and Waste a Ton of Money at the Same Time
Here's just a short list of the misguided (and even ridiculous) business start-up advice I've read recently:
Create an instant-impact message that describes the chief benefit of your business. Put it on business cards and brochures.
Hand out hundreds of those business cards and brochures at business functions and meetings.
Find a great office space and fill it with furniture.
Take a field trip to discover how your product or service will satisfy people's desires.
Protect your "great ideas" by registering your business name, logo, and slogan.
Create a paper trail -- tracking all meeting dates, attendees, and discussions.
Consult a lawyer and get his or her advice on how to set up the right legal structure for your business.
Check with your municipality to make sure they permit you to operate a venture like yours out of your home.
Buy business insurance and "talk to an accountant or attorney" to make sure you're not missing anything.
Get a toll-free phone number (to give the impression that your business is much bigger than it really is).
If you do these things before you find out whether your product can sell... your business is practically guaranteed to fail.
Entrepreneurship is based on selling. You test the market with a product you think will sell well. If it does, you keep selling. If it doesn't, you try something else.
This approach lent its name to my most recent bestseller, Ready, Fire, Aim. The main point of the book is that to start and grow a small business, you must have a pragmatic, action-oriented mentality. Rather than spend too much time and money refining theoretical ideas, you develop a prototype quickly and then see if the market will buy it.
As I said in the book, for every business that fails because of poor planning there are a dozen that never get off the ground because of too much planning.
The Ready, Fire, Aim approach obviously doesn't apply to surgical procedures and rocket science. But it will be very useful for 90 percent of the new-business ideas you are likely to come up with.
Want to start a business selling diamond-studded collars for kitty cats? Fine. There are two ways to go about that:
You can spend most of your time and money designing and manufacturing a line of such collars -- and only after that is done, start to think about how you can sell them.
You can make a single collar, go down to your local flea market or neighborhood pet shop, and see if you can find a customer for it.
Most people start businesses the first way. That's why most businesses fail.
But with the Ready, Fire, Aim approach, you devote 80 percent of your initial resources to discovering an efficient way to sell the product. Once you have done that, you have found the key to successfully market it. With that key in your pocket, you don't have to worry about all the other problems that will arise in the natural course of business. You won't have to worry, because you will be able to create the one thing that can solve almost every business problem: cash flow.
Here, in a nutshell, is what I mean by Ready, Fire, Aim...
Ready: Get your product idea ready. Make it good enough to sell. Don't worry about making it perfect. There will be time enough for that later.
Fire: Start selling it. Sell it every way you can. Test different offers. Test different ad copy. Test different media. Keep testing until you discover something that works. This is what we refer to as your Optimum Selling Strategy (OSS).
Aim: Expand your customer base by focusing on your OSS. As your customer base grows, develop business procedures to accommodate that growth. Hire the best people you can to manage your business. Discover, through "back-end" marketing tests, other products and services that your customers will buy. Use those discoveries to refine and perfect a fast-selling line. As this back-end business flushes cash into your company, invest a good deal of that cash into front-end marketing.
Ready, Fire, Aim doesn't mean you are willing to be sloppy. Nor does it mean you are willing to sell second-rate products to your customers. On the contrary, Ready, Fire, Aim is the only truly practical way to find out what your market really wants from you.
And for a small business, Ready, Fire, Aim is the best way to get from good to great.
Think of it this way: When we say we have "a great new product idea," what do we really mean? When I say that, I mean I have a strong feeling that the product will sell well -- that it will be a big, commercial success.
But the truth is, I have only a hunch about how well my idea will do. Experience has taught me that my hunches are often right... but not always. If I spend too much time and energy on a business based on conjecture, what happens if my assumptions don't pan out?
What happens is that I'm left with nothing -- no money or materials or energy -- to start over again. The essence of entrepreneurship is the ability to try and fail and then try again. You can't do that if you blow your wad the first time you try.
So nowadays when I get the feeling that I have a great idea, I figure out how I can test that idea as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
Once I know the idea has "legs," I can roll out a sales program. And once a successful sales program is underway, I can refine and improve the product. The truth is, I can never perfect a product in isolation. I used to think I could, but, once again, experience has taught me the arrogance of that kind of thinking.
