The frost has bid what we hope to be it’s final farewell. The Sun, after a rather extended holiday it seems, has returned to New York City. Put the jackets in the attic, break out the shorts, tan the legs spring is here!
I’ve always been a fan of springtime (although who isn’t right?) there’s something so necessary and almost magical, about those first few days. When it seems half of the city hasn’t gotten the memo yet, and there’s always a couple people who are romping around in blizzard-worthy attire, while those who don’t leave bed without checking the weather are sporting the new khakis they got on sale. Ah sweet, sweet Spring!
Now let me tell you, I love a pair of good khakis! But… that’s not why I get so excited for this season. I love Spring because of one very simple thing. Choices.
I once read: “No man can know the word spring, until he comes to see a winter pass.” I’m no stranger to the cold and snow, trust me Canada certainly holds its own in the “battle royale” of winters. I can still remember as a child the strange thrill of the grass beginning to peek through the earth, the days getting longer, and of course there was spring vacation.
Spring meant choice. No longer would I have the details of my day dictated by the weather, it was the season of freedom.
Becoming an entrepreneur is like finding Spring all year round. Your day is no longer at the whim of a boss, or a commute (I’m still working on the weather part). Each day is filled with illimitable possibility.
As this spring gets underway, I invite you to celebrate your choices; the choice to be an entrepreneur, to pave your own path, to make your own mark. Celebrate the fact that you don’t have to be in a cubicle all day, you don’t have to punch in and out, and your commute can be as far as living room today if you feel like it.
Many people have been conditioned to think that one has to suffer to experience success. It’s as though one must be stricken with a dull, boring life to remain focused, or to continue achieving.
Let me be the first to say this is so, so very wrong! Success comes as a result of doing what you love, and doing it well. From the value you provide to the society you serve. Not from attempting to endure the uncomfortable for as long as possible. Of course, hard work is involved. But hard work does not have to be a sufferable experience. An entrepreneur must learn to maintain a sense of urgency even when their back IS NOT against the wall.
Take your business outside this week. Invest in a wireless card. Make what you enjoy to do, part of your daily business routine. Answer some emails from the park or your backyard, do your follow up calls from the beach today. Celebrate the fact that you can actually make these choices.
“Look at your man, now back to me, now back at your man, now back to ME!”
Unless one has been living under a space rock without electricity for the past few weeks, chances are you have seen the stunningly hilarious Old Spice ads starring a handsome, shirtless gentleman having a rather intimate conversation with the women of America about how her man could smell like this rogue. Now, I could sit here and write about the brilliance of the comedic timing and writing but what has been rather striking to me are the core principles at work here in this advertisement.
In 2007, Old Spice (a Proctor & Gamble brand) made a daring move that shook up Madison Avenue when they hired the Wieden & Kennedy Agency. The smaller collective was best known for their assertive, daring ads -amongst which were Nike’s iconic “Just do it.” campaign.
As a product based company, Proctor and Gamble has long capitalized on the efficacy of it’s products, and used the old-school idea of straight comparison (my brand is better than brand X) to convince consumers their product is the best to buy. The Internet entrepreneur is a product based company as well. Except that product is not detergent or deodorant, it’s YOU Inc.
Back to the Old Spice ad. So what is it about this commercial that has resonated so astoundingly with consumers all across the globe? As I type this, the commercial has received over 4.4 million views on YouTube (talk about going viral). One could argue it’s the pure comedic quality of the commercial, but I would argue it’s something much more simplistic than that.
1. Consumers want you to: “Talk with them, not at them”
-The character is constantly speaking directly to the audience. Engaging and prompting even your very movements at home (look down, now up…where are you?). This type of conversation keeps the audience attentive, relaxed, and psychologically establishes an immediate bond.
2. Invention of Personality
- You are what you present. Authenticity stems from an unbridled presentation of your personality. It does no one any good to be overly reverential about yourself, take yourself too seriously, or worse be obviously reverential and taking yourself too seriously! If you want people to know your product or service is fun, rewarding and simple. Be fun, rewarding and simple in your ads!
