Saturated Market: Strategy Archives

Strategy Archives

March 28, 2007

Can you talk the talk? Part 1

Strategy As I mentioned in an earlier post, two of the most important skills you can have are speaking and writing. That time I touched on writing (and will again in the future, I wager), so I figure it's speaking's turn. There are three general components of speaking that most people will have to face several times in their lives: Presenting, Listening and Conversing. Send, receive, feedback. I'm going to tackle each of these separately, because nobody wants to read a blog post that requires them to replace the scroll wheel on their mouse.

Apparently, it's the most pervasive fear, worse to some people than death. Public speaking. In front of a group of 100, 10, or even 2, many people just freeze up. And that's okay. Most people can't stand presentations, and even those that love them still get nervous. But the fact remains, you're probably going to have to get over it. And it's better to be ready, because try as you might to do it on your terms (or avoid it altogether), there may come a time when you're put on the spot because the shareholders want to know about your project, or you have to present your experiment at the science fair, or it's time to meet the parents. You're going to have to be ready. So, for your benefit, I present to you some of the skills you're going to need if you want to pull off a great presentation.

Remove the barriers

You see that podium? Step away from it. A podium says you want to be separated from your audience, which means you either see yourself as above them, or you're terrified of them. And you might bring back bad memories of boring college lectures. And if that weren't bad enough, you're likely to be standing stone still behind it for the entirety of your speech. And that's terribly boring. Get rid of the podium, and create a connection between you and your audience. If they see you, they feel closer to you. And you won't give off the impression that you're hiding. This is the first component of giving off an air of confidence, which is what you really need if you want to drive your point home in a convincing manner.

Know your material

This sounds absolutely obvious, and ridiculous to mention. But it's so often overlooked on either side of the spectrum. If you're completely unprepared, you will trudge to the front of the room and do one of two things: wing it and look like an idiot, or read verbatim from your notes in a monotone voice without lifting your eyes for a second and bore your audience to death. This is another reason to forget the podium; it's far too much of a temptation to plop your notes down on it and begin "storytime". At the complete other end, it's entirely possible to be over-prepared. Don't rehearse your presentation like it's Hamlet. If you do, not only do you risk sounding robotic, but if you miss a part or get sidetracked by a question or interruption, you're going to fumble around looking for your place and get flustered. The middle-ground is so simple, and yet so rarely achieved: know the details. The pertinent ones, rather. Make sure you have a good grasp of what you're talking about; after all, if you're presenting it, you must be the expert. Let me put it this way: if you were asked about your hobby, or your life story or even how your day was, I have little doubt you'd have a problem telling your listener all kinds of interesting little tid-bits. Make your topic like your hobby. And if you're still worried that you might forget to cover certain points, that's what Powerpoint is for. Though we'll deal with that gadget later.

Body Language

Here's an interesting one. Most people can't get this one right, and I admit I'm one of them. Too many presenters do their entire speech shifting rapidly from foot to foot, standing like a statue, fiddling with whatever's in their hands, holding their hands behind their back (at ease, soldier) or at their front, or with hands in their pockets, hands in their pockets, hands in their pockets. Put those grabbers to good use, and do like the politicians (I don't mean crossing your fingers behind your back). Use your hands to emphasize points, or to add some visual flow to the flow of your presentation. Reasonable gestures are terrific ways to draw attention to your speech, and bleed out some of that nervous energy. Just don't flail around like you're directing air traffic.

As for full body, try walking back and forth in front of your audience. Slowly. A calm strolling pace will add some animation, but without having you frantically running back and forth like a madman. For further connection, do what one of my teachers does: take advantage of aisles. Walk towards the back of the room now and then. This brings you closer to your audience, gives the people at the back the sense that you're making an effort to reach out to them, and lets you catch whoever's fallen asleep or is engrossed in their Blackberry.

The last is where to look. Keep your eyes moving around the room. If you stare, you'll look like a weirdo. And if you don't look at anyone, you'll look unsure of yourself. Look around the room, and maybe make brief eye contact with different people, just for a moment. This is terrific, because you will have a moment of extra connection with those people. And if you lock eyes with someone whose attention has been wavering, they will be reminded that you can see them and will snap back to attention, at least for a moment. And if you're doing a group presentation, look at whoever is speaking. If one of your team members is doing a part of the presentation, look at them. Give them your full attention. Because if you're glancing around or shuffling papers, you look bored. And you shouldn't be bored by your own material.

Low risk exercise

I have a tip for improving your speaking skills. Find a topic you consider yourself knowledgeable about. A hobby, or an interest. Something you enjoy. Then, find a friend or family member (or even stranger, though that may be harder to arrange) and tell them all about it. Give them a short speech. This will let you practice speaking on a topic you're bound to be comfortable with. There will be less pressure, and they can even give you feedback on your stance, your delivery, speed, and more. As with anything, it's easiest to practice with something simple and safe to get comfortable with the act before trying it for real. And when you do have to do the real thing, do it often. The more you do it, the better you get, and the more prepared you will be.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on March 28, 2007 9:31 PM | Permalink

March 29, 2007

Can you talk the talk? Part 2

Strategy Yesterday, I touched on presenting; how to deliver a presentation in a way that will be less likely to bore your audience and give you an anxiety attack. Today we're going to turn it around, and look at the proper way to attend a presentation.

Been there, done that
What I find to be a key factor in being an effective listener is to put yourself in the speaker's shoes. We've all done public speaking before, so we know what it's like. This helps us to forgive some of the little things, like wavering speech, a note-shuffling or two, or any of the other things I told you to be wary of yesterday. Humanizing the speaker is a good way to feed the connection they ought to be trying to create with you; this brings the two of you closer which helps their presentation, and hopefully makes it more interesting and helpful for you.

Ask 'em if you got 'em
We all know that many people dread the question and answer portion of presentations; this is part where they have the least control of what happens. But I encourage you to ask anyway. First of all, this will obviously help you understand the topic better since you'll be able to directly approach the part of the subject matter that you want to understand better. And second, it will show the speaker that you've been paying attention, and that you're interested in what they have to say. This is a bit of an ego boost.

Just a little bit
I can't stress enough, in order to be a good audience, you need to demonstrate a little known attitude called respect. Keep your eyes on the speaker, while noting their visuals. Turn OFF the Blackberrys and cellphones; not just vibrate, but off. And cut the chatter. It's hard enough to do public speaking without having to compete with other people's voices, ring tones, and an incessant buzz coming from all the cellphones. Remember that unlike television, the speaker can see and hear you. And if they know you're not paying attention, you can expect the quality of their presentation to go down, and their patience to become much shorter.

So you can see, sitting through a presentation doesn't take nearly as much as giving one. But I think a lot of people have a long way to go before they can master either of these skills. And let's face it, you're going to need at least a basic grasp if you're going to be able to master the next topic, where we put them both together: conversation.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on March 29, 2007 9:34 PM | Permalink

March 30, 2007

Can you talk the talk? Part 3

Strategy So far I've discussed speaking and listening. Now we're going to look at the third and final component: conversing.

It goes without saying that everything discussed in the first two parts applies here: create a connection, be knowledgeable, be patient, and react. Since these general areas need no further explanation, I'm going to shift gears and dive into some of the more specific, picky bits. Stuff that will make the conversation flow more smoothly.