To get from good to great, you need the help of superstar employees and, most of all, feedback from your customers. The best customer feedback comes not from surveys or focus groups but from marketing results. Find out what your customers want by selling things to them. This gets you back into the Ready, Fire, Aim loop.
If I had to pick one thing -- one characteristic or quality of my work that is most responsible for the success I've had launching businesses -- I'd have to say it was this Ready, Fire, Aim mentality. It's something I believe in strongly. That's why I wince when I read the start-up advice of so many "experts" who advocate feel-good busywork over selling.
Again, here's my advice for starting a business:
1. As soon as possible, get the product ready to test.
2. Test it as aggressively and creatively as you can. Spend 80 percent of your initial resources discovering the most cost-effective way to make the first sale (your Optimum Selling Strategy).
3. Refine and adjust your sales process as market conditions change. At the same time, gradually develop business procedures to service your customers and improve your products according to their buying preferences.
By Michael Masterson
https://web-purchases.com/LSL/ELSLL502/landing.html?o=96851&s=98526&u=42336630&l=111812&r=Milo
[Ed. Note: There's a TON of foolish business advice floating around the Internet and in bookstores. But you can get proven, time-tested recommendations for starting and growing a business (from someone who's built dozens of businesses himself) in Michael's New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Business Week bestseller Ready, Fire, Aim. And now it's available FREE. Get all the details here.]
read more blogs in http://www.esyideas.com/
Disclaimer...The comments, products and services are owned by the poster. We are not responsible for their contents.
Showing posts with label 10 ways to be inspired. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 10 ways to be inspired. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Monday, October 19, 2009
10 ways to empower your communication
"A Piece of Blarney Stone" 10 ways to empower your communication
The Blarney Stone is a historical stone, or actually part of the Blarney Castle in Ireland where it was believed that kissing the stone can grant you the gift of gab. Yeah, it seems strange in this day and age, but who are we to question tradition? It's not like I'm saying that Santa Claus doesn't exist (OOPS!).
There is so much to know about conversation that anyone, even I, could ever realize. You can go though watching talk shows; radio programs; clubs dedicated to public speaking; ordinary conversations; certain rules still apply when it comes to interaction through words. It may sound tedious, I know, but even though it's your mouth that's doing the work, your brain works twice as hard to churn out a lot of things you know. So what better way to start learning to be an effective communication is to know the very person closest to you: yourself.
1. What you know.
Education is all about learning the basics, but to be an effective speaker is to practice what you've learned. My stint as guest at every Toastmasters' meeting I go to taught me that we all have our limitations, but that doesn't mean we can't learn to keep up and share what we know.
2. Listening.
It's just as important as asking questions. Sometimes listening to the sound of our own voice can teach us to be a little bit confident with ourselves and to say the things we believe in with conviction.
3. Humility
We all make mistakes, and sometimes we tend to slur our words, stutter, and probably mispronounce certain words even though we know what it means, but rarely use it only to impress listeners. So in a group, don't be afraid to ask if you're saying the right word properly and if they're unsure about it then make a joke out of it. I promise you it'll make everyone laugh and you can get away with it as well.
4. Eye Contact
There's a lot to say when it comes to directing your attention to your audience with an eye-catching gaze. It's important that you keep your focus when talking to a large group in a meeting or a gathering, even though he or she may be gorgeous.
5. Kidding around
A little bit of humor can do wonders to lift the tension, or worse boredom when making your speech. That way, you'll get the attention of the majority of the crowd and they'll feel that you're just as approachable, and as human to those who listen.
6. Be like the rest of them
Interaction is all about mingling with other people. You'll get a lot of ideas, as well as knowing what people make them as they are.
7. Me, Myself, and I
Admit it, there are times you sing to yourself in the shower. I know I do! Listening to the sound of your own voice while you practice your speech in front of a mirror can help correct the stress areas of your pitch. And while you're at it you can spruce up as well.