3. Brand Building Laboratory
- Brand building is always an experiment. No profitable company, in the history of the modern world, has maintained the exact same marketing or advertising strategy from start to finish. Break rules, try new things, let your imagination guide your experimentation. Who knows what you might come up with!
The Mirror: symbolic of vanity or reflection? A mechanism for reviewing our accomplishments, or a stimulus for greater inner understanding?
We celebrate the entrepreneur because these are the individuals who don’t wait, or allow for society to tell them what to be. The entrepreneur takes action to become what they should be.
What if you could become what you should be?
“[man]…should aspire to be uninterruptedly sublime.
It was a heavy and wet morning when the trees let out quiet sighs, aching from the fresh weight of the evening’s frost. A man sat in his study watching exhausted leaves tremble and fall, spilling light with each pirouette. It was a morning not unlike any other for this man. He rose at seven, as was his custom. Washed his face with cool water and prepared for the morning’s conversation and walk with Mr. Wellington.
Mr. Wellington had been his morning companion for many years now, and preferred a rather specific route to initiate his business. The man had found Wellington in a shoebox behind an Arby’s one late night. Grease had accumulated below the pups nose giving him a rather distinguished looking moustache of oil. The man figured a proper name was only appropriate for an animal of such noble birth.
Ten o’clock came quickly, and the ticking drip of the frost could be heard spilling onto the tin shed in his garden. A manila folder sat on his desk. A lifetime of thought, discipline, sacrifice, and struggle condensed into 42 pages. As he pulled onto the interstate a solitary drop of water clung to his window. Despite his speed the drop remained steady at his flank.
This brought pause to the man, and he looked back upon that solitary drop as he made his way towards the classroom.
There were many hands to shake, and all about him the man saw nothing but smiles followed by approving nods of recognition. It was as he had hoped. He tried with all that was him to be pleased, but he could think of nothing but the defiant drop. He felt it staring at him, or into him. He wondered would it be there when he returned.
As he made his way to the podium it became clear, and a wave of calm came over him that he hadn’t felt in years. He smiled, closed the manila folder, and elegantly strode to the trash and dropped the folder in it.
His audience stood aghast, frightful and confused at what they had seen. The man bore even larger smile now as he made his way back to the podium.
His words were brief, but assured. They were received in utter silence for everyone now knew, without question, here was a man who’s ideas were worthy of thought.
Friends, do not be afraid to be different. To think differently, to change your mind. What is that defiant water drop in your life? That hope, that dream, that stares back at you day and night? Begging for you to seize itself.
I leave you with this: “He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.” -R. Waldo Emerson
The year is in moonlight as we finally close the blinds and lock up shop on this decade. Ten years have passed, that were never short of interesting, even without modest embellishment. We will look back on these days soon. Some years will be remembered with favor others with a wince. We may find ourselves slightly awestruck at the amount of bitter peaks and the somber valleys.
More live better than before, but at what cost? Fortunes were forged, a few were earned, and the world economy caught the flu. Race was redefined, war was waged and the computer made its way into the family portrait, whether you liked it or not.
Everything, and everyone, went online. Reading, shopping, dating, shouts, murmurs and screams. The most popular surname became dot com. Born and bred were Facebook, Amazon, Google and a little thing called Twitter. The Internet’s teenage years were important and rather tumultuous times, but a new course was set.
How the world will interact and communicate has been changed forever. Web 2.0 gave way to 3.0. Choices are everywhere, opportunity is inherently more diverse and abundant. Information now finds you and follows you to sleep. All the while most things are getting more expensive, and we have to practically get naked in front of strangers to get onto an airplane.
Still it seems the best of things is still yet to come. Everywhere there is more music and more art. More healthy children are born, borders are crossed, disease is cured. Some soldiers come home, treaties are signed, apologies are made, people are forgiven.
Invariably a new year approaches and we reflect upon those things we hope are different for us as another four seasons approach. Some call them “new years resolutions,” others hopes and dreams. A few call it reality.
That’s where the 99% who “wish and hope” are separated from the 1 % who realize.
Let’s take look at just one of the common resolution millions have just made for 2010: Weight Loss.
