How To Monetize Brilliant Ideas

Of course you have brilliant ideas. But to monetize them you need a responsive team of expert advisors, and a doable process that allows you to tap into their expertise.

This isn’t new. Almost a century ago, the sainted Napoleon Hill told businesses to create a kind of Mastermind group.

Business incubation companies usually help established companies. Sole proprietors and startups often rely on Mastermind support groups, or agencies like SCORE.

You know a little about business incubators and how well they work. Wikipedia says:

“Business incubators are programs designed to accelerate the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services, developed and orchestrated by incubator management and offered both in the incubator and through its network of contacts. Incubators vary in the way they deliver their services, in their organizational structure, and in the types of clients they serve. Successful completion of a business incubation program increases the likelihood that a start-up company will stay in business for the long term.

“Historically, 87% of incubator graduates stay in business.”

Wow, 87%? That’s about the same as the depressing percentage of new businesses that close within their first few years. Incubators clearly help, and could do even better if the business had a home grown Mastermind group, and was ready to fully tap into its skills and talents.

You could hire an incubator company, or invest time and effort into working with SCORE and SBDCs. But most of their experience is in industrial age business. Even if that approach still worked in the internet age, you’re probably not ready to follow their suggestions without educating yourself first.

Every day you spend hours online educating yourself. It’s quick and easy because so much information is modularized and partially filtered by super-widgets like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or StumbleUpon.

Why don’t more businesses create greater value from all that information? Why can’t they organize and tap into this unlimited pool of expertise? Simply because they lack the right implementation strategy and plan; a customized “Social Media Business Incubation for Dummies” process.

One simple, disruptive-technology process helps transform raw ideas–yours or others’–into productive, sustainable action. Why not start “incubating” your own business this week?

First, create a clear vision of what makes your business unique. Not what you do, but why you do it so well. You’ll stay focused, and easily screen out unhelpful bits of information and false prophets. Next, build authentic, long-term engagement with your stakeholders, tapping into all their wisdom and experience. Finally, plan and execute world-class communications that will really build your business.

The tools you need for viral success are already familiar to anyone who uses social media. Begin your new business incubation program and thrive.

The Internet as “Experiential Marketplace”

Image via Wikipedia

(Dedicated to my friends at Jobs Ministry Southwest)
It makes the news when an 89-year-old man straps himself onto the top of a plane for his 20th wing-walking jaunt over the English Channel (http://bit.ly/7IQpwR). He’s one example of the growing experiential marketplace.

It’s not as newsworthy when a laid-off executive sees his or her job status as “just another stage of exploration” and actively begins “tossing aside presumed limitations” by creating or enriching opportunities on the internet. But these men and women achieve much more in the long run than aging thrill seekers.

Their families, industry and community all benefit every day from their vision and bravery.

It takes guts to put aside years of identifying yourself with a title or job description, and adopt entirely new modes of communication. It’s scary to join in the hunt for online success alongside much younger people. First you have to unlearn many outmoded “secrets of success” that you learned over your long, often illustrious career.

You have to see yourself as a leader rather than one more cog in some corporate machine.

You do whatever it takes to stand out, because you’re determined not to fade out.

God bless all those old-timers who challenge their physical limitations to try something completely different. But let’s also honor those who reinvent themselves and transform society into a new and better experiential marketplace.  These pros are charting a more elusive and uncertain territory, and helping improve the life experiences of millions of us uppity “younger folks.”

Build a Corporate Culture The Social Media Way: Orchestrate It

In a great follow-up to my last article about institutionalizing corporate culture, business owner Frank Hurtte asked,

“When I founded the company, I had a vision of what we would be. I have shared this vision with our staff. Can you toss in a few suggestions to move it from vision to culture?”

To answer this pivotal question about marketing a vision to their “inside customers”–their employees–so it becomes a great culture, let’s take a quick look at how businesses market to their “outside customers” in the social age.

(Keep in mind that the days of manipulating people to give you business are dead and buried. You can no longer “sell” to the quality people you’d want as long-term customers. Build a community around all of your customers, so buying your product or service helps them improve their lifestyle or prospects every time)

The best businesses no longer try to find customers for their products or services–including new services such as monetized blogs. No more “push” or “pull” marketing. They develop products or services that meet the needs of authentically engaged customers. These customers become members of a dynamic yet always demanding “tribe” they will keep supporting, as long as the vendor or service provider offers enough real or perceived value.

It works the same in business. Think of your staff or employees as musicians in a symphony orchestra. They need to be accomplished musicians to get their jobs, and be willing to participate in a new culture that’s unique to that orchestra.

The conductor’s primary role is not to “push” or “pull” them into following his lead. The best conductors genuinely appreciate the sometimes hidden talents and passions of each orchestra member, and creates a culture in which musicians will constantly interact and learn. If the conductor is a Leonard Bernstein, he creates a culture for his orchestra in which their willingness to grow and help each other grow is constantly being recognized. The orchestra’s success is built on preparation and teamwork, so each public performance becomes a celebration rather than an act of closure.