8. With a smile
A smile says it all much like eye contact. There's no point on grimacing or frowning in a meeting or a gathering, unless it's a wake. You can better express what you're saying when you smile.
9. A Role Model
There must be at least one or two people in your life you have listened to when they're at a public gathering or maybe at church. Sure they read their lines, but taking a mental note of how they emphasize what they say can help you once you take center stage.
10. Preparation
Make the best out of preparation rather than just scribbling notes and often in a hurried panic. Some people like to write things down on index cards, while other resort to being a little more silly as they look at their notes written on the palm of their hand (not for clammy hands, please). Just be comfortable with what you know since you enjoy your work.
And that about wraps it up. These suggestions are rather amateurish in edgewise, but I've learned to empower myself when it comes to public or private speaking and it never hurts to be with people to listen how they make conversations and meetings far more enjoyable as well as educational.
http://www.esyideas.com/
Disclaimer...The comments, products and services are owned by the poster. We are not responsible for their contents.
The Blarney Stone is a historical stone, or actually part of the Blarney Castle in Ireland where it was believed that kissing the stone can grant you the gift of gab. Yeah, it seems strange in this day and age, but who are we to question tradition? It's not like I'm saying that Santa Claus doesn't exist (OOPS!).
There is so much to know about conversation that anyone, even I, could ever realize. You can go though watching talk shows; radio programs; clubs dedicated to public speaking; ordinary conversations; certain rules still apply when it comes to interaction through words. It may sound tedious, I know, but even though it's your mouth that's doing the work, your brain works twice as hard to churn out a lot of things you know. So what better way to start learning to be an effective communication is to know the very person closest to you: yourself.
1. What you know.
Education is all about learning the basics, but to be an effective speaker is to practice what you've learned. My stint as guest at every Toastmasters' meeting I go to taught me that we all have our limitations, but that doesn't mean we can't learn to keep up and share what we know.
2. Listening.
It's just as important as asking questions. Sometimes listening to the sound of our own voice can teach us to be a little bit confident with ourselves and to say the things we believe in with conviction.
3. Humility
We all make mistakes, and sometimes we tend to slur our words, stutter, and probably mispronounce certain words even though we know what it means, but rarely use it only to impress listeners. So in a group, don't be afraid to ask if you're saying the right word properly and if they're unsure about it then make a joke out of it. I promise you it'll make everyone laugh and you can get away with it as well.
4. Eye Contact
There's a lot to say when it comes to directing your attention to your audience with an eye-catching gaze. It's important that you keep your focus when talking to a large group in a meeting or a gathering, even though he or she may be gorgeous.
5. Kidding around
A little bit of humor can do wonders to lift the tension, or worse boredom when making your speech. That way, you'll get the attention of the majority of the crowd and they'll feel that you're just as approachable, and as human to those who listen.
6. Be like the rest of them
Interaction is all about mingling with other people. You'll get a lot of ideas, as well as knowing what people make them as they are.
7. Me, Myself, and I
Admit it, there are times you sing to yourself in the shower. I know I do! Listening to the sound of your own voice while you practice your speech in front of a mirror can help correct the stress areas of your pitch. And while you're at it you can spruce up as well.
8. With a smile
A smile says it all much like eye contact. There's no point on grimacing or frowning in a meeting or a gathering, unless it's a wake. You can better express what you're saying when you smile.
9. A Role Model
There must be at least one or two people in your life you have listened to when they're at a public gathering or maybe at church. Sure they read their lines, but taking a mental note of how they emphasize what they say can help you once you take center stage.
10. Preparation
Make the best out of preparation rather than just scribbling notes and often in a hurried panic. Some people like to write things down on index cards, while other resort to being a little more silly as they look at their notes written on the palm of their hand (not for clammy hands, please). Just be comfortable with what you know since you enjoy your work.
And that about wraps it up. These suggestions are rather amateurish in edgewise, but I've learned to empower myself when it comes to public or private speaking and it never hurts to be with people to listen how they make conversations and meetings far more enjoyable as well as educational.
http://www.esyideas.com/
Disclaimer...The comments, products and services are owned by the poster. We are not responsible for their contents.
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