need, instead of thinking what you want from them. Put yourself in their shoes, spend a day with your customer, and see what he/she likes, what are his/her hobbies, day routine, job, budget problems. Only after you understand the needs of your customer you will understand the value of your product.

What are your lessons learned starting out as a young brand/company?

This is a post by Rachel Fowler, a recent graduate from NYU. Right now she works as an independent contributor at http://pumpic.com/

Featured image via Flickr CC: kenda bustami

Build Your Online Portfolio from the Ground Up

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White Keyboard with My Story Button.Is your online portfolio ready to impress?

With potential employers checking out new hires online, having an online portfolio makes good business sense, providing a valuable introduction to your skills.

Your choice of information and how you organize it could make the difference between being hired and being overlooked, so just what should you include?

Start with these six things:

Lead Off with an Introduction

Visitors want to get a feel for the person behind the portfolio, so be sure to include an introduction.

Your introduction should inspire confidence, giving a brief background on what you do, and who you are. Keep it short, but relatable. Your visitors are interested in the person you are and what you are like to work with – you don’t need to include your life story.

Industry Awareness

As the article “The Power and Impact of an Online Portfolio” points out, it’s a good idea to start by asking yourself about the expectations within your industry.

What skills, qualifications and personal attributes are employers in your industry looking for?

By cultivating an awareness of what employers want, you can tailor your profile to make sure it answers those needs.

Clear Focus

Avoid confusion by keeping your focus clear.

An overcrowded portfolio will fail to make an impact. Instead, summarize your key skills in one or two sentences that will leave visitors in no doubt as to what they’ll get when they work with you.

Be sure to include a strong introduction, an easy to browse selection of your work, a clear call to action to encourage contact, and visible contact details to facilitate that.

Qualified Statements

The maxim “show, don’t tell” holds true when it comes to your online portfolio. It’s not enough to simply list what you’ve done – details about your achievements are a must.

For example, if you re-designed a website for a restaurant, don’t just show your design. Talk about how many more visitors they got as a result, or how much revenue increased after it went live.

Leave your visitors with a clear impression of what you can achieve for them when they hire you.

Your Best Work

Choose your work for your portfolio carefully.

This is your chance to show your best work. It can be tempting to include everything you’ve done. However, it makes better business sense to take the opportunity to showcase the best of your work.

As well as choosing your best work, be sure to include some background on each project, such as the remit for each one and how you set about completing it.

Provide the Right Layout

Layout matters when it comes to your online portfolio.

The focus should be on your work, not on the layout surrounding it. Aim for a clear, professional look that easily draws attention to what you want to say.

Your portfolio should be easy to browse, leaving your reader free to focus on the quality of your work.

Make sure your portfolio is mobile-friendly too, or you could risk losing mobile visitors.

Your online portfolio gives you an opportunity to make your first impression count.

Take the time to plan and build it with this in mind so potential employers will like what they see when they visit your online home.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Tristan Anwyn is an author who writes on a range of topics including social media, SEO that works, and careers.