“Honey, I’m going to lose 20 pounds this year.”
“Not only am I going to join the Y, I’m going to start playing volleyball again”
“No more of this…that.”
Sound familiar?
Here’s the next part:
“Well I don’t have gym clothes really…so I need to do that first.”
“Gosh, work is just crazy right now…I seriously don’t have time to sleep let alone run 3 miles”
“Well, I was just going to start on the 15th since I’m travelling next week…and then there is Sarah’s birthday and the long weekend…yada yada yada.”
Also sound familiar?
There is only a single difference between those who live their goals, and those that only set their goals. Action. All of the desires, ambitions, fortunes, happiness and joy that we experience are the result of 1% ideas and 99% decisive action, the premise for my coming book 99%.
Bear in mind that whatever you may decide is next for you-will only be a result of the steps you take. It will be a result of the persistence you show, and the discipline you can apply towards your personal commitment to simply do it.
As we we enter this first full week of the new decade I wish everyone a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.
It has been a few weeks since I have written one of these. With the holidays and the year beginning to wind down, I felt the timeliness of this message could not be better.
Oh the Holidays… The crisp snap of the winter breeze, lights emerging from every corner imaginable; illuminating the evening skies like the sun just squeezed itself through the screen door. It’s a time for celebration, a time for reflection. For smiles, and long overdue embraces that have sat on shelves collecting the dust of neglect.
For too many people the world over, this holiday brings with it a new anticipation. The close of the year is upon us, the months passed have been marked with a collective anxiety of what is to come. Will it get better? Has the worst of it passed? What will I do next year?
Entrepreneurs are not immune to these same moments of uncertainty, however when one has the reigns in their hands the navigation of these troublesome times is infinitely easier.
This Holiday season holds a special anticipation for me personally. The birth of my second child is imminent (and I mean imminent, the bag is packed by the door). I know many of you reading this are parents as well. You know all too well the worry and the hope. The desire for everything to be better for them, than it was for you. It’s why we put in the hours, sacrifice daily, sleep less, desire more.
As I think of all the things I must teach my baby girl in the coming years; reading, potty training, table manners and the like, it has occurred to me that what I want her to know most of all is that it matters not where you’re from or where you are, it’s where you are going.
We are all someone’s children. We all have a hometown, a first kiss, a first disappointment, a first job. But the reality is these things, while important in the shape of our being, have no bearing on where our lives may take us. What we desire in life, what we desire for our children, lies ahead and not behind us.
As we come into this new year, let’s embrace the promise of infinite possibility. Forget whatever hurdle or misstep may have plagued you this past year and focus on where you want to be.
After all, it doesn’t matter where you’re from, it’s about where you’re going.
As Thanksgiving comes to a close for another year, I hope that you have had a wonderful time with those closest to you, celebrating the relationships we cherish, and this land of opportunity we live in.
The earliest settlers of this fair country celebrated Thanksgiving in appreciation for a bountiful harvest. It’s safe to say that few of us have had the opportunity to experience the benediction of growing and tending our own crop (although some us are rather handy on a John Deere). The virtual world will live in, while a remarkable innovation, makes it difficult to see the tangible fruits of our labor. However, we still must not only appreciate each step, we should celebrate these moments, as they are the fabric of our existence.
It could be learning how to “tweet,” or shoot a rifle. It could be making a new friend on Facebook, picking your first domain name, getting that brush cleared, or mending the fence. Each is an example of progress, an accomplishment in and of itself. The scale matters not, it is simply the act of doing.
As we move into the holiday season let us not forget to be thankful for the myriad amount of things that we all too often take for granted. The 21st century has made basic necessities subjects of entitlement. Let us avoid this trap, and continue to appreciate all things. I mean come on, the Internet?…we are so spoiled.
June 04′. I had just quit my job selling mufflers at Midas. I went for 6 weeks without making a single dollar. It was one of those wonderful warm summer weekends you get in the Midwest… yet It was as though I couldn’t sleep, eat or breathe. The pit in my stomach grew daily, I was terrified. I took a leap of faith, quit a decent paying job, to pursue a full time career in online marketing. Almost like a little bird who decides to jump out of the nest a just a couple days too early, only to find the ground is patiently waiting to reach up and smack him in the face.
