Creative Marketing

Education from the Blogosphere

Some words found in the social media space lately... time to re-educate your-CEO-self!

Socialprise: social tools + enterprise; one of the biggest shifts in business today.

TLO (Twitter Liberation Organization): concept proposed by Techcrunch and others suggesting that Twitter is "too important" and must be open-sourced so that the platform won't crash when usage spikes.

Distributed Polling: we are better at solving problems collectively. Fred Wilson posted a poll on YHOO stock price which was picked up and published on a number of leading blogs.

ReadBurner: the socializing of Google Reader so that friends can see what you've saved.

TwitPitch: Stowe Boyd, suggests a new way of "pitching"... limited to 140 characters. Now THAT'S the future with no time wasted.

This last word, TwitPitch, is my favorite! 140 characters forces you to distill your business concept down to image words/ phrases that nail exactly what you're doing and where you're heading... Fantastic!!

Checklist for Selecting an Outsourced Marketing Consulting Firm

- Can the firm's capabilities deliver on your actual expectation?
- Do you like and trust them?
- What is their turnover like?
- Have former clients ever sued them?
- How long have they been in business?
- Do they have established outside vendor relationships?
- Does a big customer dominate them? What happens if that client goes away?
- Do you understand how the firm makes money?
- Have you examined the systems that the firm has in place?
- Is it understood what other services you might need in the future or not this firm can provide those services?

Obviously, this is not a comprehensive or nearly complete list. However, one ingredient that often is overlooked in finding the right marketing consulting firm is corporate culture. Understanding the tremendous impact corporate culture has on the success or failure of outsourcing can help facility executives avoid the pitfalls associated with a bad arrangement.

We're really not that far removed from the sandbox of childhood... you play with those you like and who you mesh with. Like my grandmother used to say, "There's a sock for every ole' shoe."

Time + Practice = Expertise

From http://headrush.typepad.com/about.html

Most of us want to practice the things we're already good at, and avoid the things we suck at. We stay average or intermediate amateurs forever. Jump in to new waters... what are you waiting for?

Dangerous Games Startups Play

taken from "Leveraging Ideas", Feedblitz:

Do entrepreneurs now live in a new age where the lowered costs for development and marketing (theoretically) mean that a company can be launched without having to take traditional venture capital financing?!? Let's discuss...

For entrepreneurs this idea seems great because they can keep more of the company, rather than needing to sacrifice a big hunk of equity in exchange for a million bucks. However, this also means that many startups have begun to play dangerous games. In particular, many a young startup is seeking an angel(s) to provide a seed round, more akin to a bridge loan, that will see them to a Series A. The idea being that during a Series A, the valuation with have doubled or tripled and the amount of equity that will be given up will be at a considerably better valuation than if the same amount of money had been taken during at the seed round.

However, please consider a few things:
1. The Economy. This ability for startups to acquire a bridge loan getting them to a Series A is most effective during a strong economy. If you only raise $300,000 and the economy caters you’re in double trouble. You’re stuck with a minimal amount of money and the prospect of a) a tougher/longer lag time needed to close the next round and b) face prospect of having to accept a lower than expected valuation.

2. Competitive Landscape. A startup hoping to get ‘just enough’ money to bridge them to a Series A also runs the risk that the competitive landscape might change during that time. I’ve been told that the minimum amount of time need to close a Series A is 120 days. Three months. More likely thought it will take a company six months. If during that time a better funded, or higher profile competitor launches a similar product, what will that mean for the Series A? It means it’s going to take a lot longer, which means more money will be needed.

3. Whacky Valuation Principle. Although it is a dangerous game for the reasons suggested above (due to the economy and competitive landscape threats) risk-taking startups do stand to benefit from the "whacky valuation principle" (I’m making this term up). Whacky valuation principle is the idea that raising a small amount of money, or taking a small amount of money from ‘smart money’ will double or triple a startup’s valuation for really no good reason. Yes, raising even a small amount of capital is business model justification, but really it changes nothing intrinsically. Bottom line, why raise $1M on a valuation of $2M when by raising $250,000 your valuation is likely to jump to $5M overnight?

4. Level of Involvement. If a VC does decide to do the type of deal mentioned above, it’s important that entrepreneurs understand that the VC’s involvement will be limited. A VC can’t afford to spend time with a company that it has so little invested in. This is a good reason why taking money from an Angel (who might only have a couple of investments and to whom $300k likely means a lot more since it’s personal money) might in fact be better than a VC. In theory having the VC be hands-off is good, but in reality, the more time they spend with (or at least thinking of you), the better.