Now look here!
Eye contact is even more vital in conversation than in presentation. Here you will have a much smaller audience in a more intimate setting, so it's important to know where to look at all times. When speaking with someone, general eye contact is good; holding their eyes in yours is a good way to create a connection, but too much is creepy. Don't bug your eyes out or scrutinize. And back up the frame of reference; instead of looking deep into their eyes, just look at their face in general. This still signals "I'm paying attention to you", but avoids that awkward feeling of "I can see my reflection in your retinas". Just don't look past them, away from them, or at certain other features that can draw your eyes. As with group presentations, if you're having a conversation with more than one person, always look at whoever is speaking. And when you're talking, look around at the faces of the people to whom you're speaking (though if it's of more interest to one particular person, focus more on them).

This isn't an interview
Stay away from boring questions and boring answers. You don't have to interrogate people about where they're from or what they do. And conversely, you don't have to work these details into every question. An amusing anecdote from your life experience is good from time to time, but they have their place. Keep it relevant to the topic, and keep it interesting. Answer the questions they ask, not the questions you wish they'd ask.

Would you like a mint?
Try to stand at least an arm's length away. People who stand far too close when speaking are really bad for people's comfort. You risk intruding on their personal space and having them be able to smell exactly what you ate for lunch. And if you didn't check your teeth, they can see it too.

These are just some basic courtesies to keep in mind. Using all the lessons from the three parts of this series is a good way to improve your personal interaction skills, if even just a little.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on March 30, 2007 9:35 PM | Permalink

How to give advice

Strategy You've just approached a colleague who you know is having difficulty with something, or you don't feel they quite understand what they're trying to do. So in the spirit of generosity, you've imparted some of your wisdom to help them along. But in return you've received a shrug-off or outright hostility.

Does this sound familiar? It should; this scenario is playing itself out all over the world every day. It seems like people don't know how to take advice anymore. But this is exactly the wrong viewpoint. It's time to face the possibility that people don't know how to give it. And that's especially bad because advice is up against some stiff resistance to begin with.

Let's face it: nobody likes to admit they're wrong, or don't understand, or made a mistake. So they feel even less happy about being told as much. Many people are so stubborn or proud that they will continue to do something their way, even if it's inefficient or less effective. So it's absolutely necessary to be gentle about your approach. Let's take a look at a couple ways to take the confrontation out of giving advice.

The Approach
In a perfect world, people would come to you for advice. And if they seek you out willingly, you can skip on to the next section. But if someone doesn't come to you and ask, they either don't know there's a problem to be solved, or they want to solve it themselves. So to saunter over and start telling them how to do it and that your way is better is not going to get the job done. It's akin to the impatient parent who takes a child's toy away because they're "not doing it right", despite the child's screams that they want to do it themselves. Instead, be more subtle in your approach. Ask them how their project is going. If they say it's not going well, you can start asking questions about why, and start to feed in your own stories. Try saying things like, "you know, I ran into a similar problem back with project X, but I tried doing this and it seemed to work." This makes the process more democratic; if the person wants to know more, they will ask you.

If they seem content with the way they are doing things, instead try asking about their method. Show interest in the way they are doing it, as though you are the one who wants to learn. Try to understand why they are doing things the way they are. There might be a reason. And if you still can't resist, present your own method, but as an equally good yet alternative way of doing it. Something like, "Oh, that's interesting. I came up against this issue once, but I tried doing X instead of Y. I didn't know you could approach the problem that way." I know many of you prefer the direct approach, just be prepared for a direct answer.

Delivery
Once you have begun a dialogue on the issue (note that key word "dialogue"), it is important to keep it positive and constructive. That means you need to treat their way of doing things as viable, and show them respect. As mentioned above, they may have a very good reason for doing things the way they are. They might be far more comfortable with their method, or perhaps even though their way of doing things doesn't work for you, it might work better for them than your method. Every situation is different.

Whatever you do, don't try to champion yourself in order to sell your idea. If you say that you never had a particular issue be a problem, you're just going to make the other person resentful because you've just made it personal. And it smacks of bragging rather than teaching. Don't start saying "when I did this my way, X and Y never happened to me." That's not going to help, because now you're attacking the other person. Keep it focused on the solution you're presenting, and stick to the benefits.

There is one more component of delivery which is of VITAL importance: don't be aggressive. And that includes passive aggressiveness. Don't turn it into an argument, and certainly don't start shifting blame onto the other party. If someone doesn't take your advice, shooting back accusations that they don't respect you or that you're feeling ignored isn't going to inspire them to follow it or any other information you pass on. This fosters resentment and can even lead to people deliberately disregarding things you say. This seems to be where it falls apart the most for people.

Pick Your Battles
Finally, you need to know when not to give advice. The major rule is that if it doesn't matter, let it go. If it's really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, let them do it their way. And even though you will be itching to tell someone they're making mistakes, zip it. Let them make their own mistakes, because it's far easier to learn if you experience the consequences yourself rather than having somebody tell you what could happen. People (for the most part) like to figure things out for themselves, it keeps life fun and interesting. Telling someone the correct way to do something is like spoiling the end of a murder mystery or a movie.

It's absolutely vital to understand the other side before you criticize, and to know when to take a step back. And if I've got this article all wrong, it will be the height of irony.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on March 30, 2007 10:37 PM | Permalink

April 2, 2007

The coolest toys that nobody will buy

Strategy There's been a lot of buzz over at Rogers. Seems they're set to launch their new video-call cellphone services. Sounds great, doesn't it? Very Star Trek. They even brought Captain Kirk.

But this idea is far from perfect, and certainly not new. Video phones have already been invented, just not in cell form. And the result was predictable: nobody bought them. They had two major drawbacks:

1. In order to use it, everyone else needs one too
2. One of the greatest benefits of the phone is that nobody can see you. Who wants to make themselves presentable for a phone call?

This is akin to the issue of Bell's movies and tv on phones, or Telus' pornographic venture (but that's a whole other story). Sure, it's a neat idea. And yes, it's incredible that we have this technology. But who wants to watch a movie on a screen the size of a cracker? Let's not even get started on the hazards we've created of people walking down the street, looking at their phone instead of where they're going (even worse for the drivers!). And really...I'm hard pressed to believe that today's phones have the ability to show a whole movie and still have the battery power left to take a call. My cellphone is only a year and a half old, and it's already got a borderline common-law relationship with its charger.

At least Rogers kept their weird "look-what-MY-phone-can-do" gadget related to telecommunication. The video call idea is still, at its heart, a phone call.

Unless you've got Bell and you want to pretend you're talking to Captain Jack. Or Jenna Jameson if you're on Telus.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on April 2, 2007 9:38 PM | Permalink

April 14, 2007

Are you getting enough Power from your Point?

Strategy Every day in boardrooms everywhere, people are suffering from a common affliction: Death by PowerPoint. The symptoms come in all shapes and sizes: boredom, confusion, anger and helplessness. So too do the underlying causes: too much info, not enough info, too much fluff, and animation addiction. But there is a cure. Proper understanding of the purpose and application of effective PowerPoint techniques can alleviate symptoms and make your presentation (at the very least) tolerable.

How much?

