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Three Types of Entrepreneurship Success Stories- Type3

"OK I Built It, BUT They did not Come.  What is the third type?"- a second realization

According to Eric, the third type of start up story is the We Saw a Need, We Filled It.  This is the story in which the start up founder observes the need in others and creates a product for their need.  The founder is doing this for others AND almost immediately customers start to demand the product.

An example of a founder that fits the We Saw a Need, We Filled It is Sara Blakely.  She saw a need for a slimming product by other women and filled the need by creating Spanx.

The reason for writing this post is to ask yourself if the We Saw a Need, We Filled It narrative fits your life story.  Does it feel natural?  Is it believable?  You are the only one that will know. But you will never will be believable to others if you don't believe it.

Today's question is:
"Does your life story fit the We Saw a Need, We Filled It narrative?"

365QOD- Day1081

Three Types of Entrepreneurship Success Stories- Type2

"OK Rags to Riches does not fit me.  What is the second type?"- a realization

According to Eric, the second type of start up story is the We Built It, They Came.  This is the story in which the start up founder creates a product for their own need.  The founder is doing this for themselves BUT almost immediately customers start to demand the product.

An example of a founder that fits the We Built It, They Came narrative is Howard Schultz.  He started a single coffee shop that eventually created the giant Starbucks.  The key to their success is by creating a third place away from work or home that people can meet and hang out.

A more recent example of this is Mark Zuckerberg.  He took his need to communicate with his class mates friends and grew it into an Facebook.  He grew it from a one campus relevant into the giant that everyone connects through.

The reason for writing this post is to ask yourself if the We Built It, They came narrative fits your life story.  Does it feel natural?  Is it believable?  You are the only one that will know. But you will never will be believable to others if you don't believe it.

Today's question is:
"Does your life story fit the We Built It, They Came narrative?"

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Three Types of Entrepreneurship Success Stories- Type1

"There are said to be only a handful of plot lines in all of world literature- as few as seven or as many as 20, depending on which comp-lit professor is counting.  Through the cannon of business- start up tales is not exactly literature, I count at least three narratives"- Eric Schurenberg, Inc. magazine editor

According to Eric, the first type of start up story is the Rags to Riches.  This is the story in which the start up founder takes an existing good business and drives it to greatness.  From good to great is hard to do.  Jim Collins details how difficult it is for good companies to become great in his classic book Good to Great.

An example of a founder that fits the Rags to Riches narrative is Sam Walton.  He started a single Ben Franklin store and eventually created the giant Walmart.  The great company continues to grow even years after his death.  That is a perfect example of taking a good store and creating a great company.

A more recent example of this is Gary Vaynerchuk.  He took his family liquor store and grew it into an online presence Wine Library TV channel.  Again, he grew it from a good one store to a giant within the industry.

The reason for writing this post is to ask yourself if this type of narrative fits your life story.  Does it feel natural?  Is it believable?  You are the only one that will know. But you will never will be believable if you don't believe it.

Today's question is:
"Does your life story fit the Rags to Riches narrative?"

365QOD- Day994

Phones are the New Cars

"People used to customize their cars now they customize their phones"-Roland, a barber shop patron

I went to get my haircut today.  This is a once a month event for me.  I always look forward to it because it usually involves having a conversation that dies not fit the mold with another customer.

Roland stated talking about cars of yesterday and how kids in the poorest used to modify them to fit their personalities and show uniqueness.  He said that he felt that today the cell phone is what they modify.

I argued that even though I agree with him on the modifying, it does not fit the same need.  When someone modifies a car they want everyone to notice them.  How do I notice the app you installed that you think is cool.  In my opinion, it is only through purchasing a new phone that you get uniqueness.  But anyone can go out and buy that phone and your uniqueness just disappeared.

Today's question is:
"How do you stand out as being unique?"

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My Brand

"Your app is your brand now"-Peter Coffee article title

Earlier this year I published an app called Business Academy.  It was my first app and it allowed me to figure out how to go from an idea, through design, to formatting it for publishing, to getting it published.

The title of this story caught my attention.  The app that I designed was not intended to be my brand but a simple experiment.  It does fit the cREATOR with a small c brand that I am trying to build for myself. So maybe the title fits me?

I mentioned in another post that before creating a new product and putting it out I always ask myself if the product fits my brand.  If it does not then I need to consider producing and publishing it under a creative name in order not to dilute my brand.

Today's question is:
"What do you stand for?"

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"I wonder what it takes to get to 1%" - my reaction

Yesterday I got an email from LinkedIn.  It said, "You have one of the top 5% most viewed LinkedIn profiles for 2012!"

Man it made me feel great.  I have 500+ connections but that is nothing compared to many others.  I spend maybe 1 hour per month nurturing the relationships.  In other words, I have put my profile up and just do the bare minimum.

My blog posts do not even get posted on it.  Imagine if I put my posts up on the site.  Maybe it would drive my traffic to this blog and improve my rating.  Maybe it would push me into the 1%?

So what?  Well, marketing these days is mostly about social media. LinkedIn is a powerful weapon.  Maybe nurturing it would help my brand and improve my marketing. It is a wake up call to me.

Today's question is:
"What powerful weapons are you ignoring?"

365QOD- Day646

"I like your signature" - words from a real estate agent

The other day I met a real estate agent, James.  We had emailed back and forth earlier that day and he had received the emails with a closing signature that talks about my first book, The Result.

