Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!
The video above shows Australian Magician James Galea performing an unbelievable magic trick with a deck of cards. How does he do that?
‘Tis the season. Not for giving gifts or reflecting on peace on earth. This is the silly season where we have to opportunity to elect our next President of the United States. Every four years, our country engages in a ritual which will impact the course of our economy, our social policy, and our governmental priorities. More importantly, this quadrennial exercise will determine the content of our newspapers, blogs, TV newscasts, and radio editorials. Writers will fulminate, pundits will issue declarations, and talking heads will revel in the traditional aspects of the sport known as Presidential Politics.
What can entrepreneurs learn from politicians? Historically, the political industry has pioneered strategies for marketing, partnering, business development, social media use, and audience engagement. Brand-building is key to successful political campaigns as it is for businesses, and politicians build their own personal brands using tactics that all of us use everyday. In short, small businesses and startups can draw many valuable lessons from politics, politicians, and political campaigns. In previous posts i have written about how we can learn from kids, dogs, musicians, chefs, and athletes.
As we speak there are still four candidates actively competing for the Republican Party nomination for President, and while we find ourselves by turns, laughing at them, swearing back at them on television, or nodding in agreement with their ideas, we do have to admire them for their passion, their dedication, and their persistence as they each create a distinct brand and pursue their share of the elector market. So, let’s take a look at the politicians and see what they have to teach us!
1. Politicians compete. Politics is a cut-throat industry, rife with cheating, back-stabbing, and intrigue. Not that those are necessarily ‘bad’ things, right? While i do not espouse the use of dirty tricks or underhanded strategies to gain advantage in business, we do stand to learn from successful politicians and their ability to put themselves forward in the best possible light, while painting the most unflattering picture possible of their opponents. In politics at its best, this competition takes the form of a debate about ideas and convictions and, at its worst, it can get viciously personal and destructive. While rejecting the negative approach we see so often in politics, entrepreneurs can and should learn from those politicians who compete by emphasizing the values they represent, the superiority of their ideas, and the benefits that come with their service.
2. Politicians market actively. Politics requires constant and active marketing. During campaign season, this is obvious – just ask anyone in Florida about the recent inundation f television commercials, mailers, robo-calls, door hangers, yard signage, and wall-to-wall billboards. But between elections good politicians continue to energetically market their ideas, their legislative priorities, and their brands. This usually takes the form of public relations – news conferences, press releases, public appearances are leveraged to keep the person or the issue in the public eye and push the priorities and ideas of the politician into the public conscience. Entrepreneurs can draw clear connections to their own businesses, products, and services and can leverage many of the same techniques politicians use to increase awareness, build brand loyalty, and keep themselves top-of-mind with their own audience.
3. Politicians differentiate. One of the keys to a strong political campaign is the candidate’s ability to draw a strong distinction between herself and her opponent. Voters take a risk when electing a candidate – after all, we don’t really know what a candidate will do once they become an incumbent – so it is critical for a politician to show how they are different and to give voters a clear choice. Small business can take a similar approach in the marketplace: by communicating how our offering differs from the competition, our customer can better understand the choices they have and the benefits they can derive by choosing us over the competition.
4. Politicians build audiences. In social media one measure of results is the size of our audience: followers, likes, re-tweets are ways we determine our success. In politics audiences are not just important, they are critical in determining whether an incumbent keeps his job or whether his opponent takes it over. So, needless to say, a politicians ability to build a faithful audience can make or break a career and determine whether their ideas and programs prevail. Our ventures, too, thrive with the support of a loyal audience; ensuring customer satisfaction, creating great word of mouth, and building a fanatical fan base can allow our own businesses to prevail in the marketplace.
Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!
The image to the left is a fun look at what a movie poster for an Oscar-nominated film would be like if it literally wanted to communicate what the movie was about. More fun posters in the Other section below.
While economists (as usual) refuse to agree on the specifics, there is a general consensus that the recovery may (finally) be underway. Last week the Labor Department announced that in January over 240,000 new jobs were created and that the unemployment rate was at its lowest level in three years. In addition, tax revenues are increasing as is consumer spending, and exports have grown across many industries.
