July 6th, 2009
There has been a great deal of hype about Chris Anderson’s new book, Free. I’ve been waiting for this book for six months. Finally someone can make some sense out of what is happening in the music and publishing industries (and many other businesses as well) and to help me with some of my own decisions about the future for myself and my company. Anderson, the editor-in chief of Wired, made big waves with his previous book, The Long Tail. That book described how a company like Amazon makes it money. When we go digital there is one super advantage – we free up actually space. We can warehouse and distribute in a totally new way. Selling one book by an obscure author makes just as much money for Amazon as selling one book of a popular author. The Long Tail helped revolutionize our way of thinking about product development and distribution.
Now comes Free, an explaination of how things can be given away and still make money. The rock band gives away the music but makes it back, and more, through live performances and selling the T-shirts or exclusive editions of its music. Anderson explores the history of free and gives us lessons in economics on this issue. King Gillette discovered that giving away the razors made their customers dependent upon buying the blades. Free is hardly a new concept. Yet it has enormous implications.
My primary learning: Free can help you build reputation. As a generous person this approach appeals to me. I like to give away knowledge, ideas and suggestions. What is this blog more than my sharing what I read and know? I love it. But how do I earn a living off of it? Well, I can, as many others can, help build my reputation as a thoughtful, practical thinker and this increases my value in a market full of other consultants, writers and public speakers.
You can do this too. Give away the things that enchance your reputation, prove your expertise or give away a sample of what you do. And buy Free (!) if even just for the list of fifty business models build on the idea of Free. This is a book with many practical applications, but also a good share of history and economic theory. Intestesting and important – to say the least.
July 6th, 2009
Hmmm… seem to be doing a lot of reading about marketing. I thing the art of positive influencing is interesting and, of course, I understand the rules are changing in this new type of economy and I need to prepare myself. Jay Abraham is a long time guru in this field, one of world’s best self-promotors, best paid consultants and more authoritative in his field. Jay could probably help anyone make money on anything from rocks to air to pink candy shoe laces. He’s just given the whole field of marketing a lot of thought and seems to find his flow in helping others make huge turnarounds. I wish I could afford his help! But at least there are his books to read.
Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got is a tremendous inventory of good ideas for getting the most out of your products and ideas with every kind of twist you can conceive. Start by calculating the life time value of a client or customer. Maybe they make a $20 purchase today, but if you treat him or her well and they come back to you time and time again that first purchase could be worth hundreds or even thousands dollars of business. Test, test test – something I certainly don’t do, but how do you know which approach will work. Try out different headings for an ad, for example, and don’t forget to measure the results.
The Sticking Point Solution is Jay Abrahams latest collection of advice, very relevant for these uncertain times. Abraham knows his math and helps us to be better at analyzing what works and what to look out for. There are tons of good advice. A few examples:
“Don’t be afraid to say what your competition won’t. In any transaction, tell you client, “Here’s what you’re not being told.” “List you flaws.” “Continually add to your brand equity by doing more, caring more, contributing more.” “Form alliances and advisory boards. “Use endorsements and testimonials properly and often.” “Hire the brest. Pay them richly. But pay them mostly on performace.” “If you are invisible, you can’t necomre the go-to source. “Learn to project the image of success – long before you’ve fully achieved it.”
These phrases and words of advice don’t seem especially unusual or new, but Abraham puts them in a perspective that makes his advice seem imperative. “Just do it” may be easier said than done, but Abraham at least tells you what you need to do.
July 6th, 2009
David Meerman Scott sells himself as an expert on the new rules of marketing and PR. Indeed one of his most popular books is called The New Rules of Marketing and PR. In World Wide Rave the author discusses how to make your website or your product the talk of the town… er, web. Who wouldn’t want to creative buzz and make your idea (or yourself) hot. Yes, maybe you will need some luck with your timing and fitting into current (or coming) trends, but like most things you also need to put in a lot of time and effort. I sure wouldn’t mind that buzz for my Prepare and Share programs, but, geez, there are zillions of people out there like me looking for that same sort of buzz. So what can I do differently was the question I asked myself as I decided to buy and read this book.
