Category Archives: Marketing
Building for the future
This past week-end I had the honor of being invited to what I believed was going to be a decent yet regular gathering of professionals. I’ve learned not to set my expectations high in situations beyond my immediate control thus I was expecting a relaxing week-end with a few fellow like-minded people.
I’m glad that I did so because my expectations were exceeded sky-high. What a lovely group of people, most of them all under thirty and already key professionals in some heavy corporations! Not to mention fun & open minded. Twenty-six amazing ladies and gentlemen that managed to change my entire perception regarding the industry they are working in and the environment they are coming from; changed it in a [...]
Stick to the basics
It’s not uncommon to find me passionately getting into startup-related discussions, even with people I know little about. Since I’ve mentioned I’ll be doing a few startup showcases though I’ve been pitched three times. (and I’ll shortly be on my way for a fourth one in a couple of minutes)
What I noticed that most people forget is that a startup or a project needs to be kept simple and really stick to the basics and really answer the following questions (if you know them and you have a correct answer, you’re clearly on the right track) :
Does it solve a problem? (if it’s not you really should be stopping here and move on to the next idea)
Does it do something better [...]
Private Morality
All my posts are inspired by daily events and by events happening in the lives of those close to me. I take my inspiration from making connections that some might not immediately see and sometimes I put a story coating on it.
I was reading Brian Solis’ latest post and his first quote by Gabriel García Márquez, “Everyone has three lives: a public life, a private life, and a secret life.” reminded me that I’ve been advocating that this should no longer be true. It’s no longer possible to live a secret life. It raises quite a few issues and creates a nasty gap in how you market yourself and how people see you.
Why have I’ve been advocating this: It raises [...]
Man up & deliver
I’ve had so much success supporting my arguments with the following presentation in the past months that I need to share it, hoping that it will motivate you enough to get past your own silly excuses. In a nutshell: you’re not at all special unless you take a stand, make a promise and deliver on it. Enjoy
If you can see this, then you might need a Flash Player upgrade or you need to install Flash Player if it’s missing. Get Flash Player from Adobe.
Dealing with disappointment
Or better yet, dealing with unsatisfied expectations.
We’ve all witnessed the unveiling of the almighty iPad, the joy of Steve Jobs and the aftershock of disappointment. We all expected the iPad to be a gamechanger, the next iPod, a heavenly mana. But it’s not for me and judging by the social media reactions, it’s not for quite a lot of people. It’s utter disappointment and many of you will not get over it, even after the hype will die out.
But you should. I’m disappointed by the form factor – I never imagined a more ugly looking Apple product. I’m still going to switch to a MacBook Pro, but you wouldn’t catch me dead with an iPad. I find it useless and certainly not worth [...]
Are you a Linchpin?
If not, you should become one.
Ever since Seth Godin mentioned his new book I became quite curious. Not so much because of the Apple-style hype (Seth says that this is his best work – I hope for more in the near future) but because it tries to smash the barriers of your conditioning, eliminate unhealthy fear and ultimately turn you into a linchpin – a remarkable and indispensable person.
I’ve been advocating this for a while and for a plethora of remarkable people I know this book will come in handy; it will change the way they think about fear and doing the thing they think they love.
If you’ve watched Seth’s presentation at 99% you need to read his guest post at Escape [...]
Newsflash: There’s no such thing as luck
How many times have your heard someone saying I make my own luck and thought to yourself that’s a big bull? How many times did you wish for it to be true? And how often did you try to make your own luck, without even knowing what that means?
Well, let me get this out of your way really fast, so we can concentrate on what’s really important afterwards: There is no luck. There is no chance. There’s no such thing as coincidence. If you believe in luck you should stop reading right here.
Still with me? Good. Now, if there’s no such thing as luck, is there something else that could explain all the good (and bad) things that happen in [...]
The power of Reaction
It’s been almost two weeks since I’ve seen a genuinely happy person. Everyone around me seems so down and disappointed that it almost makes me physically ill. They all lack motivation, interest and sheer will power do get a thing done, even though the desire is still there. And even more worrying is the fact that these people get together.
Bad idea.
It’s quite a common fact that you’re unwillingly influencing the people around you, either in a good or a bad way. And when two disappointed people get together in an unsuspecting crowd it’s almost certain it will create havoc: all folks around you will act down, tired and bored and you’ll end your evening with a bitter taste in your mouth, hoping for [...]
How I Tweet
Without any doubt you will agree that Twitter has become an indispensable communication tool. Some even dare call it the next email. I’ve created my account almost two years ago but only actually started using it as a proper communication tool in early 2009 and I’ve never looked back ever since.
Twitter is at this point on the rise of fast becoming the real-time, main-stream communication tool of choice. It’s quite an understatement that if you’re not on Twitter, you don’t exist.
At some point I was actively following over 500 people and the stream was fast becoming a torrent of noise. For a while I was even auto-following everyone that followed me, out of common courtesy. Guy Kawasaki is still doing [...]
From audience to tribe and the community
I originally started the post with the title “The purpose of a listening audience” but I want to take it up a notch and explore how one’s reach grows and develops over time and space, starting of course with the potential audience. Shortly after entering the social media sphere, companies, individuals and brands alike started praising the concept of community.
Everyone wants to get that community, but only a few actually follow the correct steps to get there. There are some that even try to grab a community, which is particularly unhealthy.
Usually the phrase If you build it, they will come is particularly true. Or it was at least until this year. It’s insanely hard to come up with something [...]