Leveraging Success- The Online Paradigm

I have been bombarded with this concept lately, and it isn’t a new one. It’s been popping up in books I’m reading, mentioned over and over in podcasts I listen to, and mentioned by business owners I work with. It’s an idea as old as the hills, yet it’s still the topic of conversation all across the business spectrum. The concept is leveraging other successes to create your own success, and it is everywhere online.

In Eric Qualman’s book, Socialnomics, he gives one example of a facebook app created by a travel company that allows users to track where they have been and share it with their friends. Along comes a programmer who sees how it can be improved, and he creates another facebook app, very similar to the other app, and his app outperforms the first app. Then along comes TripAdvisor. They see what this programmer has done (he has almost a million users) and they want in. They offer to buy in, but the programmer’s offer is more than TripAdvisor wants to pay (the offer was $3 mil). So, what does TripAdvisor do, they hire an application developer for around $15,000 and build an even better version. As of today, TripAdvisor’s travel app, Cities I’ve Visited boasts 4,869,881 monthly active users! Imagine how much it would cost to acquire those leads in a tradition method. I’d be willing to be you’d shell out more than $15,000. Now of course there is maintenance and upgrades to the app, and costs associated with that, but the figure for acquiring the leads is still super cheap. Even if it cost TripAdvisor $100,000, that’s still only $.02 per lead!!!

This type of action is happening everywhere, and it’s happening fast. Really fast. It’s so commonplace online, that we’ve become used to it. Think about Search Engines. There was Alta Vista, then Netscape, then AOL, then MSN, then Yahoo!, now Google is number one and MSN has create Bing to attempt to recapture market share. In the future, perhaps Social Media engines will even top Google as the number one way to search the web. Each business was able to leverage success on the back of an existing company. Search wasn’t a new idea when Google came along, but Google did it better, and cut down barriers between users and what they where looking for. The concept of leveraging success is in every corner of business, online and offline. I think of it as the birthplace of innovation; or maybe it’s innovation’s point of conception.

How can you and I, as business owners, leverage success? A great way to start is by studying the success of others. By analyzing what other business owners have done, we can begin to understand what happened to make the innovation a success. I think it requires an open mind and the ability to ask the right questions. The ability to see the opportunities surrounding your company, and the ability to act when the time is right. What are other companies in your market doing that could be improved upon? What are barriers between you and your clients/customers that can be lifted to shed resistance? What are other companies outside of your market doing that can be adapted to your business to improve your client/customer’s experience?

How will you leverage success?

Technology and Testimonials

I just watched a tech documentary made from the TED conference in 2006, which doesn’t sound that long ago until you realize how long 4 years is in tech time. The idea of touch screen technology was a huge deal and going green still wasn’t main stream. Considering that the telephone was invented in the late 1800′s, we’ve come a long and the gap between the creation of technology and it’s adaptation by the mass consumer (early and late majority folks) has decreased considerably. I still remember when the Motorola StarTAC dropped around 1996 and everyone thought that thing was AMAZING. My entire town had no cell phone signal back then. Now a cell phone is much more than a phone, it’s a device that allows people to connect in more ways and more rapidly than ever before.

I was reading a blog post earlier today by Dan Patterson (here’s a link to his post) and he said something that stuck out to me:

“Look, I’m a strong believer that people – human beings – are inherently curious, inherently social, and inherently lazy. By that I mean that people want the path of least resistance between people, other people, and information.”

There is a lot of truth to that, and this is what technology is allowing us to. By default, we are reverting to the ways in which we most prefer to do things, word of mouth communication and socialization with people we like, know, and trust. It has just taken technology a while to catch up.

Now that technology HAS caught up and, in doing so, given a voice back to the people, it’s more important than ever to have good word of mouth. Enter my good friend, testimonials. I’ve talked with hundreds of business owners over the last 4 years and they all have one thing in common: their most consistently rewarding marketing is word of mouth, referral based marketing. The funny thing is, most of them have no idea how they did it, so they can’t replicate it!

Here’s a quote from Dan Kennedy, a very sharp marketing mind:

“What others say about you, your company, your products and your services is infinitely more credible than anything you can say on your own behalf. When you make a statement, it’s a claim. When your satisfied customer makes the same statement about you, that’s a fact.”