I was sure I would have to go back to my job. Mentally, I was flailing. Questioning myself incessantly, feeling stupid for deciding to quit so soon. I was throwing every piece of crap I could conjure at the walls in hope of making something stick. Only to have it fall right back into my face and burn my eyes.
This dream, that I thought I was entitled to be fulfilling, was crumbling in front of me like concrete made without limestone. I felt a sense of pending doom and panic come over me, unlike anything I had ever (and now will never) experience. I found myself paralyzed with fear, crippled with debt, completely insolvent. Credit cards maxed out, unable to pay my rent, and out of money. Out of time.
It wasn’t long after the proverbial ton of bricks hit me. The solution MUST be inside me, hiding in some back corner of my subconscious mind, covered by the web of paralyzing fear and chatter. The solution was there from the beginning, patiently and simply waiting to be discovered. The whisper of the solution was drowned out by the static of my fear. I was days away from railroading myself back to my job, and my old defeated way of thinking. Back to a way of life where I was sitting victim and being defined by my circumstances.
I made the decision right then and there. The decision that I would refuse to revert into the old person who was powerless, and paralyzed by fear. I was going to create my own circumstances, regardless of the cost. As a reactive being, I prepared myself mentally to live in a cardboard box should that be required. But going back, admitting defeat, was no longer an option. I burned the boats. This was it.
If you know depression. I know it as well.
If you know panic, and every other fight and flight response. I know them better.
If you are broke. I was likely more broke.
If you are afraid, and know fear. I was just as terrified.
I decided to try to go inside, and retain the power that I knew was lying dormant in me. To take the initiative to recreate my circumstances the way I wanted them to be created. It became clear to me to persist, even just a little longer than I thought possible, a solution would appear. Not an indignant refusal to quit, but rather a calm knowing, that I could do it too. Not unlike the thousands of successful entrepreneurs that have proven the dream of free enterprise is attainable, if you are willing to pay the price to earn it.
Lose my house and get evicted? Big deal.
Suck it up and work a couple side jobs to pay the bills? Who cares.
Sell my couch to buy groceries? Not so bad.
Sleep less? I will sleep when I am dead.
Allow my ego to learn its place? Finally.
Now, I am not here to present to you a overly simplified recollection of the events. Or make this sound easy. All I know is that once I was able step OUT of my head, and start to truly trust myself, my innate ability (that we all share) to formulate systematic solutions for each of the problems I was facing, started to happen organically.
In the end, I didn’t have to go back to my job. I didn’t have to call any more friends or family for more bailout funds. I didn’t have to spend another dollar that I didn’t have on leads. Most importantly, I didn’t have to allow the fear to continue to suffocate me. It was clear the only person that I could trust, or needed was myself. The cacophonous clamor of my mind was drowning them out, Like an old tube radio, slightly off tune, the crackling static tuned into a clear message like a calming symphony.
Within 10 days of this weekend experience, now over five years ago, I was on the leader-board for top sales in my company. I was being recognized nationally and mentioned on calls. I was now an example of someone that “Could.”
I say this not to brag, but to rather fortify the notion that we ALL have what it takes inside. Somewhere along the journey we forget.
I choose to remember, and I choose to remember it well. I choose to remember that if I keep my head down, stay humble about my success, take responsibility for my failures, I can continue to contribute more to society than I take. Somehow, we all know inside that the secret to a happy and fulfilled life as an entrepreneur is really nothing more than this: Giving more than you take.
What are you giving? What are you taking? Who are you going to help get closer to their dreams today? Who are you going to challenge to become a more selfless person? Who are you going to inspire? How are you going to be the tide that raises all of the boats in YOUR harbor?
Figure out how to answer these questions, and you won’t know what to do with the abundance that begins to flow. To me, that’s ultimately all it took. Looking back it seems easy, but for everyone of you still trying to earn your way, there is no circumventing this lesson.
And if there was, it probably wouldn’t be honest and right. Madoff come to mind?