Well David Meerman Scott has lots of good advice. For example, get out of the office and meet customers. Oh, you’ve heard that before, but how many business people actually do it? Solve problems for your customers. What? You’ve heard that before too? I know at least I get more caught up in self-promotion and production of products I like instead of solving a problem my potential customer experiences. Monitor blogs, chat rooms, forums and social networking sites. Geez, I write and review books, who has time for all that? I should… if I am serious about affecting the people that visit these places.
In other words this book is not just a good summary and reminder of the hundreds and hundreds of things you can actually do to create interest for what you have to offer, it also gives you a really bad conscience for not doing them… sorry, gotta go now and create some rave. HELP – spread my blog around the net. Thanks.
July 6th, 2009
A Father’s Lessons for Life and Investing is the subtitle of this book by the successful investor Jim Rogers. I picked up the book because I have, many times, thought to write something similar to my three boys – though not about investing. For me the stock market is a lottery to be avoided. There was not a lot of meat to the pototoes in this short book, but there is one thing that sticks out. It is a reminder of the Warren Buffet quote that one must not invest in something one doesn’t understand. Rogers, among other things, mentions the developing nations of the world and is not that pessimistic about Russia or India – surprisingly so. The lack of infrastrucutre and, especially in Russia, the lack of a stable justice system, do not bode well for the future. China, however, is investing in infrastructure and Rogers sees lots of potential for Brazil. The reminder, of course, is to investigate before you invest.
Rogers takes his own advice seriously and has moved his family to Singapore where his children can gain direct experience about the new economies and new possibilities in Asia. “Pay attention to what everybody else neglects.” “Know when not to do anything.” The more certain something is, the less likely it is to be profitable.” Recognize change and embrace it.” Yes, there are many pearls of wisdom here. It makes you think about how you educate your own children and how you broaden your own knowledge base about how the world works.
July 3rd, 2009
In this morning’s Swedish newspaper there is an article about an eleven year old boy who visited a factory where they design and make linen goods. After the visit the teacher asked the students to make a design for their own hand towel. The boy, not knowing what to do, drew an outline of own hand on the paper. The teacher submitted the kid’s designs to the factory and they choose to produce towels with the simple hand design. That simplicity is a good example of the art of elegance. It all brings about 40 cents per towel to the boy…
Matthew E. May’s book In Pursuit of Elegance is filled with well known and unknown examples of simple elegance. May makes the claim that it is often what is missing that makes something special instead of what actually is there. A well known example is a traffic designed in the Netherlands who, by taking away all traffic signs at an intersection, reduced accidents and increased flow. He also mixed up cars with bikes and pedestrians. A solution doomed to chaos? Not at all. Everyone became automatically more aware and careful. A tricky problem was solved in an elegant and most unusual and unexpected matter.
May’s book gets your thinking about the missing link in a good idea. The problem is to avoid thinking too much. That often leads to more not less. And more is not always elegant.
June 5th, 2009
Yesterday I had the priviledge of listening to Gordon Neufeld, a reknowned Canadian child psychologist. Gordon Neufeld is author of the book. Hold On To Your Kids – Why Parents Need to Matter More than Peers. I must say it was one of the best lectures and course days I’ve participated in in the last ten years. Full of passion, important theory, excellent models and practical ideas Neufeld explains his perspective on parent-child relationships and teacher-student relationships.
Relation matters is the theme. “One cannot teach to the mind without first reaching the heart.” Today’s children are very separated from adults, parents and relatives. More and more they grow up with peers and that leads to insecurity, uncertainty and victimization. More and more teachers say that more and more children are becoming unteachable. We have more funding, better buildings, more technology, more testing and clearer curriculums, but still schooling is not working like it used to.
I will not delve into Gordon’s many explanaitions here. Please do check out his website where you can also order his book and many DVDs and check out his distance courses. www.gordonneufeld.com. Leave it say that the teacher is wise to take the time and effort to establish a positive relationship, to “collect”, “bridge” and “be a matchmaker” to other adults. It is advice well taken in a time when children and teenagers needs adults more and more but get less of them.