For small business this is great news. Not just because it means that other companies are hiring, but it means that other companies are spending. One of the most corrosive effects of the weak economy has been the impact on how, when, and where businesses have spent; small business in particular took a hit because of reduced spending. When customers choose to defer spending on services and goods which might not be 100% necessary to their business, many other businesses are impacted. And when companies can be confident enough to start spending again, the trickle effect can have a positive impact on many other companies, too.
Small businesses can and should plan for an improving economy, just as they have for a downturn. In a bad economy we plan and execute tactics to cut back on discretionary spending, reduce labor costs, postpone expansion, defer marketing efforts, reduce inventories, and minimize all extras and perks. In an improving economy, small business in particular can look for ways to leverage the upswing and to strategically benefit from some of the opportunities created when bad times start to get better. Here then are 5 thoughts on ways small business and startups can get a jump on the growth!
1. Look for new talent. In the last few years, layoffs have taken a toll – hundreds of thousands of workers are still on the search for that new job and the pool of available talent is probably the richest it has been in decades. Consider filling any positions you might have left vacant during the downturn, or even creating new ones to take advantage of an uptick. Many positions require training and many new employees can take months to get fully up to speed, so start planning ahead for the growth that may be in store.
2. Invest in equipment. Capital expenditures were among the most commonly deferred costs for many businesses over the past few years, and manufacturers felt the sting. But now factories are gearing up again, with job growth in the manufacturing sector among the strongest last month. Inventories are also on the increase and together these act as a leading indicator and a strong sign of recovery. While credit remains tight, interest rates are at a historical low and government incentives are available making investment in equipment, furniture, and fixtures an attractive proposition. (more…)
Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!
The video above is a new Super Bowl commercial from Honda, featuring Matthew Broderick and reminding us how much we loved Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
What Zappos Can Teach You About Becoming Irresistible to Customers – http://t.co/3UxbuL0b
Gamification: The buzzword that can ruin your apps and business – http://t.co/bdsJOO6q
Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!
The image above is a fun look at bottled water from Apple – if Apple made bottled water. That post, and other interesting posts are in the “Other” section below.
Crowdsourcing: a 7+7 Primer (tips for businesses on leveraging crowdsourcing) - http://bit.ly/wxqtb5
Starting a new biz with a friend? Good interview with @mike_samson about biz w/ friends – http://bit.ly/wBFfBv
Women Small Business Owners – America’s New job Creators [infographic] – http://t.co/74nUB76D
crowdSPRING’s Small Business Spotlight of the Week: Studyers -http://bit.ly/wy7Qty
crowdSPRING’s Small Business Spotlight of the Week: Twittapolls – http://t.co/aFHWJTmq
Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!
The video above contains 160 of the best one liners from Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. That post, and other interesting posts are in the “Other” section below.
Who among us doesn’t love a great meal? Whether we choose eat at home or in a restaurant, all of us appreciate and respect the work that goes into preparing and presenting our food. We love the humble diner which serves up a phenomenal burger and fries and marvel over the lavish cuisine served up at a 4-star establishment. The proprietors of these two distinctly different types of business have a great deal in common – with each other as well as with the community of entrepreneurs in general. They understand their market, work hard to satisfy their customers, and create a high-quality product and service to compete effectively against each other as well as the thousands and thousands of other restaurants at hand. This is the latest in a series of posts I have been working on that discusses how we can draw lessons for our own ventures from the world around us – specifically from unexpected quarters. Last year, I wrote about how much we can learn from kids, about what dogs and musicians can teach us, and how we can draw inspiration from athletes. Today the great chefs of the world get their turn; these artists are are often wonderful business people and genuinely entrepreneurial, but are admired for their unending creativity and dedication to their craft. Great chefs work everyday to achieve perfection, and we can each learn from their example and their pursuit of the consummate creme brûlée (or burgér, if that should be your personal preference).