He asked me about the book and I described it.  While talking about the book, I offered the following advice to him:  write 50 columns on real estate topics about 1-2 pages long and then put them together in a book.  Instead of giving someone a business card, give them a book.

I gave the same advice a year ago to another real estate agent.  She was the president of the local real estate association and used to write a weekly column in the local paper.  She already had written the columns.
A year later no book has been produced.

Hopefully James will do it.  It will make him stand out.

Today's question is:
"What will a book of your work do for your career?"

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“Here is a copy of my latest book.” – my approach

I have written two great books.  Recently I worked on a manual for internal use that shows the work flow process that my group uses.  Well, it grew to over 200 pages and in order for people to be able to read it and offer suggestions I produced it as a soft cover book.  This has been a wonderful experience because the work immediately looked professional and it made the review process easier. 

What about elsewhere?  While reading a Fast company article Why Books Are The Ultimate New Business Card by Ryan Holiday the author explains that most self published books are not written for profit. If profit happens it is nice but the intended effect is credibility, speaking invitations, and consulting work.

I believe that having written a book could be a great advantage in many situations.  You have to be very strategic how you use it.  I have offered this advice to a couple of students nearing graduation without having a job and experienced hires looking to stand out.

Today’s question is:

“Could you produce a ‘book’ of your work that you could use in an interview setting to provide you a strategic advantage?”

365QOD-Day567

"You must have a keen understanding of your Brand, Outcome, and Differentiator" - Zen of Social Media Marketing Shamna Hyder Kabani  www.zenofsocialmedia.com

In several branding posts I have spoken of the idea of brand.  I have for the last few years attemped to

re-brand myself from being just an Engineer to a cREATOR (with a small c).  In reality I have always been more than just and Engineer since I have also been a professor.

The point is that I believe that in the long run I want when people think of me to associate creativity and deep contributions in multiple fields as my brand.  So that is the B part.

Since I am trying to establish this Brand I have to evaluate how each Outcome fits with it.  My first book The Result is my first attempt in writing a self-help story.  My second Outcome shows ow I have creatively put together 365 thoughts from over 40 different areas and organized them to be more usable.  Recently I put together and printed copies of a 250 page manual for training new Project Managers.  If you do a search on Amazon you will not find it.  I have not made it available to the public because it is not consistent with the direction of the brand.  It is creative BUT it moves me back to Engineer.

So how do I Differentiate myself?  Well, as a working person I still write daily posts, publish at least one book per year, and future books will be on subjects such as: Teamwork, Finance, Time and Energy management, Poverty of the Mind, etc.

Today's question is:

"What is your BOD?"

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 “..My intention in branding folks is always to extract what is truly unique, quirky, interesting, and relevant about them and their businesses and then roll that into the offer and consequently the brand.  What’s hooky about you? – Suzanne Falter-Barns www.getknownnow.com

I recently read majority of Zen of Social Media Marketing book by Shamna Hyder Kabani.  She has a website www.zenofsocialmedia.com.

I used to teach MBA courses and often had to teach my students how to write better papers.  The school chose to use the APA format and they strictly focused on the format and forgot how to write an interesting paper.  At times I had to read 20 page papers that were so boring BUT they followed the format.

In order to help them improve I often emphasized the need to hook me within the first paragraph and ideally the first sentence.  In my blogs the quote is typically my hook.

I agree with Suzanne.  We need to understand what is hooky about us.  If you do not know it then you can not sell others on it.

Today's question is:

"What's hooky about you?"

365QOD-Day518

"Black Love" - Phillet (pronounced like fillet minon)

I thought she was joking.  So I asked her again, "What is the name of your perfume?".  Black love was the answer again. 

I proceeded to ask her where she bought the perfume.  She said that it was specifically designed for her.  I said, "What?"  She told me that the individual that produces the perfume exclusively for her used her saliva and her personality profile to develop a unique perfume for her.  Wow!

What I loved about her story was how unique that perfume was.  It was her sweat and personality that produced a result that smelled great on her.  She being an African-American woman chose the name to reflect her.

How unique can a product get?  I think it doesn't get any more unique than that.  I wonder what it would smell like on another woman?  Most likely it would not compliment her at all.  Perfumes are very unique.  Some that smell great on others smell awful on me.

Today's question is:
"What would you can your perfume?"

365QOD-Day496

"..that is different" - my reaction

For years I have designed logos.  I have several that I claim for myself. 

Over the years I have even thought about getting a line of good quality polo shirts that I would wear with my logo.  At one time I even wanted caps with it.

The other day I was watching something on TV and I noticed a guy with a logo on his hat.  What made it interesting is that the logo was not centered.  It was placed to the right of center.  If caught my eye and it stood out as being different. 

I immediately thought about the brand and how it made it noticeable.  It was off-beat.  It stood out.

Today's question is:
"What do you do that is off-beat that makes you stand out?"

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"That is stupid"- my response

I saw a TV segment on the cinnamon challenge.  Kids and adults eating a spoonful of cinnamon without water.

People are desperate to get noticed.  Some of these folks want the videos to lead to fame and possibly a reality show.

Crazy? Crazy like a fox?
Even if it leads to something it will be short lived. It is not something that could improve your brand.

Today's question is:
"Would you do something stupid to get your brand noticed?"