Customer Service is King

I am reading a technical magazine to get some ideas for blogging. That is where I came across a picture of a guy in an airport talking on his cell phone. It was an advertisement for a wireless phone company. And the ad was working.

Here are some quotes from the ad copy. "Increase billable hours. Respond to clients quickly. Access data. Connect with clients. Get more 3G coverage". I don't know about you. But just by reading this, I am sold.

Now I am not going to link to this wireless phone company. Do you know why? Their sorry customer service and shady billing practices have made me dislike them. I am looking to replace them with another carrier. Isn't that a shame? They won my attention with great marketing. However poor prior service ruined the sale. For shame.

Advertising Business

This post is about a company named Demand Media. They are paying film makers around $200 a day to record short clips on topics the company likes. There are a bunch of weird subjects. This company, in turn, is the number 1 supplier of YouTube videos. And they are all original.

The business is not a small one. Demand Media is on track to making $200M in revenue this year. Their company is valued at $1B. The work they give out is steady. These guys normally do not cover the news. They focus more on timeless information.

Demand Media is not just into videos. They also pay for writers. The going rate is around fifteen bucks for an article of a couple hundred words. The payments are made via PayPal.

The company uses freelancers for its work. Google is their partner. Online content is general is not worth a lot of money. However this is one company that is cleaning up with advertising. I am in the wrong business.

Delivering a Good Message

This time I wrap up discussing the wisdom I gained by reading The 100 Best Business Books of All Time. My topic today is that of effective messages. In other words, how to you give a good speech?

You presentation must be simple. It is difficult to deliver complex ideas in a speech. Remember to KISS. However the information you present must be concrete. Don't have a lot of intangible theory in there.

It helps if you through in a few unexpected items. This will help keep the audience engaged and guessing. Another technique to keep interest high is to be emotional.

You need to be able to come across as credible. There is so much information out there from many sources. People do not trust what they hear in general. Finally, the best speeches tell a great story. Do so, and you will be on the road to success.

Source of Ideas

How do you get good ideas for your own business? You can brainstorm. Figure on spending an hour to generate upwards of 100 ideas. I have heard two sides to the best ideas. One camp says that daydreaming produces the best ideas. Another states that meeting customers with problems is king.

If you think your idea is unique, it probably is not. Therefore you need an idea that is totally unheard of if you are basing your success on something new. Remember this. Don't be afraid. You should also avoid being practical or following the rules.

What you should do to think outside the box is to be playful, ambiguous, and foolish with your initial ideas. Forget about getting an MBA. Get a Master of Fine Arts instead. They say this is the new cool thing.

Next time I will wrap up the knowledge I have received from The 100 Best Business Books of All Time. I will cover how to get a great message across to your audience.

Shorter is Better

You often need to pitch an idea or business quickly. The best presentation has 10 slides and lasts just 20 minutes. Any other numbers or durations are non-optimal. You should be able to cut to the core concept in 7 words or less.

There are over 1 million start up companies in the USA. This is amazing given the fact that there are only a few hundred million citizens total.

How can you succeed at business? Be a customer. This may sound funny, but you cannot learn business from a book. There is no easy formula to come up with a good idea for a business. However you should go do something. Prototyping is a great method to figure out success or failure quickly.

Next time I will go over some other neat idea generators.

On Employees

What can business books teach us about coaching employees? First you need to realize that research shows great managers help employees be more of themselves. In other words you should build on your strengths instead of trying to patch up your weaknesses.

Other tips include letting teams develop on their own. This has historically worked for HP. It is also the method used to excel at Google. Empower employees to make decisions. Then get out of the way.

I will cover all kinds of topics next time like presentations, customers, and brainstorming.

Legend of Deming

I am sure most people have heard about Deming. He had ideas on how to improve quality. When he went to Japan, they listened to him intently. Toyota used his methods to eliminate waste and become the number 1 automotive company in America. Dang.

Here is a question to ask yourself. Do you have a best friend at work? I know I do. Now this may not have any bearing on my success in business. But at least I have somebody to talk to and go to lunch with. Some business books say that will actually have a positive affect on me.

Next time I am going to go over some advice to empower employees to do their best. Tune in.