Personal branding is no longer the celebrity culture embellishment it once was associated as. It’s more than “Foreman Grills” and “Body by Jake” (I have both actually). It has become a fundamental necessity of any successful business. If your company does not articulate its brand message clearly and consistently within its given space, it is certain to die the slow death of irrelevance. However, even the systematic, and clear dissemination of your company brand/message is not enough to distinguish yourself in a given consumer space. Why? Because everybody already does that! Sure, every blue moon a McDonalds will change it’s slogan, Pepsi will change the look of its can (a recent design debauchery if I might add) but overall companies launch with a singular message, and then beat you over the head with it until you buy it or decide you didn’t want it after all. So then what do you need to brand yourself in a distinguishable way?
As an Entrepreneur, consider it this way for a moment:
Joe Entrepreneur is the CEO and President of “Joe Inc.” Joe Inc. has spent many a night in his horrifically loathsome basement for the last 2 years developing a revolutionary new slinky. Let’s just say this slinky can go UP the stairs! Joe is thrilled, both with the slinky and to be out of the basement. He knows the Internet is the most effective and explosive means of getting exposure for his magnum opus, but he’s a little unsure of how to go about publicizing his ingenious feat. This is where the difference between brand Publicity and PR come into play.
Publicity is easy. Anyone can either pay or entice, various media outlets to run a story, throw up a banner, write a review. If any of these are positive (which in the case of a stair-climbing slinky has got to be a given) they will definitely help increase awareness. But does awareness translate into sales? Everyone knows about AOL still, but how many new users does it really have?
Now on the other hand “PR” is about the strategic crafting of the your brand’s STORY. It’s the artistry of how you evaluate, and ultimately compose, the consumer’s interaction with your product. Its interaction with your design, price point, functionality and relevance. Ultimately it is simply storytelling. This is what makes your company, your product, even You, worth discussion.
The acute concentration of these detailed elements is the formation of your branded message. Whether it be the color palette on your blog, the font size, the packaging or the music. Each element is a branch, the roots your product, the growth of the tree, well that’s determined on how well you can water the details with the sweat of innovation.
It is popular amongst successful entrepreneurs to talk about certain intangibles that make for good business. Intangibles such as leadership, innovation, persistence and follow- through. I say this, because I too speak of these things, both passionately and often. Their importance goes without questioning. Each cannot be given, and consequently must be earned. Each is intrinsically valuable in and of itself, and may stand as a singular example of character.
However, in my opinion, a single gift endures beyond each of these items. It endures because, in my opinion, it’s the single most valuable gift human beings can share, and could stand as it most rare. That gift is Trust.
Trust is a rare bird in an age where celebration of “the self” is most prevalent. Constantly we are pitched, marketed and sold things thought to appease our own wares. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with this. We all deserve to live a life free from suffering. However, I think most would agree that it is more than possible, and more enjoyable, for the comforts we enjoy to exist for mutual benefit.
We can give someone a dollar, but it soon will be spent and migrate to the pocket of another. We can give flowers, but they too will one day wilt. We can give presents, compliments, advice and embrace one another in moments of despair. But to give another the gift of your trust is a commodity for which no darkness, time passed, or circumstance can ever wither. Trust allows us to walk taller, to face our troubles without fear and to triumph in the hour of greatest uncertainty.
Trust requires great bravery, to be vulnerable and humble. Trust is the first step to love. Trust is the highest form of human motivation. It is well known, and spoken of, that time is precious, but I believe trust is more precious than time.
Let us be reminded, the greatest of us to be given is always from within.
Remember these things, for it will never be Yesterday.
The frost has bid what we hope to be it’s final farewell. The Sun, after a rather extended holiday it seems, has returned to New York City. Put the jackets in the attic, break out the shorts, tan the legs spring is here!
It was a heavy and wet morning when the trees let out quiet sighs, aching from the fresh weight of the evening’s frost. A man sat in his study watching exhausted leaves tremble and fall, spilling light with each pirouette. It was a morning not unlike any other for this man. He rose at seven, as was his custom. Washed his face with cool water and prepared for the morning’s conversation and walk with Mr. Wellington.