One of the most hotly debated topics in this area is that of how much content is appropriate. Do you load up slides with as much information as possible, or keep it absolutely brief with a minimum of points and sparse wording for each? My answer: it depends. There are so many situations where one approach is better than another. If you're delivering a presentation on a highly technical topic, or a presentation where the PP will serve as a hard-copy report, it's better to get more nitty-gritty. These presentations will often result in hand-outs being consulted as guides, and can be consulted and reviewed long after your presentation has ended. You want to make sure that your audience has all the facts, especially if anyone happened to be absent. This is well suited to proposals.

On the flip side, there are many situations where it is more to your advantage to use only a couple points on each slide, and keep each point very brief. If you're presenting to people who don't care about the inner workings or just want a summary of the topic (such as shareholders), this is far more appropriate. As well, if you're just demonstrating an idea, or the presentation is accompanying a report (which itself will contain all the important data), you should stick to this. The absolute best time to use this form of slide is when you're presenting something technical to a non-technical audience. Sum it up and keep it brief in this case.

Confusing PowerPoint slides with a slideshow

If you're trying to convey important data, it's probably best to keep pictures to a minimum. Adding a few graphics to help illustrate a point or to add some "lift" to a horrifically dry topic is advised, but keep it low-key. If every slide has a goofy graphic (or animation), it can serve to distract your audience and hurt your credibility. Of course, if you're presenting to a more relaxed group, you can scale up the pictures a little. Just don't get carried away. It can still be pretty distracting.

Your slides shouldn't be more animated than you are

Many peoples' use of PowerPoint animations is akin to a mountain-climber's explanation for their passion: because it's there. I've seen and heard horror stories of otherwise terrific presentations that were maimed by overuse of animations. Be it animated pictures, text appearances, or even screen wipes, doing these for everything will slow down your presentation and get old really quickly. This feature was created to add emphasis, or to hide important points that you didn't want your audience to see until you decided in order to get the right effect. Adding animations to every section is akin to highlighting everything in a passage or book- sure it looks flashy, but it defeats the entire purpose.

Every presentation is different; the hard and fast rule is that you have to look at your audience and the purpose of your presentation to decide exactly how to put it together. And remember to make it follow a logical order and be easy to read; your own PowerPoint can serve as a terrific way to keep you on track with the verbal part of your presentation, similar to cue cards.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on April 14, 2007 9:45 PM | Permalink

May 7, 2007

You never know

Strategy I'm a firm believer in continuous learning. When I was in high school, I stuck around in OAC (that's Grade 13 in Ontario...or, was. Only 12 now) so I could go to University instead of College. When I was in University, I stuck around for a 4th year so I could get my Honours. When I left University, I went to College. And now that I'm out of College, I'm still learning. I go through old notes, I read old texts, I keep EVERY project I've written or worked on since University to use as reference, and I read industry blogs with valuable information.

I think the greatest reason for absorbing as much information as possible is: You never know.

You never know everything
You never know enough
You never know when you'll need it

I read blogs about sales, I kept all my materials from my sales course, I'm a member of the Canadian Professional Sales Association. Am I going to go into sales? Doubtful. But you never know. Personally, I think sales techniques are applicable no matter the situation. They're all about being persuasive and personable. So I learn about sales.

When I was doing my postgrad, I (like many of my classmates) disliked learning about Direct Marketing and Supply Chain Management. But I still went to every class, and still kept all my notes. And paid attention as much as I could. I didn't really expect to ever do anything with them, but I learned anyway. And guess what my first internship was? Doing direct marketing for a company that specialized in supply chain management solutions. You never know.

I learned Photoshop, HTML and CSS so I could post my online comic. It was just a hobby. I've since used PS to work on the direct marketing campaign I mentioned above (and to do projects in class), and I'm currently responsible for writing the code to redesign the website for the company I'm currently on contract for. I turned a hobby into meaningful work.

Learning all about new things (even ones outside your expertise) is not only great because it keeps your mind sharp and can teach you something interesting, but you may find yourself in a situation not too far down the road where you end up using it.

Learn all you can, because it may lead to an opportunity. You never know.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on May 7, 2007 9:48 PM | Permalink

May 17, 2007

The most beautiful site nobody can see

Strategy They say that beauty is skin deep. They also say that it's what inside that counts. And beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The same holds true on websites. There are a lot of great looking sites out there. And when visitors arrive to your site, you want them to stay; so naturally, you want it to look good.

But what if that comes at a price?

Too many times, I've seen sites that look terrific; they have all the colours right, a great layout, easy navigation...but when you look below the surface, you find yourself scrolling through endless ugly code before finding any content.

So what? Code IS ugly. It always has been, and though it may not always be, it will for some time to come. But you have to remember who looks at the code: search engines. And bloggers with too much time on their hands.

Let's face it, while every search engine is different, they usually have a cut-off point for how many lines they're willing to read of your code before the spiders stop reading. And with the dwindling power of Meta tags, it's becoming more and more essential every day to make sure your content and its keywords are in the right place. This is the same problem people encountered a few years ago when Flash sites became the big thing.

Really, what good is a great looking website if nobody can FIND it?

I think this is part of the reason for the move towards cleaner, less busy sites. Not just the fact that those cluttered messes are horrific to look at and use; but if there's less junk in the trunk, you get faster load times, less chances for something to go wrong (God forbid you miss a semicolon in your CSS), and a better chance of being noticed when your potential readers click "search".

Until next time,

Posted by JW on May 17, 2007 9:46 PM | Permalink

May 30, 2007

What's the net worth of your network?

Strategy Let's talk about Jim. Jim's been looking for a job for some time now. And he's been hearing all this talk about "networking". It's not what you know, it's who you know. Friends in high places. And all those other clichés. So he decides to give it a try. He asks his friends and his family to keep an eye out for people who could help him, and starts talking to people he knows through them.

Jim doesn't get a job.

Now, what about Trevor? He's also out on the hunt, and keeps getting told to network, network, network! So he does. He goes to parties, he goes to networking events, tradeshows; anything he can! He hands out business cards and collects them in return. Entire forests have disappeared to fuel his search. After a few weeks, you'd be hard to find anybody in the county who doesn't have his card.

Trevor's in line at the Employment Resource Centre with Jim.

Finally, there's Harry. Harry is in the same boat as Jim and Trevor. So he starts talking to people he knows who aren't in his immediate circle of friends. He attends parties and events, but only hands out a few cards and collects a few in return.

Harry gets a job.

So what happened? Harry seemed to do so much less than Jim and Trevor. And numerically, he did. But where Harry got it right was in the VALUE of his network.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that networking is just a matter of asking anyone around, and contacting as many people as possible. So they end up with a veritable leaf-pile of business cards and an address book the size of the yellow pages, but they don't mean anything.

Asking friends and family is an alright way to start, but the problem is that you're going to make connections inside a network you already have. Chances are the people your close friends and immediate family know are people you know already too.

Trying to collect massive amounts of contacts sounds tempting, but it's akin to advertising these days: too much noise, not enough value and interest. If you meet someone, introduce yourself, give them your card and move on, they've forgotten who you are 10 seconds later. And if they DO remember you, it will be as someone who wasn't interested in them enough to stick around.