5. Credibility/Distribution. On the plus side for VC firms, getting in with the right high-profile company can be instant credibility in the eyes of the PR and Blogger Illuminati. How do you find them? Try TheFunded for starters. Such credibility goes a long way since possible the biggest concern for any new startup is in fact not funding, but distribution.

Conclusion: In my opinion, the best situation for a startup right now is to find at least one well-known angel and supplement him/her with either a convertible note loan, or money from dumb angels. Having at least one smart money person is key to making introductions and for the person’s experience hopefully in the space. Yes, dumb money supplemented by having a smart advisory board, but it’s not the same. You want your most influential supporters hugely incentivized to help you succeed. Also based on the concerns of folks I’ve talked to in the Valley and here in New York, looking for a minimum of $500k bridge money seems like the safe bet in these ominous economic times.

Abdicating

I'm currently dealing with a prospect who wants to hire me. Problem is... (are you ready for this?) she has no clue where her startup stands financially. She is a 51% owner and has a 49% investor (she refers to him as a Partner). At the same time, she has no idea how much money has been spent so far and if she needs to invest in anything, she has to go to this guy with her hand out to get anything done.

Enormous CEO mistake: ABDICATING
When CEOs aren't adept at delegating to the proper people with the proper boundaries of responsibilities, or if they don't have the knowledge to communicate about those issues, they tend to abdicate. Abdication is washing your hands of the situation because you don't know how (or want) to deal with the subject. It's the "I've had it up to here; you do it" reaction. Abdication has no follow-up component and no feedback component.

Then, when the abdication fails, CEOs either fall into the trap of "They can't help. I have to do everything myself." or the quicksand of "I need to throw more money at this problem and hopefully save my business." Now, you're either stuck doing all the lower-level work that will never drive the business forward or you're out of business. Either case is a disaster that could have been avoided.

You must break free of your mental traps such as: "I don't want to know about the financial (technology / legal / sales /etc.) stuff." "It's too difficult." or "The work will not be as good." This is head trash. These are YOUR issues. Know your business, and start by knowing yourself and what your weaknesses are. Hire those with those skills as strengths and watch your business soar.

Randomness vs. Perfectionism

PERFECTIONISM:
When you start a business, you want everything to be perfect. Perfect offices. Perfect people. Perfect processes. Perfect services.

As it turns out, having that perfectionist attitude only leads to one thing: procrastination. When you're trying to perfect everything, your mind stalls you from doing anything of substance. It's as if you're waiting for your "perfect time" to do your "perfect thing." This = bad.

Perfectionism is impossible to attain... and a waste of time to try. Instead, it's a guiding star for any CEO/entrepreneur to try to attain, but again, remember "ready, fire, aim" from two days ago. See faults and flaws as good things. They help you start things quicker knowing you'll be okay if/when you hit bumps along the road. Those bumps help you steer toward the right direction; they are your best guideposts.

RANDOMNESS:
Some of the most productive business minds rely on a periodic self-administered dose of randomness to stay stimulated. Stimulation is not only necessary when developing new ideas, but is also critical when refining solutions to a particular problem. Every brain benefits from new angles that often escape your traditional point of view.

Consider a few strategies for building randomness into everyday work and life:
1. Take advantage of mistakes. When you do make an error, allow yourself to briefly continue down the same path. If only for an alternative perspective (which is sometimes difficult to get), use every mistake as a lens to see things differently.

2. Travel without a map. When we venture beyond our comfort zone, we often over-compensate with extensive planning, maps, and itineraries. Instead, consider traveling somewhere without plans. Many prolific entrepreneurs cite that getting lost as the best way to find new solutions.

3. Explore projects in unfamiliar creative fields. I love the Behance Network. It purposely features a cross-section of work from different fields. The featured gallery always includes an eclectic set of striking projects from different industries and organizations. And if you’re brave, you can take a daily stroll through the most recent gallery that contains unfiltered brand new projects published by creatives around the world. Other sites that offer great random stimulation include NOTCOT and the great websites featured daily on designer site QBN.

So, what does the picture above have to do with this post? Looking at every day objects in a different way. Finding the creative and possible new angle in the ordinary. Realizing the nicks in the rocks, the flaws in the cork, the kookiness of the monkey (I want to pinch his butt). Embracing imperfection is a vital ingredient to your success.
(Some excerpts taken from Scott Belsky, Behance Team)