The collection of testimonials is one of THE most important things you can do to market your business, period. It’s been that way and it’s not going to change.

Think about buying habits online. People read reviews before going to restaurants, watching a movie, buying a book, buying a new phone; the list goes on and on. And they may be looking for a review on your business. Testimonials are the way to pre-sell your products and services before you even open your mouth. Now, with technology, your testimonials and what other people say about you is more important than ever.

Here are 5 ways to tap into this technology:

1. Use a Google Local Page and encourage reviews

2. Use a Linkedin Page and encourage people to “endorse” you

3. Use your Twitter account, not to sell, but to establish a community and be part of the community

4. Use your smart phone to capture testimonials on the spot. Most have voice and/or video recorders, just be sure to ask permission first. You can always transcribe the testimonial later.

5. Post testimonials to your site and refresh testimonials as you get more.

Glyphs: The Latest in Offline to Online Interactivity

You may have noticed a lot of glyphs popping up lately. OOORRRR, you may not even know what a glyph is. Here’s an image of a glyph I took out of the latest copy of INC. magazine:

This particular glyph was created for an advertisement for hotels.com. I have no affiliation with hotels.com, nor do I particularly favor them over expedia, travelocity or any of the other sites (although I do like William Shatner for some unexplainable reason) so this is no plug for travel sites.

ANYWAY, glyphs are generally used with augmented reality apps, as a sort of key; taking a symbol of some sort in it’s analog form (offline) and converting it via webcam to a digital “key” which then allows the use to interact with the software online.

Here is a GE video showing you how augmented reality can work:

It’s still a bit early to tell now consumers will react to the glyph concept, but next time you see a cryptic black and white symbol, try taking a picture of it with your iPhone, Droid, or other smart phone if you have augmented reality capabilities. You could print out the image i took above and go to virtualvacay.com and follow the instructions there. I tried it out and it was pretty cheesy, but the idea of where it could go is definitely interesting. You can print out the glyph once you get to the site also.

There are other augmented reality sites which use the horizon, your position and some other factors to show you nearby restaurants, bars, shopping, even other people on Twitter and such. These augmented reality apps often do not require a glyph and are pretty sweet. The app Layar (which is available for both the iPhone and Droid) is an example of this technology which, if nothing else, can certainly be entertaining.

What do you think of augmented reality? You can always tweet me your thoughts to @rbrianforrester

Preconceived Notions

I’ve been thinking a lot about preconceived notions lately. I know they can be dangerous because a preconceived notion is essentially an assumption, and we all know what happens when you assume…

Yet, as much as I try to suppress preconceived notions, as much as I try not to pass judgment or assume I can predict what will happen, it’s always there, in the back of my mind. So, in realizing that I will never completely stop this behavior, I am going to make an effort to acknowledge it more and perhaps use it for the powers of good.

I’m, of course, thinking of preconceived notions developed around social interactions; especially meeting new people and prior to social engagements. My thoughts are that a misguided preconceived notion may actual detract from what I could be getting and giving in a relationship.

Lately, I’ve been pushing aside some of my preconceived ideas surrounding things I’m uncertain about, and I’ve been very pleasantly surprised with the results.

Perhaps preconceived notions are intertwined with fear of the unknown, some sort of primordial defense mechanism which forces us to assume the worst in an effort of self-preservation.

So my social experiment continues.

Food for thought?

Next Steps

I guess, in looking back at past blog posts, I’ve haven’t been very forthcoming with personal info, partially because I’m not sure readers care and partially because I think there is a thin line between sharing too much and not sharing enough.  So I find myself asking, to share, or not to share?

ANYWAY…

I had a significant change occur this weekend:  I changed my Facebook status from “In a Relationship” to “Engaged”   On Friday, I asked Jaclyn to marry me and thankfully she agreed.  I appreciate all the encouragement from my Facebook friends, Twitter friends, my “real life” friends (who aren’t on social media platforms) and my family.

Marriage is such a serious decision, I needed a little levity:

“My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met.” -Rodney Dangerfield

“Why does a woman work ten years to change a man’s habits and then complain that he’s not the man she married?” -Barbra Streisand

“It’s a funny thing that when a man hasn’t anything on earth to worry about, he goes off and gets married.” -Robert Frost

Ritual de lo Habitual

Yes, a great album by Jane’s Addiction circa 1990 (and yes, it was really THAT long ago)…but the two words, “ritual” and “habitual” are really the impetus for this post.