The fact of the matter is, you want to build a meaningful network. When you meet somebody new, stick around and talk to them. Try to key into their values and interests. Listen closely to what they say, and try to pick up on something. Once you can demonstrate your interest in that one thing, it shows them that you were not only paying attention to what they're saying (which is a BIG plus), it tells them that there's a connection there. And when you talk to them later, remember to leverage that connection, bring it into the conversation again. Keep repeating this step. You want to get to know that person so they can get to know you. If somebody in a position to help you remembers who you are and sees you as somebody with whom there is common ground, you are far more likely to be first in their mind when your dream opportunity lands at their doorstep.

Remember, be a Harry, not a Jim or Trevor.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on May 30, 2007 9:51 PM | Permalink

July 19, 2007

It's worth a shot

Strategy Every time I see or hear a new ad for diet pills, online dating, or any of those other products or services that make you wonder aloud, "Does anybody use those?", I often wonder, well, "why WOULD anybody use them?" And the answer comes from one of the great motivators of advertising: desperation.

Let's face it, nobody leaps at the idea of getting diet pills or signing up for an internet-inspired date. It's always something that "other people" do. But often the entire basis of these products is in alleviating a problem that the person can't get rid of or deal with conventionally. Eventually, after deciding that you "just can't lose weight" or "just can't get a date", a new mindset sets in: "It's worth a shot".

Companies that offer these products and services are counting on the last-resorters, those who are fed up with their lack of headway in regards to their latest problem. And they wear them down. It's one thing to be perpetually single; it's another thing entirely to keep being reminded of it by having Lavalife branded all over the internet. The onslaught of diet services on tv and the radio, coupled with the hundreds of images of beautiful people is enough to inspire obsession with weight. So when the "problem" gets drilled into the potential buyer's head so much that it becomes all-consuming, they will do anything to find the solution.

Let's face it. Desperation sells. And in today's "quick fix" consumer mentality, even the least palatable solutions start to look like a good idea. After all, we'll all try anything once.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on July 19, 2007 1:55 PM | Permalink

The business of getting along

Strategy I've always been amused by people who talk about books that can improve your business AND personal life, or make metaphors between casual social interaction and business in order to improve one or the other. Not because it's ridiculous, but because it should be obvious. The reason so many life lessons translate well to business and vice versa is because business is just another form of social interaction, just like talking to a friend or writing a letter to a relative.

Really, business is just being social with the goal of persuading. Sales are just a conversation. Direct mail is just a letter. TV ads are just a play. Sure, each has its own rules that define them and set standards and guidelines, but the same can be said for any type of social interaction. In a sales call, you need to be professional and address the needs of the buyer. On a date you need to be polite and showcase yourself as an interesting person. At church you need to be reserved and follow the sermon. At a football game you need to be loud and energetic. And so on, and so on, and so on.

This is why social media has been such a hit with businesses. Why copywriters are starting to do work for individuals. Why the popular self-help books are snapped up by CEOs and regular Joes alike.

It's certainly not helpful to treat your life like a business, nor should you throw conventional wisdom out the window and run your business according to how you run your family. But it's simple to see that many of the same principles apply. I think we need to start recognizing that perhaps these two different spheres of life aren't so different after all.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on July 19, 2007 2:29 PM | Permalink

July 22, 2007

Would you recognize opportunity knocking?

Personal strategy Networking is king. I've said it before, and others with more expertise than I have said it before me. There's a lot of material out there on "how" to network, and network effectively. Qualify the connection, don't dilute yourself, etc. But running on the theme of one of my earlier posts, I contend that effective networking follows from being social. Mostly because you don't necessarily know where a contact is going to come from or lead you. You may be pleasantly surprised. I know I was.

A few weeks ago, I was handed a client who needed computer and internet training. He was a senior, and just couldn't get the hang of his new computer. Since one of our mandates at SC is computer training, I was glad to help out. At first I was a little annoyed; I preferred the business side of things. But I went, and I trained him. I must say I enjoyed our sessions; the best way I could describe this gentleman would be to say he's a character. So naturally, when we waited for something to load or before and after our sessions, we were able to shoot the breeze about things other than the task at hand.

Eventually, the topic of my goals came around. I told him that I liked writing, and wanted to write for advertisements or PR some day. I didn't think much of it. The next session, he told me that he had passed my name on to his son, who works in investor relations and had worked in PR. I was able to set up an informal meeting with him to ask his advice and learn a few things. I came away with some great advice, some concrete tips on how to improve my resumé, and most importantly, the name of an executive at a large PR firm and the instructions to let her know that he had passed her name on to me.

Really, if you want to network, then just be social. Talk to people, learn from them, and stay in touch. Because they might know someone. And at the very least, you get a good conversation out of them.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on July 22, 2007 11:35 AM | Permalink

Are you ready to fail?

Personal Strategy You've got that big presentation coming up. You've rehearsed it a thousand times, checked your powerpoint slides meticulously, and you're sure you're going to ace it. But what happens if you don't? Nobody goes into a presentation expecting to fail; but are you prepared for it if you do?

The best laid plans

It's bound to happen. Everybody, at one point or another, falls short. It happens. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move on. But for anyone who's ever stood in front of a group of people with a weighty silence hanging in the air, it feels like the end of the world. I know. I've been there. You probably have too. And if you haven't, you will...and maybe you should.

Pobody's nerfect

As I said, it's almost inevitable that at least once, the presentation won't be right. Maybe you forget the powerpoint (or bring the wrong copy). Or the projector doesn't work. Or your client was expecting a much lower cost. Or maybe it was just a bad idea that should have died on the drawing board. Sometimes it's just not in the cards to succeed. That is why you should prepare so that if you ever find yourself in a losing situation you can turn it around.

Try a fire drill

After a particularly embarrassing presentation (thankfully in a classroom setting) of a terrible idea, I was absolutely stunned. I still hesitate to talk about it. I told a relative who's taken a keen interest in my fledgling career (being in nearly the same industry) about it to see what she thought. After she finished laughing at the idea, she told me that I had probably had the best learning experience of my life. She told me that these things happen. And the fact that I got my first taste of it when it didn't matter was a stroke of brilliant luck. In fact, she said, this should be a mandatory activity: present and defend a bad idea. Because if you can learn how to stand up to harsh criticism, shrug off the stress and maybe even spin the idea to make it work, you will be a superstar down the road. Maybe we all need this, in the end. So I encourage you to arrange for a low-consequence environment where you can totally bomb, and learn how to deal with failure.

A painful lesson

I know, this sounds ludicrous. I'm not suggesting you set out to fail. Nor am I implying that any successes so far are dumb luck. What I'm getting at is, sometimes you need to fall off the bike to learn to ride. Sure, you'll scrape your knee and it'll hurt. But if you get past that and get back on, you'll be the better for it. You can recognize the warning signs, you start to learn what makes it go wrong and how to correct for it, and you gain greater confidence for it. I can now tell myself, "that wasn't the end of the world. Move on, get better, and if another presentation goes sour, it's okay. I'll bounce back in the end."

Try it out. Fail once, and learn how not to fail again. Because if you pay attention and focus on the facts instead of the negative, you won't make the same mistake twice.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on July 22, 2007 5:59 PM | Permalink

August 9, 2007

What do you see in the mirror?

Strategy How well do you know yourself? Probably better than anyone else. You know your thoughts, your beliefs, and you know the real story behind you. But there's another side to you, one that you're probably aware of, but haven't gotten to know: how other people see you. And the flip-side is equally true.