If the orchestra’s culture has been nurtured one member/musician at a time, each of them spends as much time supporting his or her fellow musicians as they do following the conductor. That frees the conductor to focus on the vision of each musical piece. They can lead the “celebration” that happens before a live audience or in a recording studio.

Now let’s get back to Frank’s question, and clearly differentiate modern business cultures from the industrial-age culture building that we saw in Wal-Mart’s cheer circle. Your vision of the company is comparable to what a conductor sees in the symphonic score, Frank. Find an effective way to build a culture in your company and attract the most skilled new employee/customers; just as a great orchestra can get its pick of the best musicians.

Make the process of growing and nurturing your unique culture a requirement and reward of working for you. Then you can stop trying to find employees who accept your processes and operational requirements. As CEO your job-one will become meeting the needs of your authentically engaged employees and staff members. Given the chance to be recognized for the right reasons, helping their fellow employee members will become as natural to them as helping fellow musicians is to members of the New York Philharmonic.

There’s one major difference between modern companies and a fine orchestra: unlike first-tier professional musicians, many employees won’t already be adequately trained professionals. But if you apply the right tools such as the four-step Marketing Mantra process, you can quickly help them acquire the skills they need as they bond in a new community, and become fully and productively engaged in your now shared vision.

The Incredible Lightness of Being Responsible

Here’s a foolproof way to simplify your life and achieve more of your goals:

Accept responsibility as often as possible, even when you don’t have to. Here are ten reasons why.

1) You’ll stop worrying about who’s going to take care of a task. It’s always you. Affirm your ability to solve problems and complete tasks, and build self-confidence.

“Yeah, I can handle that; bring it on.”

2) Think about how much time and energy you’ve wasted trying to avoid or reassign responsibility. Waste no more.

“I’ll take responsibility for that. Now let’s get something accomplished together.”

3) You’ll become memorably unique.

“Oh you heard about that? Yeah, that’s me all over. I’m the person who actually enjoys being responsible.”

4) It’s the ultimate “paying it forward” opportunity. Everyone will be more attracted to you, and feel special–you value what they’re doing so much, you want to help them in a meaningful way. And they’ll feel grateful because you’ve relieved them of a burden.

“You’re a special person, with too much on your plate. Let me take responsibility so you can focus on more important stuff.”

5) It will help you bond with people you should work with, versus those who’ll try to take advantage of you.

“Bob, I notice you’re always trying to pass the buck. That isn’t my style. It’s been nice.”

6) And when you do fail (we all do)? You’ll have built up so much good will and recognition, nobody will be too critical. All those people who you’ve trained to become more responsible will be there to cover your back.

“Thanks Jane. I guess I couldn’t handle it by myself after all. Good thing I have friends like you!”

7) One thing we can all use more of is self-discipline and clarity (see #9).

“You all know me as the go-to person who takes care of business. Please help me get my facts straight, and tap into everyone’s expertise and resources!”

8) In the social media age, a leader is the man or woman who brings the most value to the table. Starting today you’ll quickly be identified as a leader, without really trying.

“Let’s tackle that issue together. I’ll take responsibility and you take the credit. How does that sound?”

9) One of my role models is the original fitness guru, Jack LaLanne (born in 1914). Everybody dismissed him as a kook fifty years ago, when he first jumped around doing exercises in Spandex on black-and-white TV. Now he looks a little silly, getting excited about juicers in cheesy infomercials. But he has spent decades making our jaws drop with incredible physical achievements and promoting self-discipline: “I do [exercise] as something to keep me alive. We all need a little discipline. Exercise is my discipline.” Why not make responsibility your discipline?

10) Enjoy the rest of your life more, because you’re so productive now.

“I got a lot done today, Lizzie. Let’s go outside and throw your Frisbee around for a while.”

What’s a Marketing Mantra, anyway?

The Marketing Mantra is a simple and flexible brainstorming tool. It helps an individual build self awareness, an organization build teamwork, and a business build an inclusive culture of employees and customers. This original business solution is specifically designed to help a business or individual succeed in the 21st century. It is driven by core value statements and shared education, just like a social media site. It isn’t about what an individual or team does, but why they do it so well.

The internet has changed our social fabric. In many ways it replicates the classic community, but at a much faster pace. Everyone spends almost every non-working hour educating themselves. They do this in a very customized environment, built around his or her specific needs. And they expect the same in the workplace, marketplace and every business transaction too.

No one must accept manipulation today. Prospects, customers and stakeholders grow more skeptical of, and impatient with, their vendors and service providers. They expect to feel special or rewarded after every task or transaction. They want to feel ownership and authentic engagement every time they interact with you. This makes them feel like future leaders, and ready to help those around them to bond and communicate more effectively for greater productivity.

By communicating uniqueness, you share a promise of real value to others. That makes you more appealing to work with and credible.

All you need is this four-step process. It is simple, repeatable and largely self-managed by participants. Once your team identifies its Mantra, it can function with as much focus as an orchestra, and with you as the “conductor.” You make sure everyone is on the same sheet of music at the same time, and committed to the common goal. The diverse “orchestra” members can then take advantage of each other’s unique strengths and values.