The concept of a ritual, stripped of any cult or religious designation, is basically something done the same way, over and over.  It’s usually symbolic in nature.  For example, in the United States we have the built in ritual of shaking hands with people when we meet them.  In other countries this same act is seen as a threatening gesture.  We all have rituals that we perform, and we are generally conscious of these efforts.  Some people have the ritual of a Friday gathering with friends over beers.

Rituals and habits may share some common ground in the psyche, but there is an important distinction between the two.

One of Merriam-Webster’s definitions of habit, which I feel best meets the general perception is “a : a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance b : an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary”

While rituals are learned responses which we are cognizant of, and perhaps create out of enjoyment, it seems habits take time to develop, and that eventually may be performed involuntarily–sometimes even though we know it’s wrong (i.e. smoking).  It is therefore important to distinguish between good habits and bad habits.  Perhaps even by creating rituals based around good habits (i.e. I worked out today so I’m going to enjoy a glass of wine with dinner).

The formation of positive rituals and habits are what make the most success people in the world successful.  And by successful, I mean whatever describes their success.  Generally it’s linked to a sense of accomplishment coupled with a sense of happiness.  However you describe success, creating rituals and good habits are an important step towards achieving that end.

What are your habits? Your rituals?  How do you distinguish between the two?

We’ve Got A System For That

Ever been amazed when something you thought was happening isn’t? Ever blow up on an employee because “there’s a system for that”? If you created a system, or even bought a system or borrowed a system, then it should be working, right? Once you have a system, you can put the plane on autopilot and cruise towards your destination of greater profits and no headaches, right?

Yeah, right…

Ok, so that sounds ridiculous. Yet so many business owners create a system once and never revisit it. It’s as though the system is a decree; “I hereby decree that this system, no matter how old, antiquated, or inadequate will be our system for doing this task until the end of time.”

Or there’s this one, “I’ve got a system (or six) for that. Why can’t you follow it. It’s right here in one of these six binders. Anyone can plainly see there is a boatload of information on that.” Again, how asinine does this sound as you read it? Yet I see it over and over again (see the picture above which is a real picture of an office with SIX different policies on the same subject! SIX!!!)

Both of these instances happen far too often, yet both are completely unacceptable. If you created your system 20 years ago, it may be time to look at it anew. Ask these questions of an old system:

1. Does it still function as efficiently as it once did? If not, why not? How could it be improved?
2. Do I have problems with this system working sporadically? Could these be resolved?
3. Are other businesses doing it differently with more success? How can I emulate that?
4. Is this system causing other systems to back up or function less effectively?

On the other hand, some businesses TOTALLY RECREATE a system every now and then and end up with 6 different “systems” for the same protocol or operation. Hmm, kinda defeats the purpose of a system doesn’t it?! Here are some ideas to avoid this pitfall:

1. If a system has some kinks that can be ironed out, rewrite the existing system. Don’t recreate the wheel and leave the old wheel laying around for new employees to be unknowingly roll out ten years from now.

2. If the system has been proven ineffective, destroy it completely and replace it with a system that works. Leaving an old, dysfunctional system around is a recipe for disaster.

People will leave your company, even the good ones, and you don’t want old renditions of your systems surfacing in your business again. They needed to be removed for a reason; having them come back could spell months of unnecessary work and could cost you big time.

Remember: The entire concept behind an effective business system is that ANYONE can use it.

One Final Thought: Everything can’t be systematized

Gotta Question? Ask Twitter

Richmond, VA (Commonly refered to as RVA on Twitter) has a pretty darn good Twitter crowd. And they are active. They are all over the place. Aaaaaaand? They are a HUGE resource. Your city is probably the same way. Even if they aren’t, the Twitter community as a whole is a great resource for recommendations, referrals and general information and advice.

As an example, a while back (check my twitter stream @rBrianForrester from around 3/15/2010) I was planning a trip to Charlottesville, VA to hit up some local vineyards. I asked Twitter and ended up with some great recommendations and even learned that there was a “Spring Fling” passport available which gave me free tastings. Good for Brian AND good for business owners of the wineries we visited. Starting to see the point? If you are already on Twitter and part of a community, you already get it.