As someone who spent his university career studying psychology and philosophy, I think about this stuff a lot. And I've had the opportunity to have plenty of fine examples and reminders come my way in the past month or so.

For example, there was this article by Chuck Westbrook over at IHYJ. The same boss you hate could be a great person outside the office. You might even have gotten along. But there are two sides to every person.

To further carry this example, we have a family friend at the cottage (whose name I will **** out to protect the innocent). We were all hanging out, having fun, and we got to talking about work. And we realized that while we all have loads of fun with ****, we probably wouldn't like "Suit ****".

If you're a fan of the office (on NBC), everybody's "favourite" Regional Manager, Michael Scott, is a perfect example. He sees himself as well-liked, friendly, and having a great sense of humour. But in reality, he comes across as creepy, needy, and offensive.

So many questionnaires invariably ask a question where you have to say how your friends would describe you. And of course, we all pick the option of how we WANT them to think of us, not necessarily how they really DO think of us. It's understandably hard to do; we all have a concept of ourselves and what we're good at. To have that come crashing down around us would be unpleasant to say the least.

To wax philisophical for a moment, Sartre stated that we think of ourselves as subject, and as everything (and everyone) as objects. This is our subjective reality. We are the centre, and the world is organized by its relation to us. But the experience of the Other makes us realize that WE are objects to THEM. We are pushed outside of our subjective reality and are forced to cope with theirs. This leads into the idea of the "look", that when we feel the look of the Other on us, we see ourselves from outside, and we have a moment of realization of how we are perceived.

That was a little dense (even for paraphrasing), but the gist of it is, we find it hard to look at ourselves from someone else's perspective because we don't always like what we see.

But if you can take the time to accept who you appear to be as opposed to who you want to be, it's so much easier to work through these perceptions and bring them closer in line to one another.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on August 9, 2007 8:50 AM | Permalink

August 24, 2007

I hope I get to make this next post

Strategy Pardon my recent absence, I have been focused on work related things- including a recent interview for a new, fancy, corporate job. So I'll be making a post of things to do for a successful interview...so long as all goes well ;)

Posted by JW on August 24, 2007 8:06 AM | Permalink

I hope I get to make this next post

Posted by JW on August 24, 2007 8:06 AM | Permalink

August 25, 2007

How to be condescending

Strategy You may remember a recent post I did about giving advice. I'd like to discuss a similar topic, but to keep it fresh, I'm going to take a different angle. Today's post is all about how to look down on other people and let them know you're doing it.

Treat opinions different than your own as stupid

It's a well known fact that you are right. How could you not be? Everybody of your intellectual calibre (the few, the proud) agrees with you and anybody else is an idiot. You're a Democrat, they're a Republican?* They're an idiot. You're a Creationist, they're a Darwinist?* They're an idiot. You prefer to download movies and music, they prefer to pay for them?* They're an idiot. You don't agree with this post?* I'm an idiot. How they could arrive at such a ridiculous line of thought is absolutely unthinkable; clearly they are dumb.

* - Feel free to reverse these to fit your position. This paragraph will be far more agreeable to you once you adjust it to fit your needs.

Let them know there's your way, and there's the wrong way

Every task has only one way to be accomplished, and you figured it out. Any other method is inefficient or glossed over. Make sure to show everyone the RIGHT way of doing things, and don't forget to tell them as much. It's the only way they'll learn.

Take any advice you agree with as absolute obvious fact

You don't need to check references or think critically about things you hear that you agree with. Since you're clearly right, so are they. It's just common sense. How some people could not accept this to be true is simply an example of their lack of intelligence.

Ignore any counterpoints

Oh, those simple-minded cretins might try to say they have "reasons" for their way of thinking, but that is ludicrous. Their opinions are simply propoganda that's been drilled into them by the government/the drug culture/pop music/aliens/corporations/activists/Steve Carell/insert secret evil organizations here.

Remember to rub it in their faces

As a last little reminder, always make sure you make it perfectly clear to those you're trying to enlighten that they are WRONG and STUPID and you are RIGHT and SMART. If you simply remember these steps and follow these guidelines, you'll be well on your way to being a pompous, self-righteous, condescending creep.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on August 25, 2007 7:30 PM | Permalink

August 27, 2007

How to get an offer you can't refuse

Strategy There's something I really hate doing. And unfortunately, I don't do it much. Yes, yes, I'm aware that sounds crazy. "Jason, why would you find it unfortunate you don't do something you hate very often?" Because that something is going to Job Interviews. So naturally, when I got "the call" from "the Corporation" (whose identity will be protected for obvious reasons), I was both thrilled and terrified.

Getting TO the interview point has always been quite difficult for me. So I don't have a whole lot of practice in this area. When I got word from the Corporation, I decided I would have to bring my A game...and in fact, a whole NEW game. Therefore, I did something I've never really done for a job interview before: Prepare. While I'm still waiting on their decision, my interview did feel like it went well, and one of my interviewers even remarked as much as she led me back to the lobby. Here, then, is my laundry list of helpful interview preparation:

Look the part

The last thing I did before I hung up the phone was ask directly what the recommended dress code would be. Today's business world seems to be having a bit of a fashion crisis, so it really helps to know what to expect. The HR person to whom you're speaking will be glad to answer the question, will be glad to see you're taking it seriously, and might even give you a hint. Personally, I was told that wearing a suit "really impresses them".

Behave yourself!

I'm not talking about having good manners; that should be OBVIOUS! I'm talking about behavioural questions. They seem to be the regular form these days. Go to a career centre, or get a book, or hell, even use the Internet; you'll be able to find all kinds of resources on common interview questions and what they're looking for. The fact is, in behavioural questions, they want SPECIFIC examples from your past. So if you've got a list in your head of excellent situations, you'll be ready. Think of the situation, but don't plan your answer out 100%. You should be able to adapt the event to the actual question (since they can differ), and you don't want to look too rehearsed.

Mind your manners

Yes, I know, it doesn't bear mentioning...okay, maybe it does, just in case. Be polite! Shake their hand, smile, look them in the eye, sit when asked (not before...I'm serious!), and be courteous. Look to your interviewer to set the tone. You can loosen up if they do.

Do your research

Know the company. That's another simple one. But I want to stress that you can't go too far with this. Go to their site, check their stocks, look in the news, read their releases...in fact, learn how to do some basic business analysis, and give it a swot.

...what?

Yes. I was asked, on the spot, to do a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) of the Corporation. Never get caught off guard. I did it, and did it well, too. When I got back from the interview to my current place of employ, I ran into my marketing strategy teacher, and thanked him profusely for drilling those SWOTs into our brains.

Hope for the best

Basically, just remember to be your best. Be confident, be personable, and show them you're capable. It's not guaranteed to get you the job, but it'll sure as hell help.

Until next time,

P.S. The Saturated Market head office will be moving come Saturday, so if I disappear in the near future, don't panic. Or do, it'll give me an ego trip.

Posted by JW on August 27, 2007 7:55 PM | Permalink

September 8, 2007

Abandon hope, ye who early adopt

Strategy Apple has dropped the price of the iPhone, and as a result, all the early adopters are crying foul. I have no pity, and one question: Are they really surprised?