May 23rd, 2009
When a friend of mine told me about this book I said, “That’s for me”. It was. But not just for me. Who doesn’t like to whine, complain, criticize or back-talk? I do. But I won’t as much anymore, because Will Bowen is right. It is simply not constructive and he is doing his part to build a complaint free world.
The method is simple, but hard. Through his church in Kansas City he distributes purple bands. You put one your wrist and switch it to the other wrist when you discover that you have uttered a complaint. This makes you aware and this awareness will lead you to other ways of handling the situation.
Ridiculous? Perhaps. Will I do this? Probably not? Does it work? Probably. Benefits? Loads. It’s not that we should criticize or try to improve things that need changing, it’s just that whining and complaining are not good long term strategies and in the long run doesn’t help us to feel better about ourselves or others. Naïve? Yes. Worth the effort? Definitely.
Bowen’s simple is spreading around the world. Interviews on Oprah help, but the idea has great value. Try it!
May 23rd, 2009
Martin Lindstrom, Dane with Australia as his base, is one of the world’s most dynamic thinkers, speakers and writers about the art of marketing. I’ve heard one of Martin’s speeches and it is not something you forgot – ever. Martin believes most marketers are barking up the wrong tree.
Marketers thing visually. Most of the successful brands gain recognition through other means. In his lecture, Martin illustrated how a blindfolded person could recognize the Coca-Cola bottle just by touch or how Singapore Airlines sprays it’s plains with a scent that is both recognizable and comforting.
In his book Buyology Martin Lindstrom has put together that tries to identify how the brain reacts to various signals. What works or doesn’t work in marketing and how can we learn from the way the brain processes information. Why in the world do the terrifying pictures and messages on cigarette packages have the opposite effect and actually encourage smoking?
This is must reading for anyone interested in the art and science of positive persuasion whether you are in marketing, leading groups or trying to influence decision making. It is a good combination of research, specific examples and good storytelling.
May 23rd, 2009
Ken Robinson is a well-known, well-respected British consultant and writer in the fields of creativity and innovation. His TED lecture on creativity has been downloaded over three million times off the Internet.
I am a firm believer in “positive psychology” and the concept of building upon strengths as a more logical way of improving than trying to change weaknesses.
Robinson shares heart warming stories throughout his encouraging and uplifting book. There is the girl who today would be diagnosed with ADHD but through the wise insight of a psychologist discovers she is a dancer. She becomes a world renowned choreographer. The child who doodles all today becomes the creator of the longest running animated series in television history. Okay, not everyone has to be world famous, but the point is clear.
If we can help each other find the “element” where we thrive there is so very much to be gained. Schooling has a very definate idea of how we should be and think. Life presents oh so many more opportunities. Robinson defines the “element “ as “the meeting point between natural aptitude and personal passion.” Shouldn’t finding each child’s right element be the real task of each teacher and each parent?
This book should be obligatory reading for every teacher and every parent.
May 23rd, 2009
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you – Chip and Dan Heath for your wonderful book, Made to Stick. I wish I had read it when it first came out, but having read the Heath brother’s columns in my favorite magazine, Fast Company, I thought I knew their message. I was wrong. This is the perfect book for anything trying to figure out why certain ideas stick and others don’t and perfect for me trying to figure out my next writing project, marketing and how to make and impact despite all the “noise” and competition out there.
There is no one out there that can’t learn from this excellent description of why ideas stick. Start with simplicity. Surprise with the unexpected. Be down to earth and concrete. Make sure you are credible. Pull on the heart strings of emotion. Tell good stories. Yes, yes – easy to say, harder to do, but Chip and Dan give many good examples and certainly helped me to help myself refine my message. I have always believed in simplicity, but tend to have too many messages. I know the importance of emotions in learning and influencing but aren’t facts more important? Maybe not. I admire people who tell a good story, maybe I can too.
I can highly recommend Made to Stick for anybody in the business of influencing other people – and aren’t we all?