Next time you need a suggestion or have a question, try tossing it out to your “tweeps” instead of Googling it. You may be pleasantly surprised by the responses you get.

Gym It Up

If you own a business or you’re planning to start a business, time seems to be an ever decreasing commodity. As I write this I’m having trouble believing it’s May already. Where did the last five months go!? Ever ask yourself the same thing?

Running a company is not for the faint of heart. It takes passion, dedication, and a boatload of time. It can also be quite stressful. When you are your own boss the security blanket of knowing what your next paycheck will be (Hell, just knowing there will BE a next paycheck) goes bye bye.

All of this stress can do some pretty bad things to you physiologically. If you don’t have a positive outlet for your stress, you are probably headed down the heart attack highway baby, and none of us want to go through that.

Enter the gym. For me, going to the gym is my time. I unplug from my desktop, my laptop, my iPad, my iPhone and leave everything at the door for an hour or two. (now of course I check in to the gym on foursquare before totally unplugging…AND I do have an iPod that I listen to while working out…but you get the point).

No matter how busy I get, I always try to make time for the gym. It’s built in to my schedule to have fitness as part of my lifestyle. If I get busy or work late, I make that day up during the weekend, or go out for a run when I get home. But the fitness is crucial for me to stay sane, happy, and productive.

I hear this a lot, “But I’m tired at the end of the day. I’ve got nothing left.” I feel that way too sometimes, and so does everyone else in the gym. But once you get there, something changes. And when you are done you feel great. Absolutely can’t workout after work? Go in the morning. All of my friends who workout in the a.m. say they feel more energized all day at work. Most of them have even been able to cut out coffee (crazy).

Put a reminder on your phone or computer to pop up every day and remind you to go until you get the habit down. The most important thing is to START.

Don’t Squash Creativity

Your business is your baby.  You’ve nurtured it from the beginning, and you may be a bit reluctant to hear any ideas that aren’t your own.  I can hear you now, “I listen to other people’s ideas all the time!”  Yeah, you may be placating your team members or employees, but I’m always surprised by the amount of great ideas that staff have that often go unheard.  And it’s not for lack of trying to get their ideas out there, it’s because the business is YOUR baby and because it’s your baby, any ideas that aren’t yours can easily be dismissed.

There are a couple of problems that can occur because of this that, as a business owner, you may not see.  

The first problem is missed opportunity.  How many time saving, cost saving, productivity increasing innovations are you missing by not hearing the creative thoughts of your employees?  It’s important to remember that as your company has grown, by necessity you have removed yourself from certain daily operations which are now being done by your employees.  The people that now do the work you were doing, may very well find a faster, smarter, better way to get it done.  Instead of shooting down their ideas, hear them out.  Create a forum for creativity if you will.  Create a process for the submission of ideas.  This empowering of your employees is an often missed and invaluable business asset.  Which brings me to the second problem that can occur by stifling out ideas.

This problem is often overlooked, but is probably a much bigger issue than the missed opportunity issue.  What is it?  Demotivation and devaluation of employees.  Employees who feel their opinions and ideas are not heard stop giving them willingly.  Not only that, they may start doing their work begrudgingly.  They may lose the passion for what they do that makes them valuable and in turn, may start doing sloppy work–may stop caring about the quality of their work altogether.  

The ripple effect that is caused by a disgruntled or unsatisfied employee can have a lasting imprint on your entire business.  I saw a company recently lose hundreds of thousands of dollars because one disgruntled worker (who repeatedly had ideas shot down and felt demoralized by the boss) “poisoned the well” at her office.  The customers could see it and responded by going elsewhere, the quality of her work went down the crapper, and she was constantly bad mouthing the employer and making everyone else question why they worked there.  Months later the company is still trying to recover from this one employee.

The simple fact is that employees who feel empowered perform better.  If a team member feels like they have a voice, they are much more likely to be passionate about what they do and perform at highest level.  

Does this mean every idea a team member has is a good idea?  Absolutely not.  I’m not talking about letting the employees make the rules either.  But many a grand innovation has come from an employee, not the employer (you).  Be open to new ideas from within your company.  Create a company culture that embraces creative thinking without restrictions.  Let the ideas come to the table and then nourish those ideas with potential.  Your team will feel more connected to you and to their work, and you will feel better as your company grows and flourishes.  

Remember, your entire company started with an idea.  

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