Being surprised over a price reduction in new technology is like being surprised that the sun goes down at the end of the day. Sure, you don't know exactly when it's going to happen, but it's only a matter of time. That's the risk you take in being an early adopter.

As a side note, I'm not into that whole thing. I see no benefit to stressing out, standing in huge lines (to possibly not even get what you want), and paying a ridiculous amount that will be reduced in a month. What do you get? Bragging rights? I dunno. I can wait. I bought a Gamecube when the Wii came out. So that may say something about me.

But anyway, price reductions for new technology after the buzz dies a little is a common part of the product cycle. It happened (and is still happening) with the iPod, it happened to digital cameras (in a BIG way), cellphones, and computers. That's just a natural progression.

Paying extra for something when it first comes out is just part of the territory, and these people ought to have known better.

That having been said, Apple knows how to do damage control; their offering $100 store credit will not only appease many angry customers, but to Apple's credit, will put all that money back into their hands. Remember, that's STORE CREDIT.

Touché, Mr. Jobs.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on September 8, 2007 11:53 AM | Permalink

September 9, 2007

Learn to respect your boss

Strategy One of the hardest things to do is take orders from somebody you don't respect. So if you find yourself in this situation, you have four alternatives:

1) Suck it up
2) Quit
3) Try to undermine them by doing as little as possible, or
4) Learn to respect them

1, 2 and 3 are the most common solutions...but how do you accomplish #4?

For everything (turn, turn, turn), there is a reason (turn, turn, turn)

The most important step to respecting your superior is to realize that they got their job for a reason. Nobody just hands out promotions; often the manager has proven themselves over time, or came into the company with an impressive background, or in some cases, built the business with their bare hands. And they probably wouldn't have kept their job for very long if they were completely incompetant.

Take notice, rather than giving it

When you have a negative view of your boss, you tend to focus on the things that bother you, which just reinforces your perception. Try changing your focus; start to look for the good things they do around the workplace, rather than obsessing over the bad. It's a big part of human nature to only notice what supports our current opinions. If you can overcome this, maybe you will start to appreciate them more.

Devil's advocate

When your boss breaks up your fun and tells you to get back to work or hounds you about that project that's coming due, it's easy to be annoyed. However, you have to remember that as a manager, they have a job to do: get the job done. I'm sure every boss would enjoy a little fun now and again, but it reflects poorly on them if their department is spending more time at the water cooler than getting things done. Sure, you may get the job done regardless, but perception often dwarfs reality. If you don't look like you're working, even if you are, that memory tends to outshine the fact that you have a long list of successful projects.

Only human

As outlined in this post over at I Hate Your Job, one thing we often overlook is that our bosses are normal people with normal lives, who just happen to be in charge of what we do from 9-5. Recognizing that they have their own problems and worries and weaknesses is a good way to realize that maybe they deserve a little slack.

Give and take

Now, to be fair, there are often bad bosses out there. It happens. But the fact of the matter is, following some of these steps can still improve your impression of them. And the best part is, if you start to respect them more and resent them less, your attitude will improve; this can lead to greater work satisfaction, less frustration, and maybe even a better relationship with your boss (which has its own benefits). So whatever your goal, sometimes a little understanding can go a long way.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on September 9, 2007 11:45 AM | Permalink

September 17, 2007

Find your purpose

Strategy Yesterday, I wrote about the 7 habits of highly effective people. Well, in a marvelous stroke of coincidence, my good friend Chuck over at I Hate Your Job has challenged me and several other blogs to write a personal mission statement, a key component of Covey's second habit, Begin with the End in Mind. So, I'm going to put my money where my mouth is, and take this challenge, then pass it on. I have no affiliate blogs, but I will ask that if you read this, be it now or a year from when this was written, to post your own, whether in the comments here or on your own site.

Memed from Chuck:

If you don’t already have one, take some time to write a personal mission statement whether you participate overall or not. I’m not talking about a one or two sentence blurb like a corporate mission statement but a meaningful declaration of what you hope to be about in life. Stephen Covey’s mission statement builder might help you, or you can just write it free form.

Avoid putting in fluff and buzzwords unless you’re a corporation–try to create a document that really focuses on actions that you can perform each day and that are meaningful to you.

Got a good first draft? Great. Now copy the text of this post and replace my statement with yours and the blogs I’ve tagged with the blogs you’d like to tag. You can view a complete list of who has participated and read their responses in the comments section of Chuck's post. I strongly encourage you to click here to read it. And while you're there, read the rest of his blog, it'll make you feel better about work. Or at least at work.

Those without blogs should participate in the comments section below.
6 Reasons to Participate

1. It is relevant to your subject matter. Regardless of what you write about, your blog is an extension of you, and your readers care about where you intersect with your subject matter. Rather than a meme about your favorite movie, this is a rare chance for your readers to get to know you while you can still stay on topic!
2. Allow readers and fellow bloggers to see why you care about your subject as part of your life’s big picture.
3. Articulating your personal mission is personally rewarding and incredibly beneficial.
4. Your readers will greatly appreciate you helping them to get started on their statements if they’ve never done it before (most haven’t).
5. It is a worthy cause. Few things in the blogosphere can match the impact of helping even one person bring greater focus to their lives, let alone thousands.
6. Get to know the people you decide to tag

My Mission Statement

Every day:

• I will take responsibility: my rewards, my punishments, my actions, and my consequences are my own
• I will be respectful: old or young, rich or poor, strong or weak, influential or unfluential, everyone deserves respect as a human being, and will return that which they are given
• I will be patient: every second I think I could be doing something else is probably a second I’d spend wishing I had something to do
• I will be understanding: every opinion comes from perspective, and I do not have the same perspective as others
• I will be tolerant: if it won’t matter in a year, it won’t matter in a month; if it won’t matter in a month, it won’t matter in a week; if it won’t matter in a week, it won’t matter tomorrow; and if it won’t matter tomorrow, it doesn’t matter; if it doesn’t matter, I will let it go
• I will be honourable: I will be able to look at myself in the mirror every day
• I will learn: I cannot undo my mistakes, but I will learn from them and be better for them
• I will move on: dwelling on the past will not define my future
• I will accept that I am wrong: if I’m wrong, then I’m wrong
• I will be humble: those who have authority have it for a reason
• I will take action: if I dwell on it, it’s a problem; if I work to resolve it, it’s only a setback
• I will not be bogged down in a bad situation: I will make it better as best I can, but I will know when the time has come to walk away
• I will accept advice: even if it’s not what I want to hear, it may turn out to be a good idea down the road
• I will take with me the lessons of Kenn Grainger, an elderly gentleman I once had the extreme honour and pleasure of meeting with once a week:
1. The best argument I ever won was the one I avoided
2. Always introduce yourself with your full name
3. ATTITUDE is everything!
• I will be fair: I will not treat others negatively
• I will not take bullshit: a person who treats me negatively is a person I don’t need around
• I will: nothing will stop me

As a further addition, I included this list of criteria with my mission statement. They are not part of it, but they are important words that I carry with me in my day to day functions:

• When meeting someone, give your full name, shake their hand firmly.
• Always look at whoever’s speaking when in a group
• Your word is your bond; don’t make promises you can’t keep, and keep all the promises you make
• Set limits: say no every once in a while
• Be confident: look at what you’ve accomplished, and think of all you will accomplish
• If something goes wrong, suck it up, admit your mistake, fix it, and move on. Blaming, giving excuses and whining get you nowhere
• Your responses are your own. Nothing can be blamed wholly on outside factors
• Talk less, listen more. You don’t have to spout your autobiography to everyone
• Always show respect and you’ll get it in return
• Don’t let yourself get baited
• Take a stand for things you believe in
• Never panic; time you spend worrying is time better spent thinking of a solution
• Procrastination and being lazy waste your time and make matters worse; you’re going to have to do it eventually, may as well be now rather than later
• Take responsibility and make decisions, don’t shuffle your feet and expect others to get the ball rolling. Nothing will come of nothing. Don’t wait for things to happen
• Know all the angles, and you can control the situation; do your research
• Pay attention to your surroundings
• Don’t mince words, don’t sugar-coat it: just say it, and mean it
• Act according to your values
• The worst that can happen is never as bad as not trying
• Understand the opposite viewpoint before presenting your own
• Slow down; replace “um” with a pause, and gather your thoughts. Don’t fear silence.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on September 17, 2007 5:57 PM | Permalink

September 21, 2007

Web design made easier

Strategy Just a quickie today, folks. This site was passed on to me, and I thought all my fellow web-heads might be interested: 77 Resources to Simplify Your Life as a Web Designer. Some brilliant stuff there if you want to save time, improve your skills, or give your site a better look and feel.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on September 21, 2007 10:02 AM | Permalink

September 25, 2007

You're only as young as you reveal

Strategy I remember my first internship, when the owner of the company spoke to me about the goals of our marketing initiatives. He said that as a small business, it's hard to gain recognition and credibility when dealing with the big corporations. So we were working hard to make sure that in our marketing documentation and website that they came across as a capable, respectable firm (which they are, of course), without having the issue of size enter the conversation. And in the blogosphere, the same seems to be true of age.

I read an interesting post at I Hate Your Job, where Chuck pontificates on the tendency to discredit the experience of youngsters in the blogging world (which I think can extend very well to the offline world as well).

“Can such a young person appreciate the value of escaping the rat race without having spent many years inside of it?”...Yes and no. I can be thankful for my good health without ever having had caner [sic], but a cancer survivor appreciates the day when they are cancer free more than I ever could. I can be thankful for a warm meal and a place to sleep, but not in the way someone who once was homeless can.

Of course, I’m not going to try to contract cancer or lose my home in order to better appreciate my good circumstances. In the same way, I don’t believe I’ll be missing out by avoiding an extended stay in a job that makes me miserable...I just have to touch the hot stove, I don’t need to lean on it.

Click here to read the whole article.

Regardless of being younger than one would expect (and younger than one would expect could write credibly about his chosen topic), Chuck has built himself quite a blog, and has written some great advice that has many people, both experienced and inexperienced, talking. And really, I think that's what's important. Why should anybody trust a source less once they discover their age? Sure, we tend to prefer advice from the "grizzled veterans", but we can't discount the expertise of the so-called "newbies", because they might not be that new after all.

Rebecca Thorman is one Gen-Y "Princess" who is succeeding despite her age (and despite her detractors for the same reason).
Student Connections, my current employer, is based entirely on the idea that youngsters are capable and intelligent; keep in mind that hundreds of small businesses have staked key parts of their strategy, from business plans to websites, on the advice of 20-somethings still in the midst of their education!

Lest that give a hint to my age, keep in mind the range for employment at SC is 16-30. Personally, I am still young by many standards, and I acknowledge I still have a lot to learn. But I have plenty of valid experience, and a lot to say. What you do with it is your choice.

Trust and encourage us, for we'll be running your companies mere decades from now.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on September 25, 2007 8:19 AM | Permalink

November 2, 2007

How to Make a Difference

Personal Strategy Before I begin, I would like to apologize for my lack of...well, everything. Between trade shows, presentations and general work, I've been swamped. I now have so much to write about, I can go for ages. But that also means that I feel almost crushed under the weight of responsibility for writing. After putting in hours meeting deadlines at work, updating a website is the last thing I think about doing. But I think it's time I got back on top. And to kick it off, I have some good advice for everyone wanting to make a name for themselves.

Start at home

In order to make a big splash, the best place to start is with your immediate environment. How you carry yourself is related very strongly to how you are seen by others. And you have control over that. If you can convince those around you that you are accountable, that you get things done, that you are a STAR, then their perception rubs off on you, and can even work out for you in the form of word of mouth recommendations or references.

So how do I BE that good?

The secret to being the big star is remarkably simple. At least, the concept is. Delivering is significantly tougher. But out of all the advice I have read, all of the experiences I have had, and from talking to other people who get things done and carry the team, I have found it all comes down to one simple thing:

CARE.

Read that one again. The way to continuously deliver is to care about what you're doing. It's so easy and so common to just say, "I'm here from 9-5, I do my reports, I pray the client doesn't call, and that's it. Just a paycheque." If you genuinely give a damn about your project, if you take ownership of it, it becomes a lot more natural to go that extra distance, to anticipate your client's needs. If you genuinely want to make sure this project is a flying success and care about making your client succeed, you can build a reputation for being the star performer.

Git'r Done

If you can display the drive, the pride and the responsibility found in entrepreneurs and star performers, you can harness that kind of power and respect for yourself. I don't care if you make widgets, enter data, hand out promotional candy bars or handle contracts from the Fortune 500, if you take pride in your work, you will put in the effort. If you put in the effort, you will get the results. And if you get the results, you will get noticed.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on November 2, 2007 6:43 PM | Permalink

November 5, 2007

Kicking back in the den

I think I've found a new favourite show. Dragons' Den has been on for some time now, but I'm finally getting into it. I've fallen in love at first sight. As a marketing and strategy geek, this is great. It's great to watch business moguls grill entrepreneurs on some of the key business factors that shamefully so few business owners consider.

Check it out; it's a great way to remind entrepreneurs to take the time to look at their business objectively.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on November 5, 2007 8:01 PM | Permalink

November 7, 2007

Brand new

Strategy I have to admit, I'm a little preoccupied with branding at the moment. I'm in the midst of two rather large projects regarding this site. First of all, I'm in the midst of rebranding this site. Also, I'm struggling to brand myself! The process is a long one, and one I'd like to discuss a little.

I'm changing the focus of this site a little bit. Not by any overwhelming amount, but I have decided to try to play a little more to my current competencies. It's all well and good for me to sit here and talk about blogging and general business practice, but my real expertise is with e-commerce and small businesses. My offline job is helping small business; so why shouldn't I use this site to help small business? With this in mind, I have decided to make this blog a better home for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

I am also trying to improve my article woes. I've been conspicuous by my absence (or at least I like to pretend I have), and need to work on having more to publish more often. Juggling this task with my paying job and my search for future contracts and positions hasn't been easy, but if I put my head down, I think I can work through it. That having been said, I'm always receptive to guest posts. Nudge, nudge, wink wink.

I'm also in the midst of a personal branding exercise. I had the pleasure of attending a presentation by Martin Buckland, a personal branding and resume writing expert put on by Atrium Talent and hosted by Indoor Playground, and it got the wheels turning in my mind. So I'm trying to improve my personal brand. I'm close to launch, and even learned some interesting things about Search Engine Optimization along the way (but that's another story!). I'll let you know when it's ready, and have a little challenge for you as well!