1. Chefs live by their creativity. There are not many businesses that are completely dependent on a continuous flow of creativity. Entertainment, advertising, and fine art are among the few industries built completely on a creative output. Fine dining stands among these as an example of pure creativity as a service and a product and the best chefs live and die purely on their ability to create. The chef who loses this ability can no longer compete and can no longer serve their customers or their market.
2. Chefs develop skills over time. Like a great musician a chef develops their skills and technique over many years of practice and refinement. Cooking is not just an art form, but also a craft and the tools, methods, and skills can take years to master. Whether classically trained, or self-taught the great chefs have worked hard to develop their expertise and these abilities are what set them apart and make them unique.
3. Chefs perfect. We speak and write often about the importance of iteration and constant improvement and the best chefs are masters of this. Developing great recipes is a time consuming process and the analogy to developing our own products or services is apt: take the time to develop yours by a process of refinement and repetition until it is as delicious as can be.
4. Chefs listen to their customers. Can you think of another profession where your customer is more critical to the process? Seriously, if they don’t like your product they will leave. They won’t come back and they won’t send their friends to eat the food either. In other industries, the entrepreneur can survive if their product is OK, or even of they have a fail or two. If you are to compete in the world of the chef, you had better pay close attention to that customer and their happiness with your food or you will not have a customer left.
5. Chefs work in teams. Great food is often, though not always, a team endeavor and the skills if the team are crucial. Chefs compete for talent on their staffs just the way you compete for talent in your business. And, as with any team, chef’s teams are an aggregate of the necessary skills and abilities needed to get the job done: sous chefs, line cooks, prep cooks, wait staff, mixologists all contribute to the overall experience of the customer and each of these folks come with their own talents and abilities. (more…)
Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!
The image above is taken in Takotna, Alaska during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on March 9, 2011. The green in the sky is the aurora borealis. More phenomenal photos from 2011 are in the Other section below.
10 New Years Resolutions For Small Businesses and Startups – http://bit.ly/t7wmEP
We’re thrilled to be part of a new web/TV reality series – Trep Life – giving audiences a unique, 360-degree view of what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur.
Each episode focuses on one company or organization. The first episode featured our friends Matt Maloney and Mike Evans from Grub Hub – a terrific place to find every restaurant that will deliver to you. Subsequent episodes featured Lara Miller, a designer and Executive Director of the Chicago Fashion Incubator, serial entrepreneur Howard Tullman, Redbox Founder Mark Rechler, and James Miller and Samantha Ballenger of Network After Work. crowdSPRING was featured in episode six.
The latest episode features Eboo Patel, a social entrepreneur who founded Interfaith Youth Core in 2002, with a mission to make interfaith cooperation a social norm. Watch below:
crowdSPRING is the world's #1 marketplace for entrepreneurs, small businesses, nonprofits and agencies who need custom logo design, web design, a new company name or other writing and design services. Over 110,000 designers and writers work on crowdSPRING. We are trusted by more than 27,000 happy clients around the world.
While economists (as usual) refuse to agree on the specifics, there is a general consensus that the recovery may (finally) be underway. Last week the Labor Department announced that in January over 240,000 new jobs were created and that the unemployment rate was at its lowest level in three years. In addition, tax revenues are increasing as is consumer spending, and exports have grown across many industries.
Who among us doesn’t love a great meal? Whether we choose eat at home or in a restaurant, all of us appreciate and respect the work that goes into preparing and presenting our food. We love the humble diner which serves up a phenomenal burger and fries and marvel over the lavish cuisine served up at a 4-star establishment. The proprietors of these two distinctly different types of business have a great deal in common – with each other as well as with the community of entrepreneurs in general. They understand their market, work hard to satisfy their customers, and create a high-quality product and service to compete effectively against each other as well as the thousands and thousands of other restaurants at hand. This is the latest in a series of posts I have been working on that discusses how we can draw lessons for our own ventures from the world around us – specifically from unexpected quarters. Last year, I wrote about how much we can 