A unique Marketing Mantra prepares any individual or business owner to answer questions such as:

What makes me unique, and uniquely valuable? How can I convince strangers to do business with me within ten seconds of meeting them? How do I identify the best potential followers or business community members? What’s the difference between a Marketing Mantra and a tagline? How can I quickly size up the potential benefits of teaming up with a person or business? How can I create business messages and content that are consistent, clear, concise and compelling? What’s the key to becoming the leader of a group of savvy internet users?

Nobody has the time or interest to dig beneath your job title or list of achievements; they want to connect with you right away. The more clearly you can communicate your unique combination of values, insights and intent or purpose, the more you can authentically engage with others and work with them. Get connected. Get your Marketing Mantra.

Say it. Now!

Image by albyper via Flickr

The good news is that people are listening to what you have to say.

The bad news: they are very impatient and value driven.

Search engines are seeking ways to monetize real time search. That means search result pages will include individual Tweets and other micromessages.

The first thing a stranger knows about you may be the 140 characters you just posted. But it will only appear on the results page if that post is rich with relevance, proof, value.

Connect with millions of new people. Begin writing micromessages that show you’re unique and authentic–and have no intention of wasting their time.

Of course each must also be extremely clear, concise and compelling.

Start building your core message, your Mantra, today. And learn how to communicate it, one iPhone screen at a time.

Crowds Haven’t Changed, Really…

Cover of Crowds and Power

In the early 1960s, as I was heading into teenage confusion, my mother told my twin brother and me about a new book, Elias Canetti‘s Crowds and Power–advertised at the time as “the thinking man’s guide to reality.”

I have to smile, remembering that fifty years ago Canetti noted that a crowd “wants to grow,” is based on “equality,” “loves density” and “needs a direction.”  His book should be required reading for every marketer.

Only trouble is that nobody reads any more; we scan.

Your Brand is Worthless Now But . . .

Everyone has a brand, including you. And a brand can change the world.

Less than 12 years ago, the Google brand was worth nothing. 

And Google’s search engine model wasn’t even original. Two grad students got it from Amazon.com.

Nobody thinks they have the time or creativity to think up a great brand–so most of us just try to get by without it.

We recycle some quotes, or another business’s tired old tagline.

And we get out of our brand exactly what we’ve put into it of ourselves: zilch

 

The irony is that you have a lot to communicate that people want to hear–who you are, what you know, and what you know about the people you know. Those intangible qualities are what will make your brand truly magnetic. The hard part?

 

Communicating them in sophisticated messages that are clear, concise and compelling. 

 

Messages that tell the world why you’re unique; who you are, what you know, and what you know about the people you know. 

A brand isn’t a product, like a logo. It’s a microcosm that captures you. And since you’re so valuable, it’s worth a lot to you.

For example, it will power new marketing content that’ll make you more successful because it’s so rich in relevance, proof and value.

And it will grow into a multimedia platform that can support your new business community.

Any questions?

Your Brand Isn’t About What You Do!

Image via Wikipedia

Almost every online branding “expert” repeats the same mistake as those who just started thinking about their personal or corporate brand.

We’re encouraged by so-called experts to try and squeeze a compelling personal brand out of a dry, impersonal and derivative description of our job description. It’s like  trying to get apple juice out of a potato.

Think about it for a minute. The advantage of a brand is that it sets yourself apart from the crowd. You want to show that you’re unique and memorable. A successful employee, on the other hand, does similar routine work as his or her co-workers (and if an individual truly “stands out” in their workplace? They get fired for being a loose cannon).

Operational skill and experience doesn’t define your brand. They kill it! To brand yourself,  leap clear of that rutted old career path. Embrace your intangibles–your enthusiasm or other attitude; your inclusiveness or other approach; and your intent or goals. Those fertile thoughts are where a real brand is born.

So to get a powerful brand . . . get started daydreaming.

Positive Thinking Is Still Just Thinking

Chances are you’ve tried to use the best “self-help” resources out there to help your business grow. Just this morning, I joined a few dozen people to listen to a very engaging and well-known professional expert explain his selling techniques.

The audience applauded and nodded the whole time; the question is, what did they go out and do after giving up a whole morning to get educated on sales and personal branding? Chances are, little to nothing.

You can listen all morning every day to motivating presentations, and the afternoons reading books. But if listening and reading is all you do, all of it is frankly a waste of time.

One problem with acquiring a lot of information is that it’s just a lot of information; it’s not easy to get a handle on it, which in turn means it isn’t likely to cause even a ripple in your lifestyle or business strategy.

A marketing mantra, being simple (if not always easy), is much easier to maintain a positive focus on and internalize. The jury’s out on “positive thinking;” it may or may not be productive. There’s no question, however, that it is by definition a thinking activity. And thinking isn’t your goal; positive action is.

You’ll still have to translate a Marketing Mantra into action; but because it’s short on verbiage, it lends itself to translation more readily than a Value Proposition or similar professional motivators’ pet topics.

So get a Marketing Mantra and get moving!