Anyway, that's my world right now. Keep your eyes open for a brand new site, and a site with a new brand!

Until next time,

Posted by JW on November 7, 2007 11:20 PM | Permalink

November 13, 2007

I guess I get to make this post after all!

Strategy You may remember that a while back I wrote about my adventures in job hunting, and how to ace an interview. Well, it turns out I was on the money after all. 5-6 months after applying, and after going through two levels of interviews and a lot of nervous waiting, I've been offered a position with "the corporation" as I will continue to call them.

What does this mean for the site?

I'll still be blogging. Of course, I will keep reinforcing that I will NOT discuss ANYTHING related to my job. Because I love it and don't want to lose it. I will keep talking about other marketing things I'm interested in and of course tips for small business. I have a post coming up about my personal branding exercise, which I hope to hammer out by the end of the week. So stay tuned!

Until next time,

Posted by JW on November 13, 2007 8:17 PM | Permalink

November 21, 2007

Do your job

Strategy There's a saying that goes something along the lines of, "if you try to be something to everyone, you're nothing to noone," though I may be completely off base. What I mean is, you need to find a core, you need to find what you're really in business to do, and make sure you stick to it. Because if you try to venture too far outside that, you could lose sight of where you started. And I'm going to convey this with the use of an allegory.

When I bought my new computer, I had to reinstall all my favourite programs and set up all my options again. But I decided, on the advice of several tech-savvy associates, to use Opera as my internet browser instead of my old standby, Firefox.

At first, I was very happy. It was fast, it had the functions I was accustomed to, and I really liked the gestures and speed dial. Gestures allow you to perform ordinary functions (back, forward, new tab, close tab, etc) by using quick mouse movements. For example, holding down the right mouse button and flicking the mouse left would take me back a page. And the speed dial allowed me to set up to 9 pages in a special bookmark page (reached whenever a new tab opened or all other tabs were closed) so I could click on them. Pretty nifty.

But then the problems started showing up. Many websites, sites that I use frequently like Google Maps, would not load. I could refresh until the cows came home, but no luck. Also, changing default options such as changing Google.com in the search bar to Google.ca required actually hacking a system file. And I could select dropdown menu options. I'd open the menu, click on what I wanted, and the menu would just close. I'd have to use the arrow keys to move to what I wanted; particularly irritating when updating this site, as I have to use one to select the category and one to tell it to publish.

Now, this doesn't sound like reason enough to leave. So a few pages weren't loading. So changing the search bar default wasn't intuitive. So I couldn't use dropdown menus. Is that so bad? Yes! I would contend that if your internet browser doesn't browse the internet, that is a problem. Opera came in with all these new features, but seems to fall short on actually displaying web pages. And that's what its primary goal is.

For the record, while gestures and speed dial were cool ideas, they weren't enough to save this browser. I didn't use them enough to justify it. If I want to go back, or forward, or use tabs, it's not like it's a complicated process. Point and click is just as simple as click and flick. And speed dial? Why do I need a second bookmark folder? The one I have is good enough.

So in the end, I have returned to Firefox thanks to Opera's feature creep. The cool stuff wasn't enough to make up for poor performance in what I originally needed it to do.

There is a moral to this story. I hope you remember not to be like Opera, or the fat lady may start singing for you.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on November 21, 2007 6:35 PM | Permalink

February 9, 2008

Choose your own Ad-venture

Strategy When I did seminars on planning websites for entrepreneurs, one of the most common questions I would get was whether there were less expensive or free options for web hosting. My answer would be that there is no shortage of free hosting out there, but that it comes with limitations, and that it does have to be paid for by something: advertising. When you use a free website host, they will pay for their service by putting ads on your site that they have selected. This is less of a problem for personal sites, which are more often the clients of these companies. However, there remain drawbacks, chief amongst them is the lack of control.

I have no problem with advertising. As a marketing professional, that goes without saying. But as a consumer, I don't mind having my products and services subsidized. Sometimes the commercial is even clever (the first few times). Though I'm still not signing on with the over-use of them, a guilty pleasure of sports; I don't want to sit through a commercial break, come back for a play then return to commercials (especially the same commercials I just saw).

But when you use ads yourself to pay for something, it's so important to be in control of what shows up. Rather, you need a veto. I've used many services that required me to put up with ads for things I don't care about. My old webcomic was paid for by ads, often for other comics or the service that hosted me. That was cool. My facebook is paid for by ads that insist I'll know who has a crush on me if I click and sign up for their subscription service (I wasn't aware those were still around). That was cool, if only because I got good at ignoring them. And my free, less entertaining personal blog used ads to buy me more services from the site.

But then you start running into problems with content, and this is something I see with using Google ads. Now, as I said, my personal blog used ads to increase the services open to me. That didn't bother me, because I didn't pay much attention to them. While they were usually something random, they also gave me ads relating to interests of mine that I specifically stated when I signed up. And since it was powered by Google ads, there were also many cases where it would look at the content I was putting up, and deliver things based on keywords.

This is alright (albeit creepy) when they hit the mark. Ads about Bruce Springsteen after I write about an album or show? Great! Ads about tv shows I watch? That's fine too! This is advertising I can live with.

However, it then picked up on some remarks I'd made regarding a controversial political issue, and decided to put up an ad. For the other side. And I'd like to point out that this is an issue where the other side (for both sides, that is) isn't just an opposing viewpoint, but is HIGHLY offensive. I find those who don't agree with that to be offensive, and they think the same of me. So needless to say, I was more than a little upset.

Where am I going with this? There were consequences, minor though they may have been. I lowered my account back to free, but without ads. And spread some of the hate to some like-minded associates. On the whole, was that a big dent for the hosting company? Probably not. But that doesn't mean the same can't happen to others.

If you're going to use ad revenue to power your site, you have be careful. You've worked hard to understand your market or your readers; you should have a decent idea of what they want to see. So turning things over to someone who might make a massive error in judgement is a good way to lose customers/subscribers.

Take control. It's your site, so take care of it.

Until next time,

Posted by JW on February 9, 2008 5:03 PM | Permalink

May 23, 2008

What it's going to take for green cars to catch on

There's a lot of buzz going on right now with cars and alternative fuel or electricity. Major car manufacturers are giving in and making cars (or promises of them) that use electric motors or experimental fuels to get us from point A to point B. They've gone from being made for environmentalists and people with dreadlocks and Birkenstocks to being for the sensible family that wants to do their part for the environment. And that might be just the problem.

Now, I'm not going to comment on the feasibility of the technology; I think we have a long way to go yet, but the progress we're making is encouraging. My issue is how to make environmental cars more appealing to the serious gearheads who are clutching to their V8 midlife crises. And you know? I think it CAN be done.

Right now, because of the type of people who buy hybrids and would want an electric car, they're all very sensible, very low key, very A to B. But the serious drivers, and even the 10 year old in all of us, don't WANT sensible. Every car lover, every driver who wants to drive around rather than drive somewhere, everyone who's ever gone to a car show or had a poster of a Lamborghini Countash on their wall wants something insane and vulgar.

Plenty of cars are considered cool for all kinds of reasons: they're fast, they're sexy, they have character, and more. Hybrids, however, are counting on being